Please help - vertigo

[kavalkada]

Last night around 2 am I woke up with the most unimaginable possible vertigo. It was so strong I had to vomit but because of the vertigo I couldn't walk so had to crawl to my bathroom. It went like that for three hours. My husband called ER and they came and gave me some medicine and told me to call if the medicine doesn't work they will come and take me to hospital. Luckily, the medicine worked and I feel fine today, not 100 per cent fine, but fine.

Tomorrow I'll call my GP, but in the meantime I have been browsing the interned and read some horrible scenarios.

It would be great if somebody has experienced something like this can tell me what I can expect. I feel like I'm going mas.

I'm no stranger to horrible diagnosis but that was before I had kids. Now anything that can happen seems 10 time worse.

Hello @kavalkada I had this about 20 years ago. Like you, it came out of nowhere, and it was horrible. Doctor came out to me and gave me an injection which stopped the sickness but I ended up with very strange involuntary muscle spasms. It was horrible.
Once that wore off I took stemetil for about 3 weeks. Took about that long to get back to normal.
We never did get to the bottom of it, but I've not had an attack since. We assume it was an inner ear infection.
It's absolutely vile while it lasts, but it doesn't have to mean anything sinister.
I hope you continue to recover well

Thank you. I'm really glad you have not had an attack since. Really, really happy for you.

I had brain tumor in my twenties (I'm 41 now) and it all came back last night.

It could be labyrinthitis, which is essentially an inflammation or infection of the inner ear and surrounding area. Unpleasant as causes spinning vertigo and often vomiting, but usually over fairly quickly. It can come on really suddenly.

Avoid screens, rest as much as possible, lots of fluids and eat when you can. I find it helps me to have cold feet when vomiting (weird, I know!).

Just be aware that the attacks can come and go for a while, usually 5 days-a week.

Other similar possibilities are Benign Positional Vertigo and a few other similar things. Google ‘vestibular conditions’ for a bit more info.

Lots of them are similar/crossover. Hopefully it’s a one off but do push for help if you get recurring symptoms.

@Thinkling talks sense.
I can imagine it would be very scary after your previous diagnose.
Very hopeful for you that this is a one off like mine. It wasn't so easily googleable when I had it, which is probably a good thing as I'd have scared myself silly.
I couldn't walk in a straight line for a couple of weeks, and would fall over if the ground was uneven. I convinced myself that it was permanent, but it did pass which I am grateful for!

I get this occasionally, maybe 5 times over 20 years. I take cyclezine for a few weeks and it subsides. Its horrible, really takes it out of me, lasts weeks, but ultimately is benign and goes away.

I can see why you would think brain tumour but honestly it's likely to get something very boring that can be controlled with drugs and then you'll he right as rain again in a few weeks

Almost exactly the same thing happened to me OP, except it lasted 4 days. I used to get one severe attack a month and low level vertigo in between. I still haven't got an ENT appointment yet and it started over 2 years ago The GP has provisionally diagnosed me with Menieres disease thought and I take Stemetil x3 daily which has massively helped.

So sorry Op, I suffer with really bad vertigo on occasions, I have a disability connected to the symptom.. See your GP, to get it checked out & step away from Google. Medication may help. It could be something simple to fix, so try not to worry.

Thank you all very much. You don't know how much you help with your kind words.

If somebody told me two days ago vertigo can last for hours and reduce to a state of small baby, I'm not sure I would have believed that person.

I've had 2 attacks in the last year, never before in my life. The last one I did nothing but projectile vomit, sleep and cry for 36 hours it was absolutely horrendous, I was praying to be put out of my misery at one point! I've been to the doctors and they have said it's most likely an inner ear infection, or weirdly it could be related to the start of peri menopause, apparently the hormone swings can bring it on. I don't know how old you are but if you're heading towards that age it could possibly be that

I went through a stage of having this during the night for a while. I had to sit against a wall to make myself feel steady- it was truly awful. Luckily it has passed- I sometimes get it if I look up quickly but thankfully it’s not very often x

I woke up with it about 2.5 years ago- inner ear infection, probably vestibular neuritis. It was horrendous but eventually subsided. I had about 3 days of being utterly helpless though! I think I ended up on stemetil. Took about 9/10 days to entirely go away.

