Aaaawww Man Not Again!!

My friend was diagnosed with Meniries Disease but after years of treatment (including going to a doctor in Memphis that treats with bee venom) it was discovered that her problems were due to mild spina bifada. She sought treatment from a chiropractor and now she is back to normal after spending 3 years in bed.

I also have bad vertigo...so much so, that I had to drop out of my beloved martial arts class because the spin jump kicks usually landed me on the floor wondering how I got there!

I, too, had every scan known to man and tried various medicines. This is what I discovered...

First, my core problem are my Eustachian tubes. They tend to collect fluid (like kids with ear infections) which disrupts balance. Over the counter allergy medicine works at keeping the fluid drained. Or, if you're in to chiropractors, ask about an "endonasal." My chiro in Santa Barbara used to "tip" my ear tubs by pressing on the back of my throat, forcing all the fluid to drain. Worked beautifully!

Second, another big part of my problem was dehydration and simple low blood sugar. As a classroom teacher, it's not always easy to drink tons (and escape to the bathroom) or eat when I need it. I finally just had to bite the bullet and do what was best for my body. I drink more water now, and pee between classes and have healthy, protein based snacks in my room to get me to lunch (almonds and sunflower seeds work best...granola bars if my sweet tooth is kicking in). As a mom, we all know how easy it is to care for everyone but ourselves. Time to consider changing that paradigm.

Third, and this was the big surprise, I'm anemic. Low iron often produces vertigo-like symptoms, according to the wonderful techs at my local blood donation center (I'm an avid and regular blood donor.) So, I now take over the counter iron supplements twice a day, morning and evening. The directions say one a day, but that wasn't enough for me. I do two...plus extra fiber during the day because it can cause constipation. This, above all else, has ended almost all my dizzy spells.

Am I ready to rejoin martial arts class? Probably not! I learned yesterday that I'll still get dizzy hiking mountains at 7,000 feet. But! I rarely have that tunnel-vision, I'm-falling-over feeling during the course of a regular day.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

First, you need to make sure you eat. When you feed your 2y, you should eat also. You need your strength to keep up with 3 kids!

Secondly, have you see an ENT? My husband developed strong, bed-bound for 2 days vertigo, 3 years ago. They did some tests and decided he has an inner ear imbalance called Mieners Disease. They have him on a daily decongestant, and nasal spray. They also prescribed valium that he is supposed to take when he feels an attack coming on. He has only needed to used that 2 times in 2 years. It made the recovery time awesome and he didn't become bed-bound.

M.

go to an ENT and then a neurologist...

I get vertigo as well...and they don't call it that for me - it's called vestibular neuritis...where the hairs in your middle ear mess up and make you feel like you are spinning when you know you aren't...

They can perform a test on your ears....hearing, balloon swelled to inner ear both warm and cold water for sensation, etc.

GOOD LUCK!!

Are you getting enough sleep and eating well? I doubt it. I also get a bit dizzy from time to time and usually find those to be the culprits. Can't say I have the solution..... salads, chocolate, caffeine all seem to help. Also, I've been having sinus issues lately, and I know that affects my balance. How's your head? Sinus pressure? Maybe try some OTC medicine for that. See if it helps.

I wish I knew. But we both know who does. I have experienced bad vertigo only after having ear infections. Is it possible you are living with allergies that are unchecked? Also, I suffer from terrible ear wax build up. When I clean my ears I will get so sick I can throw up and suffer the vertigo again. I would see an ear nose and throat specialist and see if something is throwing off your balance from an inner ear disturbance. In the meantime, keep praying. Also...have you seen an eye doctor?

The first time, I had vertigo, I went crazy trying to figure out what to do. Then my husband told me that his mom used to get it. She said she would clean her ears out with hydrogen peroxide, like the hospital does. I tried it and it worked. I pour a little in one ear, lay on my side. You can hear it in your ear, eating away at the ear wax built up in your ear. I usually lay for about 5 to 10 minutes, then do the other ear. I use a cotton ball to keep it from dripping. After I did this, I have only had a few attacks in the last 10 years. Hope this helps.

After a bad sinus infection many years ago, I was diagnosed with Labyrinthitis. I know - weird name! I would have dizzy spells where the room would spin and I would have to lay down. The doctor gave me a sheet with exercises which helped a bit. I still occasionally have a spell.

I really feel for you. Dizzy spells suck! Hope you get some relief soon.

