Any vertigo sufferers?

Anyone here get vertigo?
Had my first experience this past Saturday morning and pretty much lost 2 days of my life. Went to get up and wow! Right back down... My head got severe spins to the point I couldn't stand up. Almost got sick but held that in. After many hours I was able to tolerate laying on the couch at a 45 degree angle to the right side. Spent over 24hrs like that. My wife did some reading and found some movement technique that we tried yesterday. After a couple minutes, I saw massive improvement. Now I'm good. Holy cow,,, that was not fun. I did take meclizine and Claritin and I think they both helped a little but it was called the Epley maneuver that seemed to solve it. After doing this, with my eyes shut, I saw a strobe effect in my eyes. Really strange but we did it twice and both times I got that strobe, second time it was 3 separate "bursts".

Any clue as to what causes vertigo? My mom gets it too.

 

I only experienced it a little after a massive concussion. If I tilted my head backwards to the right position it would happen. Eventually subsided.

I'm guessing there could be many things to induce vertigo, but don't know much about it. My general guess would be in the area of inner ear (balance thing) or possibly your body's chemistry is off. (salts, electrolites, etc) I would get 'light headed' at times when my levels were all wonky. Was the first sign of troubles to come in my case.

I did have a coworker who was battling it a bit some years ago, but do not recall details about it. Far as I know he's fine now. If he stops by, I will inquire.

 

I fell asleep on the couch Friday night so I'm pretty sure I slept with my head in a weird position. The video for that maneuver explains about the inner ear deal so I think that's what it could have been. I also read the fluid (or whatever) that holds that "crystal" can get "sticky". This is more than I can understand without researching more but if it's something I can prevent, bet I'll be vigilant.

 

My Mrs gets that occasionally.
If you shake her head she's done for. If she moves to fast, carnival rides are out as are ladders etc.
Be careful as even a sneeze can trigger it.

 

My wife gets it from time to time. Like you, there is a way to lay down and position her head that relieves it pretty quick.

 

Wait a minute.... that could be taken out of context...lol.

 

I get similar symptoms occasionally. My doc diagnosed it as BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). Probably what you’ve got if the Eply maneuver helped. It’s caused by small “crystals” that form in the inner ear fluid. When you move your head the fluid moves and the fluid movement is sensed by tiny hairs inside the ear canals. This information is relayed to your brain and together with sensory input from your eyes and extremities is interpreted by your brain and is what allows you to maintain balance. When the crystals form they also move and can cause the fluid to move differently than normal or can cause fluid movement when you are not moving your head. This “extra” fluid movement is sensed by the hairs and the signal is sent to the brain but the signal does not match up with the signals from your eyes and extremities, your brain gets “confused”, and you feel the effects as vertigo.

The Eply maneuver helps to move the crystals in a very specific manner so that they end up in a part of your ear canal where they get “trapped” and don’t cause extra fluid movement. They can however “escape” if you hold your head in an odd position for an extended time.

 

Great explanation Dave. I appreciate your response and it helps me understand what’s going on a bit. Weird stuff.
Hopefully this isn’t something that recurs frequently. I’m still a little “foggy” but good. I’d not want to ride a roller coaster or ride in something that bounces you around for a while.

 

Why do I have a feeling this thread is going to end up down a rat hole eventually?
My mother gets mild vertigo if she gets up too fast, and immediately needs to lay down to keep from passing out. On occasion for the past couple years I'd get mild episodes from laughing too hard, which is a new (and unsettling) development. Sorry no advice from me, as I'm trying to learn how to cope with it myself. Thanks for bringing up the topic though.

 

Lol.
Wait, us take something out of context… naaaahh.

 

I've actually been to physical therapy for this in the last year. There are a whole host of exercises to help keep it from happening besides the crystal relocation methods. Mine is more from the neck injuries / fusions. There are two muscles, one on each side of the neck, sternocleidomastoid muscles. They tilt and rotate your head and they also are involved in telling your brain where your head is. Well, they get all knotted up and squeeze the nerves that talk to the brain and cause this swimming head, feeling like I might fall over, type of sensation. It can cause nausea and vertigo like symptoms. I've gotten sick watching TV when at its worst.

 

I do deep massage on them to keep them loosened up which works wonders for my situation.

 

Dang!
When I first moved my head after waking, it was very aggressive spin motions, like being very very drunk. Never experienced them that bad, no way I could tolerate that for long. Immediately felt nauseated. I instantly fell back down and found a position where it slightly subsided. Not fun at all. Your description also could apply to my situation. I know my head was in a weird position from sleeping on our couch which is too small to stretch out. Couch sleeping is probably out for me from now on. Totally plausible that the neck muscles got involved. Kinda sounds like the perfect storm sort of situation. Thanks for your input. I’m without a doubt taking all the experiences to heart. I do not want to experience it again.

 

very well could be. Those muscles attach up behind your ears and when inflamed / knotted up they can effect your ears as well. So can your jaw muscles if you are a clencher for instance.

 

I'll try to get pictures of the exercises they had me doing. I have the sheets here somewhere. Its basically a way to retrain the brain in regards to the bad information your balance system is telling it. Its more for chronic suffers bud good information if it start reoccurring.

 

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) - Symptoms and causes

 

Ok, I did my best....

 

These are all that they had me doing as well as the eply maneuver if needed.