Vertigo

[ken s]

My name is Ken. Im married, have 3 kids, 18, 16, 12. hold a good job in the oil refining business.
Ive always considered myself an athlete and in excellent health. An avid surfer at a young age, raced motocross from my early 20's till 30 or so. when I switched to bicycle racing, road and mountain, which i am still heavily into after all these years. Im 48 now.

That was a little about me, now the part where mr. vertigo came into my life. He wasnt so bad in the early days but got alot meaner these days of late. Heres a bit of a re-cap of the past 24 years (from the first episode till present)

1984: 24 years old out of knowhere walking along at work, i was hit with a spinning sensation, i kneeled down, rode it out for about 20 seconds. It dissapeared and that was it. Wasnt very intense. 2 weeks later in a store, it started again, this time much harder, i needed the wall to help guide me out of the store where i sat in my car till it stopped. The spin was clockwise direction with a slight pulling to one side. Went to ER, they said it was probably an inner ear infection , gave me meclizine and sent me home.I was ok after that.

Luckily, the next 22 years went vertigo free, except seldomly from time to time waking up in the morning feeling like i was on a boat, then it would end.

2006 April: setting up at campimg trip suddenly was hit with hard spinning that came unexpectedly. I had to kneel down and hold the firepit for a moment, it was alot more intense than the few I had 22 years ago. More like a carnival ride. could not stand up, but only hold on. It also stopped after a minute or so and the rest of the trip was fine.

2006 July :Another camping trip to Dc, awoke in the morning, sat up, then started to spin hard. 10x-harder than any other i had before, like your body being inside a kaleidascope, the spinning was so hard, this time up and down as well as sideways and the floor tilted. All i could do was hold on. couldnt sit either. Completely debilitating. sweating profusely. Then after a minute or so, bam! it stops. When it stopped, i thanked God then threw up. The next several weeks after that I notice very slight off balance when walking, especially in the hall at work.

2006 September: Woke in the morning for work, and to save me alot of typing, the very same thing happened (as 2006 July, above) Completely out of control. all I could do is hold on and wait for it to stop. This time it didnt stop though. (I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy if i had one) Ambulance took me to ER. Finally sedated after about 8 hours. Cat Scan, Blood tests, negative. Any slight head movement set it off again. Couldnt walk for a week without help. A week later, I saw The ENT while I was still wobbling, tests showed it was Central (meaning in the brain, not in the inner ear). Sent to Neurologist. MRI's with and without contrast of brain and neck, negative. Later, more blood tests for heavy metals poisoning, lyme disease etc., negative.This went on spread out through October 2006. Was put on meclizine from the very start though along with lorazapam for the axiety it brought on. I developed bad anxiety from the fear of having this again.

By December 2006 was back to work and regaining a little confidence.

By January 2007 things were pretty normal again, and i was off all meds. But the fear was still slightly there. I wouldnt go anywhere without mediction in my pockets again.

By March 2007 I got back on my bicycle and started to train again, planning a bike ride from San Francisco to Huntington Beach.I trained for a year and completed the ride in August 2008. I remained riding after the trip at a high level of fitness and feeling great.It had now been 2-1/2 years since the last vertigo episode (the big one) and I thought it was all behind me now...

2008 November, still in the best physical shape of my life, I was at my daughters soccer game i was standing on the sideline where i stepped backwards into a slight hole, knocking me off balance real quick, then it started , to my shock and disbelief.It started the same way they all used to, but this time i remembered whet the ENT told me when I was going through testing in 2006.**This could be helpful to others if you are still reading this or havent fallen asleep yet, She said the moment you start to feel it (vertigo) happening, focus on something stationary that is ahead of you, an object, and try your best to relax, and remain focused on it.
I did that. Things slowly settled from a spin, the ground slowly went back to level and it went away after 10 seconds or so. I felt normal but shook up a little.Another one happened a week later, now in December 2008, which I also controlled. Thing is, they are now starting to come more frequent, with some getting harder to stop. The more recent one, Jan 5, walking out of work, hit pretty hard and tried to come back several times after trying to control them.
Called my doctor who set me up with another Neurologist (so we start all this again)I have to wait a month before he can see me though.

I kind of feel like its gonna be the same thing again with the new neuro. I think they have that look like we are exxagurating or full of it. He cut me short when explaining my symptoms because he was always in a hurry. But unless they themselves went through the same real bad vertigo, not just dizziness, (which most people dont realize they are two different things, with dizzziness not being even near the same thing as vertigo) they will never truly understand. You are just another complainer now. You cant really blame them. The only people that would truly understand and relate to you is those who share the same as we do. Hey, we need to find doctors that have had bad vertigo dont we.

