Anyone experienced brief vertigo episodes with lingering dizziness and ear symptoms?

[OnNaturesCourse]

Hi everyone.
I’m hoping to find people who have experienced something similar while I’m waiting to get this investigated. I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just to hear other people’s experiences, what tests you had and whether you eventually got any answers.
Around 10 months ago I started having episodes of vertigo that have happened only a handful of times, usually months apart. The first episodes came completely out of the blue and since then my symptoms seem to have gradually evolved. The vertigo itself is usually very brief, but afterwards I can be left feeling like I’m on a boat for hours or longer, and moving my head can make it feel like my brain has to “catch up” with my movements.
Alongside this I’ve developed fluctuating tinnitus, ear pressure/fullness, occasional headaches and some odd sensations around my face and head. The first vertigo attack was also what triggered a lot of anxiety for me, so every recurrence now feels frightening.
I’ve put a much more detailed timeline and symptom list in the next post, as I didn’t want this first post to become too long.

Benign paroximal positional vertigo?

Yes I know you don't want a diagnosis.
I'm not a doctor.

Full History

This all started around 10 months ago. Before that I’d never experienced vertigo or dizziness like this.

Since those first attacks I’ve been battling near-daily wooziness to varying degrees. It’s not always true dizziness or spinning—more of an “off”, light, disconnected feeling that fluctuates throughout the day. Some days are much better than others.

Unfortunately my anxiety has completely latched onto these symptoms. As a result I now often experience a strong fight or flight response, particularly if I feel strange while I’m out. The vertigo and dizziness came first, and the anxiety followed because of them. I’ve recently been started on propranolol (beta blockers) to help manage the physical symptoms of anxiety while I work through everything.

Towards the end of last year and again in February I was diagnosed with labyrinthitis/vestibular neuritis (I’m honestly not 100% sure which term was used), but I’ve never really felt that diagnosis completely fitted because my symptoms have been spread over many months rather than one prolonged illness. I was also given BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) exercises to do at home. I was told they would probably provoke my dizziness while doing them, but they never did, and they didn’t seem to improve anything either.

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Episode 1 – October

I was standing beside my pram at the hospital. I bent down and reached underneath the pram to my right, then straightened up and suddenly the whole room spun. There was no warning whatsoever.

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Episode 2 – October

Later around the same time I bent into the pram on my left, lifted my toddler out and turned him towards the car while keeping an eye on my older child. Again I suddenly developed vertigo with no warning.

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Episode 3 – November

I was helping decorate for a birthday party and reaching above my head to hang a banner. This wasn’t true spinning, but I suddenly developed a very strange feeling in my head that made me feel like I needed to leave immediately. I developed a mild headache afterwards.

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Episode 4 – February/March

I’d been rushing around all morning hanging washing above my head. I then quickly went to the toilet and while sitting there developed another episode of vertigo.

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Episode 5 – Recently

I was sitting on my bed playing with my children. This time I noticed a strange sensation at the base of my skull beforehand, followed by a stomach-drop feeling, then the room briefly spun (only for around a second). Since then I’ve been left with a constant “boat” feeling and moving my head makes it feel like my brain has to catch up with my movements.

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Symptoms I’ve experienced over the last 10 months

Balance/Dizziness

• Near daily wooziness/lightheaded feeling.
• Recurrent vertigo attacks lasting only seconds.
• Feeling like I’m on a boat afterwards.
• Motion sensitivity.
• Head movement making me feel like my brain has to “catch up”.
• Feeling like my head and the world need to reconnect after moving.
• Feeling much better lying still.
• Head movement can make me feel “whoa”.

Before some attacks (but NOT all)

The first two attacks had no warning at all, but more recently I’ve sometimes noticed:

• Tingling across my forehead.
• Tingling at the base of my skull.
• A stomach-drop sensation (like going quickly over a hill in a car).
• A feeling that something isn’t right.

Ear symptoms

• Fluctuating tinnitus almost daily.
• Some days it’s barely noticeable.
• Other days it’s loud enough that I struggle to ignore it.
• It can last seconds or several hours.
• Ear discomfort that comes and goes.
• Ear fullness/pressure.
• “Blocked but not blocked” feeling.
• Recently a very pressured feeling in my right ear extending into the area just in front of my ear and into my right cheek.
• Ears often feel like they need to pop but won’t.
• Hearing has remained normal between both ears as far as I can tell.

Head/Face

• Mild headaches.
• Pressure around my temples.
• Occasional odd sensation over my right cheekbone that isn’t numb—I can still feel touch—but feels cold or tingly when it isn’t actually cold.
• Tight neck muscles.
• Tight shoulders.

Recent illness

Before this latest episode I seemed to be coming down with a mild viral illness:

• Dry throat.
• Mild cough.
• Blocked nose.
• Mucus at the back of my nose/throat.
• More recently just slight blockage in my right nostril and ear pressure.

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Possible triggers or situations where symptoms have happened

• Bending then standing back up.
• Looking up.
• Reaching above my head.
• Some head movements.
• Fatigue.
• Hormonal changes around my menstrual cycle.
• Illness seems to make everything worse.

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Things I DON’T seem to have

• No hearing loss that I’ve noticed.
• No facial drooping.
• No arm or leg weakness.
• No speech problems.
• No loss of consciousness.
• The actual spinning itself is always very brief.

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The hardest symptom to explain

The best way I can describe it is that moving my head sometimes feels like when you’ve shaken your head too hard or too fast and everything has to catch up for a split second. It isn’t always true spinning—it often feels like my balance system is lagging behind my movements. After the brief vertigo episodes I can feel like I’m on a boat for hours afterwards.

