Originally Posted by dyankee

Hi: I'm new here (just getting started on obtaining a diagnosis) and have most of the symptoms everyone here has brought up. However, the one that is foremost on my mind right now is that I've had some darn near catastrophic falls over the last couple of years. I fell going up the stairs a week ago Friday and I can barely stay on my feet for more than a half hour or so. Saw a doc at urgent care last Thursday and he says I have a hematoma (after xrays showed no broken bones) with ecchymosis on my right leg. I had two falls last year that really did me in (for weeks, not days). I've given the falls a lot of long hard thought, and I simply can't attribute them to anything specific...not dizziness, not a slip, not a misstep. Now I do have a lot of problems navigating as I have to look directly at the ground to avoid tumbling over some trifling obstacle and my depth perception is at about zero, but I'm darn careful now. I guess what I simply don't understand is why I get SO damaged every time. Is this common?
One thing that I am aware of, is that I don't seem to be able to catch myself; I fall like a tree in the woods...don't get my arms out, nothing.

I'd be deeply grateful if anyone else has experienced this and has some kind of explanation.