Anyone suffer from Vertigo?

I get BPPV as well. Usually mild, occassionally room spinningly, vomitiously not mild.

I find if I feel a mild case coming on, I pinch my nostrils closed and try and equalize my ear pressure. Over and over. Seems to help but might only be placebo. The Epley maneuver is only thing that helps the severe attacks.

I also have history of ear infections, some of which turn nasty. I don't know if that is related but everything I have read says no.
 
About the room spinning, it only has happened a few times. But I'll occasionally get where it feels like my body shifts about 45º while sitting still or when I first lay down. Weird feeling like someone would move my entire body quickly then stop. Aliens?
 
I have had vertigo episodes over the years. Yes, it sucks! I get the "you move, you puke" kind of vertigo. About a dozen years ago I had a bad sinus infection that took months to clear up. I was finally referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist . Everything checked out OK, no damage in the ear canal, no lingering infection. He then asked me if I had ever been to a Chiropractor. Huh, what? He explained that the eustachian tube is very narrow and goes down between my scull and jaw.

I was referred to a Chiropractor because at that point I would try anything. The chiropractor spent time adjusting my neck. Everything drained out. I continued to go for a few months. I didn't have any problems for about three years then out of nowhere it came back. I do Epley maneuvers as needed and go to a Chiropractor intermittently. If I never had to deal with vertigo, I would be fine.
 
My Vertigo started when I hit my head on a wood beam when I was climbing up a ladder. The Epley maneuver always fixed it for me when it would flare up every couple years. After I started taking Vitamin D it hasn't come back.
I haven't noticed any improvement in frequency or severity with Vitamin D. Glad it w*rks for you. Vertigo is no fun. No fun at all.
 
About the room spinning, it only has happened a few times. But I'll occasionally get where it feels like my body shifts about 45º while sitting still or when I first lay down. Weird feeling like someone would move my entire body quickly then stop. Aliens?
Do you have any suspicious "probe" marks upon awakening? ;)
 
Well I often have bruises from doing simple stuff...
 
I've had BPPV episodes at least 3 to 4 times a year for the past 30 years.

I self-treat with the Epley and then try to avoid laying completely flat or on the affected side for a day or two. I also avoid positional head changes like looking up or bending over until it is resolved.

Generally that gives the body time to resorb the loose crystals.

It's miserable but no way to prevent it. I hate it!

The only possible triggers I might note for me is running/jumping recently and also, possibly, sleeping all night on one side exclusively.
 
Without going into boring exhaustive details there are many causes of vertigo. BPPV being the most common is not triggered by a cold, an ear infection, flying, swimming , etc.. It can be a random occurrence or is often seen after a relatively benign head movement event including a sneeze and certainly after more aggressive events like a car accident or head injury. I'll be quiet now....
I also am BPPV-prone, and I try to do things like yoga inverted poses etc carefully & slooowly so that the crystals settle in the right places. No rapid twisty somersaults for me. If you toss & turn at night another thing make sure your head is elevated and not tilted downward. While traveling we were in an airbnb where the bed was tilted so that my head was slightly lower than my feet. Tossing and turning over the next 2 weeks gave me the stickiest case of BPPV I've ever had. Doing the Epley on my own just did not fix it for me, although it usually does. Went to my ENT who referred me to a wonderful vestibular physical therapist who was able to resolve the issue using various series of head-tilting body movements.
 
I just ended up in the ER Friday with what appears to be vertigo ( spinning, with eyes “jumping” when head tilted left while lying down) but with some added twists…. I had recently fallen and whacked my head, and I was experiencing peripheral “flashing” in the left eye. ( I’m 63, had this flashing in the other eye 2 years ago, diagnosed as PVD, a benign aging condition).

So, I was given a battery of tests in the ER….CT of the head, MRI of the head, ultrasound of neck carotids, all to rule out stroke, brain bleed, and other emergent conditions. All came back negative.

Since returning home, the epley has not fixed the spinning and eye jumping condition, but it has confirmed that lying flat, with held tilt left seems to be the only trigger. The spinning lasts about 10 seconds. I do still have a sense of unsteadiness and the peripheral flashes in the left eye too.

Sounds to me like BPPV vertigo, and perhaps a concussion, or maybe a vision condition causing the whole unsteadiness. I don’t know. I just want it to end.
 
I just ended up in the ER Friday with what appears to be vertigo ( spinning, with eyes “jumping” when head tilted left while lying down) but with some added twists…. I had recently fallen and whacked my head, and I was experiencing peripheral “flashing” in the left eye. ( I’m 63, had this flashing in the other eye 2 years ago, diagnosed as PVD, a benign aging condition).

So, I was given a battery of tests in the ER….CT of the head, MRI of the head, ultrasound of neck carotids, all to rule out stroke, brain bleed, and other emergent conditions. All came back negative.

Since returning home, the epley has not fixed the spinning and eye jumping condition, but it has confirmed that lying flat, with held tilt left seems to be the only trigger. The spinning lasts about 10 seconds. I do still have a sense of unsteadiness and the peripheral flashes in the left eye too.

Sounds to me like BPPV vertigo, and perhaps a concussion, or maybe a vision condition causing the whole unsteadiness. I don’t know. I just want it to end.

This sounds terrible. I'm so sorry!

I've never had flashing lights with my BPPV episodes. I definitely would recommend further consultation with a vestibular specialist. I would also make sure they have ruled out possible vertebral artery stenosis.

