"Vertigo", Dizziness Imponderable

I

imp

Senior Member
Maybe discussed before? Not recently, or self-centeredly positioned! Seems to be a common enough problem for old folks. Wide variation in intensity, effects, and how lasting.

Mine became noticeable around 2003, while I taught High School Math. Fortunately for me, my young adult students failed to "pick up" on it before the year ended, or I would have been besieged with "help"! Good kids they were.

Did not really feel dizzy, like when you were a kid spinning on some playground toy, but rather uncomfortably unstable. Then it got worse, nausea being the worst part. If I laid down in bed for an hour or two, it subsided, these episodes occasionally being preceded by vomiting. What a way to lose weight!

First doctor recommended the routine (forget the name), of rolling the head around, to re-align some mysterious fluid in the inner ear; that produced no effect. Second doctor claimed meds were available; I had tried OTC Meclizine, no effect, told him so. He stated "Oh, no, we have new medications"! Took scrip to drugstore, turned out to be Meclizine. Began to wonder about these doctors.

As time went by, the bad episodes went away, but what remained was an almost unexplainable feeling, like inability to respond, react, to sudden things kinetic, moving around me. All my life, my friends and I had tossed things to each other, across a room, just as we did on the ball-field. Now it felt as though something suddenly thrown my way would be bound to either hit me, or fall away, without my ability being adequate to instantly grab it, as I always have.

So, today, 10, 12 years into this "process", it's somewhat better, certainly not worse, I walk a fairly straight line without very much concentration on it (usually, not always), but wonder how positively I would impress some cop thinking I was drunk! Sometimes, walking straight ahead feels like I'm kinda zig-zagging a little, yet my wife says I drive the car perfectly straight ahead.

Now, having described my own impish maladies, I wonder about others' similar circumstances. Is further analysis warranted? Nerve conduction studies? I asked the 3rd. dr. back about Schwannoma, a non-malignant tumor appearing on the auditory nerve. He said, "No". The symptoms fit. I'm living with it. Still better than dying with it! imp
 

Have you ever tried tablets called Serc Imp? i had about 12 months putting up with of the condition you are describing in the late 1990"s doctors had tried every tablet ,so they said had my ears flushed under general anesthetic nothing worked, frustrated with the condition I decided to go to another doctor for a second opinion who gave me the serc tablets i took it for about 3 weeks, and the condition completely disappeared I now only take serc on very rare occasions
 
Kadee46 said:
Have you ever tried tablets called Serc Imp? i had about 12 months putting up with of the condition you are describing in the late 1990"s doctors had tried every tablet ,so they said had my ears flushed under general anesthetic nothing worked, frustrated with the condition I decided to go to another doctor for a second opinion who gave me the serc tablets i took it for about 3 weeks, and the condition completely disappeared I now only take serc on very rare occasions
Click to expand...

Thank you, Kadee, for this information. I shall look into it. imp
 

I've had 1 or 2 episodes of this but they were from allergies....stuffed up nose and ears which upset the vestibular system.
They lasted only several minutes and then subsided. Haven't had one for several years.
 
What you describe sounds a lot like the "floating sensation" that lots of people have with progressive lens eyeglasses when they don't fit quite right. When you turn your head quickly it seems like everything is delayed, comes around a little later. Trouble stepping up and down off of curbs, tend to lose your balance then.

I don't think bifocals cause that problem.

Just a shot in the dark. Probably not related.
 
NancyNGA said:
What you describe sounds a lot like the "floating sensation" that lots of people have with progressive lens eyeglasses when they don't fit quite right. When you turn your head quickly it seems like everything is delayed, comes around a little later. Trouble stepping up and down off of curbs, tend to lose your balance then.

I don't think bifocals cause that problem.

Just a shot in the dark. Probably not related.
Click to expand...