I did with my son. My doctor, who is an md and a homeopath prescribed the homeopathic remedy Conium Maculatum. You don't need a prescription for it and being homeopathic, when taken as directed for a few days, it will either help or not. No side effects and safe while B-feeding. It REALLY helped. A few days ( not quite a week, I think) taking as directed and I wasn't dizzy at all. A few (3 maybe) episodes in the 2 years since, but pass quickly. Your local healthfood store can order it for you.

I used to get dizzy ALL the time and couldn't even stand up! The doctor prescribed me Meclizine, which is the same ingredient in most anti nausea meds like Dramamine. For years, I used the non drowsy Dramamine with Meclizine and had NO spells. When I was 21, I was diagnosed with Meniers (sp) disease, and will only get a mild dizzy spell here and there. So, it CAN go into remission (per my doc). I know it's a scary thought to have a spell when your with the kids alone. Take a deep breath and take one day at a time!

I had severe vertigo after I had my 1st child. THE ONLY thing that eased it was getting more sleep and drinking a lot of water.

This really is such a common thing I have a hard time understanding why it is not more commonly understood. If you Google 'Benign Paroxymal Positional Vertigo' you will find websites produced by Dr. Timothy Hain from Northwestern University, aka the Dizzy Doctor, as well as by the Mayo Clinic. These websites explain how microscopically small particles (otoconia) become displaced in the vestibular system and disturb the cilia in our ears that provides the brain with information about body position. When that information becomes distorted by those displaced particles, your brain is getting 2 different descriptions of your body's position and the info from your ears do not agree with the info from your visual input. The eyes try to adjust and verify the distorted info from the ears and will move somewhat uncontrollably. It feels like everything is spinning out of control and can be nauseating.

When this happened to me, as it does many people around age 50 and up, I told my chiropractor who had me go through the exercises on the websites I mentioned above. We discovered the movement that felt the worst and he had me repeat it a few times a day. This exercise helps the displaced particles go back to where they belong. By the next day I was feeling quite a bit better, but it took a couple of weeks for it to stop altogether. Whenever it would start again, I would do the exercises right away and prevent it from getting bad.

What, however, I had to figure out on my own was how allergies and foods that cause inflammation because they are difficult to metabolize were causing this to happen in the first place. Since I started following Dr. Peter D'Adamo's book, Live Right 4 Your Type, and generally eat the foods that best work for my blood type, the vertigo has stopped completely.

What really surprises me is how many people I know who are put through a battery of pricy tests, hospitalized, and medicated by their MDs without ever trying the simple exercises or suggesting a diet that minimizes inflammatory responses. I have had friends call me from the emergency room where their spouse was about to undergo invasive tests and was already being medicated for high blood pressure which became a bit elevated only because the sudden vertigo had so alarmed him. I told her to ask the doctor if he had considered BPPV as it was explained on the Mayo Clinic's website. He said that he had not, but that he had heard about it. He then left for several minutes, we assume to read the website, came back to guide her husband through the exercises and immediately released him from the hospital. I felt as though that doctor should have paid me for the education rather than charging my friends for scaring them half to death.

So, if you feel that going back to the neurologist that did not give you the info I just did is worth going back to, you might want to print out a few pages from Dr. Hain's website to take in with you. Dr. Hain is probably the country's foremost authority on the subject and he recommends things like practicing Qigong (things like Tai Chi). He rarely recommends any medications.

BTW, it is not as though MDs have not had the opportunity to get themselves together on this condition. Dizziness is the most common reason people over 50 visit their doctors. BPPV is the most common reason for the complaint. It is time we wise up about this one just as we had to wise up to the fact that in the 1960 doctors were regularly removing children's tonsils without any medical cause. They took mine when I was 7 because my brother had a sore throat twice in one year!!!!

So, good luck getting your legs back under you! I hope doing your own investigation nets you better results than trusting your doctor did.

Definitely see a chiropractor. I had the same issues, had every test in the world and nothing helped until I started getting regular upper cervical adjustments. It was like a miracle for me... so I became a chiropractor!

As many have said, dizziness is usually an ear issue. However, you might also explore the possibility of migraine, especially if you're having tunnel vision. Not all migraines are accompanied by headaches (mine aren't), and can include dizziness and tunnel vision too. Mine were treated with a preventive medication that I took each day and reduced them from every 6-7 days to about 6-7 times a year. Just another avenue if nothing turns up at the ENT. Best of luck!