Calling Labyrinthitis Experts, Help!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, I've had mild labyrinthitis off and on for over a decade. I get a head cold, then a few days later, I have a few hours of being slightly dizzy. No big. I saw a GP about it years ago, and he said the meds were worse than the problem, so I dropped it.

This morning I woke up feeling somewhat poorly, but once I started moving I felt much much much worse. Wanted to throw up, had diahroea, spent a while lying on the bathroom floor, enjoying the cold. Went back to bed and slept for another two hours and woke up kinda ok. Am now mostly ok, more like a "normal" attack. Hoping to be better tomorrow.

I've had a few colds in a row (pretty much continuously for the past month, it seems), and a very stressful Xmas. I also got a new inhaler on Thursday, a prevenar one, although I doubt that would bring on labyrinthitis?

Anyway, I know a lot of MNers have had labyrinthitis. At what point are the meds worthwhile? Should I go see a GP and try to get a cache of meds in case I get an attack like this again? Are there coping mechanisms (other than "lie still, wait for it to pass") that I should be trying.

Look here;

www.labyrinthitis.org.uk/vrt.htm

My mum suffers from this and her GP taught her how to do these exercises which seem to have helped. She also got stemetol injections when having a bad attack.

Oooh, my inner ear is generally a bit crap, even when I'm not suffering from labyrinthitis, so exercises to improve things are good idea.

They don't seem to show the exercises on that page, but I will keep digging.

Hmmm ... a lot of the exercises don't look like they'd be difficult at all, tbh. I can walk around perfectly fine, almost all the time. And I got a wobble board for Xmas, so have been working on my balance a lot with that ...

Hmmm, ok, had more of a dig, there are some interesting exercises in there. I think the head movements might be the way to go, as I am generally a bit subject to vertigo, and it does annoy me. (For example, I couldn't go on a fairground ride, really, not unless I wanted to spend the rest of my day green.)

firstly you need to be referred to a neuro-otologist, it sounds as though the first dose of labs you had may have damaged your inner ear and subsequently you havent fully compensated, so that when you get a virus, or head cold, you decompensate and thertefore get labs symptoms again. you need to have balance function tests to establish what the damage is to your inner ear and also to get a definate diagnosis, once you get this,m, you will be prescribed acourse of cooksey cawthorne head exercises which will help your cns to overcome the damage and compensate. in the meantime its worthwhile asking your gp for stemetil/serc or cinnarizine to take when you have an attack, its important to only take these meds when you have an attack though as they can prevent compensation.
also have a look at these websites
labs advice from 2 sufferers
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and here, vestibular disorders assc

rats messed up the second link..try again!
dizzytimes

Hmm, other than yesterday's attack, my attacks are always pretty trivial. They don't stop me from doing anything, they aren't really a problem. I just feel vaguely green for about 6 hours. Until yesterday, I'd never had a worse attack.

I do get carsick etc really easily, but I put that down to never really being in cars.

If I get another attack like yesterday, I'll go to the GP, but I'd rather avoid that, if possible. Certainly, my "normal" attacks aren't worth medicating, by all accounts.

its important to only do cooksey cawthorne exercises under the guidance of a physio therapist who specialises in balance issues. thats why i suggesteda referral, you could just ask the gp for tablets to keep in case of an "emergency"

The exercises that tempt me, frankly, are the eye/head movement ones, not the complicated "lie down on your side really fast" ones. At least, if I try to do them, they make me a bit ill.

I'll have a chat with my physio, next time I go in ... last time was a three-part appointment, doing planar fascitis, knee issues, and a hip thing ...