I was wondering if you were having any results with the vitamin D. I have dizzyness and then I have bouts with verigo. I have to take meclize and all I do is sleep. I have to take vitamin D because it is down. still did not help the dizzyness and verigo. I have had my for a year and just had a bout this morning. It is hard working with but I just take each day as it comes. I hope you are having a better time. I have had this for a year. The doctors dont know what to do about it, Just my opinion.

Thanks derb522002 for your reply. Yes, it certainly is one day at a time with LOTS of unanswered questions from the doctors! I did not mention on my initial post that my dizziness returned (not with vertigo this second time) after I fainted while sitting in a restaurant last summer. When I woke up in the ER they attributed my "blacking out" to stress due to my husband's death a few weeks earlier and labeled it "generalized anxiety" and sent me off with an Rx for Xanax. Later when I saw my GP she had me tested for both Vit D and B12. I was deficient in both. So I have been taking both daily for about 10 months and I still have the dizziness. Hated the Xanax, and am resorting to Valium if the dizziness bothers me in public (probably some anxiety now due to the history of passing out last summer). It is soooo tiring some days. Maybe we will get relief from this crazy condition one of these days. Guess we just have to "stay calm and carry on". Good to hear from you . . .Take care and God Bless!

Thanks for your comment. I have an appointment with a doctor in Boston. I find the weather bothers the dizziness. I also have plugged ears with my verigo. I am beginning to wonder if my ear is draining right. I wonder if it could be that easy. This bout of verigo seems to be taking more out of me. I am learning to stay calm when it happens . We can hang in her together if you want to :)

derb522002: It would be great to have a regular support friend on this board. I have had good health my entire life, and managed to stay away from doctors. I don't think my friends really understand how frustrating, depressing and debilitating this condition is. The last week I started having headaches. I rarely get headaches. So now, I am worried that I may have some other physical problem related to the dizziness . . . or worse yet, that I am turning into an anxiety- drive hypochondriac! I may have to "bite the bullet" and make a doctor's appointment.

Good luck with your medical appointment. I'll put you in my prayers, and hope that . . . just maybe . . . you find a solution to your vertigo with drainage problem. Keep in touch & take care.

annelind Make an appointment with your doctor. Dont let it go. I know how you feel about people because people do not understand if they dont have the condition. I feel like all I do is complain. I have to start thinking postive. I hope the Boston doctor can help. The ENT doctor that i went to the first time just seemed to blow me off. I was not inpressed. He said it was virual. I went to emerancey care and the it has almost been a year and the doctor said if it is virual I should be over it. My own GP said it takes a long time if it is virual. I am beginning to think they really dont know. I will see what the Boston doctor saids and go from there.

But get your check out to be on the safe side. It would make me feel better if you do

I've been away awhile but was just reading your post annelind about your vertigo. I agree don't let the issue go. Also seek out answers if your not getting relief. You mentioned being dizzy all the time but would get relief with some coping strategies. I was wondering, what strategies did your doctor suggest?

At first, when you mentioned the inner ear i was going to suggest a simbalance pillow because it helps people who deal with BPPV on a daily basis. It's designed to help stimulate head maneuvers like the Epley and Semont. Which helps bring balance to crystals in the ear, but I don't know if that would be the most helpful for you.

After I started reading more about vestibular neuritis I found some websites you might find helpful. You've probably even already have seen them but I figured I'd share, after all that's what we do here- help each other out as best we can. The first link is about your condition, make sure you read the testing and treatment of chronic phases. The second link is more info on vestiublar rehabilitation exercises.

http://vestibular.org/labyrinthitis-and-vestibular-neuritis

http://www.coloradoent.com/home-program-vestibular-rehabilitation-exercises

Thanks derb and chitterchat for your posts. Really appreciate your support and everyone else who posts on this board.

Had some trouble getting on with my password. Then just now my screen flipped on me as I was typing this reply. Hope I didn't accidentally send an incomplete post.

Your right. Thanks for the encouragement about checking in with doctors again. It just gets a little discouraging when you realize the doctors don't know what to do for you - except refer you on to another doctor - which is of course, a "specialist" who you then expect will have answers for you. Until you see them . . .

My internist first said it was BPPV and told me to take Meclizine and sent me to a PT for the epley maneuvers.

Months later, still having dizziness/balance problems, went to an ENT who said, in all likelihood it was a virus that attacked the vestibular nerve. So get off Meclizine because that would interfere with the brain trying to reorganize itself. ENT said it would take time to resolve itself, but cautioned some people NEVER have a full recovery due to permanent nerve damage.

She had me try "vestibular therapy" with a PT trained in this therapy. Frankly, I didn't feel much improvement over the 10 sessions I went, but I did learn things to do - kind of coping strategies if the dizziness really started becoming unbearable. Also the therapy is designed to "desensitize" you to stimuli that brings on dizziness.

Guess I got discouraged on my last ENT visit earlier this year when ENT said I could get further testing performed to confirm that my dizziness "may" be a result of vestibular damage - BUT that the testing was not necessarily conclusive and that there was still no treatment, even if it was determined to be vestibular nerve damage.

The fact that I would have to drive 100 miles one way to the nearest medical office for the testing and not even have much hope of a treatment option really discouraged me. The old "why bother" attitude took hold . . . I'll just live with it!

Well, here I am 6 months later . . . and bemoaning the fact that I had to turn down a friend's invitation to go up to the local ski resort tomorrow where they are having free chairlift rides up to the top of the mountain during a summer festival.