Meanwhile its January 2009 and still having these short episodes that are more frequent some days than others. Im off work again and back on meclizine and lorazapam. So now I wait.
I know this was long, but if there is anyone out there on this website forum that can relate, whether it be a person that has experienced something like this or similar, or even a professional, i'd like to hear any comment.
One thing I can tell you is that im not a selfish person. I pray every day, but not for myself as much as I do that my children will never experience this in their lifetime.
Ken

[aaron09658]

I can relate to so 80 percent of the systems you have. Im only 20 yrs old though, so you had your first system before I was born. I'm also trying to find someone with what I have. My symptoms are the following:

1. I have a constant imbalance problem
2. I have constant Mild vertigo with sometimes attacks of it severe. There is fluctuation though.
3. When my vertigo is very low I get a up and down sensation sometimes.
4. I lose focus with my eyes. and get blurry vision.
5. I also get anxiety attacks from it
6. I've may have fainting once, but In general I do not but I do feel like it with my dizziness.
7. I can sometimes direct my spinning sensation, aswell as I have a feeling of my turned upside down when I lie down, I can control which way I turn. Its weird.
8. I do have a stiff neck
9. Meclizine helps about 50 percent of the time and causes me to have brain fog.
10. I have a pinched nerve in my neck and i sometimes get a throbbing from my head.
11. Before my constant dizziness, I did get dizzy when going through a thunderstorm or something alike. Loud noises also caused it.
12. some head positions make it get worse or more noticable.

[LisaVMS]

Yes, Ken. Trying to assist my wife who has been bothered by vertigo the past 4 years. Off and on and off and on and really nasty now. Dizziness has always been a symptom, and recently flickering lights, lights from oncoming car lights, have really, really bothered her. Lisa at [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed]. Getting tired of doctor after doctor not being able to help her. Chiropractors and EN&T doctors. You name it.

[spins]

I feel the same way you do about the doctors. I don't think they understand how serious this is for us. At least that is my experience. Specialist after specialist and no further ahead. I just waited 3months to get an appointment with a neurologist and now have an additional 4month wait to be seen. Taking it one day at a time.

[kimstewart]

I was diagnosed with Benign paroxysmal position vertigo (BPPV) about four years ago after I woke up one day with a sudden intense and extremely horrible spinning sensation. I was sick about 8 times that day (each time my partner had to guide me through the hall to the bathroom). I know how you feel as I distinctly remember thinking at the time: I would NEVER wish this on my worst enemy.

After several tests at ENT, one doctor diagnosed me and put me through different motions. See below for the Epley Manouevre. This did help as I have not felt as bad as the first time since this was done to me. You can do the positions at home but you need someone to help you and perhaps it would be best to see a specialist beforehand? It's been four years since I had a bad spell, however a couple of days ago I was eating dinner at a restaurant and it came on. My head's been spinning since (even now...) My mother also has Vertigo and she says hers it brought on my extra stress and lack of sleep.

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bppv/bppv.html

Hope this has helped someone. I've also been reading up on different artificial sweeteners causing dizziness and would recommend staying away from aspartame. (See below)

http://www.aim4health.com/nutrasweet.htm

[ken s]

thanks for the reply Kim. I hope nothing but the best for you. All tests revealed I dont have BPPV, even though they did also try the epley manuevere on me which did nothing. All tests from the ENT proved my vertigo was not from my inner ear, which means its from my brain or central nervous system dissorder, whatever. Currently, I wait for another appointment with a new neuro , but meanwhile, my doctor is running new blood tests for mercury and other things. Ken

[ken s]

Lisa, I feel for you. You mention lights bothering you. I remember during my first episode in 2006 going out in the bright sun bothered me quite a bit, and right now I'm more sensitive to the sunlight while outside, need the definately wear shades in the sun. You are not the first that I've heard that bright or flickering lights set it off. That sucks. Actually everything sucks about vertigo.-K
ps; we need to stay off these websites (LOL), dont it seem the more you read about it, the more you think about it, raising your anxiety about it even more?

[LisaVMS]

Just had a wonderful visit with a new chiropractor yesterday. He reviewed 4 years of history and all the things that bother me on my info sheet and said ... you're full of crap! Literally. One of the things that I suffer from is constipation (BM once every 4 days). He diagnosed that all my symptoms inckuding the dizziness and lights and such are tied to having so much build-up in me and the toxins that I have and what it's doing to my kidneys. He tied it all together.

Steady diet of magnesium citrate pills for 2 weeks and we'll see where it goes ...

Praise God!

If your vertigo is also tied to constipation, give it a try!

[spin-dr]

Sir
you are not alone I have had the same thing since Jan of 07
I forgot what it like to be normal
I have it everyday only about an hour if I catch it do I feel right

I will get real dizzy after I eat I thought I was diabetic no my A1c is 5.7 right on
I have also been tested for everything Mri,blood work ,2 stress test a year apart,Ent,endo guy,acupunc
meds nothing works my ears pop and crackle they tell me it will go away Bullcrap
they don't know

I'm out of corners to turn and I feel like you everyone calls me a baby but they don't know I know how you feel
and I hate it

Jim
Saugus Ca,

[ken s]

LisaVMS,
Whoaaaahhhh.!!! well i must say, i hope they found the problem. good luck. i'd like to hear the outcome of that one. ken s