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Vertigo

JillW

JillW

I love lavend ... zzzzzz ...
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Mar 1, 2013
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Does anyone have tips to share re: vertigo. I've been having awful migraines for the past several weeks. Been seeing a chiro a few times each week - migraines seem to be in check, but last night when I rolled over in bed everything started spinning.

I went back to the chiro today and also got a neck massage - things are still a little "spinny" and I'm sick to my stomach. Being on the computer certainly doesn't help, so I'm signing off for now! :dizzy
 
My mom had this. She went through a lot of therapy and it finally dissipated.

I remember seeing something on Facebook where someone had figured out how to get rid of it, just by sitting, tilting your head and spinning a certain way. Let me see if I can find it for you.
 
Get to an ear, nose, & throat doctor right away!

I had something called "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" (BPPV) and it sucked. I thought it would just go away on its own, but it persisted for over a month. This particular vertigo was caused by dislodged crystals in my ear canal.

My family doctor prescribed teva-betahistine / betahistine dihydroc and it helped me get back to normal, although I did have problems with lethargy after that.

My doctor also sent me to an ENT. First the ENT did something called the Hal-Pike manoeuvre* that determines if you have BPPV. You can see it here:

Once it was confirmed through that test that I had BPPV, she did another manoeuvre called the Epley manoeuvre to fix the vertigo. You can see it here:

Before I was diagnosed with BPPV, the doctor said that my vertigo could be a vestibular variant of a migraine, which may be what you are experiencing.

Whatever is causing the vertigo, don't try to treat it on your own! It can persist for quite a while and mess up daily life! I was in bed for weeks.

I hope you feel better soon!

*maneuver in American English :giggle
 
I have to deal with this a lot with my health, I have something they don't even have a name for but basically I have a headache every day. Some days are better than others, but some come with huge vertigo issues and I'm stuck.

I agree with the others, you should definitely talk to your doctor about it (I am NOT trained in health care at all, I am only offering advice as I've been to many many doctors in the last almost ten years), however, I do have something that might help until you get to them or if they just tell you it's "something you have to deal with."

Basically what I'm offering is a "recalibration' so to speak. There are a few stages, do what you CAN without risk of injury, there's no shame in starting small.

Start in your chair, preferably one that spins. Start one way and stare at a specific point on a wall, swivel your chair 180 (think from front to back for those like me who aren't sure of degrees..) and focus on a point on that wall. Your head will spin, you'll feel sea sick. Wait until it calms down, and spin again, forcing your eyes to focus. This will 'retrain' your brain to think in these terms and it will get used to the motion. By the time you've done this a few times, it should be easier and easier. If it doesn't get easier, stop...

If you can do that with ease, do it by standing next to a wall, putting one hand on the wall and doing the same only spinning so that your other hand is on the wall, this will insure that you can catch yourself if it's too much. Do the same motion over and over until your body adjusts.

Then of course, if you can do all that, do without the wall and spin as much as you can until you get used to it. This has helped me and I hope it does for you, vertigo is NOT fun and I'm sorry you're going through it!
 
I'm so sorry you are going through this Jill! I only have slight vertigo once when I had the flu a number of years ago and it was not fun! I agree with @MelanieB Melanie, make sure you see a doctor, if you are also getting a lot of migraines too!
 
Wish I had something helpful to add, but I've never experienced vertigo...but I can definitely empathize with the migraines!! Hopefully you can get a care plan in place sooner rather than later!
 
Seeing the doctor is good. Also, look at what medications you take, and double check those when you see the doctor. Sometimes the vertigo is a side effect.
 
MelanieB said:
I had something called "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" (BPPV) and it sucked. I thought it would just go away on its own, but it persisted for over a month. This particular vertigo was caused by dislodged crystals in my ear canal.
Click to expand...
I have this from time to time too.
 
My hubby and sister in law have had the crystals in their ears. Definitely see an ENT. Sending HUGS and praying for quick resolution of these migraines and vertigo!
 
Ugh. Sorry that you're suffering from this and I hope that one of the many great suggestions above offer some relief! Until then... sending hugs.
 
MelanieB said:
Get to an ear, nose, & throat doctor right away!

I had something called "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" (BPPV) and it sucked. I thought it would just go away on its own, but it persisted for over a month. This particular vertigo was caused by dislodged crystals in my ear canal.
Click to expand...

I had this form of vertigo too, a couple of years ago (turning over in bed was one of the worst things). My doctor sent me to see a vestibular physiotherapist who performed the epley maneuver which fixed the problem for me. The physio also gave me the same exercises that Melanie had which I use whenever I feel the crystals starting to move again.
Hope you get it fixed soon as it can really impact your life. I had difficulty driving and was so dizzy a lot of the time.
 
Thanks for the ideas! I tried the partial somersault thing and it and it helped a lot ... not completely gone though. Yesterday wasn't too bad because I was traveling for work and not in front of a computer screen (and spreadsheets) all day. Today I'm back in my office and feeling woozy and things are a little off again. I might call off tomorrow and concentrate on resting.
 
I get the occasional episode where I suddenly feel like I'm moving backward. The worst one was last week. It happened on the freeway in traffic. I just kept pressing the break as hard as I could to make sure I wasn't really rolling back. I got home & ran to my bedroom to be in just total darkness. The next morning, we found out I'd left the keys in the ignition all night. Thank god nothing happened!!! It was at that point, my husband realized I how much pain I had been in. He knows that is SO NOT NORMAL for me. Scary. So, I empathize Jill. Awful. My rheumatologist (aka my lupus doctor) said to look up videos on Youtube about the Brandt-Daroff method. My mom goes to physical therapy for her episodes.
 
No advice, just sending hugs and hope you get to the bottom of this so you can get proper treatment and hopefully alleviate future episodes. I get positional vertigo with heights, so that's the only vertigo type thing I get. Hope you get some help.
 
move slowly and get a cane :( I suffer from vertigo quite frequently due to MS - and I just have to walk very slowly and either hold onto something or use my cane.

Hopefully it's short term and you can get your migraines under control! I suffer from them as well and will say the vertigo is certainly more pronounced when I'm suffering with one!
 
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