I’ve never experienced this until recovering from a nasty cold bug in early January. It must have caused some inner ears changes - I can definitely feel it, though the rest of the cold symptoms went away. For several weeks, I’ve experienced many “interesting” moments when suddenly the floor started shaking violently and the whole world spun around me during floor exercise in the gym, or when I turn in bed. I was less amused when a few times I suddenly lost balance while walking - people must have thought I had one too many drinks.
I thought that the symptoms would resolve over time, but so far it did not seem to get any better. I try to stay hydrated by drinking water (easy) and reducing my coffee intake (much more difficult), but not sure what else I can do. I really hate going to doctors, and have little time for it, but I can try to see an otorhinolaryngologist if this would help. Has anyone experienced this condition? Any tips to share?
There’s a trick that might work for you, called the Epley maneuver. It’s simple, and when it’s effective it’s astonishingly effective and makes the vertigo go away. My doctor had me use it, and the vertigo went away for years and years. When it briefly made a comeback, a little Epley sent it packing.
Have you been checked for a UTI? As bizarre as it might sound, I had no idea what was causing my dizziness and vertigo like symptoms. A trip to the doc for an unrelated issue uncovered the infection. As soon as I finished the antibiotic, it was gone.
I have had BPPV and have had to do the Epley maneuver on myself several times over the past few years. There is a slightly different version of the maneuver depending on which specific positions bring on the vertigo. A Physical Therapist can perform the maneuvers for you. (I’m a PT so it was easy to do it myself.)
Note that these maneuvers will only help if your vertigo is being caused by otoliths in your inner ear being displaced. There are many other causes of vertigo. I think you should get it checked out.
I’m prone to it though haven’t had an attack for a while. Never know when it will suddenly hit. For years I carried motion sickness pills with me just in case. The doc recommended meclizine which is a generic and much cheaper than the brand names. It helped.
I used to get some really terrible attacks where I was scared to move or cm we my eyes or open them or focus on anything or move. A couple of times it literally felt as if my brain was doing a flip in my skull. Most dreadful feeling. Not sure what triggers it for me. Though one time I got the flu really bad and was prescribed tamiflu. Ended up with vertigo really really badly and noticed a while later vertigo was listed as a possible side effect of tamiflu. Even though the doc said I looked like I had been hit by a truck when I had the flu (I actually cried in her office I felt so bad), I’d take that over a vertigo attack anytime. I feel for you - good luck!
As CTmom2018 notes, and as I said, the Epley maneuver only works for a certain kind of vertigo, caused by little crystals in your ear. If your vertigo has another cause, the Epley maneuver will do nothing.
I’d say give the maneuver a couple of tries. If it works, you have figured out what is wrong and fixed it. If it doesn’t work, go see a doctor.
My mom had a bad episode years ago and was prescribed Valium. I thought it was just to ease the anxiety brought on by the dizziness but apparently it also can reduce the symptoms for some people.
@mycupoftea - I have the same problem. It started several years ago after being sick. My Dr feels it is caused by allergies. When it was really bad I took a generic form of Bonine morning and night. I also used Flonase each morning. She also suggested using a saline nose spray. It has never been as bad as the first time but I still get it. I can now tell when it is beginning to happen again. At that point I go back to daily saline rinse and Flonase. If I feel like my sinuses hurt to touch I also add in old school Sudafed. I also make a point when I get up at night to go to the bathroom to sit for a few seconds on the edge of the bed and to stand up slowly before walking. I have had the experience of trying to walk and falling to one side. It is a real pain getting old.
The first time the entire room would spin anytime I turned my head. The spinning didn’t seem to stop unless I laid straight. I slept with my head propped up. Now it is more a few seconds of spinning when I turn on my side. Or a few seconds of spinning when I go from laying flat to upright when doing flood exercises at the gym.
I hope you feel better because I know how annoying and frustrating it can be.
If it is from congestion, drink lots of water, take sudafed and mucinex, and try a nasal spray like flonase. Something along the lines of advil will reduce inflammation so that swelling isn’t blocking the passages and keeping them from draining. Sometimes sinuses back up into ears, and that protocol may allow draining. If you have a sinus or ear infection, you’ll need antibiotics. I’d venture that if this was brought on my a cold, this is the root cause of your woes.
