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Vertigo ...
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Message 1.Â
Posted by noracarrot (U5351350) on Monday, 5th December 2011
...anyone suffer from ,suffered from ? I know that someone was shouted last week for asking a question which had been asked and answered twenty seven thousand times before .....admittedly ,it was a What Is Your Fav Wottevver question.... so apologise if I repeat .
...have been suffering for coming up to two years ..it came and went ,but did not go away . Have spent four months coming downstairs to sleep upright on the sofa as being in bed was a complete mare . Crossing the road is quite horrific .
I have drugs .Friends on here will tell you about my reluctance to take a prescrip for more than 48 hours ,but what I have, seemed to have helped .
My prod and a poke said I had a malformed inner ear , which is odd as I have owned them for 47 years . -
Message 2
Posted by ali (U14257944) on Monday, 5th December 2011
Hello Noracarrot - I'm so sorry to hear about your vertigo, and that you are have suffered for two years now.
I have vertigo too. I started about four years ago, and until I did some internet research myself I had no idea what kind it was, or what kind of help I needed. Mine is the Benign Positional Vertigo type, and I do exercises which help a lot. Trouble is, when you have the vertigo you also have nausea, which makes movement of any kind deeply unpleasant, doesn't it?
From your description, though, yours is a different kind of vertigo. I'm glad that you have prescriptions that help, although I do understand your reluctance to take any kind of medication. What kind of prognosis does your doctor offer? Is this something that can be helped long-term? Are there any other options other than medication? (sorry about all the questions).
Sleeping upright is ghastly,, isn't it? I just can't do it - that is I try and if and when I fall asleep I seem to lie down, and then wake up dizzy again.
I do exercises, which help me a lot, and I'm attaching a link here just in case they are of interest/help to you and to anyone else who suffers. Although these exercises aggravate the nausea, it is well worth doing them, and if the nausea is really bad then your doctor could help with anti-nausea medications.
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Message 3
Posted by Babs (U12089863) on Monday, 5th December 2011
Thanks for your posts, both. I was off a few weeks ago with what turned out to be the benign thingy. I went home from work after being sick (I work in a kitchen, so not allowed to puke there) and spent the night feeling as dire as dire could be...awful. It's taken a while for the dizziness to subside.
When I think back over the past three years I've had sporadic bouts of dizziness and vomiting and assumed it was some kind of bug; but when I saw the doctor about it, I mentioned having been on a particularly horrible swinging all over the place fairground ride. I spend the next two hours being horribly sick (for anyone at West Midlands Safari Park that day, I do apologise). The doctor reckoned that was probably what set it off.
He mentioned the exercises if it recurs and becomes a problem. I'm just hoping not to have it again, but he thinks it's unlikely that will be the case.
Not pleasant. -
Message 4
Posted by BaraGwenith (U14257539) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Oddly enough I have had it this year and last for the first times in my life. Started on nearly the same date each time. In the end it was put down to an allergy to a specific tree pollen, or 'There's a lot of it about'. As it was self-limiting last year I didn't bother to go to the Doctor this year.
But yours sounds like a positional one. Apparently Doctors have a procedure for re-alligning the granules in the ear; did the Doctor suggest it rather than drugs? -
Message 5
Posted by virtual_jan (U13662056) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Just a thought- are you having any problems with clicking jaws at all? I had this last year and it caused nausea and dizziness and I had to sleep propped up. It came on all of a sudden when I was out at an exhibition and I had extreme difficulty staying upright and getting home by tube was not fun. I self diagnosed it as TMJ which is a misalignment of the temporomandibular joint and I did lots of exercises and applied hot and cold packs to the affected area. Luckily it subsided.
v_j -
Message 6
Posted by ali (U14257944) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Sad to say, this codition does recur from time to time, but the exercises are extremely helpful when it does. I've been told that the exercises should be done every day, but somehow when I'm OK I forget, put it off, etc. You know how it is..
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Message 7
Posted by ali (U14257944) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Sorry, I should have said that it's the BPV that recurs, the misalignment of the temporomandibular joint sounds very uncomfortable indeed virtYule-jan (like your festive name by the way). I hope this doesn't happen again.
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Message 8
Posted by Dirigibles was here (U7278225) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
This is really interesting, noracarrot, though I'm sorry that you are suffering.
I had a TMJ problem many years ago, and intermittent dizziness and low bp, but the scariest thing is that I get vertigo when lying down, in bed. -
Message 9
Posted by virtual_jan (U13662056) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Sad to say, this codition does recur from time to time, but the exercises are extremely helpful when it does. I've been told that the exercises should be done every day, but somehow when I'm OK I forget, put it off, etc. You know how it is..Â
Indeed I do know how it is ali-chat. the same with my tMJ problem I am meant to do the exercises regularly, even when well. I found the exercises quite uncomfortable and time-consuming, but at the time they were necessary so I persevered with them. Since then, however, I confess that I have hardly done any. I really should, I know.
