New to Vertigo / BPPV : which ear?

Posted , 7 users are following.

Six days ago I started feeling vertiginous. After two days I went to the hospital and the doctor looked in my eyes to confirm that it was BPPV and gave me betahistine 48mg daily.

I've read up on Epley Maneuver and have been practicing it several times daily. The vertigo has gone from a 6/10 to a 3/10 since that first few days - though I don't know what combination of meds, exercises and compensation that is.

I'm perfectly fine sitting, even computing; it's when I stand that I have trouble balancing. It's not that the room spins (that seems to have passe), I just waver and stumble a lot.

What I don't know is how to tell which ear it's in. Moving my head side-to-side doesn't really induce vertigo, though tilting my head down does.

The Epley maneveurs do not induce any vertigo. I would have thought they would definitely do so, considering how much I'm moving my head around.

Can I be sure this is BPPV?

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  • Posted

    Uh oh. This is what I was afraid of:

    Vestibular neuritis and labyrinthitis: While patients with these disorders can be sensitive to head position, it is generally not related to the side of the head which is down (as in BPPV), but rather just whether the patient is lying down or sitting up.

    My vertigo does not seem to have any correlation with one side of my head, indeed with any orientation of my head (though sudden movements are disorienting). Acutally, the only position that seems to cause much of a problem is raising my head up or lowering my head to my chest.

    • Posted

      With me it differs sometimes. Depending on what triggered it. This time up and down movements not to bad. Side to side head turning is real bad. Doing my PT i get dizzy the first 2 times i turn my head. So bad.
  • Posted

    Finally got to my ENT, who did a better check than the Emerg. 

    As I have been suspecting, it was not BPPV. There was no vertigo associated with movement o  the head or of positions of the head. It was apparent when even the Epley Maneuvers did not induce vertigo.

    Doctor called it as Vestibular Neuritis - mere inflammation, usually due to a virus.

    It has passed. Took about two weeks, all told, but I was 80% better after the first week.

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