Vertigo.....does anyone else suffer with this?

Katie -- not sure if you were referring to me or not, but i do not have the vertigo symptoms, my DH does.
I see my regular doc annually for check ups. I use the neti and oils to help to keep from getting "colds" and the sort.
so far, so good.

tcs - glad the neti pot is working for you - it seems odd to begin with, but it does make sense . . .

My point was a general point to anybody who cared :-). I just didn't want people NOT to go to the doctor because they thought there was nothing they could do about the non-vertigo symptoms. Me, I tend to wait too long to go to the doc. I blame it on the fact that I'm from a "walk it off" family. LOL When I do go, it usually turns out that there is help. Go figure . . .

sticks - glad the meclizine is working for you. It's been awhile since I've had vertigo, but it was so nice to know that there was something out there to mediate the intensity of it.

well it worked the first day....today however i experienced dizziness...;

Thought I would post this just in case it might help someone else.

The doctors told my father he had meniers disease over 1 year ago, and they tried several different meds on him to no avail.

My brother found this and my father has been taking it for a couple of months and he has not had any episodes since.

It is called Lipo-Flavonoid. It is a dietary supplement and suppose to help those with Meniere's Disease.

Hope this is of some use to some of you out there.

Deb

I have had vertigo association with sinus infections. I plan to try both the lipoflavinoid and a neti pot but I haven't yet.

Gloria ... one thing i tried when i had a sinus infection is tea tree oil -- i put drops in steaming water, like our mom's used to do with Vicks. you have to keep at it, the 10 or so days like you would with penicilin ... but breathing it 3x's a day worked for me.

I'll look into that Lipo-Flavonoid.

I have the tea tree oil. I use a few drops in a foot bath to keep feet fungus free. It works so far.

I see that you all haven't tried the Mangosteen juice yet. I've been taking it daily since the end of Sept. and haven't had a bout of vertigo since. Actually haven't really had a cold or sinus problems at all and that is odd for me. I usually have had at least 2 ear/sinus infections by now. I am by no means bragging. I had vertigo straight for 2 months and am so relieved that it left me! :)


Susan

There's a "cure"!! And it's even been around awhile - just that people don't know about it. Check this article out.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24794511/

My neighbor actually just had this and went to physical therapy to do these maneuvers. She has had total relief.

My DH has been to physical therapists, ear specialists, and even the guy they call "The Dizzy Doc" at Chicago Dizziness and Hearing ... he has had no relief. For him... he's been off work for 15 months due to this and no one can figure out how to fix it.

But -- for some, I think it can help/work.

I am so sorry to hear that. It is so difficult to bear, so I sympathize.

I had episodes for a year and a half (about 15 years ago). At that time there was no information out there. I haven't had much at all since then.

Maybe you guys should try to contact the retired otolaryngologist they refer to in this article? He seems to have had a handle on it early on, even though the medical community took awhile to listen to him.

I tried the maneuver. So far so good. Im sure it will be back tomorrow.

That's what I had done some years ago, and it did work.

Thanks Katie, now to just find someone that knows how to do it! Meem

At least we know what to call it now, right? I'm thrilled that it finally made the news. The statistics on how many of us have suffered from it are astounding.

I was diagnosed with BPPV many years ago, probably in the '70s. For 10 years I was so conscious of it and very frightened that I would stagger, fall, or do something weird. It subsided but I still have strange feelings in my head - throbbing (without pain), dizziness and a feeling that I'm going to stagger and fall.

Sure wish I had an answer. Doctors seem to be completely in the dark when this is explained to them. Very uncomfortable and scarey.

Joan. Have you had an MRI?

No Gloria, and I haven't brought it up to a doctor in 15 years or so. Maybe I don't explain it properly but they just seem puzzled by what I tell them. I'm thinking of telling my doctor when I see him on the 12th.

You might run off a copy of the maneuver cited above and see what he thinks about it.


Some times MDs really can help, and an MRI will tell you exactly what's going on in there. Hope you have good insurance.

good luck!

gloria

If it's still bothering you, then don't give up. You deserve to feel healthy.

Doctors are great, but they don't always "get" what you're telling them and that it's a big issue for you unless you continue to talk to them about it. If you don't talk about it anymore, they assume it's gone away.

Yes. Some people are intimidated by doctors. You have to wait sometimes months to get an appointment. And then, Why didn't I ask him xxx???

get a little notebook that you keep in your purse, and write down what you want to check on with the DR. don't plan on "remembering". If there are several items on your list, sometimes you wont remember.
No doctor is going to think you are silly for having a little book. He will think you are very smart.
You can even check off the items on your list, when you get a satisfactory answer. If you don't, tell the nurse that you need a better answer. They should call in a few days, if not call them back.

You are paying for the visit, and their whole purpose is to make you feel better.

There are so many people who just assume they have to put up with pain or a compromised life. You don't.

Oh Joan, I feel for you! I had problems with dizziness for a few years and just dealt with it or tried to deal with it. Then finally in the spring last year it got so bad that one day my thinking process got all jumbled (something very difficult to explain) and my DH thought I had a stroke. It really scared me. The doctors started off running an EKG and then an MRI of the brain. They found nothing abnormal so he sent me to an ENT that diagnosed me with BPPV. When I finally got in to see the ENT I was much better but now I understand things so much better. The ENT doesn't push meds but recommends the exercises that are in the video to katie's link.

On occasion, when I roll over in the night the room will start spinning. This happens whether I have my eyes open or closed. I have found that if I take the palm of my hand and put it on my forehead that the spinning will stop.

I may be way off base but I think that a lot of my problem is due to computer usage. I think that sitting with my right arm exteneded, using the mouse and my head is probably tilted for long periods is part of my problem. I was also in a bad car wreck back in 1981 where I hit the right side of my head and that most likely has something to do with it also.

I hope you find relief!!! Walking around feeling like you're falling just isn't fun at all. I tend to have a problem walking up to tall buildings/skyscrapers. I don't dare look up as that seems to trigger my problem. Also, walking into a building with a long hallway makes me feel as if the floor & ceiling are moving to meet the other. (did that make sense?) It's just a weird feeling. When I'm really bad, when I'm walking I feel as if my upper body is tilted way forward as if I'm slowly falling forward, but my DH tells me that I'm walking normally.

Take notes and tell your doctor everything! He will probably want to run an MRI to rule out anything bad and then most likely send you to en ENT. You can get tons of info on BPPV on the internet and I found it most helpful to me to ease my nervousness! Best of luck to you!

A few years ago I went to an ENT (Ear Nose & Throat specialist) after almost a year of intermittant fevers, dizziness, and high blood sugar as if I had an infection but my local doctors said there was none. (I am diabetic). After having an MRI I learned that I had an infection deep deep down in my sinuses.

I took a round of antibiotics and all the symptoms disappeared. There is nothing like finding out what's going on!

Previous to this, though, I went to the ENT and had an MRI. The specialists decided I had had a stroke. I was scared to death. I finally went to still another ENT in another city (Birmingham). He said these young doctors don't have enough experience to read a stroke, and the new equipment magnifies every detail. He determined that the dizziness and other symptoms were due to one of my medications. Yes. There was an antidepressant -- given to me because I was depressed about my symptoms! That drug has now been taken off the market. But when I read the instructions that came with the drug - vertigo is one of its side effects.

So, it may take a lot of investigation, but never say never! There may be a solution, so don't give up too soon.