Interesting to read on here how many variations of ear/jaw problems there are and how vulnerable it makes you regarding balance. Evolution-wise I think we would have been in trouble! I am grateful that I found so much advice on the internet, although some sites were scary and talking about all sorts of nasty possibilties like major jaw surgery -but I soon learned to stop looking at those!
v_j -
Message 10
Posted by Babs (U12089863) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Oddly enough I have had it this year and last for the first times in my life. Started on nearly the same date each time. In the end it was put down to an allergy to a specific tree pollen, or 'There's a lot of it about'. As it was self-limiting last year I didn't bother to go to the Doctor this year.
But yours sounds like a positional one. Apparently Doctors have a procedure for re-alligning the granules in the ear; did the Doctor suggest it rather than drugs?Â
Yes, he did - he said that medication wasn't the best route to go down unless it really does become a problem. Obviously this isn't the case with the OP and I really am sorry for anyone with it, having realised just how vile it is.
I'm just seeing how it goes for now, and avoiding activities where it might be set off - for instance, the first time I went to a yoga class I was sick, thereafter I was careful not to bend down to touch my toes as that seemed to set it off (bearing in mind, I didn't know at the time it could be vertigo!) I don't go to yoga or exercise classes any more, think I'll stick to walking as it suits me better anyway. Interestingly, when it happened at work I had been rushing around collecting plates and cutlery, and the dining room (school) was extremely noisy that day....whether that had an effect, I don't know.
If it does recur then I'll go back and learn the exercises, but I'm just hoping it doesn't. -
Message 11
Posted by noracarrot (U5351350) on Tuesday, 6th December 2011
Thanks all . Fascinating . Someone near home did mention TMJ and it did make me wonder . A couple of years ago-ish , owing to low blood pressure and a huge accidental loss in weight , I had two major black-outs , and both times , tipped over and landed flat on my face ,with no instinct to put arms out to save myself .
Considerable damage done to face and teeth ,so head baring the brunt of my flollop . Pretty good bet that I may have misaligned jaw /neck - I failed to mention that to GP .
Got an appointment with the ENT clinic , but not until January . I'll keep on with the drugs until then ,I think . -
Message 12
Posted by misles2 (U6928301) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
I have BPPV , which comes and goes , and also Meniere's disease which causes unpredictable attacks of severe rotational vertigo ( and accompanying vomiting) - like the worse sea sickness you have ever had. This has also caused hearing loss. The meds I take have been effective in that attacks are now less frequent and ( usually) less intense but a severe attack in the summer put me in hospital overnight.
Between attacks I am very well, although the BPPV can be difficult. I still work full time and travel a lot and I am sure some people don't believe just how ill I can be. You know what they say about sea sickness - at first you are afraid you are going to die and theyn you are afraid you're not!
I read somewhere that nothing makes a Dr's heart sink like a dizzy patient, as this thread shows, the causes can be many and varied. -
Message 13
Posted by hazeyjane (U11228450) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
It's been interesting reading of others' experiences of this and I do empathise with the problems people have had. My mother and I both started having bouts of fast spinning vertigo around 18 months ago. She'd never experienced it before and I'd only had dizziness linked to low blood pressure. Because we see a lot of each other we assumed it was a virus we'd both caught and went to our GPs.
I was diagnosed with labyrinthitis, given medication and referred to a balance clinic. There they told me I had BPPV, performed Epley manouevres and gave me a sheet of exercises. With the combination of this and medication, it's now not as debilitating as it was. At one time, like Nora above, I was having to sleep upright on the sofa. Now as long as I don't sleep on my left side I'm ok. I also can't lean forward without triggering dizziness, still feel unsteady at times or find myself keeling over to one side. But at least it's liveable with and as I work from home I have some flexibility.
Mum had some tinnitus with hers, so was diagnosed with Menieres instead. The consultant she was referred to just said it would burn itself out eventually. They tried to remove wax from her ears to see if it would help but that actually made the vertigo worse. Unfortunately all the prescribed medication she's tried hasn't helped or has caused more problems with side effects. The exercises I was recommended also don't seem to have helped her much. There is one type of travel sickness tablet which has lessened the symptoms when things have got really bad.
Unlike me, she did have a few months when the symptoms completely disappeared, but now sadly they've been back for a few weeks. It's very frustrating as for an 85 year old her mobility is very good but she is now frightened to go out on her own because the dizziness can come on so suddenly. She has collapsed in town with it and ended up in hospital which has knocked her confidence even more. She has just seen another consultant but he had no new suggestions to make. The tinnitus is less of a problem for her now but the dizziness is just so unpredictable. -
Message 14
Posted by noracarrot (U5351350) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
I shall have to google Epley , hazey ...ooh ,just did..... and Ail's mention of her use of excersise .
