Labyrinthitis. Deeply unpleasant, can anyone help?

[MrBloomEatsVeggies]

Title says it all really. Had it for 4 days now, 4 days of sitting on the sofa and feeling like I'm on a rollercoaster.

I can't be like this, I've got 2 little DS's and a home to run. It's Easter, with all the various activities it entails. No real help is at hand, unfortunately, DH really can't take time off work, so I'm trying to carry on whilst clinging to the wall!!

Any tips to lessen the impact of this unrelenting dizzyness, as I'm going crazy?

Really, really fed up with it.

Thanks herbietea...Yes I went to the Doc's, he prescribed me Buccal (Buccastem?) tablets for nausea, nothing for dizzyness though.

It's bloody awful, you have my sympathy too, to look at me people would think I'm fine!

About 20 years ago i had a bout of virtigo. It was outrageous. I couldnt beleive how i was walking up the road like a crab. I ended up off the kerb and in the road. Doc said it was an inbalance in my inner ear and that i just had to be patient. It cleared within a week. I was young free and single then with no responsabilities, you have my sympathy.

Yes, have had it too, worth trying the cure for Benign Positional Vertigo which is.....sit in a good armchair with big arms....hold on, tip your head forward so that you are looking at your feet, then rotate your head to the left then right. Hold on to the arms as you will feel very very dizzy!! If ou keep repeating the manoeuvre and the problem is BPV, then suddenly you will be OK as the crystals in your inner ear move. It's worked for me twice. You just have to be brave and persistent. If it is labyrinthitis, then rest in bed is the only quick cure, as it is a viirus. hTH x

I can't help but I can sympathise, as it's horrible. I was given Buccastem but can't say it helped much. It did go away after about a week.

Thanks so much for your replies, so much appreciated.

I agree Buccastem doesn't do much, but I keep tucking it up under my lip and hoping!

I'm going to try your cure BCBG, I would be utterly thrilled if it works for me. Thanks for that tip. I have had bouts of vertigo over the last decade or so, but they only lasted 5 mins to half an hour, so I never worried overmuch (your experience sounded awful, chipstick)... but over the last couple of years the attacks have been a little more frequent. This is something else though, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, and I just want it to go away .

I was diagnosed with it in September last year. The first symptom for me was an acute attack of vertigo which unfortunately happened just as I was dropping ds off at school in middle of reception class. It was terrifying.

The first 6 weeks or so were pretty horrific if I'm honest and I really suffered doing day to day things. I had panic attacks too because to be honest, just walking ds to school and back was terrifying. It gradually subsided into a general feeling of feeling unsteady and a little disorrientated. I also got a really strange sensation which I can only describe as feeling like getting an electric shock in my head!

My dr prescribed betahistine for dizziness and propranalol for panic attacks. I was referred to hospital after about 10 weeks. The consultant was lovely and reassured me it would pass eventually because if I'm honest I did start to feel like I was losing the plot abit by then . The consultant wanted me to halve the dose of betahistine for 3 months then stop altogether. I don't really think it helped anyway but I guess I'll find out for sure at the end of the month when I stop! The panic attacks have now stopped though I'm still taking propranalol as it has helped with migraines.

In the last 4 weeks I finally feel like my sypmtoms are lessening considerably and I only notice it now if I'm tired or headachey. I do find that the worst time is when I first lay down in bed, its a lot like being really drunk and the room spins. But the good news is it definately seems to be getting better.

I had labrynthitis when DS was a few months old - had to be VERY careful carrying him downstairs! It lasted about 2 (horrible) weeks, then just went. About a year later my DH had it, and he felt ok after about 5 days, but was told not to drive for two weeks. Neither of us were given any meds. Sorry you feel awful

I was dx with it 2 years ago, (actually turned out to be something else), but I found the best thing to cope with dizzyness was wearing my sunglasses, I also find they help if I get motion sick, etc. I also had anti sickness tablets. Oh and if you get really drunk, it completely disappears :)

I had it a few years ago and it's awful, just awful.

I took antihistmines, but they didn't help much.

The doctor did tell me to not stay lying down too much becuase it can make it last longer (something about the crystals in your ears settling). Although it feels TERRIBLE, recovery is faster if you try to stay sitting/standing up as much as usual.

I had Labyrinthitus last year and it drove me mad, I felt like I was drunk!

My Bro is a paramedic and he told me to buy 'Stugeron' I think it was from the chemist, they are sea sickness tablets, I bought them and I'm not kidding they were great!. The dizzyness feeling went immediately!

