Migraine without pain/severe dizziness?

[MrsMeow]

I'm sure I remember chatting to people about this on here a couple of years ago but can't seem to find the thread now.

Does anyone else suffer from vertigo type symptoms? I've had them on & off for a few years but have managed to function ok as the longest they last is a few hours to a day. I've not been to the drs as by the time I've managed to get an appointment the episode is over and I forget about it until the next time.

Yesterday I woke up and had really horrible room spin, despite feeling 100% fine when going to bed the night before. I sat up in bed and the room whirled round about 10 times, eyes moving side to side, the lot! Felt really dizzy & out of sorts all day and went to bed as soon as the DC went up last night.

Got up this morning and still felt dizzy, although a big improvement on yesterday. By late afternoon the dizziness, although still there was much improved but I felt really weak, struggling to open jars etc. I also feel like I'm struggling to concentrate and as though I'm slurring when I speak. I've spoken to DH on the phone and he didn't mention anything about it though so I think maybe it's because I'm having to focus on what I'm saying that's making me feel as though I'm struggling to speak properly.

I know this probably sounds like a total over reaction, but I feel quite worried at how long this has lasted this time. I'm in my first year of a nursing degree and on my own with the children all week, I don't have time to not be able to function properly! I've tried to get an appointment with the dr but there are none until next week, when I know I will be fine again.

Sorry this is so waffled, I guess I just want to chat about it really. I've often thought along the lines of Menieres or vertigo, but I'm thinking it could quite possibly be migraine related ( I have had 'normal' migraines in the past)

Please tell me how you manage the symptoms of your dizziness. If I could just take a tablet to allow me to function properly I know I'd be ok, but I just don't know what to try!

Thank you :)

Cheeky bump!

I feel much much better today. A teeny bit of dizziness but nowhere near as bad as I was. I do feel really washed out and 'bruised' though if that makes sense, which makes me really think it may be silent migraine.

I have suffered the same previously but haven't had a diagnosis, although I do have 'regular' migraines too. I recognise that 'bruised' feeling so well! Will be watching to see if anyone else responds. Glad you feel a bit better today.

Bleedingheart thanks very much for your reply :) its good to speak to someone who knows what I'm blathering on about, although I'm sorry that you go through it too!

I'm glad you know what I mean about the bruised feeling too...I have no other way to describe it! It feels like you've been in the boxing ring doesn't it?

It sounds like labyrinthitis to me, which I've had a few times, and which still sometimes recurs if I get very run down or have a bad cold.

I have this and I have been diagnosed with MAV.

I have always been a migraine sufferer but a couple of years ago I got ill with labyrinthits. To cut a long story short it left me with frequent bouts of dizziness which I get now. I have had every test you can think of and in the end they told me I had MAV.

You can get silent migraines and I get dizzy without the head pain a lot. It is awful. I am on beta blockers now as a migraine preventative to help.

Thanks both :) kalidasa, I have had labyrinthitis before years ago, but was very sick with that. I have been ill with a cold this week though so would definitely make sense if it was.

RichTeaAreCrap (I agree!) thankyou. I will read up properly about MAV tomorrow, but I've just had a quick google and it does seem to fit. Can I ask how you treat it? I think if I could just take something to stop the dizziness, I would be able to cope with the sickness and sometimes nausea. The dizziness really makes me feel odd though!

I have an appointment with the Dr next week so will see what happens then.

Yes I was tremendously sick the first time too. On subsequent occasions - which usually seemed to be triggered by a cold - I felt dizzy, nauseous and absolutely shattered, but didn't vomit as far as I remember. Still horrible though. You get so tired because your brain is constantly working to try to sort out the confusing signals - a bit like how you feel very tired after an hour or two in a museum because everything you see is new and needs active interpretation.

Hope the GP is useful.

Mine is treated with beta blockers which act as migraine preventatives. I am not sure how much they help me because I am still dizzy very frequently, however the spinning and sickness have both calmed down a lot. I agree with you, I would rather have the sickness than the dizziness. Its awful and so hard to cope with. I cannot do a thing when I feel like that.

See if you can get an appointment with a neurologist and also ENT to rule anything else out. It was after I had an mri scan and then ENT sent me for balance tests that they said I have MAV.

Good luck at the GP - let me know how you get on.

Thanks again for all your help everyone, and sorry for the late reply. I've been to the GP this morning and was waiting to see what he said about it. He didn't seem at all concerned about the dizziness and has prescribed me some tablets (Prochlorperazine) to take when it comes again. I'm relieved that I may have found something to get it under control but still don't feel like I have any answers as to what it actually is!

I was looking through my diary and realised that the last time I had it, which was when I originally posted, would have been just before/just as I ovulated. I'm wondering if it could be linked as it rang a bell with me so could be that it's happened around ov time before. I'm going to start keeping a track of it I think and see if there's a pattern. I'll go back if it gets worse or more frequent.

Thanks again :)

The first time this happened to me I was reading DD her bedtime story. I couldn't focus on the words and the room spun. Oh Christ, I thought, my MS is back. (I'd been diagnosed three years before but hadn't had a relapse since before pregnancy.) Had to lie down and let DH take over while I felt utterly nauseous and suffered a bit of diarrhoea. Two weeks later I got my first period after having DD (breastfeeding delayed them for 22 months).

It got better. Then it came back. I was very weak a lot of the time; the nausea made me lose a lot of weight; I had strange pressure sensations in my head; i craved carbs late at night; my GP prescribed steroids because we thought it was the MS relapsing. I had to take weeks off work. After four months I finally saw a neurologist for my routine annual checkup (yes, I had tried to see one earlier).

You're not relapsing, he said. You have hormonal migraines that are exacerbating your MS symptoms. I could hardly believe it. I was prescribed a prophylactic, gabapentin, and within a few weeks I was eating properly again and could return to work. I'm now 16 weeks pregnant and having unpleasant prodrome symptoms today - nausea, disorientation, mild diarrhoea - probably because I came off the gabapentin when I found I was pregnant.

Migraine is a very odd affliction, and I'm recounting all this just to show that it presents in strange ways but is often largely preventable. It can be so distressing, even when you know the cause. My DH flew to the US this morning and I REALLY wish he were here...

Hi all I am so pleased I have found this thread. I have suffered with vertigo on and off for many years and in the past bours lasted at the most a couple of weeks. However, this time I have not been able to recover for over 10 months. I have two children and run a business which I have worked hard to make a success that I am on the verge of giving up. Sometimes I struggle to walk and talk as it can make the spinning worse. I have a host other symptoms which include pressure in the head/face, fuzzy head, memory is rubbish and understand the 'bruised' feeling you are referring to. I have been diagnosed with MAV and have been prescribed amitryptaline, beta blockers and other drugs which I am unable to tolerate because of side effects. Latest symptom has been horrendous heart palpitations which has caused much anxiety. I am due a second MRI in a couple of weeks and another appt with neurologist in August, so we will see. This really has been the worst time health wise in my life and woud not wish this on anyone, my full, busy and varied life is in tatters and I barely leave the house now. I know this is a massive whinge and appreciate those who are very much worse off, just having an off day today :-( but thanks for writing your experiences down it has made me realise I am not the only one!