I’m not looking for an online diagnosis, as I know this symptom could belong to a number of different health conditions. I’m just curious if anyone here has ever experienced this.
I was sitting at my work computer when suddenly I perceived that the whole in my view tilted at a 45 degree angle. It was sudden and out of the blue, and it felt so real - like an earthquake happened. Only lasted a couple of seconds, but scared the life out of me.
I am a 58 year old female, physically fit, with low blood pressure and a fairly low heart rate. Has anyone else ever heard of this or even know what to call it?
I had a complete work up over similar vertigo. Final diagnosis was “likely viral” although I’ve had infrequent recurrences that last a few weeks and gradually fade.
Vertigo can have a lot of different causes. I’ve had it from labyrinthitis following an upper respiratory infection, and I’ve had it from an infected back molar. The first time, I leaned over while drying my hair and just kept going. I couldn’t get off the floor for several minutes because I literally didn’t know which way was up.
Your symptoms could have been caused by so many things that you will need to have them checked out by a medic of some sort. For instance, I get BPPV and first noticed it (also when I was in my 50s) when I leaned over from my work chair to look at my dog on the floor. I suddenly felt like the world had turned upside-down. Then it started happening when I turned over in bed or any time I rotated my head in more than one plane. When it was at its worst, I couldn’t walk in a straight line but would tack off repeatedly to starboard. A couple of visits to Physical Therapy took care of most of the symptoms with canalith repositioning maneuvers. If your symptoms are related to BPPV, you might be able to reproduce them by repeating whatever movements you were making at the time of the original episode.
My husband developed sudden vertigo so bad that he couldn’t walk unassisted and then started vomiting. He said that things were visually spinning around him. He was worked up for brain tumors, MS, cholesteatoma (a particular type of tumor in the middle ear), stroke, and all sorts of other scary stuff. The doctors finally decided that he probably had migrainous vertigo that was occurring without any other migraine symptoms. There isn’t any treatment for it. Fortunately, he’s only had a couple of episodes since then, during which he has to stay in bed with a bucket and try not to move his head. He has no way of predicting what will bring those episodes on.
Because some of the stuff that can cause sudden vertigo is pretty serious, I’d advise you to see your health care provider.
The work up I went through included chest films, EKG, stress test, head MRI (CT?), Doppler carotid artery study, CBC, Chem Panel, Thyroid serology, urinalysis, ENT referral, and maybe some I missed. It was all normal.
My husband went through all that plus a brain scan, lumbar puncture, tilt-table test, and assorted other ENT exams, and all of it was ultimately (when reviewed by a competent physician) negative. He had several MRI scans, all of which were eventually determined to show only normal changes for his age. It was maddening. His diagnosis was, in the end, based on elimination of all other plausible causes.
I was fortunate. All I had to do was gradually recline on the examining table while the doctor watched my eyes. When they started jumping back and forth like Pong on meth (nystagmus), she was pretty sure of the diagnosis.
I went through a period during which I fell on my face several times. I was told by an ER MD that it must have been due to “situational vertigo.” I’m all better now and I really don’t know what the hell was going on.
My 28 year old daughter has had two incidences that I know of. We know the trigger for the first one (aftermath of acute pain). For the second we have no clue what brought it on. There was a six month gap between them. The medical answer was “probably viral, but, honestly, we just don’t know. It could happen again or not. Just go on living.” It’s been several years and no recurrences. And life is good.
My wife had that; it’s caused by the crystals in your inner ear being out of place. She went to a therapist who had her do the Epley Maneuver, and continue to do it at home, which eventually cleared up the problem.
I know of several people who have had this, always seems to come up around allergy times of year ( especially right before or during fall… ) , but usually the diagnosis is vertigo. However,we are all just making guesses and it’s definitely worth going to the doctor to figure it out. Just to get all the serious possibilities out of the way which are highly unlikely. Hope you get better soon.
Yep, that’s what worked for me. It took quite a few maneuvers; apparently my canaliths were really out of whack. I still have some minor symptoms when I look up and to the left, like when I turn off my bedside light, but I can cross the yard without crashing into a tree now.
Honestly. My wife didn’t know there was a problem until she got up one night to go to the bathroom, staggered across the dining room and fell into the table. Lucky there was something between her and the window.
I like the diagnosis “labyrinthitis,” just because it’s a great name for a condition. I ride a motorcycle, so just hope it doesn’t happen during my commute.
That’s how it started for me. I looked down at my dog, almost fell out of my chair, and thought, “Huh. That was fuckin’ weird.” A few weeks later, it happened again, then a few days later, then the next day, and so on. Still probably worth getting checked out, because you don’t want that next episode (if you have one) to occur when you’re on your motorcycle.
I get that as one of my Meneires symptoms. Tinnitus too. It’s only happened twice while driving and I’d prepared my response knowing that might happen.