Vertigo

[Boz330]

At the beginning of Oct I suddenly developed vertigo or lack of balance. Went to my family doctor and he said that it was probably an inner ear problem and to give it a little time. I had to quit my flying job on the weekends which irks me to no end but going out in a fiery crash isn't high on my priority list. Anyway it started to get better on it's own but then came back and has been bugging me since. I couldn't pass a sobriety field test to save my butt stone cold sober. Went to an ear nose and throat guy and he gave me an exercise to do but I have to go back for testing next month.
This literally came on from one day to the next. I have talked to several people that have had this and they have offered different remedies that have worked for them but so far not for me. I have never had allergies which seems to be the most common cause. I can still function OK but it is a real adventure walking into my deer stand in the dark.
Anybody else out there ever had such a problem. The specialist suggested it could be because of my age but I would have thought that it would be gradual in that case.

Bob

[jmort]

My mom has BPPV. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo and she went for PT to realign the calcium particles.

[tomme boy]

Ever heard of have loose rocks in your head? Thats what it is.

[jmort]

You could also have an inner ear infection.

[sparky45]

My neighbor has Vertigo and his ENT Doc. prescribed Steroid therapy and it has helped.

[mold maker]

I have something akin to that. No more climbing ladders and walking on uneven ground is a challenge.
I take it to be a problem with the inner ear but have no professional diagnosis.
With my other health issues, it keeps me from doing foolish things. I have no business hanging ceiling fans or cleaning out gutters, but if I could, I would probably try. Some inconveniences are for our own good.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It can indeed be the inner ear, particularly if it applies in the dark, but it can also be visual. I never, so far as I know, had binocular vision. I see double all the time. It isn't nearly as bad as seeing double only occasionally, especially seeing I am also very short-sighted, and have one eye corrected for long distance, the other for close-up work, and both for extreme close-up if I remove my glasses. I don't need bifocals, and expect to be the last needle-threader of my generation. I used to be a university fencer, and though I can't catch or hit a ball, I never wanted to.

But it means I don't have the sort of third leg binocular distance gives you, by knowing the distance to the ground in front of you. So I am completely incapable of getting vertigo when it is missing, on the edge of an abyss. Mind you, there are place where I have a wholesome fear of being smashed to bits, but that is different.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Have you been prescribed a new BP med recently?
I've been through many and at least one of them, made me dizzy and out of balance.
they can take a week or so, for side-effects to show itself.
Good Luck.

[leadman]

My blood pressure medications caused this also so the doctor cut the dose in half and had me take it twice a day. My allergies, and the allergy medication cause it at times also. Seems like it happens more when my allergies start to taper off but I am still taking the medicine.
Use of a Vicks inhaler seems to help in this case. Putting Vicks in a pan of water and heating it also helps. Been using this about all my life, and now there is a warning on the package to not do this. Some dummy must have stuck his head in the pan or something. LOL.
I do notice it is worse when my ears are ringing more from the tinnitus.
Hope you get it figured out.

[Alstep]

Had a similar experience many years ago when I was truck driving for a living. All of a sudden I was driving down the road and the whole world started to revolve up side down. Symptoms would last a few minutes to half an hour. Went the whole route with the doctors, neurologists, head scans. etc, but nobody had an answer. This went on intermittently for several years and diminished with time. This was 40+ years ago and have been OK since. Still a mystery.

[44man]

Yes, for sure. Picking up my little dog and found myself head first into the ground. Get up fast or roll onto my right side at night. Sometimes like a black out. It is scary. and I think it is ears.

[catmandu]

Had a bout of it years ago, now I know what it feels like and I adapt to prevent it.
Menieres-disease .CA - lots of good info Google
1) Salt intake affects it, I ate alot of pretzels and it can bring it on, I eat small portions now.
2) Wearing safety glasses, monogoggles, hard hat causes pressure that can bring it on.
3) Allergies can also, I never had them but learned there are times I feel bad and 1 Claritin makes it go away.

When the Tinunites starts getting loud I go into prevention mode. Head sinus cold, stopped up affect it.

I hope this helps.

Paul in WNY

[Rick Hodges]

I had a bout of severe vertigo...had to hang on to stop from being thrown from my chair. I thought I was having a stroke and almost lost consciousness...then I got an awful pain in my right ear...it was an ear infection with fluid buildup in the ear. I was prescribed antibiotics and steroid therapy for 10 days...I have not been bothered since. This happened in 2014.

[ole 5 hole group]

Good Luck - there's probably a 1,000 things that could be wrong and a doctor with "vast" experience in such matters is just taking his best SWAG (scientific wild **** guess).

Many years ago I had a form of vertigo where I would be driving a vehicle and the road would flip 90*, 180* or 270* in a flash and stay there for several seconds. I even felt like I was sliding or falling out of the car seat. Just had to concentrate on the road and if it didn't subside in a few seconds, I'd slowly pull over, park and close my eyes for a period of time.

My doctor thought it might be a reaction to a food. I thought he was nuts, but we went through a list of what I consumed the most of - took me 4 months or so to cure myself, as this didn't happen every day or every week - sometimes every other week and sometimes 3 to 5 times a week. My problem was Texas Tea - The tea wasn't the problem, I put 4 packets of saccharin in a real tall glass of tea, that was my problem. I never use saccharin, drink "diet sodas" or use any sugar substitute and I've never experienced that "problem" again.

An acquaintance of mine had balance problems and thought it might be some type of ear infection. Probably was, as his cure was putting a couple drops of a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol in each ear - once in the morning and once at night. That remedy has a double edge, as it can cause itching due to dryness. I use that "home brew" for itchy ears but in my State I can purchase EverClear liquor, which is 190 proof - I substitute that in place of rubbing alcohol as EverClear has a lot less water makeup than rubbing alcohol (30% vs 5%). Twice a day for two days using a q-tip straighten those ears right up.

[Boz330]

A common thing that struck me was the tinnitus thing. I have it in both ears, round engine airplanes and shooting hundreds of thousands of rounds I'm sure. The left ear seems noticeably louder lately and I mentioned this to the ENT Doc. He did clean a bunch of packed wax from that ear. That was fun let me tell you. Didn't make any difference though. I appreciate the input.

Bob

[shooter2]

Afib is also a possibility.

[square butte]

Proper hydration is very important with BPPV. Sometimes with me - just a 2 or 3 days of increased fluid intake will do the trick. Divide your weight in half - That's the number of ounces you are supposed to drink per day. Good luck with that. I have not been able to do it. Always about 16-20 ounces short.

[bandsmoyer]

I had the same problem,switched bp meds. Gone

[tomme boy]

Same here on the BP meds. I had a post here a while ago about I was passing out. Mine was the the BP meds, we think. We started to take them 2 times a day at a lesser dose instead of one massive one. And it actually lowered the BP better as a result. I had to be very careful around some of my goofball friends as I would laugh and it would make me get dizzy and pass out.

[Freightman]

Balance is shot in 93 they drilled a hole in my skull and destroyed the ear to get a tumor on my wee brain. Took retraining to walk without falling, and have something to hold on to in the dark can,t tell up from down in a dark room.