Dizziness & Vertigo Support Group
Dizziness is the sensation of instability. Vertigo refers to dizziness with a sensation of motion. Vertigo is more likely than other types of dizziness to be associated with nausea, vomiting, or double vision, to occur even when lying down, and to feel better with the eyes closed. If you are a frequent sufferer of dizziness or vertigo, join the group and find support.
Hello everyone,
A little back story about my journey dealing with vertigo.
I am 19 years old, currently on track to pursuing a career training horses, and am a new property owner with my boyfriend of 4 years.
I was driving home from work one day when it struck, you know the feeling... almost as if I had four or five drinks and everything just felt "off".
I went to the emergency room after having these recurring episodes a few times, only to be told it was all in my head.
Not taking that for an answer, I went to another doctor who diagnosed me with an "inner ear disturbance". What from? Eight months later I am still not sure.
I have been dealing with at least one vertigo episode per day (it used to be several times per day in the beginning), which has paid a toll on my career and personal life. So much so, I feel as if I'm developing agoraphobia.
I have tried EVERYTHING; natural remedies, massage therapy, prescription drugs, gravol, rest... and here I am!
This is not a typical positional vertigo, it can occur no matter that I'm doing, but especially when I am in louder places (like a restaurant).
Have gone to an ENT as well, and now a neurologist.
For those of you who are SURVIVORS of vertigo, how did you deal with this? How did you cure it? I find it's making me more and more anxious to go out and do normal everyday activities.
Thank you for any advice.
Anna
A little back story about my journey dealing with vertigo.
I am 19 years old, currently on track to pursuing a career training horses, and am a new property owner with my boyfriend of 4 years.
I was driving home from work one day when it struck, you know the feeling... almost as if I had four or five drinks and everything just felt "off".
I went to the emergency room after having these recurring episodes a few times, only to be told it was all in my head.
Not taking that for an answer, I went to another doctor who diagnosed me with an "inner ear disturbance". What from? Eight months later I am still not sure.
I have been dealing with at least one vertigo episode per day (it used to be several times per day in the beginning), which has paid a toll on my career and personal life. So much so, I feel as if I'm developing agoraphobia.
I have tried EVERYTHING; natural remedies, massage therapy, prescription drugs, gravol, rest... and here I am!
This is not a typical positional vertigo, it can occur no matter that I'm doing, but especially when I am in louder places (like a restaurant).
Have gone to an ENT as well, and now a neurologist.
For those of you who are SURVIVORS of vertigo, how did you deal with this? How did you cure it? I find it's making me more and more anxious to go out and do normal everyday activities.
Thank you for any advice.
Anna
There are so many things I have gone through through my whole adult life....I am 57 now. first of all, I say this a lot, about different symptoms, but I always recommend keeping a journal of symptoms and noting what you did that day, and include things like what you ate , how you slept etc.
Females especially , if they have chronic symptoms could sometimes find out it is cyclic or hormonal causes.
I can't say for sure my vertigo is related to that but after years of feeling dizzy at random times for no apparent reason, I finally figured out , a certain time of the month was when I'd be super dizzy one day.
when I say "certain time of the month"--yes I mean menstrual cycles BUT I don't mean during the actual period necessarily.
For me, the bad dizzy days would happen in the week before my period. In other words, PMS time.
and when period came, I would have less dizzy feelings. *unless I had severe amount of flow; but that is another story.
I started journaling because of chronic headaches and found out many things I felt were cyclic, including odd things like dental pain.
As far as the gravol.....I was given a form of this when I went to the ER last month for vertigo that was scaring me. I really could not walk and like you mentioned, it's like drinking too much...even laying down , having the room spinning.
But for me that medicine does not help. And in ER they gave me that, and lots of tests..blood tests, EKG, chest exray, Cat Scan of my head....I can't even recall all the things they checked and they only found a bladder infection and anemia.
The medicine did not help at all. Fluids helped more but still not enough.
My chiropractor, years ago, did something for my inner ear which involved spinning me in a chair which of course I hated....but I think it did help.
I did have inner ear infections a lot , at your age especially.
For me ginger helps more than the Gravol type of medicine.
Ginger pills, *Ginger Ale, etc.
* it needs to contain actual ginger, which some brands don't.
my Mother used to make me take Dramamine on car trips as a child but it only made me feel worse. so when I got home from hospital last month and looked up the med that gave me and found out , that is what it really is...Dramamine......I realized no wonder it did not help.
As far as the fear aspect, I learned over time what enlsolis said about breathing exercises etc, and it helped me in a big way.
Not to avoid vertigo, but , to avoid a self fulfilling prophecy of having it happen in a certain time or place and then having the fear it will happen again.
It had happened to me, while driving , also , many times....so then I went through a time where I was so afraid of it happening again it was life changing.
but learning to self calm myself with proper slow breathing, and relaxation Cds (at home) , I learned to do it on my own.
Best thing is , when you just start feeling that way, to not allow it to get to the full on feeling.
meaning if you begin to feel "off" or worried , to do the slow deep breathing , and self talk techniques.
for example " it is not going to hurt me. it is just a feeling"
or, "I went through this before, and I survived ok"
whatever happens to work for you.
I am not against prescription meds, and in fact I take them for anxiety. It just happens to be the Dramamine type that do not agree with me.
If you do decide to journal about the symptoms , plan on taking to the doctor to share with him or her.
It could give them helpful ideas on what is going on. On the other hand, it depends on individual doctors. Some really appreciate this and some don't care or dont' have the time to look at it.
It was a doctor I was seeing about my migraines who got me started, to do this.
And I made up a little short hand so I did not have to write so much every day. Like , "D" for dizzy, etc.
But , whether you do this or not, my most sincere advice it to make sure the doctors are told in what ways this affects your life.
We sometimes assume they would know this. But they don't always.
You need to specifically tell them , the way you did here.
good luck to you, you have many good things in your life and your are young...you will be ok.
In August 2015, I got a cold, and came down with Bronchitis, Sinusitis, and Post-Nasal Drip. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea and dizziness come over me, and it was bad. This time, the room was spinning constantly and everything felt as it was moving all the time. This time, it was a constant dizziness and nausea. It never stopped. It was present all the time, all day long. I got another prescription of the normal meds from previous times, and they worked and all, but once again, was super drowsy. I dealt with this for three months this time. I was diagnosed in August and didn't get better until late October. It was a nightmare more so this time than anytime, because it was relentless. I couldn't function or do anything without the medication. One time I ran out, and then after awhile, I tried to stop taking the medication, to see how I felt after it was entirely out of my system, and sure enough, it went away again. Knocking on wood, I haven't had it since, and I just got over Asthmatic Bronchitis. So both times previously, when I had bronchitis, I got Vertigo. I didn't get it this time. Don't want to jinx myself either. Dealing with it is horrible. Another thing I did, was sleep most of the day. I hope things get better for you and you find out more about it. A lot of people can't seem to find out what causes it and how long it takes for a healing process to begin.