Vertigo (Not the movie)!

[kandb]

I am a 52 year old female. I have always had some "balance" issues. Within the last 3 years I have had very quick episodes (prob. under 3-4 seconds), approx. 6 times, where I have lost my balance and had to grab onto something.

Last Friday, I woke in bed turned my head and the room started spinning. Luckily, my sister had left me some Meclizine pills and I had my daughter get me one as I could not move. After 30 minutes, I was able to get up and the dizziness subsided but I didn't feel 100%. The next morning I woke up and didn't have as much "spinning" but my balance was so off, that my husband had to walk me to the restroom and at that point, we went to the ER by lunchtime. They did and CT scan and it came back normal and said I had BPPV, which is benign vertigo and is caused by certain movements. In the meantime, I went to and ENT and he made it seem like no big deal, told me to stop taking meclizine, which the hospital gave me more of. ENT told me to move my head and not hold it straight. Within a week, I was 80% better.

Yesterday, 8 days after first attack, I woke up, was feeling a little tired because I had a busy day the day before and my son woke up early due to coughing. At around 10am, he asked me to type something in his ipad, I looked down to type, felt "weird-a little dizzy", looked up and the spinning started again, took the meclizine, needed help all day walking and today I am still "off balanced" but can walk on my own.

I plan on going to a neurologist and am going to make an appointment at NYU, in NYC because they have a vertigo clinic. I work full time and drive a lot for my job. I really don't know how to handle this situation. Anyone experience this or have any advice? I am concerned to drive my children since this comes on so suddenly and if I was driving I don't know what I would do if it started, that's how incapacitating it is.

 

[geek+nerd]

Could it be positional vertigo? It's caused by these little crystals in your ear getting out of whack.

I had a similar situation several years ago. I was convinced it was something super serious. After not driving for three weeks because of dizzy spells, I got a referral to an ENT.

To diagnose it, the doc basically induced the symptoms. Then she did some maneuver a few times that is supposed to get the crystals back in place. I had to wear a neck collar for 3 days and sleep sitting up during that time. It was definitely a pain but I have not had a recurrence since.

I hope it's something simple that can be treated. It is a horrible feeling. Good luck!

 

[robinb]

Did your doctor give you exercises? I've had BPPV a couple of times and I tend to get a mild form when I have a cold. Decongestants work for me in conjunction with exercises. I had to have an in office procedure done when it was really bad. I'm on my phone but I can look it up when I get home. It worked like a charm.

 

[robinb]

OK, I'm at home.

The first is a home exercise called the Brandt-Daroff exercise: http://www.webmd.com/brain/brandt-daroff-exercise-for-vertigo-16844 . It's what I do when I feel a BPPV episode coming on and it usually goes away in a week. It did NOT help when I had BPPV for the first time. I had to go through a series of tests that finally led to a ENT who did the Epley Maneuver on me: http://www.webmd.com/brain/liberatory-maneuvers-for-vertigo#. It was very sudden and made me very, very, very dizzy. And then ... I was FINE! It moved the "rocks" in my head that were out of position and I was 100% fine.

You probably don't need a neurologist OP. You need an ENT who knows how to treat BPPV. FWIW, I never took medication for my positional vertigo.

 

[kandb]

Thank you robin for all the great info. I will tell the the ENT what is going on, just scares me that it happened really bad within a week period.

 

[robinb]

Thank you robin for all the great info. I will tell the the ENT what is going on, just scares me that it happened really bad within a week period.

Of course it does! The vertigo clinic at NYU may be the place for you too, especially if your insurance will pay for it. I did a quick google search and it looks like they are ENTs also. I know that I had to find a specific ENT that would do the Epley Maneuver for me as not all of them do it.

 

[Psychodisney]

I'm a PT and have some experience with BPPV. The Epley maneuver is highly effective if done correctly. Many physical therapists are trained in it, call a few clinics and find one who can treat you. Skip the neuro. Maybe your MD can order PT. You'll need to be off the meds, you need to feel the symptoms. I know it's awful!

You could try a self Epley. Look for it on you tube.
Good luck!

 

[kandb]

Thank you psychodisney, I appreciate the advice. I did read about people going to physical therapy for this.

 

[Blackadder337]

In the past few years, my wife has experienced bouts of Vertigo. She's been doing PT for the past 8 months. It helped out quite a bit. In the last 8 months though, she now has problems with the muscles in her neck and shoulders being too tight. She has the vertigo somewhat under control and doing neck, shoulder and head exercises every day. It has definitely minimized the number of incidents she has had. When she has one, they're minor and if she sits still for a few minutes, it usually passes, providing she doesn't do anything too crazy afterwards. They sent her for an MRI, a battery of blood tests etc and everything came back normal.

She has an appointment with an ENT next week. Hopefully he/she will have some insight as well.

As for her neck and shoulder muscle problems, apparently once she's seen the ENT, the family doctor wants to give her some sort of injection that will hopefully help 'break up' the muscle tightness. We haven't talked about the injection much so I'm sure I'm missing some of the facts. There may be a lot more to it than just a simple injection.

I know how bad vertigo has been for us, so you have my sympathies and best wishes for some sort of resolution.

 

[kandb]

PP, that's so weird because the 2 bad bouts of vertigo I had, my neck and shoulder muscles get very tight. Every time I move my neck it cracks
a lot and there is so much tightness. I wonder I the vertigo and the muscles have something to do with each other. Thanks for the response.

 

[robinb]

PP, that's so weird because the 2 bad bouts of vertigo I had, my neck and shoulder muscles get very tight. Every time I move my neck it cracks
a lot and there is so much tightness. I wonder I the vertigo and the muscles have something to do with each other. Thanks for the response.

I wonder if it's because you're holding your head in a "careful" static position and not a natural fluid position.