What could my doctor be looking for with a CT scan of my head?

Brain tumors, blood clots leading to potential aneurisms, any abnormalities that may be causing your symptoms.

a tumor or a blood clot. better to be safe than sorry.

Unusual blood vessel formations. They have done that to me on my neck, for my carotid arteries.

MS.

CTs are a coarse scan for circulatory issues like clots, strokes, etcetera. I recently had a couple myself during an ER visit to make sure I was having “just” migraines instead of something immediately life-threatening like a stroke/aneurysm (family history puts me at risk; my uncle died of an aneurysm when he was younger than I am now, and my grandmother had a stroke). This may be followed by MRIs which have better resolution, though given your history, I think it more likely that psychiatry will just adjust your meds.

Any abnormalities, and if he orders a spinal tap, he could be looking for signs of MS.

@cheebdragon Or Meningitis, or Encephalitis.

The main things, since you didn’t have a contrast scan, would be a tumour, encephalitis, or raised intracranial pressure, leading to hydrocephalus. Some other abnormalities would be able to be seen, but not defined, so you would be referred on for further tests.

Without contrast, blood clots, aneurysms, and other vascular abnormalities cannot be seen. These things would only be seen on CT once they progress to being a stroke, in which case you would have acute symptoms. CT may also show brain damage resulting from an old stroke. MS also cannot be seen on CT until it is very advanced. As I said in your previous post, an MRI would probably have been a much better test in your situation, depending on the financial context.

@FireMadeFlesh Depending on the circumstances. Personally, I had both the CT and MRI, and did both with and without contrast. Then again, my issues were more about ruling stuff out (especially the fatal stuff) than trying to pinpoint what it is.

@talljasperman: I suggest asking the doctor. He should be honest with you.

@jerv That is true. Obviously I can’t give a well informed opinion without having seen the medical notes. I’m also not a doctor. I just think when symptoms do not correlate directly with a given disorder, MRI is a better initial investigation. But much of that depends on access and cost also. It’s probably a good thing that you’ve had the lot, because that will give the most complete picture. But if I were to choose one to start off with, it’d be MRI. Have you had an EEG as well?

@FireMadeFlesh Yep, after the results from the lumbar puncture came back clean. They ran the full suite on me.
One big difference is that just about anyone can get a CT scan, but MRIs are a little dicey. If you have any metal in you, there can be issues. They were slightly wary of giving me an MRI simply because I am a machinist; while I have no pins, plates, or replacement parts, just the nature of my job tends to put metal into the body. CTs don’t have quite the pre-screening requirements that MRIs do.

@jerv True, I was regarding the safety questionnaire as an assumed pass. You may have had x-rays of your facial bones before the MRI, with your eyes to the left and right?

@FireMadeFlesh No X-ray, but I did get a little extra scrutiny before being put in the tunnel. Metal interferes with CT scans enough that, with a little extra looking at those, they figured I was probably safe in the MRI machine.

Blood clot is most common which is seen in the CT scan of head.

@all
The scan relived nothing. Doctor says that it is my mental health medications. So my psychiatrist lowers one medication… I’m still dizzy. Also my Colonoscopy reveled that I was fine and the EEG says that my heart has a fast beat otherwise I am almost fine… just the dizziness.

(

Since my issues started, my sense of balance has been screwy. So far, they haven’t figured out if it’s neurological, psychiatric, or a side-effect of medication. Given how brains are, it could be any of those for either of us, and we may have different issues.

Update : the doctors think that I have mild Marfan syndrome. It will take a year from the waiting list.

Update: the doctors said that I should eat more and I did and most of the dizziness is gone. I wasn’t eating till 5pm.