For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been much more prone to motion sickness, but now I’ve been plagued on and off by dizzy spells, causing sensations anywhere between “head full of cotton balls” to “get me off this crazy ride”. (I also have occasional spells of ringing in my ears that might be related, I’m not sure.)
So far I’ve seen a family practitioner for an initial diagnosis, and I’m also taking a regimen of herbs from a Chinese medicine guy. Next step would probably be a battery of tests to help figure out what’s wrong (and it’s a huge list, lots of things cause vertigo), but being the idiot cheapskate that I was, I’ve let my health insurance lapse and I’d rather not have my parents take out a second mortgage on their house.
Any Dopers struggle with vertigo? What do you guys do to manage that feeling? Right now, my only (temporary) solution is to take a nap–the dizziness sometimes presents as an up-and-down feeling, like I’m in a cradle or rocking chair, so that makes me sleepy.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO, which is now the home of threads seeking medical advice (to emphasize the fact that anonymous strangers on a message board are offering only opinions, and that they should not be regarded as anything like an actual diagnosis or treatment plan from a medical practitioner who has met you and gotten full information on your symptoms).
Yes. All my life I’ve been prone to dizziness and motion sickness. In 2000, I developed full-blown Meniere’s Disease. It was pretty bad for a while; I couldn’t move much, vomited a lot, fell down while walking, had to lie in bed with my head in one position for 12+ hours. One night I was up all night with the most horrific dizziness and vomiting ever–violent vomiting that shook me to the core. Since then, the symptoms have subsided quite a bit. Nowadays I get dizzy mostly if I do something like yoga, where my head is lower than my waist, or if I drink more than a few drinks or lie flat on my back without a pillow (that’s the worst!). To deal with it, I always put something under my head to lift it some when lying down, avoid drinking too much, and meditate. The stillness of meditating seems to calm that rushing/overwhelming feeling of having too much to do that can also make me dizzy.
I think it’s different for everyone, though. My mom also has MD, and she avoid caffeine because of it, while I don’t see any correlation between caffeine and my dizziness.
I want to add that dizzy spells/cotton head/muddled thinking/tinnitus are all symptoms of Meniere’s Disease. When I was diagnosed more than 10 years ago, I was given meclizine (which is an active ingredient in some OTC drugs–I like Bonine) and Valium to treat it. Have you been tested for Meniere’s Disease? http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/balance/meniere.html
IANAD, etc. But I had a yucky bout of BPPD this time last year - that’s benign paroxymal positional vertigo. Unspecified dizziness. There are some diagnostic tests for Meniere’s and other inner ear disorders, all of which I passed, hence the BPPD diagnosis. At my doctor’s instruction, I began performing Epley maneuvers daily. They are incredibly unpleasant at the time, seeming to exacerbate the dizziness, (note - have bucket nearby) but afer about a week of them my symptoms were much reduced. I seldom have a dizzy spell now, but if I do, I flop about on the bed as outlined, and feel much better.
Thank you for that link, araminty! I have heard about these maneuvers and couldn’t figure out how to find them. I have a general but very mild case of dizziness pretty much 24/7–maybe I’ll try this out to see if it helps. I’d like to do yoga and participate more in Pilates (I can do most of the exercises but have to sit some out), so hope it works!
I have a friend that, for some weird reason, was allergic to something in her old house that made her extremely dizzy. She had all kinds of tests done, but couldn’t find anything until she moved to a new house then it all went away. Anyways, some things that she swore helped with the vertigo were those bracelets with the tabs that would press on a spot on the wrist. I personally think they’re bullshit but she swore by em. Ginger worked too, and also pot did for some reason. I get dizzy easily tooand I know ginger works well for me whenever I go to a movie with a lot of motion in it like Cloverfield, or any IMAX movie.
Yes, I’ve had two sessions of vertigo. With the first one, I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like I had gone back 50 years on a Friday night…you know the feeling, laying in bed and holding onto the mattress to keep from falling off. Problem was that I hadn’t been drinking. Got up to go to the toilet as is my usual habit, and fell into the dresser. Groped around the corner and had a seat, and then back to bed, where I tested myself with body coordination tests and mental calculations and speech. Having satisfied myself that I hadn’t had a stroke, I waited for the morning and went to the emergency room.
Talk about fast service. “What’s the problem?..dizziness and vision problems? Step right this way, sir” Doc had me lay down and turned my head this way and that while watching my eyes, and said “Vertigo!”
Gave me prescription drug for motion sickness. I blundered around the walls and furniture at home for a couple of days, and things sorted themselves out.
Have had two episodes since, and I take OTC drugs right away, and have avoided trips to the ER. BUT GO IF YOU HAVE VERTIGO!
I was going to suggest you check out the symptom list for Meniere’s as well (due to the tinnitus along with the dizzy spells). I don’t have it, but a friend of mine does. When she gets a dizzy spell, they can last from a minute to several hours. She’s probably going to lose her job because of it. She can’t drive while she’s having a spell, and has difficulty walking. I’ve seen her fly sideways and bang into a wall out of NOWHERE. It’s scary.
She’s been told to avoid sodium, caffeine, and liquor as much as possible and takes daily medication, which helps reduce the severity of her symptoms, but does not/cannot eliminate the spells. YMMV.
She can’t drive while she’s having a spell, and has difficulty walking. I’ve seen her fly sideways and bang into a wall out of NOWHERE. It’s scary.