Another vote for Stugeron - I use them for menieres when I feel a bit spacey and dizzy but need to keep going

Blimey feedthegoat, what an awful experience. I identify totally with feeling panicky, it makes you feel so odd that you become anxious. I have also had the weird buzzing/electric shock sensations. I'm so pleased it's getting better for you.

Cakey...it must have been awful with a baby. My 2 year old wants picking up all the time, and bending down to lift him is particularly bad.

Delillah...think I'm going to give the getting drunk a miss , will try the sunglasses though.

dublinmom...lying down is out of the question until the evening, unfortunately. I didn't even know I had crystals in my ear until they went mad!

Jemma and haggis....thanks for the Stugeron tip (keep reading it as sturgeon!)...am definitely going to give them a go tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied. It's good to know that I'm not alone with having this, no-one else I know has ever had it.

Lets hope yours is one of the cases that disapears without trace in a couple of weeks instead . I know how you feel with trying to carry on as normal for dc though, it is hard work!

I sympathise. Please communicate to dh, family and friends just how unwell you feel - you need help and rest and not to just "soldier on" regardless as if this wasn't happening. The only time in my life I ever experienced panic attacks was while I had labyrinthitis and I am glad I did not have a small child in my care. But as others say, don't worry, it can cure itself quite quickly. I was prescribed prochloreperazine for the giddiness, and found eating or drinking anything with ginger helped, (e.g. adding thin slices of fresh root to the pot when making tea), and also anything that "cleans out" the sinuses, e.g. lots of garlic and onions and chillis. All the best.

Yes LuciaB is right you can help matters by cutting down on mucus type foods - dairy, bananas etc.that clog the sinuses and can make you more dizzy. The ginger helps with sickness and nausea. Also cutting down on salt (no olives,anchovies etc) can help and making sure you are always well - to over hydrated can also help with the dizziness.

Hope it ends soon

Stugeron works for me too when I get vertigo attacks. First had it last August while on holiday and can really sympathise. It's a bloody awful feeling. I've had another couple of lesser episodes and still get that room spinning feeling every night when I first lay down.

Vertigo and dizziness is horrible. I've had major problems over the last 3 years with this - for me the only thing which helps is lying down. My DD was 3 when it started and I used to put on a DVD and lie on the sofa when I felt ill. Also as soon as DH came home from work I would go to bed to rest.

You should reduce your salt intake as a low salt diet helps. Tablets may work (unfortunately the only ones which worked on me made me so knocked out I couldnt function at all so I decided dizziness was better!)

If you are having repeated episodes, you may want to try to get refered for physio. Since I've been going, I've found that I can cope with the dizziness better and I recover from vertigo episodes quicker.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

I've had labyrinthitis twice and taken Stugeron but it didn't stop the dizziness at all, because the virus is messing with your inner ear; you just have to wait it out. Usually 4-7 days, my first one lasted about 6 and was just appalling; the second one was only 4 days and not quite so bad.

I continued to have BPV for some time, on and off - it was bloody awful. Ended up with a referral to ENT who basically told me there was nothing that could be done, I had a damaged inner ear on the right and do these dizzy-making exercises for 10 minutes, 3 times a day until my brain stopped responding to the dizzy signals.

Ha.

Went to an osteopath and he fixed it in 2 sessions. I had a minor displacement of a cervical vertebra, due to various neck problems - putting that straight = no more vertigo (unless my neck goes out again, which it does if I do stupid things, like lie awkwardly or fall and jar it). Osteopath fixes it again in one session now but I rarely need it.

Do take care of yourself though - and rest as much as you are able - I know of at least two friends who had post-viral syndrome after viral labyrinthitis.

Thumbbunny, I think Stugeron didn't work for you as you had a neck problem but stugeron is a tablet for labyrinthine disorders, including dizziness so I think the op would feel better if she did take it.

Let us know if you have tried it op!

DH had it and it took about a year to completely clear

Jemma - I never took Stugeron EXCEPT when I had labyrinthitis and it didn't work for me. The dizziness I experienced with labyrinthitis was 100x worse than anything from the neck problem and happened every time I moved my head back or changed position from horizontal to vertical (or vice versa). So I don't agree with your assessment.

However, it doesn't do any harm to take it, whether it works or not - and it did help with the sickness.

Hi all. A quick update . Well I tried Stugeron, it made me feel a little weird, I'm not sure if it really worked TBH, but it will persist.

My dizziness has definitely lessened. I have periods where it's gone and I think great, then it comes back. It's a crafty bugger!! As it stands I have a few dizzy spells a day, but they're short lived, so it's definitely preferable to how it was when I first posted about it.

My next plan of action is to try and get a referral from the GP to see someone about exercises I can do.

Many thanks again to all who posted, It helps so much just knowing your not alone.

• I will persist