There are prescription drugs specifically for vertigo (antivert comes to mind.)
I don’t think it hurts at all to go to a otolaryngologist. It could be the ear crystals, it could be something else. I had experienced vertigo a few times. Then a year and a half later my ear became really full like I was on an airplane and it wouldn’t pop. Went to a ENT, who tried a few things then said I had Menieres Disease. That freaked me out, so I found an otolaryngologist, who performed the crystal thing, and a balance test, and also an MRI. Well, I didn’t have Menieres Disease, I had an Acoustic Neuroma. Don’t mean to scare you, but I wish I had gone to the doc 18 months earlier when I had my first dizzy spell. It was like I had a magnet on the side of my head and another on the floor and it was pulling me. It happened at CVS out of the blue. I thought it was just age and menopausal hormones.
My husband had bad vertigo and it was fixed by doing Brandt-Daroff exercises. He did them for about a week and was fine after. He didn’t take an ant-vertigo medicine - the exercises were recommended by the doctor he saw in urgent care.
I got vertigo out of the blue when I was about 25. I thought I’d had a stroke - woke up, sat up to get out of bed and fell to the floor. No warning at all, no illness. I couldn’t stand; crawled downstairs. I couldn’t read, couldn’t watch TV, certainly couldn’t drive. It went on for weeks. Brutally violent vertigo. All I could do was lie in bed and listen to the radio.
They did cat scans, MRIs, I went to ENT, primary, neurologist. They ruled out everything and decided it had to be some kind of inner ear imbalance. The actual diagnosis was benign positional vertigo, which is laughably unlike the violence of this vertigo. I know, I know, it refers to benign vs malignant, but still.
Little known fact: At the very same time, Nick Esasky had just been traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves. It was spring training and he came down with the very same thing. His major league career ended because of it. I followed his journey slavishly. It was identical to mine. He never did get it to completely go away, iirc.
So over the decades the vertigo comes back when I am overtired; oftentimes when I’ve had a cold. That is key for me: sleep. I also have it ingrained in me not to make certain movements now: I don’t bend down suddenly, or turn a certain way lying down.
I’m sorry you’re experiencing this, and prepare for a frustrating round of doctor visits. It is maddeningly hard to pin down.
This is worth the inconvenience of going to the doctor because it can have different causes, and it’s a waste of time and money to treat the wrong thing.
Both my husband and I have had it. He was taught the Epley maneuver. I was given medicine (it was several years ago, and I don’t remember what kind). So perhaps we had different types. In both cases, it went away – for me within a couple of days, for him within a couple of weeks.
Thanks again everone. There seem to be a consensus: try the Epley Maneuver / other exercises first. If this does not help, see a doctor. I’ll do that. The good news is that my vertigo symptoms are not as bad as those of many others’, though I did have one or two pretty violent episodes.
When I had the one violent vertigo (luckily at home), I went to the primary doctor, she suggested Epley Maneuver and gave me a script for PT if it was not successful doing it myself. Took me a few tries over the course of 2 days and with the help of my husband, it went away. I agree with another poster, it is much easier to maneuver if you have a second person to do it with you.
I also found Dr. Carol Foster’s Half Somersault maneuver on Youtube, and tried it the last 2-3 times when I had vertigo again, I found her method much easier and much quicker to get result, at least for myself. It worked every time, and only had to repeat the process twice in a 15 minutes interval.
I’m recently recovered from another bout of vertigo. Before you do the Epley you need to know which ear is affected. You can find a way to check this online. Have someone watching your eyes as you check each side, looking for nystagmus, which is crazy eye movements as you turn to the affected side. Once you are sure which ear to treat you can find Epley directions for the affected ear.
I was sure my left side was affected most recently, but I was wrong.
If you go to a physical therapist, you’ll also get some great exercises to help. Being in a grocery store, or big box store, was especially challenging but my PT said it’s important to keep doing it in limited doses while recovering.
Vertigo is awful. Unfortunately the OTC drugs didn’t help me.
I guess I had the vertigo sensation, then nothing for 18 months before the MRI. I think it would be better if they could find out why first, then treat. Hope all turns out well.