Daily vertigo in perimenopause
Posted , 12 users are following.
Hi ...does anyone have experience of vertigo being possibly linked to perimenopause? I'm 51 and 9 months ago started suffering night time head spins, followed by severe vertigo attacks on a morning. Several trips to ENT later, they said BPPV, but despite Epley treatments, I still have it. It's unbearable, relentless and terrifying. I've been borderline calling for an ambulance a number of times, it's that bad. Some days worse than others but for no apparent reason. Even the slightest head movement can set of a severe spin. ENT say they cant do anything more. I'm now doing vestibular exercises and have tried everything. Reducing caffeine, salt, alcohol, guided meditation, acupuncture, massage, sertraline. Nothing is helping. My last resort is to trial HRT. Has anyone had similar experiences? This is wrecking my life 😥
3 likes, 22 replies
notsure47790 Rippled
Edited
Mine comes and goes. It feels like I am off balance or lightheaded. It is awful! I am not sure what causes it and why and I am ashamed to go to any doctor any more- I always get to feel dumb and crazy and spend money for nothing!
corinne62311 notsure47790
Edited
i am so sorry that u have to pay for healthcarei have paid for a naturopath to get to the bottom of this he had been somewhat helpful but i am going in HRT i will keep you updated on whether this helps
Mochi Rippled
Posted
I am 47, two years ago I started having lightheadedness (feeling of going down in an elevator) all day long. I went to the doctor and had a complete check up, nothing came up. I started to do some research and suspected I was in Perimenopause (I also had other symptoms that matched). Called the doctor and asked for help. They recommended low dose birth control pills to keep my hormones balanced (they explained it was due to my imbalanced hormones that was causing my symptoms). I started on 28 mcg. Over the course of the first 3 months, my lightheadedness started to become less and less. I took that dosage for about 1 year. I also changed my lifestyle to focus on exercise and eating healthy. Because I still had some lingering symptoms like hot flashes, thumb twitching, lightheadedness my doctor increased my dose to 30mcg. I have been taking that everyday for the past year and all my symptoms have disappeared with the exception of some fatigue, some dizziness and some lightheadedness sprinkled throughout the day. During these 2 years I had stayed off of caffeine 100% because I read birth control pills makes it so your body can't break down caffeine. However, in order to combat the residual fatigue, dizziness and lightheadedness I started to slowly sip on 1/2 cup of tea throughout the entire day. This seems to have really kept the fatigue, dizziness and lightheadness away. It has been about a month so we shall see if this lasts. I am also taking the birth control pills right before bed as I noticed the progestin in the pills was making me sleepy 1-4 hrs after taking it. One other thing is, I don't drink one drop of alcohol normally, the other night I had just literally 4 sips of wine with dinner. That evening, I had that spinning sensation right before bed time. I later read that alcohol stays in your inner ear longer than your blood, so I am never doing that again. This is just a constant roller coaster ride of learning isn't it?
menomel Rippled
Posted
Hi everyone, I am going to try to offer a glimmer of hope. I had exactly this in perimenopause - I was that bad I passed out and my husband found me at the bottom of our stairs - I was going up stairs to grab a coffee in the morning!
I would freak out and have to pull over the side id the road, get so dizzy I would drop my hand bag, have to hold on to a wall.
I had years of specialists, heart monitors, suspected MS, Parkinsons, told to increase salt, eat sugar snacks for low sugar and blood pressure - it was terrifying. And all they needed to say was it was my hormones.
Doctors are not familiar with the full scope of what hormones can do - its so horrible.
So after all this - what I want to tell you is that they finally start to settle and things get better - I know its hard to believe and sadly it may go from dizzy spells to the next thing but they do eventually go.
Hang in there - its an absolutely horrible and frightening experience. But you can do it!
corinne62311 Rippled
Posted
update i have been on HRT for over 13 months now. i am still having episodes of vertigo, not during the night now but they do still happen randomly during the day. they do cause more anxiety. im still not free.