Benign Positional Veritgo - help me!

[marilynmonroe]

Hi there,
i posted a couple of weeks ago about this and have been getting much better. only a few dizzy spells when lying down etc. So i was back to normal but yesterday i woke up and i felt drunk.

it was really scary, i felt i could not walk straight and felt really dizzy moving my head. I went to the docs who said this was normal and it should go away again.

he said they give patients a 5 week window to recover, I've got 2 weeks left and then they send you for a brian scan to check the nerves behind your ears - sounds scary and i am really hoping that i don't get to that point.

today i have woken up the same and still feel dizzy, the doc gave me some anti sickness pills which help the dizziness but not much.

What I am asking to you all, has anyone had this? if so did it go away and come back? and how long did it take to go away?

I'm worried as i can't drive feeling like this and my DH can't take any time off work this week as he is at the end of an important project which he is running. I can't do much with the kids which is driving me mad and them!!!

any words of wisdom ladies?

thanks

You poor thing

I had this last year and it was terrible. I woke up one morning like i was drunk and the GP prescribed anit biotics for an ear infection and a anti sickness med. It went away after about 5 days and i was fine.

About 3 weeks later i woke up in the night having rolled over and the room was spinning. It had come back.

I had to see 2 different GPs who didnt know what it was and i was becoming very upset as i felt so ill. I then saw a locum who said you have BPV and referred me to a specialist.

I had to wait 3 months for the appointment whilst continuing to work which was horrid as i felt ill all the time.

However, the consultant confirmed the diagnosis and did a manipulation of my head that moved the crystals in my ear back into the correct position and it was an instant cure. That was last july and it has not come back.

My BPV came on in March last year and it did not go away on its own till i went to the consultant in July. So you need to push for a referral asap.

Good luck

Yes. Caused by labyrinthitis.

It's awful.

I had MRI to rule anything else out. Took about 3 months for my vertigo to diminish. I still get 2 or 3 episodes a year can't go in any fairground rides even baby ones set it off.

I was left with heightened atomic response and the panic attacks associated have stopped completely.

Try dizzytimes.com. I got more help advice and support on there than anywhere else.

Cut out all caffeine that caused a massive improvement in me.

X

Autonomic response even

oh goodness kitchenaid that is awful. it's good that it went straightaway once you got a consultant appt.
losingitall - that sounds awful too. do you still get the panic attackis now?
thanks for the tip for dizzytimes.com.

also - did you manage to drive when you had it? i can't at the moment as it would be too dangerous. it means my son missing out on his swimming lessons etc.

everytime i go to bed i wish that i wake up fine in the morning. it's so depressing.

I've been suffering with this since Xmas. Took 2 months before it diminished but it still comes and goes even now. Mine was brought on by a bout of labyrinth it's. I saw an ent doctor privately and he diagnosed the same as my GP. It caused me to become a recluse.....had to hang onto my daughter walking her to nursery so I didn't fall over but bizarrely would become totally symptom free behind the wheel of my car.

When it comes back now it only lasts a couple of days or so and isn't nearly as severe. Is a miserable condition, hope you find relief soon.

No more panic attacks as I've now learned that "this will pass" and I'm not actually about to drop dead.

I was very scared kept leaving notes for my kids in case I died in the night. Also led to me dumping mr ex as he just couldn't understand how terrifying it all was. Or the associated panic attacks. Looking back now I can see how it's perfectly natural to panic when the world shifts below your feet.

That website kept me sane.

I started driving after a month never had 1 dizzy spell whilst driving lots of people don't.

X

I'm glad you all its frightening as that is how i feel. I start to imagine all sorts is wrong with me.

That's really interesting about the driving. I wonder what changes when you are behind the wheel.

losingitall - i've had a look on the website and it looks great, think i will be logging on to it alot!

Is it like labryinthitis?

I ask, because some one referred to the crystal in the ear in relation to BPV. Labyrinthitis is when all the crystals in the ear are free floating and can't settle. However, Cawthorne-Cooksey exercises got rid of my labrynthitis after 3 months of room spinning. They settle the crystals in the ears. Lots of wild head shaking (Think Animal in the Muppets)

Just wondered if they might help?

They were prescribed by ENT clinic

There are all kinds of different causes of vertigo, BPV, MAV etc etc

Hi, I'm a GP and I suffer from recurrent labyrinthitis, so I know how awful it is. If this is your first ever episode, there is a very good chance that it is viral. The good news is that this means that it will get better by itself and - with a bit of luck - you'll never get it again. The bad news is that manipulation of the type that llovemykitchenaid had won't help.

