Vertigo, Hearing Loss, + Tinnitus + Fibromyalgia

thanks so much for your reply -- I just saw this.

 

I've given up now trying to get anywhere, as unsure now whether my diagnosis are correct.  I definitely have BPPV but also diagnosed with MAV, silent migraines.  The dizziness is always there to a greater or lesser extent in the background, with some days or weeks feeling normal but mostly always off balance.  I think my balance has now compensated within its capacity and is something I will have to live with.  All best wishes. 

Thank you so much for your response.. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. 

Hi Anne - Like you, I feel off balance with various degrees of vertigo. Sometimes when I just look down and other times just getting up from a chair. I went to a specialist that did over an hour of testing and originally thought the crystals in the horseshoe in my ear were out of whack. They were not. I truly believe I have Menieres and I hate to self-diagnose but sometimes you have to. I am thank for the response I got from the above doctor on the injections also.

Hi Glen

hope you get some help.  I am doing much better since starting on Nortriptyline for silent migraines but still have really off days, some days better than others.  I have accepted that they don't really have the complete answer as to what is actually wrong with some of us, as the balance system is so complicated and what works for one may not for another.  Thankfully I don't experience any nausea, but I did once faint after feeling really strange on a plane as it was descending to land and think this is all part of my balance problem with the inner ear, also came close to fainting on another occasion when the plane was descending to land.  I've always had a problem with my ears when flying but this has worsened since my balance became afftected in 2013.

Best wishes.

Hi There Anne - thanks for your response.

Like you, I have always had issues with my ears and flying. I haven't been on a plane since 2011 but have a flight scheduled for April of this year. I am so reluctant to see how I'm going to react to flying. In fact, it's making me so anxious and it's several months away.  Usually I suffer with my ears for a few days after flying and they pop and clog the entire flight once take off is almost complete. 

I think you're right on the money on having complete answers. I also think some doctors know less then they actually admit when it comes to vestibular issues. It's sad to say that 3 different ENT docs really didn't offer much support. 

Be well and take care.. I'll keep you posted as time goes along. Please do the same.

Hi Glenn Yes, I also have problems with my ears for a few days after flying, find it harder to hear., feel more dizzy and as if my ears are bunged up.   I did buy some ear plugs but they didn't make any discernable difference.  I fly from UK to greece usually twice a year but now get anxious I will have a faint on the plane so have booked front seats so I have more room to collapse on floor should it happen.  Last time it happened the cabin crew were really kind and caring and said this happens to a lot of people when the plane is descending to land due to decompression.  Definetely will not be trying scuba diving any more   I think it is also important to not get low blood sugars and make sure to not to get dehydrated. 

Hello Again, Anne - thanks for your words of wisdom.. Ironically, I did book the front seat and paid extra. I did this not thinking of any problems I could encounter with the vertigo but just how much I hate to fly. Now you made me aware of a few things and I'm grateful that I can proactively plan. Certainly, I cannot have a few drinks and board the plane. Since the vertigo, I cannot drink at all. Have you found any supplements that help? Someone mentioned iron or potassium and a lot of lemon water.

Have a good day! 

My orthopedic surgeon was telling me one time about the planes pressurized cabin and the effects it can have on inner ear and sinuses. He said if you have a ear.infection or sinus infection when the plane descends, a sinus infection will be so painful you won't forget about it anytime soon. Same with ear infections. Said it can effect joints that have been compromised by surgery as well.

I have a uncle and cousins worked for airlines. Offered to send me airline tickets to come down and visit. Said thanks but no thanks. I don't even want to try. I get dizzy when my ears pop blowing my nose.

Hi Bill - prior to all this recent encounter with the vertigo and hearing loss, my ears would pop, crackle, feel clogged and take a few days to straighten out. I can only imagine now what I'm looking ahead to... AYE.... The whole thing is making me anxious which doesn't help much. I bought EARPLANEZ the last time I flew and chewed gum the whole 3 hours and it helped some but I still had problems. Pressurized cabins do affect the middle ear? I was reading somewhere that the middle ear is protected from pressurized cabins and middle ear problems shouldn't exhibit any further issues. I think what I was reading is off the mark based on what all of us go through when we fly.

Everyone is different. You can have problems with inner ear and not know it. Plus some ppl swim on vacations. Infections or ruptured ear drums can cause issues. I haven't been on a plane in 40 years or more. Don't really want to find out what may happen. Lol.

Hi Glenn, Well, no I don't take any supplements, although I understandstand low Vitamin D can cause problems, but most people have low vit D in winter in the UK and they're not all falling about.  I did take a vit D supplement and ended up with a bloodshot eye which I've never had before and wondered if the vit D3 caused it.   I have heard of so many different supplements that can make a difference but I don't want to make this problem into another career, so just get on as best I can until something is actually proven to eliminate it.  My blood tests are all within normal range so nothing glaringly obviously wrong.  I take nortriptyline for silent migraines which is meant to be the cause of my balance/visual vertigo aura problems.  Plus have BBPV more after flying.  

Such fun! 

I don't drink anyway, but mabye it might help by calming anxiety on the plane as I am also a nervous flyer.  It's anybody's guess I'm starting to think.  

That happens to my wife. Took the vitamin D , allof a sudden her one eye looked like she got poked hard. Scared me. My GP told me she prescribed steroids to some ppl complain about dizzyness after flying. Said it helps most of them.

I looked online just now and found that it can cause red eye as late symptoms of overdose (emerge within weeks or months of starting supplements)

Bone pain

Calcium deposits (hard lumps) in tissues outside of the bone

Cloudy urine

Drowsiness

Increased sensitivity of eyes to light or irritation of eyes

Itching of skin

Loss of appetite

Loss of sex drive

Mood or mental changes

Muscle pain

Nausea or vomiting

Protein in the urine

Redness or discharge of the eye, eyelid, or lining of the eyelid

Runny nose

Weight loss

What regular dose of a vitamin D supplement will cause side effects? Some people are very sensitive to daily vitamin D dosing. Vitamin D was meant to be gotten from the sun, not from pills. There are no known side effects from sunshine.

So maybe some of us are senstive to the recommended supplemental doses.

Thank you for that, Anne..

The only supplement I take is a B-12 because my blood work always showed it as being low. When I first started taking it, my T disappeared completely. I was so happy not having that loud hissing in my ears. That only lasted about a week, tops and it came back. I do take a small dose of Xanax at bedtime to sleep and give me some relief from the Fibromyalgia. I suffer with what my doctor called "aborted migraines" or opthamolic migraines also. Usually, Excedrin Migraine helps me out with those.

I would be thrilled to just get the vertigo in check and the left ear back to somd degree of normalcy.. The rest of it that I have suffered with for so long, it's become a way of life.

They checked my wife's and it was almost none exsistant. So they had her on high dose to bring it up. The problem with that is without calcium I guess you won't absorb the vit D.