To be honest, I am hesitant to do anything where my balance may be an issue (biking, skiing, etc.) All I could think about was if I ride that chairlift that may cause this dizziness to turn into the dreaded !!! VERTIGO.

Okay, so sniff, sniff . . . poor me . . . poor us with this crazy affliction. Thanks for letting me be honest. Wishing you all some relief and a miraculous healing. I will get to the doctor. I need to not give up . . . not yet anyway.

Thanks for your support. There is comfort to know you are not alone. Take care all and . . . God bless!

Annelind, I know how you feel about living with it. I am really thinking the doctors really dont know what to do. I like you feel like I am whinning all the time. The doctor in boston really didnt say anything but I least I will look into the algeries. I also read about the water and I do drink alot of water and I take Vitiam D also. I did have low vitiam D and my doctor upped my intake. I just hope since it has been a week and no dizzness this has past. I know it is very hard to keep a postive about this. My niece has verigo also and even she has said people who do not have this just dont understand. I have also limited myself and am just getting back to driving. and that is because I have not felt dizzy. I hope that was the last time I get the vertigo. It is very diabling on us and if you dont have it people dont understand.

derb . . . Just wondering about your Vitamin D. What amount of Vitamin D is your doctor having you take now?

I was low in Vitamin D when the doctor tested last summer, so she had me take a mega dose 50,000 (RX) twice a week for two months. Then had me checked 3 months later and since I was at normal levels told me to drop down to 1000 1x daily.

I sure hope you continue to get relief from your dizziness and that it becomes permanent. That would mean there is hope for the rest of us! Take care.

Annelind My doctor had me take 4 Vitamin D for 2 months then drop down to 2 a day. He said he wanted to get up.

I'm skimming through the various posts here regarding labyrinthitis, vestibular neuritis, etc., and can relate to what a lot of you are feeling and going through. I may have a bad case of labyrinthitis and who knows how bad my vestibular nerve is but I do go to a follow up with my ENT tomorrow to get the results of the ENG test I had done a few days ago so I am hoping there is a light at the end of the tunnel for me, but I do want to ask if anyone else is experiencing visual weirdness as well as the usual dizziness and/or light headedness? I haven't had any bad headaches lately but I still get the swimmy head sensation and will see dots or spots of color or shadows every now and then and was wondering if anyone else is experiencing visual weirdness? I hope everyone on here finds relief one way or another. I'm going to my chiropractor tomorrow and find that helps me and I am also considering acupuncture.

I don't get visual weirdness but my vision is uncomfortable at best.

Tell me. Once the initial vertigo is gone and is replaced by the constant light headedness, does the vertigo ever suddenly come back?

Or is it just the fear what if it does? I think I'm more afraid that it'll suddenly return. I'm pretty new at this and don't want to limit myself too much.

Who drives? Who doesn't any longer? My driving is good but I can say not comfortable. I'm worried I might have to give it up. I live in Los Angeles. City of cars!

About the visual weirdness: Every once and awhile I'll get a fleeting image in my peripheral vision as if something is there , , , but when I turn my head nothing is there. Very weird.

I had "floaters" when I turned 60. That was way before this dizziness thing started. The ophthalmologist said that's a normal occurrence for the 6th decade. Has something to do with the aging eye. I read about it then, but don't remember now. I do remember that it's nothing serious, like a detached retina.

There are many times when my dizziness is made worse by different visual stimulus: changing light conditions (especially limited light); busy patterns; uneven or changing grounds.

Driving has not been a problem. I think it's because I am focused on the road and my body is grounded and not moving. I have noticed, when I am stopped at a traffic light and if I start to swing my head around too fast, I can bring on a dizziness rush. Also, I sometimes get a weird sense of my car moving (even when my foot is on the break) if the car next to me starts to move.

I am changing from progressive lenses to bifocals. Waiting for new glasses. The optician said she has had several clients that had always had progressive lenses, but had problems with dizziness . . . and when they changed to bifocals/trifocals their dizziness stopped! Can't wait to get my new glasses!

Annelid, we were just discussing floaters and visual weirdness under "it sucks to be dizzy." Dont know if you read that, but i said the same thing abot the illusion that your car is moving because others are drifting.

Re: floaters, lot of people have them. It is annoying like ringingmin the ears. They get between you and whatever youre trying to see, and your focus can get thrown off. They come from a clumping of cell material. And aging can be a cause along with injury or surgery.

One of the first vertigo "attacks" i had at m boss's doctor office. The carpet there was patterned and it really threw me for a loop, too. I had,a panic attack because i had nomclue what was going on. Laughing at that now.

Hotdogdog (I am a dog lover . . . and your post name and pic is the best! Always makes me smile.) Yeah, just have to laugh at some of this stuff to keep your sanity.

A funny episode for dizziness for me was when I went in to see a therapist for grief counseling. The therapist was wearing a white fishnet top over a bright red tee-shirt. I got so dizzy looking at her, I looked away from her across the room to a leather couch.

Got even dizzier because the couch had some kind of swirling dark patterns in the leather. So I preceded to stare down at the carpets - again some kind of weird geometrical patterns that was causing more crazy dizziness.

Finally, I ended staring past the therapist at a white wall - making no eye contact with her for the entire session! I'm sure the therapist was probably wondering about the no eye contact . . . she was probably thinking "hmmm, some serious problems going on with this lady."

Anyway, at the end of our session, I did explain my dizziness problem. Turns out she had suffered briefly from vertigo and dizziness after she hit her head falling in the shower.

End result: Not sure how much grief therapy I got that day, but now it's good for a laugh!