Waking up with it was terrifying, I was frightened I'd be stuck like that.

I was praying to be put out of my misery too. I'm 41, so could be start of peri menopause.

Some of you sound as though you have the same as my mother www.nhs.uk/conditions/menieres-disease/

My attack lasted 2 weeks. 1 week bedridden & vomiting. 1 week extremely dizzy.

Hope you feel better soon.

@kavalkada I did say if I was stuck like that, I'd want to die. Lasting legacy of it is pains in my ears. Never had them before but I get them a lot now, especially in cold weather.

It sounds like BVPP (google it). It is to do with some loose ear crystals. I have had this on and off for about ten years. The first time was the worst and it has gradually subsided as time has gone on. I still get the odd attack but nowhere near as bad as the first.

Do you have any travel sickness tablets handy? I think they’re meant to help with the dizziness but it was a few years ago that I had labyrinthitis.

I have had several bouts of it. The worst and last bout was around 7 years ago - I think I turned what was a mild bout into a serious one by going to the cinema with dc and watching a 3D film. I woke up like you, unable to move without vomiting. At its worst, I couldn't turn my head and I had to pee into a bucket (vomiting afterwards). GP came and gave me an injection which helped a bit. I was in bed for a week but it took me about a month to feel steady on my feet. To be honest my balance is still slightly affected - especially walking at night.

I had a test for Meurnieres disease and a brain scan - both came back negative.

My tip is to get moving as soon as you can - your brain needs to adjust and almost learn it's balance back - if that makes any sense.

I have a friend who gets it regularly and she has a stash of travel sickness pills, which help her.

Hi OP. I have had the type of attack you describe. It happened about 6 times over 3 years and not at all in the last three years .

I collapse , vomit until nothing is left , have soiled myself ( TMI !!!) and just have to lie wherever I have dropped until it passes. It's not dizziness really - it's complete loss of any kind of balance .

With mine the world is going round and round at speed - like being on a roundabout and unable to get off.

My attacks lasted around 4 hours. I would be shaky for a few days afterwards.

I had Stemetil injections and took Serc for a few weeks after each episode.

It makes you want to die and is the most horredous physical condition I have ever endured. And I have had 5 kids ....

Anyway, good news it just seems to have gone away so hopefully yours will too. My doc gave me some Xanax to take if I started feeling anxious about an attack. I really believe stress contributed to mine.

My husband suffered vertigo after a perforated eardrum, he took daily medication for around 6 months for it to go completely.

FoodieToo, that sounds a lot like menieres with drop attacks. It can burn out thankfully.
I've suffered from vertigo for many years, it still scares the shit out of me. It is so horrible so I really sympathise. There's a few conditions like BPPV, labyrinthitis, menieres and even vestibular migraine that can cause that horrible spinning. Hope you are ok now and your GP can help get a diagnosis.

Oh and a classic onset of BPPV can be rolling over in bed.

Had this a couple of years ago. Vertigo caused by what they eventually guessed was labyrinthitis, from many bouts of tonsilitis turned ear infections.

I was awful I was off work for 6 weeks as I couldn't look at a screen, I couldn't even watch TV. The first week was the worst, vomiting and couldn't even walk to the loo without falling over. I was on tablets but can't remember what they were called but I'm not convinced they did much. Came on really suddenly the day after boxing day, all my work mates thought I was pulling a sickie to get an extended Christmas break. Would rather have been at work

Just wondering if anyone else is a migraine sufferer? Everyone I know that has had vertigo has always suffered from migraines. I was just curious if there was a random link.

It sounds like labyrinthitis. I had it about 7 years ago and still occasionally have flare ups. It's to do with the inner ear (although it doesn't usually cause pain) for me it was really bad for two weeks and then gradually got better. I can usually tell when I'm going to have a flare up a bit like you gets signs before getting a migraine. I quite often feel car sick as well and I never used to. My first doctors appointment I was dismissed as my description wasn't their text book one of feeling dizzy. Luckily I saw a different doctor who took it more seriously maybe because I was having a panic attack from holding myself together to get there, I ended up having an ECG!
There's not much to be done as anti sickness medication can slow the recovery. You have to sort of retrain your brain/ eyes I'm pretty sure I was given some exercises to help. I found the best thing to do was to try to lie down as much as possible but also to try to push myself to do small things around the house.