At the risk of someone that sounds like a complete dreilict ,an ex maniacal fitness person ,I have osteo ,fybromyalgia and constochondritis . I have to be careful with excersise ....I fear for crumbling into a pile of dust whilst waiting to cross the road and crumbling into a heap and someone will come along and sweep me up with a dust-pan and brush .
With my bones..have been told to avoid Yoga ,Pilates ....but perhaps Alexander may be ok.....can't find a tutor of Alexander tec around here for love , nor money .
Strange you mentioned travel sickenss tablets ........ there is something in that , according to my friend that is a GP ,Not my GP . They can help a lot of ills .
Really do feel for your Ma , hazey . When I'm having a *wobble* outdoors ,I have mastered the art of a fake shoe-lace check ,or fake adjusting my ear-phones ,or pretending I have a Very Important Call on my mobbie ,just so I can avoid crossing the road because there be cars and I can just take a moment ,or ten mins . -
Message 15
Posted by ali (U14257944) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
My sympathies to you and your mum, hazeyjane, and especially to your mum because it is restricting her activity, and it's so important to be independent and active as one gets older.
I, too, have tinnitus, and I notice that just before an attack of BPV it's much worse, louder and more 'ringing' noises. I've had tinnitus for years and years though, and the BPV only occurred in the last five years.
The exercises do help, and I haven't ever seen a doc with mine, I had just moved to France and we weren't registered with anyone, there was loads to do and to be honest I sat down one night and just looked on tinternet. I found the exercises and as I say, that seems to be helpful. However, if it gets worse I shall be off down there quick as you like, at least we don't have any waiting lists here. Not yet anyway. Apart from opticians, that is!
Lord I wish there was a cure for tinnitus though, but that's a separate thread. -
Message 16
Posted by hazeyjane (U11228450) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
I also have fibromyalgia Nora, and when I first had the vertigo just put it down to yet another fibro symptom. I do find when my fibro is worse, the dizziness also seems worse but that may be because tiredness or stress seems to aggravate both. Do hope you find something that helps – the Epley manoeuvres certainly improved things for me and didn't cause any extra pain ( my fibro mainly affects my neck and shoulders).
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Message 17
Posted by hazeyjane (U11228450) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
Thanks, ali-chat. My sympathies re the tinnitus and BPPV – in Mum's experience of Menieres, hers starts with really loud tinnitus for a few days and then the vertigo kicks in later with the tinnitus gradually lessening ( although that could be because she's just getting used to it). She hasn't tried any masking devices although sometimes finds it better when she's wearing her hearing aid and she always has the radio on in the background. She has met people who have had Meniere's in the past but haven't had a recurrence for some time so she's hoping that she may get a longer period of respite after this episode.
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Message 18
Posted by wandypig (U3850819) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
Nora, you mention falling onto your face and misaligning your jaw/neck. some years ago I fell and broke my fall with an outstretched arm, resulting in a badly broken wrist. A couple of years after that I had some mysterious pains in my arms and legs, which got steadily worse, particularly when I was tired. My mobility was starting to be affected, too. The GP could find nothing wrong and eventually dismissed me with the words "Try some alternative therapies". Feeling pretty desperate, I made my way eventually to a practitioner of McTimoney chiropractic who, on examination of my neck and spine, asked "How long ago was your car accident?" I told her I hadn't had one, and she said "Well, you have a whip-lash injury to your neck". Together we worked out that the fall that broke my wrist had been the root of the problem, and I had a series of (very gentle) treatments from her which, rather to my amazement, worked.
I've used McTimoney on a few other occasions, such as after a nasty fall from a horse, and after I did actually write off my car, and always found it useful (though not always quite as miraculous as that first time). the theory seems to be that relatively minor misplacements of bits of your spine can have a disproportionate effect in terms of pressure placed on nerves.
My natural tendency is to be sceptical, but yours sounds like a case when this might be worth a try. -
Message 19
Posted by noracarrot (U5351350) on Wednesday, 7th December 2011
wandypig , I shall..on my list... google McTimoney . Broken right arm four times now ,but also forgot that I fell off my Dear Pandora ....Welsh Cob ..... who's remit was ooh,blimey ,nettles...let's just stop here now
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Message 20
Posted by ali (U14257944) on Thursday, 8th December 2011
Hazeyjane – I haven’t tried any masking devices either, but I do usually have the radio on. It’s worst at night of course, and in the mornings. First thing I do is put on R4! I hope your mum has a good long period of respite now.
Wandypig – that’s interesting information about McTimoney, I shall have a look at it. My OH has had odd aches and pains ever since we had a rollover on the motorway 11 years ago, he can’t sleep on his left side at all since then. Thanks for that.
Noracarrot - yikes!
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