Vertigo

J

Jassy

New member
Anyone out there suffer from vertigo?
I was found via a ENG test that I have a vestibular infraction in my right ear. I have lost 25% hearing in it..(unknown why).
I had bouts of vertigo in the past; however, now my bouts last hours if not days.
It will hit be out of the blue. I will stand up and feel terribly faint and my head will feel extremely heavy. My face will start to sweat profusely and I can't do anything but lye down and remain in one spot until if I'm lucky enough fall asleep....or lucky enough that the dizziness goes away.
I have had bouts where I've been over the toilet vomiting due to this as well.
I have taken meclizine, shots of benadryl..you name it for it....I also tried physical therapy but I suffer from chronic migraines as well and the PT accentuated the migraines terribly.
Anyone have any ideas how to control this terrible vertigo? I am scared that a bout could happen when I'm behind the wheel of a car....as I NEVER know when one will hit..there is no warning signs at all.....any thoughts are greatly appreciated......healthy wishes, Krista
 
It sounds the same as Meniere's Disease, I don't have it but a lot of people do. We have support groups here in Oz, you may have one near you. I'm sure it would be full of helpful tips. I feel very sorry for you, I occasionally get very dizzy and it's horrible. Best wishes.
 
I don't know if this would apply to either of you but there has been some publicity of late on a new treatment for some type of vertigo. It's done by neurologists and entails a sort of neck adjustment to get some sort of crystals back in place. You could research that for more info. I saw it online and in my local paper within the last 3 months.
 
Any thoughts? Balance has returned through physical therapy, after intense vertigo bout. However, the letters still jump when i do the exercises. I am told I have to retrain the brain to see (lost 83% of nerve from ear to brain on one side), but the relearning isnt going well. If at all. Anyone have such an experience. My ears get clogged up when I am with any chemicals. Seems I have developed strong multiple chemical sensitivity with the vertigo.
 
Caffeine....NO...you didn't say that did you?? :) I am a die hard caffeine Diet Coke addict...I have been ever since I quite drinking alcohol...(a few years ago)...I will look A LOT more into Meniere's.....thank you for your history. I see my internal doc. today and I will talk this over with him as well....hopefully going out won't bring one of my infamous migraines!! It's 40 below with the wind here in northern MN right now.......brrrrrrr
 
That's very interesting as well. Perhaps I will contact my chiropractor and see what his thoughts are.....thanks to you as well for your help!! Warm thoughts...!!
 
I too was told I need to retrain my brain as my eyes. The PT gal stated that my head is moving faster than my eyes...(due to some brain connection blah blah blah). I'm sorry for the sarcasm; however, as you know, when you've seen so many specialisits within a year you feel that you could teach a class on your diagnosis you know so much about it. The only thing YOU and the doc's don't know is how to FIX it!! I've been to an audiologist. We've marked Meniere's off of the list....she doesn't think it's that at all. The one thing I should be happy about is that I don't have a constant "buzzing" or "ringing" in my right ear....thank goodness!! I'm nutty enough! That would drive me absolutely banannas!! I called the health store yesterday and she looked up vertigo and suggested that I try "GABA". It's an all natural tablet that promotes relaxation and eases nervous tension........I'll be the judge of that :)
Thanks to all of you for your feedback..I really appreciate your time and thoughts....it's nice to know there's people "strangers" in this world that are willing to take time out of there lives to listen and do there best to help!!
Healthy Wishes!! Krista
 
Hi Krista,

I sure sounds like Menier's to me. I've had it for about 6 years now, and mine isn't typical either. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine were when this first started. I got lucky and found an ENT who decided to try treating it as Meniere's even though my symptoms don't totally match the 'classic' symptoms. Meclezine didn't do anything for me, except add the sensation of the floor falling out from under me to the other symptoms. None of the antihistimine type meds work for me so far as treating an attack. To help prevent an attack (and because I have serious allergies), I use a steroid nasal spray, Astelin, and Zyrtec daily. For some reason Zyrtec works better than Claritin or Allergra for me, no clue why we tried it because it was going OTC and would be cheaper than Allegra. I also take a diuretic and do a low sodium diet as preventative. Even if your doc won't agree to the diuretic you can do low sodium on your own. Try eliminatig caffine too, it doesn't make any difference for me, but my Aunt who also has Meniere's can't handle ANY caffine. My doc prescribes Valium for the vertigo attacks. It works well, and for me has a very long duration compared to other meds in the same class, 1/2 of a tablet will generally do it unless I'm traveling, then the doc lets me take it daily to prevent problems riding in a car.

Sometimes you have to just keep at it until you find a doc who is willing to "think outside the box". If I hadn't found mine, I'd probably still be unable to walk around without "hanging on to the walls". Now I only have to do it during very severe thunderstorms, one of my major triggers is air pressure changes. My doc had me on a couple of other meds for about 2 years, but I quit taking them last winter (don't need as much in winter) and didn't have the same problems come spring so I didn't start again. The meds are Papaverine and Propantheline, it's an off label use for both, but at the time it did help. He also has me take Centrum Silver. At one time we talked about trying something called betahistine, but it's only available in the US from a compounding pharmacy.

Hopefully some of this helps.

Tigg.
 
I know I saw it on the Today Show back last fall...and I cannot remember where I saw it in print. Dang! Anyway, I know it was a neurologist that came up with it because I was surprised it wasn't a chiropractor or an ENT. Anyway, hope you can find something on it and that it helps.
 
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