Vertigo or something else?! So worried!

[Winter2019]

Hello!
So yesterday I was playing with DD1 and suddenly felt like my vision went weird and when I was looking around things were 'floating'. Think that's the best I can describe it. I stood up to walk and was losing balance. The worst was when I would turn my head from side to side, it would go really dizzy and when I tilted it back it felt like I'm falling. On top of that my I started to feel shaky, loss of control which is panic like simptoms, I've suffered with them loads before but not for a long time. I thought I'm getting a stroke. I was so so scared. Went to lie down, thankfully dh was home. After maybe an hour I fell asleep it was fine after. But I'm home alone today with both kids - DD1 and newborn and so scared of what could it be or what if it comes back. Had something similar but not same last summer when head would go dizzy when lying down but this was very intense. Any reassurance that I'm not likely to die or have a stroke? I'm also such overthinker.

Just to add I've not been ill or had ear problems recently. 16 days postpartum

Does sound inner ear related or migraine maybe? I’d go to gp and explicitly say what you are worried about so they can reassure you.

Go and see your doctor.

See GP, I hope you feel better soon, and many congrats on your DD

It could be a vasovagal episode like I've be getting for years, but do see the GP and go from there.

It sounds like labyrinthitis which is down to an ear infection. You can get tablets from the doctor (stemetil) or use Stugeron, over the counter sea sickness tablets. These can alleviate the symptoms a bit but ultimately you just have to wait for it to go away.

The first time I had it I was taken in to hospital and tests for everything until they got an ENT man who diagnosed it. I've had a few episodes since then. You have my sympathy, it's horrible.

I've just seen your comment that you haven't had an ear infection but it's in a part of the ear that you can't feel. I was never aware of any ear ache.

Do you have anxiety? as this is how my panic attacks feel and they sometimes just come out the blue when I’m relaxing at home etc.

It could also be a sign of low iron levels as this can bring on dizziness and vertigo type symptoms.

Hi OP. See you gp, but try not to worry.

For what it's worth, I've experienced similar sounding weird episodes for many years (since I had DS, actually, so many being post partum is relevant). It was put down to something migrainey in the end (possibly related to vestibular migraine). I've also had trouble with anxiety in the past, and would not be surprised if these things are related in some way.

See a GP (a nice friendly one) in any case. But there are plenty of non-scary possible reasons for this.

Sounds like low blood pressure or your anaemic. Go to your GP and get checked out.

I have had very similar, also when I had a very young baby, strangely. I had been full of a cold the week before but had felt better for days. Then suddenly the room was spinning and I was terrified. The doctor examined me and said I was fine but he was quite sure the problem was caused by me previously being blocked up with a cold and then it all draining, he said sometimes your brain can struggle to adjust. He gave me anti sickness tablets and said it would pass. It did. I have had another smaller episode years later and I didn't panic that time.

I think it could be anaemia - did you lose a lot of blood giving birth? How were your bloods during pregnancy?

Are you still able to contact your midwife for advice? If not I would get a GP appointment.

Also do not underestimate the effects of the sheer exhaustion a newborn and just giving birth can have.

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I was on iron tablets pretty much whole pregnancy but few days after giving birth was told not to take them anymore... Should probably get blood tests done for iron levels.
I have suffered with bad anxiety / panic attacks in the past but this just felt different. Hopefully it won't return as it scared me so bad. I have had pretty much constant headache these days (not a strong one!) but thought it's due to not sleeping enough

Find out exactly what your ferritin levels are because they will tell you they are normal even if they are right down at the bottom level of normal and verging on being anemic. When I had anemia I used to get dizzy spells like that where my vision would go weird and I would feel like the room was tilting

Agree with everything above, and definitely worth seeing your gp and getting them to check your iron levels and give you the once over generally. With that said I have had many episodes of this in the past and they always seemed to occur with positional changes - ie if I moved my head suddenly (often when playing with dc incidentally) I would get sudden vertigo, feeling of ‘oh shit what is happening’ and then being unable to balance / walk in a straight line for a few minutes. The first time it happened was terrifying and I thought I was having a stroke but crucially there was no weakness or problems with speech etc, just sudden onset vertigo and loss of balance. Having googled I believe it is BPPV - benign paroxysmal positional vertigo - and is essentially a self limiting issue of the inner ear.

Hope you are a bit reassured that similar has happened to me, and congratulations on your new arrival. Make sure you are resting as much as possible and drinking lots as your fluid requirements will be increased at the moment.

Why on earth, if you thought you were could be having a stroke, did you 'go for a lay down'??

Utterly baffled.

@puddlelane thank you! Yes, I do feel a bit reassured however of course I'll get to gp and get blood tests done.

Lovely bedside manner there Bobby, hope you aren’t a health professional. For the record, people experiencing medical ‘episodes’ often do not behave in a textbook manner or with wonderful logic, hence why so many restaurant choking victims die in the restrooms as their initial reaction is one of embarrassment rather than help-seeking.

Thanks @puddlelane, yes exactly. Dh was home and told me to lie down to see if it's gonna get better. I didn't have other 'stroke simptoms' but as you know it feels absolutely terrifying.

I had vertigo as a teenager with the dizziness, went to doctors who prescribed pills for when it happened, but I grew out of it.

Puddlelane exactly when we come on here it's usually to be reassured and the last thing we want to hear are answers like Bobby's.

I am just coming through the other side of this although in my case i do have some ear pain (but nothing like what you would expect). Dr said virus which has got into my inner ear. It's been 3 weeks now and gp said to expect it for another few weeks. Today is the first day I have only had an hour or two of dizziness rather than a full day.

So GP but lots of it around

Sounds exactly like when I had vertigo. Tipping my head back was the worst. xx

I get vertigo a lot. No idea why, I randomly started getting it after DD2 a few years ago. I can just be chilling out then everything just starts shifting to the left or right and totally throws me off balance. It scares me every time and immediately puts me into fight or flight mode, I hold my breath, feel sick, tense up etc. But then it’s gone. Really strange. Read somewhere it’s almost almost something to do with the ears... and then it’s just panic x