11 years of vertigo and dizziness, any advise would be appreciated
Posted , 7 users are following.
So I am very sure this started when I had an horrendous bout of tonsilitis and got my ears syringed whilst they were still sore and infected. (the nurse didn't check until after and then said it probablies shouldn't have been done)!
Not long after the dizziness started. I can not remember much about the beginning it as it's been so long but I do know that most days since then I have never felt completely steady, I get different feelings, woozy or off balance, cloudy, almost as if I am in a bubble and not reality.
This went on for 6 months solid with the severe dizziness coming on.
Now 11 years on I am a huge anxiety sufferer down to this, it has affected me socially and in other ways.
For the last couple of years I have gotten more used to it and started exercising reguarly, getting out and having fun and not letting it rule my life.
I normally get a couple of bad turns a year and in between I feel unsteady.
Now I have all of a sudden have 3 severe boughts in less than 2 weeks.
The symptoms are as follows:
I mostly always get it during the night and it wakes me, if I turn my head a certain way (sometimes just lying flat) I get this awful swirling which knocks me sick and I have to turn a certain way or move my head into a specific position to stop it and I have to stay there until it passes.
If I get up during this my whole head feels like it is spinning in various directions and it then becomes an interesting walk to the bathroom.
If I stand for long enough it's as if my head figures out where I am and the intense spinning stops.
It also affects my eyes a little during these episodes, feels like they struggle to focus.
Any ideas what this could be. I need to find a way of reducing it or even stopping this. I don't want to let it ruin my life when I have just found a way of coping.
0 likes, 21 replies
alison17886 emma2454
Posted
emma2454 alison17886
Posted
lily65668 emma2454
Posted
Sorry to say it's unlikely the Epley would work for you Emma. It's only effective for positional vertigo - which is a relatively shortlived condition where the crystals in the inner ear get displaced. This condition lasts a few months - maximum a year or so - not 11 years.
However, you could alway try the Dix-Hallpike test at home. (Google it.) If this causes intense vertigo and spinning that only lasts a few seconds, then your problem could be positional vertigo. If you look it up, the instructions will be to hang your head over the end of the bed, but this isn't necessary. It will still work (if it's going to) if you quickly lie flat with your head tilted backwards and to the side. Just take the pillows off the bed, and make sure you're sitting far enough down it to avoid cracking your head on the wall or the bed-head when you throw yourself down.
If the Dix-Hallpike is negative - i.e. if it doesn't cause an attack of spinning, or if the vertigo doesn't stop a few seconds after lying down - then it's unlikely you have positional vertigo, in which case the Epley won't help.
emma2454 lily65668
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lily65668 emma2454
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Well, I know BPPV can come back - I've had it twice myself in a period of 20 years or so, once in each ear - but it's my understanding it's either there or it isn't. Or at least that's been my experience. The first time I had it, I saw an ENT doctor who made it temporarily worse, then it cleared up gradually of its own accord over the next year. The last time (at the beginning of this year) I saw a specialised physiotherapist, who fixed it instantly with the Epley manoeuvre. That was three months ago, and I've been fine ever since.
In the intervening 20 years I never had the slightest sign of vertigo. I have, however, had minor episodes of feeling dizzy all my life, but with no spinning. I've always put these down to tensing my neck and grinding my teeth in periods of stress, as this affects the blood supply to the base of the brain. Also, when I was young, I used to hyperventilate unconsciously when anxious, which is notorious for causing a sick, dizzy feeling.
emma2454 lily65668
Posted
You have certainly been through it. Must have been awful for you. I have always had a sense of anxiousness but after the 6 months long episode initially whilst looking after my not quite 1 year old it really knocked my confidence and my anxiety over the years got worse, this I believe has definitely contributed to the wooziness. I generally feel unsteady most of the time but not dizzy, more foogy headed, sometimes I feel I can't focus. I have never had any treatment nor any visit to the ENT other than for my throat. I have been seeing a physio for 6 years for a tense thoracic region and my neck has issues also.
I spoke to him a few days ago and he advised he wants me to see the doctor first to make sure they think it is BPPV and then he will go ahead with the Epley, he hasn't done it for a while either so he wants to make sure nothing has changed.
The doctors over the early years were not particularly helpful, one said it could be labrynthitis brought on after a cold, another said it is anxiety as my balance seemed fine.
I wish the episodes would come on when I am there but it's impossible, it is always during the night and wakes me up. It's really disorientating.