Useful leaflet here.

Hang in there - I see about 40 patients per year with this and I'd say on average 37 get better within a few weeks and need no further tests or treatment.

I have MAV which was brought on my my first ever bout of labyrinthitis. My dizziness was out of control and had me become a recluse for almost a year. My GP kept telling me that labyrinthitis couldn't last that long but mine did.

I now take amitriptyline for it and it has pretty much gone now (touch wood).

I feel for you though, if it is that its really awful. Any kind of dizziness is terrible, you just can't function with it. I couldn't work, didn't want to socialise with anybody, just wanted to be alone in a quiet room all the time.

Push for a referral to ENT so you can have tests done. Don't worry about brain scan, I was also sent for one, I think it is good that they do this as it rules out anything else first. I panicked when my GP sent me for one though as at the time I was convinced I had a brain tumour, I felt so awful.

It's strange that people say about driving - I was the same, unless I was having a day that I literally couldn't get out of bed, I could drive and was ok. It came back the minute I got out of the car, but while I was driving it seemed to vanish.

I hope you start to feel better soon.

Thanks anyoneforturps. Is it the same thing as positional vertigo?

Richtea that's sounds awful. So pleased you are feeling better.

I am going to push for further investigation. I can't afford to have this with 2 young kids to look after!

Viral illnesses can cause positional vertigo (they are the commonest cause of a sudden-onset single episode of vertigo). There are other causes including Meniere's disease (fluid shifts in the inner ear) and chalky deposits in the inner ear - which is what Ilovemykitchenaid probably had. To be honest, I wouldn't be pushing for a referral at this stage especially if it has been improving. Your GP's plan to arrange a scan if it hasn't got better in a few weeks is a good one. If you saw an ENT surgeon now, she would do exactly the same as your GP i.e. say you need an MRI if it's not better in a few weeks. The advantage of your GP's plan is that, if you do then need an ENT referral, you will have already had the scan.

I think your GP will ask you to wait a couple of weeks before further investigation. I know that sounds harsh but there is a greater than 90% chance of this getting completely better by itself in a couple of weeks. The NHS cannot afford for everyone with a short episode of vertigo to see an ENT specialist and - more important than the money - if we referred everyone who had symptoms for a few weeks, there would be a massive wait for MRI scans and ENT appointments which would mean delays for dangerous conditions like cancer. The people who say "push for a referral" are often the same people who complain about waits to have scans and outpatient appointments!

As I say, I know that sounds really harsh but that is the way it is in the NHS. If you post on MN, you will tend to get replies from people whose symptoms didn't get better - those people quite rightly needed scans and specialist opinions. But there are far more people out there whose symptoms settle by themselves.

Thank you turps. I understand what you ate saying. I just want it to go away. I'm hoping it will soon and not have to worry about scans etc!

AnyoneforTurps, I wish you had been my GP at the time I was suffering. I waited months before I had a brain scan - by that time I had lost my job and most of my life at the time, cancelled 2 holidays and managed by the skin of our teeth to keep hold of the house - I didn't work for a total of a year with it. I couldn't move from the house. My GP kept telling me it was anxiety. It wasn't - I was anxious because I didnt know what on earth was wrong with me. I lost 3 stone in weight and became such a mess.

Mine started with a bad cold. Out of the blue I got a sudden onset of really bad vertigo. I was driving at the time, thought I was going to kill myself or someone else!! I managed to stop the car and was really sick. I had to be picked up and dump the car. After that I had vertigo for about 6 weeks, then it turned to being really lightheaded and dizzy rather than room spinning.

After begging and pleading and DP coming to the GP to insist they did something he then referred me to an ENT who arranged for balance testing. They ruled out an vestibular issue but said that labyrinthitis had triggered it. I had always had migraines but never dizziness with them. I then became dizzy daily. I started the beta blockers but they didn't help much, but adding the amitriptyline has really made a difference now. I still wonder if it was MAV as I was getting neck pressure and etc too but after every test going, chiro treatment and osteo visits I decided it must be. It was strange though because I was getting palps with it too. That has all stopped now and the dizziness is maybe once every couple of weeks for a short time rather than daily non stop.

From my experience I said to push for it because I went to see my GP every week complaining it was getting worse rather than better. Most times I had to be taken because I couldn't even walk without someone to hold on to, yet it must've been at least 5 months before I had any meaningful tests.