I deeply appreciate any thoughts given. The doctors have seemed to be ambivalent. They know a positive diagnosis, and thus, a possible cure, is rather unlikely, given the wide margin of probable causes. As it is, my eyesight has improved as I've aged, I think it's called "Presbyopia", or an inability to focus on close-up objects. I COULD drive to the hospital or clinic now sans eyeglasses, if absolutely necessary. The weird feeling I experience, not really dizziness, but more an inability to "connect" quickly to eye/ear inputs, feels as though I'm unable to quickly respond to need. Suddenly throw an object to me, I feel I'll not be able to catch it, as I did in younger days. Some small object, perhaps a tablet of medication, manages to slip away over the edge of the countertop, years back I could instantly swipe down and catch it in mid-air. No more. Now, it hits floor, the sound unheard by deaf ears, bounces away somewhere into a crevice, I grovel on hands and knees searching for it, then grunt with the pain of arising!

I'm doing good, though, please misread me not. All in all, things could be much worse! imp
 
I have a thing that I used to get a LOT more often when I was working -- if I've been doing close work (like I used to do legal research -- little bitty print on websites) for a long time, I'll suddenly get a feeling like my eyes aren't focusing together, and everything looks all funny -- sort of run-together. Very scary, but not exactly dizzy. It eventually stops if I rest my eyes.

I asked the doc about it and he said "hmmmmm..." The eye doc said "hmmm" as well. I still get it once in a great while, and it is still scary, but I guess it's nothing to worry about -- probably just old eyes getting tired, or some such. The first time it happened, I thought I was having a stroke or something like that.
 
Maybe you have Menieres disease? Here's a definition: My aunt had it for years and in her case it would bother her for a few days at a time to where she had to just stay laying down, then it would go away for a week or so, then affect her again. My doctor thinks I have it although I've only had two serious attacks of it but in my case it lasted for three days the first time and then this last it was a few weeks.

Meniere's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that causes spontaneous episodes of vertigo — a sensation of a spinning motion — along with fluctuating hearing loss, ringing in the ear (tinnitus), and sometimes a feeling of fullness or pressure in your ear. In many cases, Meniere's disease affects only one ear.
People in their 40s and 50s are more likely than people in other age groups to develop Meniere's disease, but it can occur in anyone, even children.
Although Meniere's disease is considered a chronic condition, various treatment strategies can help relieve symptoms and minimize the disease's long-term impact on your life.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menieres-disease/basics/definition/con-20028251
 
Debby, I appreciate that info! When this first started, it was akin to the feeling one gets after spinning around on a kid's merry-go-round. That came and went , severe enough to cause need for lying down. Feeling of pressure has always been present, as well as hearing loss and tinnitus. Over years, it seems to have mostly stabilized as a nuisance feeling of not having sure-footing. Ever walk on a railroad-rail, balancing and striving to not fall off? Piece of cake years ago, impossible now. Cannot stand on one foot, putting on leg clothing, must support one hand on a table or chair.

Am I a mess, or what? Diggledy-doo, things could be worse! imp
 
My Mum was near-sighted with monster high blood pressure and she had a bad time with vertigo. Then again she also drank like a fish so who knows...I understand it feels dreadful though. Talk to your doctor.
 
I had a mild bout of vertigo last week from spinal misalignment? Seriously. Who knew. The head rolling exercises help me enormously and get rid of "the bed spins" feeling that the room is spinning and you're going to throw up any second.
My mom who suffers severely from vertigo and cannot tolerate meclizine swears by D-vertigo, a cream you rub behind your ear. It's available at CVS in the aisle with dramamine and other stuff for motion sickness. She uses it almost daily and it's helped keep her upright, mobile and active.
 
D-vertigo. Chic, I shall have to try that. Logic suggests topically-applied stuff cannot possibly have much effect, there's my hard-headed pragmatism at work.

Meclizine did absolutely nothing for me. Maybe it's like M.J.? Little effect the first time you try it? :)

imp
 

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