Help with Vertigo please (tips, advice, how to approach treatment, etc.)

[Coucoucestmoi]

Hello,

A few months ago, out of the blue, I had my very first episode of vertigo. It was horrendously intense. It started suddenly at night and didn't stop until after long hours spent at a&e. Everything kept spinning and I was sick and couldn't get up or walk without help. I was given drugs through a cannula and was discharged after I felt much better and could walk by myself.

I was given a prescription for Prochlorperazine and Metoclopramide. I continued taking the Prochlorperazine for another few days according to what I was told. The a&e dr told me to get in touch with my gp asap to get to the bottom of the vertigo. I had a telephone consultation with the gp the same week to discuss this and I was told about the medication but that I didn't need to be seen. Thinking the vertigo episode was a one off I was happy about that.

Fast forward to last week when I started having vertigo again. This time it started slowly and I didn't panic. I started the Prochlorperazine thinking it would help quickly as the vertigo wasn't intense but to my surprise I didn't feel an improvement. So I did some Epner manoeuvers and Dr Carol Foster manoeuver but nothing. It got so bad I got sick again. This time the vertigo lasted for more than a week 😞

I am late 30s and generally healthy.
How was your experience with vertigo and what was the cause, subsequent treatment, etc. ? Any tips, advice, secret recipes are welcome.
Thank you.

Hi,
Not during Covid, was in November. Not sure I believed them but due to family history and feeling awful I wasn't risking it.
Physio was recommended by independent balance clinic. Is £120 a session but so far have only had one, but she offers follow up calls without charge so have had two where exercises got tweaked.
Am currently waiting for NHS MRI results then hoping to get to ENT at some point for ongoing care.

@Coucoucestmoi Hi..no they didn't. Am assuming as diagnosis is Vestibular migraine. I had loads of tests etc..warm water in ears! ..that was hideous and MRI etc etc. I think they thought I had MS initially. This was around 10 years ago. I had to stop work for nearly a year..I was a neonatal nurse.

@TherealmrsT As always, thanks for your post. I hope you're feeling better and that the MRI results will all be fine. I hope you don't mind me pestering you with all these questions as I really want to educate myself on the topic before pushing to be seen. You mention in your post low sodium diet. Are you doing this for general health or does it have a link with your vertigo?

@Doobydoo thank you for your post. It must have been horrendous, especially given your job. At least you had all those tests to rule things out. But that was 10 years ago when, I think, the NHS was coping much better. Do you still have episodes or is your condition much better now?

@Coucoucestmoi Agree re NHS.It is much better now but I still have episodes. These vary from a quick episode..30 mins or so to maybe a day but the day episodes are infrequent..and sometimes I just feel 'off'. I stopped nursing in August..for back reasons and other reasons and think that may have made a positive difference. Like I said in a previous post,I moderate caffeine and alcohol and try to avoid certain environments. I also think lack of sleep and feeling 'stressed' can coñtribute. I do hope you get the tests etc you need. As you know you have to persist!

@Coucoucestmoi
Low sodium was recommended by consultant and reading around a bit is found to be helpful for these symptoms.
At the moment I am using this info to moderate my sodium
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/tips-for-a-lower-salt-diet/
And have been surprised to see how much salt is in bread, crumpets....so am making changes.
Do you have tinnitus? Mine comes and goes for weeks at a time but attacks seem to come if tinnitus is more obvious.

Following along with interest, I've had dizzy spells, mostly when walking outside/exercising, for nearly a year. Waiting patiently for an ENT referral which may take up to a year. I'm going to see an acupuncturist tonight, I'm getting desperate!

Thank you @Doobydoo glad to hear you're feeling better. I, 100% agree that stress at least contributes to the episodes. Silly question, but are you Spanish?

Very interesting! I never thought sodium could be a factor. I had tinnitus for the first time about a year ago. It lasted for a few days/a week and didn't return until last week in the middle of vertigo but it wasn't intense.

@Doobydoo 😂I need to clarify in case you think I'm crazy re asking you about being Spanish: "coñtribute" this word is the culprit; the tilde to be precise. And also because when I went to a&e for the vertigo a nice Spanish nurse took care of me. 😂Please don't judge me. I am very sleep deprived.

How was the acupuncturist? I hope you are feeling better?

Hi again!
Thought I'd share this technique developed by Dr Carol Foster:

It's very easy and helped lots of people. She even wrote a book on the subject.

@Coucoucestmoi Alas it was a typo😀I am not Spanish but do hope I was a kind Nurse🙂

@Coucoucestmoi thank you. Too early to tell, I think. Still spinny today. Going again next week so hopefully that'll help further. Thanks for sharing the video above, looks useful.

I had this after shingles in the nerve near the ear and one of the medications listed...it seems to have improved but get the tinnitus also.

It's not a cure, but as others have mentioned, cutting out caffeine might help.

@Doobydoo I am sure you were 😊
@theladylovescupcakes I read marvellous things about it. Hope it'll help you. Have you tried the manoeuvers I talked about in my OP? Worth a shot if you didn't as I also heard lots of good things about them.
@Orangesandlemons77 this might help

@onlyconnect I drink coffee only in the morning as I've been doing since I was a child. I would never stop my morning coffee ☕️ 😋

@Coucoucestmoi how are you now ?