Vertigo sufferers advice

[wineandsunshine]

Hiya,

Background - recent vertigo attack about three weeks ago, needed Stemetil from GP which worked amazingly BUT I'm still struggling going from laying to standing every morning and also turning over in bed....

I also have constant tinnitus in one ear.

Any thoughts or advice?? I'm wondering if a syringe might help.

Have you looked at labyrinthitis? Also look up Epley manoeuvre... sounds like what you have to me.

Was it a one off attack? Stemetil will help with the feeling sick that comes with vertigo. I take betaserc daily- if i miss then i find it flares up again. When i have very off days I sleep with a night light on, one of those plug in ones, it helps with dizzyness at night time and for the tinnitus I sleep with white noise every night

Hmmmm Thankyou for replying.

How would I know if it's labrythinitis??

I've had minor attacks before, a couple of seconds every so often over the past few years but this last episode has been the worse one.

My left ear feels like when you go swimming, and it's blocked

You need to go back to the Dr and push for an ENT referral. Your symptoms sound similar to my husbands. He has Menieres Disease.

Yes I'm definitely booking again tomorrow - I can't keep feeling like this.

Thankyou!

No tinnitus with labryntitus - sounds like meneries disease

Yes, I have menieres and it took 18 months to get diagnosed. Very similar symptoms too.

Yes should have said but posted quickly- sounds like menieres- unfortuntaely no real cure, its horrible, have had it 9-10 years now on and off

I have similar symptoms. No advice. My most recent dizziness phase finished abruptly but I didn't do anything special to make it happen. Have still got a blocked ear and some tinnitus but glad not to be dizzy. I've had several periods of it in a year now that can last days or weeks and can just be when lying but can even be tilting my head when standing up.

Dh was off work for 6 months. He takes betahistamine now and it’s starting to get under control but it’s only ever remission.

The epley manœuvre works fantastically but in my experience, you need someone to do it quite forcefully. Gentle didn’t work for me.

You can get patches that go behind your ear that really help me with the nausea too,

As far as getting out of bed, I do it in a few stages and just try to keep my eyes open and adjusting to where I am if that makes sense. Roll on to my side, then legs over the bed and then head up. Taking slow and letting your brain catch up.

It’s miserable, sorry you are suffering too.

My physio. helped me no end and gave me a series of exercises. When I feel the start of an attack I do these, it does help. It is weird once you have had an attack it never really leaves you completely. Just download the exercises on this website and do them twice a day, sitting at first if you are too dizzy.

www.brainandspine.org.uk/our-publications/our-fact-sheets/vestibular-rehabilitation-exercises/

Thankyou for all the replies, I will have a look at those exercises too.

I have no hearing loss which is good, but to be honest this dizziness is really getting me down ☹️

OP - don't get downhearted yet as it could be something that can be sorted. Ear infection could be the cause and sringing might help the tinnitus.

Google BPPV.

Apt booked for 10th Dec...that gives me a few weeks to see how it settles or not!!

Thanks for the advice guys it is appreciated!

I was so desperate with the dizziness nausea in desperation I phoned dentist to see if I had an infection. He could not find one, but put me on antibiotics as a precaution.

Well I started to get better after six weeks visiting the surgery and being prescribed stuff. When I told the gp, she said yes sometimes it was caused by an infection!! I did go onto have an mri, the consultant confirmed that it had probably originated as an infection diagnosed vestibular neuritis, and wondered why the gp had not offered antibiotics in the first place.

I was so mad, used to stagger into the practice like a drunk holding on to OH my balance was so bad. Six weeks of this in the school holidays, my little boy said once "Why cant you be like other mummies" I could have wept. We never got back that precious summer for a little boy and my hearing is permanently damaged.

That’s odd as I posted about Ménière’s above.
Def worth going back to GP. It took a while for mine to mention Ménière’s though.
If it’s BPPPV the Eply will sort it (I’ve had that form of vertigo too).

Dh was originally treated for TRA’s (mini strokes), underwent tests for an acoustic neuroma, brain cancer and various auto immune conditions and took precautionary antibiotics for Lyme Disease. He eventually had to go to a private DR as our local ENT clinic discharged him with no diagnoses other than senso neurinal hearing loss and no treatment.

I’m having same issue w ENT - they’re only interested in whether my hearing has got worse and not looking at whole picture.
I am thinking of going privately too.

If you are anywhere near Birmingham we can recommend someone. He was very very good.

Could be BPPV (google it!) the turning over in bed trigger is quite common. Look on you tube for Brandt-Daroff exercise. The Epleys is tricky to do on yourself. You need to do the exercise 1xday every day until you are not dizzy during the exercise for 3 days in a row. If no improvement try GP +/- referral to physio.

My GP mentioned those manoeuvres when he prescribed the Stemetil - the weird thing is I'm ok once I'm UP...I feel fine.

Maybe he will try them when we go? I will update once I've been in a few weeks!

My physio tried the epley, it had no effect on me. So it wasn`t the little crystals in my ears.

The symptoms of BPPV are vertigo on movement that settles usually after a few seconds to a minute (once you stopped the triggering movement).

Most GP’s can perform the Epley’s. It’s worth a shot.

Update!!
It took about a month for the dizziness to fully stop (especially getting out of bed). The GP rechecked my ears last week and he said it's the small tubes that are blocked - something tube dysfunction..anyway he recommended steaming using Albas oil so I've been trying that this week and then blowing my nose!