Anyone had labarynthitis?

[Lucyellensmum95]

Can you describe how it made you feel please? I think my mum has this but she finds it difficult to describe her symptoms.

In a word, shit! The first time I had it was as a teenager and I thought it was a brain tumour and I was dying, then accused my gp of making the word up as it didn't sound real! I've since had it twice more (thought a third but turned out I was pregnant!). Very dizzy, nauseous with the dizziness, sort of migraine headlines and generally feeling rough and off kilter.

Awful!
Blocked ears and lost my hearing for 3 weeks.
Floored me. Took me 4 months to get over it.

I had two instances of it in my twenties.

I felt really dizzy when I stood up although I was ok lying down. I tried to get into work a few times and a colleague said that her husband had seen me and thought I had a drink problem as i was staggering around. In both cases it went after a fortnight.

It felt like I was on a boat, constant moving or swaying feeling. I also felt like I wasn't really there, sort of like I was looking in iykwim. It was awful, and so hard to describe it to people without making them think you're crazy. The worst thing is that for about 5 years afterwards I would still get the occasional bout. Now it only comes back if I'm overly tired, have been travelling or I have a cold.

Slidey, dizzy feeling; room appears to be spinning; any movement at all of eyes or head sparks severe nausea; impossible to do anything except lie very still next to a sick bucket.

That's how it has been for me the couple of times I have had it. Really really awful but fortunately only a few hours duration. The first sign was the slidey spinny vision, and then the nausea kicked in after an hour or so. I was so violently sick that I had muscle pain in my abdomen for a couple of days after, from the muscular effort of throwing up.

I was lucky I was never sick and wasn't really nauseas. I did lose my appetite though. It took a long time to get over it.

I felt like I was in a lift, felt like the floor was moving combined with the feeling of a constant hangover.

Thanks ladies - i am not sure if my mum feels nauseous, just the "giddy" feeling - she says it isn't dizzy but describes the vertigo type feeling. I just want to make it go away for her - she is so miserable about it.

The worst illness I've ever had in my life. I couldn't open my eyes for a week and was constantly vomiting. The room was spinning at a million miles an hour and I just wanted to pass out. I couldn't walk without crutches for several weeks - your brain has to relearn balance apparently - and I'm still not 100% several years later. I am always aware of the internal tubes going down from my ears to my throat and if I get ill, they ache annoyingly.

I was given prochlorperazine which was amazing at reducing the nausea and lifting my spirits. If I ever get it again, I'll be calling the GP out straight away! I got told off for suffering needlessly by mine!

Your poor mum. I hope she can get some relief soon.

A week! You poor thing! A couple of hours felt unendurable. A week would have driven me insane!

Was like catelynstark. thought I'd had a stroke as couldn't even sit up or see for first few days . DH had to Cary me to the toilet and I'd hold him round his new with my eyes closed ! progressed to crawling on hands and knees and eventually holding the walls . took months to get well and even now I o into certain rooms or shops and feel like the floor is moving . If I've had a cold ill often get it mildly for a few weeks and then I absolutely dread waking in the night like I did the first time so bad .
most people I think don't get it so bad but I really hope your mum gets better soon. lots of rest x x x

My bro had it a couple of years ago. Came on v suddenly while he was riding his bike to work. He started to feel insanely dizzy, fell off his bike and couldn't get up off the road because he felt as if he was "inside a washing machine on the spin cycle". Someone called an ambulance and like blondie the medics suspected he'd had a stroke. They kept him in hospital for a few days until they'd established it wasn't.

He was flat on his back for a week or two and threw up a few times. It took a few months to wear off and he said the symptoms felt worse in the mornings. It sounded absolutely horrible. Hope your Mum picks up soon.

like on a boat, room spinning, nausea etc.

awful evil thing.

Hi Lucyellensmum - meant to reply to your other thread (am a doctor and by chance have recently gone to some training about this)

I really hope you get your mum sorted out but from what you describe, it is not labyrinthitis.

Labyrinthitis is a severe, sudden onset of feeling incredibly dizzy and usually vomiting your heart up - when you try to move your head, you feel as if the world is spinning around you (Pretty much everyone with it will describe this umprompted, it's such a powerful sensation). A doctor would be able to spot you have abnormal eye movements called nystagmus.

The person finds it really difficult to get out of bed but with medication the vomiting settles and it resolves spontaneously in the next few weeks - just as everyone above thread has described.

Your mum's case with her Addisons, high blood pressure and multiple meds is a lot more complex than this and I hope you get some joy seeing the specialist. Unfortunately feeling dizzy and funny turns can be very very difficult to diagnose and treat so I wish you and your mum well.

I had this about 5 or 6 years ago. It was grim. I kept going for a bit, had tickets for a book festival ( I know, i know), trying to be cautious how I moved my head etc, but did throw up a few times - I tend to hang onto things for a bit in hope they'll go away . Symptoms, before treatment - pavements coming up to meet me, esp on hill, fell out of bed once or twice, vomiting, VV tired. The day it began I got up as usual and couldn't walk to loo without holding onto wall!

In the end, lovely GP diagnosed it quickly, gave me meds (Stemetil/prochlorperazine), and it eased up quite soon. I did have problems for a bit, like when going downstairs - it did coincide with me getting my first pair of varifocals so maybe the stair thing wasn't my labyrinithitis totally, but it didn't go away that quickly. Still get dizzy now when VERY tired.GP was able to confirm dx by shining light in my eyes - it's to do witht eh way your eye moves on affected side with labyrinthitis. Your mother should jsut see GP, OP - it is better to get it fixed asap.

Ever got off a boat/train and felt like you're still moving? Like that really. All the time. Dizzy. It lasted for ages but very very slowly just went away. I found this website very useful

www.labyrinthitis.org.uk/

kundry - thanks for that, you are right, my mum doesn't get the symptoms you describe. I think i was clutching at straws to be honest - Your post hasn't made me feel better (not your fault!) really as i can see that they are still going to be flummoxed and the specialist appointment isn't until the end of april I might have to push to bring this forward.

She hs an appointment to see A doctor today, not her GP, coudlnt get past the dragon on the desk (wanted all the details, like she was going to understand FFS ) but she can't be left as she can't leave the house and i'm really worried that a) she is about to have a stroke! and c) the tumour has grown and is pushing on a structure involved in balance.

Its so complicated i suppose because of her history and medication, but is there ANYTHING she can have to make her FEEL better?

I felt like the world was slowly spinning round me when I was lying down, and getting up made me feel like I was standing on a pitching boat. I was pretty much bed bound for a week.

It would be worth her seeing the doctor though. There are other conditions which can give you this feeling that are more serious. The second time I had "viral labyrinthitis" I stuck it out at home for almost a fortnight and then when I fell over went to hospital and was diagnosed with a neurological illness.

Not trying to frighten you, or your mum, but if it doesn't go away or the symptoms are slowly getting worse, a short neuro examination by the GP would be a good idea.

Here's hoping she feels better soon, it is horrible!

Sorry, didn't read the whole thread! Hope today's appointment goes well.

Constant sea sickness feeling with no pain. Wanting to throw up but couldn't. Couldn't focus my eyes either for some reason.

The thing tht gets me though is she says her ears feel horrible (uncomfortable, pressure) and that she has sores in the today - i think she has been poking around. This COULD be the cause of the dizziness though, even without it being labarynthitis?