Lots of causes for dizziness but inner ear crystals is a big one. I had it pretty severely for about six months before I did the Epley maneuver. Could not figure out what was causing it. It was terrible. It wasn’t continuous dizziness for me but would come and go and I’d never know when it would hit. And sometimes I’d be severely dizzy and sometimes less so. And I was definitely afraid of falling.
The Epley manuever (I did it myself out of desperation but much safer with someone who has done it many times) is a series of very quick repositionings of the head to hopefully get the crystals back where they belong. It worked instantly for me and was like a miracle. It seems like it might be worth a try.
Questions: Not here to diagnose but hopefully her doc has already asked but just in case…
When does she feel dizzy? After eating? Sleeping? Getting up? Rolling over in bed?
Doesn’t matter? Any particular time of day?
Does it come and go? Or always there? Does it seem like the room is spinning or just a general overall feeling?
Does she know beforehand she’s getting dizzy? (like does it turn dark or start feeling faint?)
Is anything happening around her that triggers it (anything that produces anxiety). Any medications that might cause it? Headaches before or afterwards?
Does movement trigger it? Walking? Turning her head fast ?, Does she feel like she could trigger it herself by moving too fast?
I asked about the gait, because this is what my dad had. He had a huge fall while at the shooting range when no one was around that we didn’t learn about for days. At the same time, we learned that after that fall it took him two hours to get home. It’s a 10-minute drive.
I mentioned the possibility of Parkinson’s to BIL, but he dismissed it immediately. He’s a bit headstrong, but as long as he’s taking SIL to doctors, they’ll be the ones in charge of what to check out.
I hope she’s using a cane when she walks. My pretty folding cane cost less than $10 on Amazon and I use it whenever I leave the house. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1VMWHCV
She has been using a cane, but she really needs a rollator - that’s how unsteady she is. I’m not sure if the unsteadiness is the result of dizziness, the fear of falling, or something else. I agree, @deb922 … denial is easier than accepting that it could be neurological. We have a friend who died at 58 from a sudden and debilitating neurological disease. It was such a shock. But it happens, unfortunately.
Two summers ago I had vertigo that came and went. Doctor prescribed physical therapy. The therapist “specialized” in dealing with balance issues. For the first 2 months, she attempted the Eply maneuver, but couldn’t induce vertigo, so she couldn’t align the crystals. I would have episodes between appointments, but by appointment time, vertigo had stopped (for a week or so each time).
Finally in the 3rd month she was able to send me spinning and held my head in a position that made me spin while she moved my head to shift the crystals. The spinning finally stopped and she couldn’t make me spin again. When vertigo would set in I would move my head to a position that stopped the spinning—here, she wanted it to continue (counterintuitive to me)
I felt kinda wonky for a couple of days, but the vertigo has NOT returned—crossing fingers of both hands and toes of both feet that it stays that way!!!
Felt like she performed a miracle.
Agree with you that you don’t feel confident doing things—I never had an episode while driving, but the terror of that happening kept me from going behind the wheel that summer.
My friend recently was diagnosed with “normal” hydrocephalus. She was having balance issues and continuous splitting headaches. She’s better now that the FINALLY got her the correct balance of treatments, including shunt to help with fluid.
Got back home today. My mom is back at her AL facility, but in the skilled nursing side until/unless she can live more independantly. There’s been typical transfer chaos (just imagine most things going wrong) and I am trying to decompress.
The anxiety of all the pressure to communicate to all the doctors, all the staff, keeping track of what IS happening vs what is SUPPOSED to happen, trying to politely realign; checking that she is calm-ish, seeing if they are missing anything…
Now I have no way to reach her. She has no phone and no capacity to use her iPad, probably ever again. Local was there this morning for about an hour before I left, and said he’d stop in tomorrow. She’s scared, and confused about where she is and why she’s there. Both my brothers are “eh, she’ll be fine, they’ll figure her out”
Determining which side was the problem took me about a week after reading about it and how to figure it out. I wanted to be sure. I’d periodically go lie down in bed and roll real fast side to side. Took a week because it didn’t necessarily show up all the time. While both directions got some of the spinning effects it became more clear that one side was much worse.
The manuever directions sounded pretty crazy–head one direction, fall back on bed, roll one way, hold 15 sec, turn head this way, roll that way etc.–and do it fast. I wasn’t sure if I was successful at first and just sat there afraid to move. But it worked and dizziness never returned (knock on wood). So 30 seconds of gyrations and my ordeal was over. My only regret is it took me so long to find out about it.
BIL just told me that the PT who sees MIL will be coming to his/SIL’s house to do PT with SIL. This is good news - we have met the PT several times, and he seems very knowledgeable. He’s the kind of professional who can look at everything, not just “oh, she needs exercises to help with balance.” He’s coming to their house, which is also a good thing for SIL, whose ADHD can interfere with her ability to focus even in the best of times.
It can be more than one thing, but a neurologist is a good first step on it. Providing a list of all that has been going on (as great of detail as possible - with general dates/years), and what MDs/testing has been done. Medication list and changes.
There are reasons why she can no longer drive. All of them.
No point in putting head in the sand and not considering all possibilities and causes.
FIrst day in the zero information zone, Local finally sent a text of two sentences, one of which said there’s an oxygen machine in her room now. I asked do we know why and he just said “no”. Apparently he didn’t ask.
it would be pretty ironic if they removed the floor mats as a tripping hazard and then put an O2 machine in. I can’t believe he didn’t ask. Is it instead of the nebulizer treatment the hospital said would go with her but never ordered and the AL knows nothing about? Is it her relentless cough that isn’t pneumonia? Is it a tank or a concentrator? My sibs come at these things from a “is this actionable?” pov but today my aunt just said maybe they are stupid, lol.
I’m sorry your brothers are not more helpful at finding out what’s going on and not communicating better about what equipment she has and what it’s supposed to be used for. If no one knows what the equipment is and no one will use the equipment with the patient, it’s hazardous rather than helpful.
This really reminds me of my siblings. They would take my parents to the MDs and just thought their role was to be drivers. They would ALL smile and nod when asked how things were, so NO QUESTIONS and NO ANSWERS and to discussion about what to look for or anything else. It was frustrating, so I gave up and became the person who would take them to & from the MDs, so I could ask questions and provide feedback about what happened since prior visit.
