Thanks Everyone. Monday Night, when I did not get a call back from my primary care doctor, I got scared and went to the Emergency Department of a big, teaching hospital. That turned out to be a good move! Everyone there took it very seriously. I was there for 16 hours. I had to wait quite a while, because they are a trauma center and had trauma patients coming in via ambulance. It was worth the wait.

The top doctor in the ER said that there was a chance that the cause could be something as serious as a cerebral aneurysm. (That's a bulging out blood vessel that is in danger of rupturing and causing a stroke.) He said that was unlikely to be the case with me because my general health is very good. HOWEVER, he said there is still a slight possibility that something like that could be going on and that it was wise to check for that.

So I was given these tests: a carotid duplex study (ultrasound of the arteries in the neck), 2 CT scans (one without contrast, and one with iodine contrast put in intravenously - an angiogram), and blood tests (most importantly checking for thyroid issues).

It turned out that I have a little hardening of the carotid arteries, but no more than is considered acceptable. I have excellent blood circulation in my brain. I have no aneurysms, and no tumors, and nothing else weird in my brain. My thyroid was fine. They concluded that the cause is not something to be scared about, but they said I should see my primary care doc and do whatever he recommends. They said there are a bunch of possible causes, but none of them is any big deal.

WHAT A RELIEF TO FIND OUT I'M NOT ON THE VERGE OF HAVING A STROKE! Everyone at the Emergence Dept. said I made a wise decision to go in there, and the concern shown to me was just wonderful. The ER staff conferred with an ear specialist, the chief of vascular surgery(who was in the middle of doing surgery when they called him, but he still gave them feedback), and a neuro-radiologist (who recommended and read the CT scans.)

Everyone at the ER agreed that the idea of me waiting until December for a test was not an appropriate plan. So, it can be a good idea to "push the envelope," if you feel like your're getting blown off. No one at the ER thought I was being an alarmist. They commended my pro-active self-advocacy.

With my regular doctor, I'll explore other causes for this problem. Most importantly, I'm not scared anymore. Oh, they said it could be some fluid in the middle ear, which I'll discuss with my PCP. I appreciate all the feedback from on this thread.

To: Open Eyes, Every adult over the age of 40 should get blood work to test thyroid function. That should be re-checked every few years. The main test they do is called a TSH. If your thyroid glad feels enlarged, when the doctor feels for it while pressing your neck, then they are apt to order a thyroid scan, which produces a picture of it. That's not commonly needed. I may try to see an ENT about my problem, like you did.