I hope it improves soon!
 
No rapid twisty somersaults for me.

Interesting that you mention somersaults.

I had my first vertigo episode a couple of months ago. It woke me up during the night, from a dream where I was snapping my head back and forth. It was horrible--vomiting, cold sweats, unable to be upright and even lying down with my eyes closed I was spinning but I could survive that and sleep a little.

In a random conversation with a stranger in a pilates class a couple of months before that, the Epley Maneuver for vertigo came up, and I briefly looked it up at the time. But I remembered it and had my boyfriend look it up and he coached me through it about 10 hours into the episode and it fixed me. Delay was caused because he couldn't get to the computer because I was lying on the floor blocking the door, shivering and sweating and invisibly spinning, for a couple of hours, before I got the courage to crawl sideways back to bed. People sometimes say they thought they were going to die, but I was scared I wouldn't die.

But that Epley Maneuver takes some balls, because I sat up in bed to do it, which was terrible enough, but the thought of lying back quickly and letting my head fall backwards had me screaming in terror. It's the LAST thing someone with vertigo wants to do.

So...somersaults. A couple of months before the vertigo, I got a mind to try doing a cartwheel, for the first time in probably 50 years, just to see if I could do it. It took some convincing to fling myself that direction, but I did it. Then a week or so after that, I decided to try a somersault. We had a trampoline when I was growing up, so I did lots of flips and spins and twists all the time, but as I crouched on the floor I was hesitant and had to talk myself into dipping my head and rolling over; it just didn't feel right and was certainly nothing like back in the day when I'd roll here and there no problem. But I did it, and noticed it made me a little dizzy, so I decided my somersault days are over. And I now wonder if doing the somersault broke some of the crystals loose.

FWIW, I'm quite sure my vertigo spell had nothing to do with dehydration, because I'm not a water drinker and I'm sure I'm dehydrated all the time, but it's how my body likes to be.

I've become an evangelist for the Epley Maneuver. I tell friends, unprompted, that if they get vertigo and there's zero reason to think it's a stroke or similar, try the Epley before going to the ER. I had actually considered going myself; I'm doctor-avoidant but it was that bad. However, I couldn't imagine how I could get to the car and ride in it (damn two-seater). I am so glad I had that idle conversation with a random person waiting for class to start.

I suppose I could also suggest to my friends that people our age shouldn't try somersaults, but it would probably never occur to them because they're smarter than I am.

My other evangelism involves getting your ass to an ENT immediately if you have sudden hearing loss (discussed here not long ago) because permanent hearing loss can result if you don't start steroids quickly enough.

So...vertigo? Try the Epley before going to the ER. Sudden hearing loss? Get to an ENT for steroids immediately.
 
I used to get vertigo a few times a year. It came suddenly and it was unnerving as I didn't know how it got triggered. However, my vertigo stopped once I started playing sports more frequently (three or four times a week of volleyball and then pickleball). It's been close to 10 years since my last vertigo (that's when I started playing sports more.) I attribute this change to drinking tons more water (electrolytes). So at least in my case, the vertigo was caused by dehydration.
 
Thanks for all the responses and descriptions of similar experiences. It is something I don't want to experience again, or wish upon anyone, but imagine it's in my future sometime.

I have the Epley technique memorized and although it made me sick when sitting up and starting the technique, once I made it through the first maneuver the symptoms abated.
 
I had BPPV that went away with Epley maneuver performed by an ENT. Occasionally it comes back and I do the maneuver myself. For me, I am pretty certain it was caused by repeated fast accelerations after I bought a Tesla.
 
I had BPPV that went away with Epley maneuver performed by an ENT. Occasionally it comes back and I do the maneuver myself. For me, I am pretty certain it was caused by repeated fast accelerations after I bought a Tesla.
:2funny: :2funny:
 
I see BPPV posted here or there with no definition or explanation, so here is my public service for the day.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
BPPV is a common disorder of the inner ear that causes brief episodes of vertigo (a spinning sensation) triggered by changes in head position.
BPPV occurs when small calcium crystals (otoconia) become dislodged from their normal position in the inner ear and settle into the semicircular canals. These crystals interfere with the normal function of the semicircular canals, which are responsible for detecting head movements.
 
I've had bouts time and again in the past. For me, too much sodium is a trigger. Garlic is a big trigger. I make an attempt to limit the amount of sodium I consume and stay away from garlic when I can along with drinking plenty of water.

Vertigo to the point of throwing up is something I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy. Been there before and if there is a hell, that's what hell must be like.
I had my first, and only, episode of vertigo after eating a whole bag of potato chips (a large bag, not the snack size). I'm sure it was from sodium overload. It lasted for about a week. I tried the Epley maneuver and other positional techniques. The only thing that helped was rest and prescription Meclizine.
 
Got trained up by a PT for BPPV. Continue the exercises regularly even without episodes. So far, so good. I avoid the prescribed med. Messes my stomach up.

Kilgore
 
Had it bad 5 years ago. Did the Epley myself and it instantly cured it and never came back!
 
Was working on my boat bent over to make sure the plug was in the drain hole. The spinning sensation hit hard with no warning -- fell to the ground. Since then, I have two to three episodes a year. The epley maneuver resets everything. Saw the dizzy doctor in town, was given meclizine, but that caused a heart arrythmia, stopped that. Usually can tell when a episode is coming by the presence of mild motion sickness 12 -24 hours prior.
 

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