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Has anyone experienced anything similar? If so:

• What was your eventual diagnosis?
• What investigations did you have?
• Did you see ENT, Neurology, Audiology or a vestibular physiotherapist?
• Did anything actually help?

I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just hoping to hear from people who’ve genuinely had a similar experience and eventually found some answers.

I had a few mini episodes, before full blown vertigo, since then I get periodic minor symptoms that last 5 seconds or less and minor tinnitus.

dr isn’t concerned at all

@hahabahbag and how do you cope with it ? I am at the point where I feel I can’t go anywhere incase of an attack or the feeling of being on a boat as I can’t concentrate never mind look after my three kids / drive etc

I get POTs which is definitely linked to my menstrual cycle.

@UninitendedShark do you feel it matches my symptoms ? I know POTs is terrible with what it can cause but I didn’t know it could effect your ears

Dizziness is common in my family and there are different kinds.
1.I've had BPPV which is classic vertigo and I can fix it with the epley manoeuvre. Sometimes takes two or three goes.
2.Dizziness on standing, often followed by fainting, my mum had it, I had it and both my DC had it. Probably lowish BP and most people grow out of it.
3.I also had another kind, not quite classic vertigo, ,ore a combination of the two. It turned out to be SVT.

All made worse by illness of any kind.

Have you considered labyrinthitis?

The hardest symptom to explain
This sounds like my experience of BPPV.
Lots of self help videos on YouTube.

It absolutely affects my ears. Tinnitus. How old are you?

@TheOctopus and do you find your BPPv to be recurring ? Does it have a trigger or trend ? This has been a long 10 months

@Dolphinnoises yes I was diagnosed with that twice over separate months however never felt it truely fit. I can’t see that lingering for 10 months ?

Worst trigger is illness or virus. I can set it off by sudden twisting. Look into the physiology of BPPV.

@UninitendedShark 36. My ear troubles are Tinnitus

• Ringing is present almost daily.
• Sometimes it’s very loud.
• Sometimes it’s barely noticeable.
• Sometimes it’s sore, sometimes not.
• Sometimes you can barely hear over it.
• It can last seconds to hours.
• You’re not always sure which ear it’s coming from—it feels like both at different times, rarely together.

@TheOctopus I do have a very very very minor cold virus just now. Bit stuffy with a tiny cough but no snot etc etc. certainly didn’t have it way at the start of all this last year however my parents had Covid at the time so I have always wondered if that’s linked as I got a sore throat but no cold / flu symptoms

@TeenToTwenties sorry just seen your post. I have had exercises for that but they made no difference nor did they make me dizzy like I was told they would. Have you suffered with that , what was your experience?

Yes to all that. Also inflamed sinuses.
Had an operation to straighten my septum, and had my sinuses washed out. This got rid of the vertigo for years.
Also recently been diagnosed with acid reflux, which can cause loads of the symptoms you have. In my case it happens in my sleep, the acid causes the sore throat and over production of mucus.
If you have congested or inflamed sinuses it can affect more than your nose because it's all connected.

My (grown/adult) daughter had very similar symptoms, although with the addition of panic attacks.

Turned out that her Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 levels were basically nil.

After prescription-strength supplements of both, the symptoms went away and never came back.

Watching as I get occasional dizziness, when seated. Usuallu lasts 30-90 seconds. I cba to try and get a doc appt tbh so wanna know if I should

The Epley Manoevre should help with the dizziness.

You can do it via you tube videos or go to a practitioner.

@SecretSquid that’s interesting as I am prone to sinus infections and have large adenoids plus hayfever occasionally.

@Dutch1e I have terrible anxiety attacks now but have put it down to worrying about the dizziness happening. What came first for your daughter ? What type of dizziness did she have ?

@ChoccyHobknob GP appointments are joke around where I am and when you do get one it’s 5 mins if that. Barely have time to list things off before it’s out the door again.

@Potooooooooes it has never done anything to help me unfortunately

I have had a very similar experience but over the last few years. The worst episode lasted for 3 months at the end of last year which triggered a lot of investigations.

For me, the following have been ruled out via many many tests: BPPV, vestibular neuritis, a brain tumour, diabetes, anything sinus related, labyrinthitis, inner ear issues.

At the moment, the working hypothesis is vestibular migraines and I am awaiting an appointment with a neurologist.

edited to add: I was initially diagnosed with labyrinthitis but I have never had hearing loss. Then vestibular neuritis but my symptoms didn’t fit that and that was ruled out by the ENT. The Epley maneuver doesn’t work for me (as I don’t have BPPV).

I don't know what type of dizziness she had exactly. She mentioned that feeling of when you stand up too quickly, but she was sitting down and hadn't moved at all.

Then more serious wooziness that would come and go until it didn't really go.

Then came the panic attacks.

I developed sudden vertigo after leaning forward to look under the tv for lost cat treats. I’d never experienced anything like it.
When I googled it, one cause was the breaking off of crystals inside the ear. I did the epley manoeuvre as described online quite a few times but had episodes for a few months until it finally stopped happening. I never did seek advice from the doctor.
I don’t know if your cause is the same OP but I do feel that some of your symptoms are related more to anxiety and the fact you are focusing on it. It’s easy to blame one worrying thing for every symptom you experience.
You won’t really know anything until you go to a health professional but I do feel for you. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Oh I am so sorry.

Have you been prescribed Stemitil at all? Might be worth asking your GP for a prescription.