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Stapedectomy - extended dizziness in recovery

Posted , 3 users are following.

cruisemates
cruisemates

My wife had her stapedectomy one week ago today. She still has not been able to get out of bed (except when somebody is physically helping her keep her balance, like to get to the toilet) for that week due to extended dizziness.

Her history is that she is prone to motion sickness and even gets carsick and sometimes airsick. (we did not know this would be such a factor when she decided to have the operation, but we are now toughing it out).

The first two days she had vomiting and dry heaves constantly. That finally ended. We took her off of ODT (anti-nausea medicine) because I read it is not for motion sickness, but is rather for nausea created by anesthesiology and that did help her a great deal (it actually can make you more dizzy). She does not like taking drugs or else I would give her Bonine, but she is VERY sensitive to all drugs.

Her ear looks good - no seepage, no signs of infection, no fever. Her hearing is even slightly improved. We just find it very surprising and frustrating that her dizziness will not go way - of course she is starting to worry this will be permanent. 

Now - it is worst when she moves her head, but it is constantly bad enough that she feels on the edge of nausea and she is not confident enough to walk by herself. This is a week since surgery.

My questions: how common is this? And secondly, what can we do to speed up recovery?

She has some good times, but the mornings are very rough. She feels better when she eats, but she has very little appetite.

I just want to get her out of bed - but she says she feels best with her eyes closed and laying on the side of her head opposite the surgery. I have been scouring the Internet and have not seen anyone else describe these symptoms. I wonder - is it a matter of pushing her to walk more, or should we just let her heal slowly in her own comfortable but stationary way?

1 like, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • alison28608
    alison28608 cruisemates

    Posted

    I have not had the same as your wife but my symptoms are similar. I have a tumour in my brain, on my balance nerve, During 6 sessions of radiotherapy I was so ill. Dizzy with nausea and feeling like I was walking on a boat. I too suffer from motion sickness and have always done. Perhaps this makes us more susceptible. Eventually I was given PROCHLORPERAZINE. This helped a lot and I could take when necessary. I also found walking very tall and upright helped. Do t look down, only straight ahead. And yes, you have to push yourself. When your eyes are open, the room spins, but the more you do it, the better it gets. Good luck to you both.
  • cruisemates
    cruisemates

    Posted

    Thank you, Allison. So sorry to hear about your tumor, that sounds very complicated and disheartening. I so appreciate your advice, though, nd I will try to get her to get more active.

    I once had a bad head injury, and I had bad vertigo for several months, but it did go away. Like most, it only happened when I turned my head.

     

  • cruisemates
    cruisemates

    Posted

    Right you are. 

    I wanted to add something about my wife - she is sleeping almost constantly. She fell asleep at 8:00 pm and slept all night. Then she slept from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, and now at 3:00 pm she is asleep again. She sleeps about 18 hours a day. It has been a week since surgery.

    • alison28608
      alison28608 cruisemates

      Posted

      Yes this does seem excessive. I too, was incredibly tired. But also the dizzyness stopped when I was lying down with my eyes shut and the room stopped moving. She must have been given a follow up appointment. See if you can speak with someone before then. When people have an inner ear infection they stagger about and feel sick. This will be similar only more intense. I hope she feels better soon.
  • cruisemates
    cruisemates

    Posted

    She does have a doctors appt on Thurs. Thank goodness. I have been monitoring her temperature and watching for redness, etc. She has no external signs of an infection. She also did a round of antibiotics, so I think she is good, but you never know.

    A big problem was her stomach was very upset, but I think it was the meds she was taking. I did convince her to get up and she watched TV sitting in a chair for several hours - that is a good sign. It also helped her tummy to sit up and digest, but now at 6:30 she is back in bed and ready to go to sleep again.

    I am just befuddled by the ongoing lightheadedness and sleepiness. But I guess this motion sensitivity is just going to last longer than we expected. She has her own chiropractic/naturopath training, and It is very tough when you have a patient who generally doesn't trust doctors and who always thinks she knows better, but I will give her credit for listening to me on some important things and trying to get better today.

    • alison28608
      alison28608 cruisemates

      Posted

      Good to know she has an appointment tomorrow. Keep encouraging her to get up for short spells. It doesnt sound like an infection is present. We people with a medical background do make the worst patients. Interestingly, my tummy is always upset by medication too. Let me know how it goes tomorrow. Best wishes to you both
  • blessed1111
    blessed1111 cruisemates

    Posted

    Hello, I too had extreme vertigo to the point of being bed ridden for 5 straight days. I could not even lift my head of the pillow or sit without falling and/or vomitting. It was horrendous! Had 21 prednisone pills in five days and eventually a steroid injection on day five. When the doctor removed the packing and cleaned out the bloody fluid along with the steroid injection, I was able to sit upright. After a couple of days of feeling like I was walking on a row boat I eventually came back to "normal". My ear still feels a bit "full" like there's some swelling, but nothing too bad. I have an autoinflammatory condition called FMF which the doctor believes caused a rather routine procedure in most to cause out of hand inflammation in me. Does your wife have any other conditions? 

    How is your wife doing now? 

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