Vertigo

aria

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Anyone ever a personal experience with vertigo or know someone who has? I recently had a very severe episode, it was my first and although I’ve been doing a lot of reading up on the internet I’m curious to hear others stories.

How did it happen? What were you doing? First time? Ever happen again? What did you do for it? Things along those lines.
 

CouchCoach

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Anyone ever a personal experience with vertigo or know someone who has? I recently had a very severe episode, it was my first and although I’ve been doing a lot of reading up on the internet I’m curious to hear others stories.

How did it happen? What were you doing? First time? Ever happen again? What did you do for it? Things along those lines.
My Dad had it and it was caused by reactions to a mix of meds that were causing his BP to drop rapidly.

The other thing to check out is your inner ear. I had a strange occurrence back in the 80's. I flew with an unknown developing ear infection and then went on a 5 day cruise the next day and for 8-9 months after, I could not be around moving or running water without getting vertigo. It finally subsided was so bad in the beginning that running water in the sink would affect my balance.
 

YosemiteSam

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My Dad had it and it was caused by reactions to a mix of meds that were causing his BP to drop rapidly.

The other thing to check out is your inner ear. I had a strange occurrence back in the 80's. I flew with an unknown developing ear infection and then went on a 5 day cruise the next day and for 8-9 months after, I could not be around moving or running water without getting vertigo. It finally subsided was so bad in the beginning that running water in the sink would affect my balance.
Boy, glad I didn't have to be around you back then! You must have stunk something fierce during that time! :laugh:

Sorry to hear about that aria. Best of luck dealing with it or hopefully it was just a one and done episode.
 

Reality

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Anyone ever a personal experience with vertigo or know someone who has? I recently had a very severe episode, it was my first and although I’ve been doing a lot of reading up on the internet I’m curious to hear others stories.

How did it happen? What were you doing? First time? Ever happen again? What did you do for it? Things along those lines.
When I was in my early 20s, I was perfectly fine and in great shape and health.

I was sitting at my desk working while eating a snack pack of Planter's Cashews. I started to stand up and everything started spinning. I sat back down thinking it was just a head rush. When I sat back down, I felt a little weird but my office stopped spinning almost immediately. After a couple of minutes, I tried to stand up again, and the same thing happened.

Since I was fine while sitting, I decided to ignore it and go back to working, which I did for a little while. Then I tried to stand up again, and the same thing happened.

I ended up having to call my dad, who came to my work and held me up as I walked to his car. He took me home and I stayed on the couch for several hours. When I eventually tried to get up, everything was fine.

I had never had that happen before then and have never had it happen since. I don't know if it was the cashews or an inner ear infection or issue, but I never really worried about it since it never happened again.

As for diagnosing on the internet, don't do it! If you are really worried, go see a doctor!
 

Sammy

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Mine is pretty mild like CC's. I don't know what caused it. It showed up about a decade ago and hasn't subsided since. The worst episode was when I got up on the roof to do some work and then couldn't get down. I sat up there for probably close to an hour then finally powered thru stepping onto the ladder and hugging it terrified until my feet hit the ground.

I still can't cross a bridge without holding on tight to the rails. There used to be a commercial that was shot from high up and over a huge drop off that caused me a sharp intake of breath every time I saw it. Stuff like that, not too serious.

I have a step sibling who had an episode so bad that they called an ambulance. She was just working at her restaurant. No recurrences.
 

aria

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My Dad had it and it was caused by reactions to a mix of meds that were causing his BP to drop rapidly.

The other thing to check out is your inner ear. I had a strange occurrence back in the 80's. I flew with an unknown developing ear infection and then went on a 5 day cruise the next day and for 8-9 months after, I could not be around moving or running water without getting vertigo. It finally subsided was so bad in the beginning that running water in the sink would affect my balance.
Huh, that’s interesting, thanks for sharing. I may go to an ear doc just to rule out certain causes or just do some exercises at home that may help.

I’ll say this, I’ve dealt with a few people that have had it but never really researched it and none of them had it as bad as mine (not saying it doesn't happen, I’m sure it does, I just haven’t seen it yet). I felt great yesterday, was walking out of the gym and suddenly felt light headed. This wasn’t completely uncommon, I’ve head a few episodes of light headedness before but can normally attribute it to orthostatic hypotension or some other seemingly common cause. This was a little different because it hit me so hard that I went to the closest post to grab on to it.

Anyways, it went away within about 10-15 seconds so I wrote it off. I went home and ignorantly decided to do some yard work I had been planning on doing for weeks while I smoked some briskets. Not only did I get stung by a wasp (thought that was as bad as my day was going to get) but then I started feeling lighted headed again, this time more severe. I was stubborn and finished trimming the bushes, which only took a few minutes, and went inside, took a quick shower an laid down.

As I did all that I was feeling worse and worse, I told my wife it felt like severe altitude sickness if you’ve ever had that. Nausea, light headedness, feeling like I’m going to pass out, etc. Within a couple minutes of laying down the entire room started spinning, I became diaphoretic and had slight shortness of breath. Then came the vomiting and it was non stop.

To make a long story longer, I had an idea what it was but literally couldn’t stand and wanted to rule out anything cardiac. Against every urge I had, I felt so horrible and helpless I had my wife call 911 for the first time in my life. I would have had my wife drive me to the ER but couldn’t get to the car or stop throwing up.

Basically they gave me anti nausea medication and did a few CT’s to rule out any type of hemmorage since my symptoms weren’t getting any better after several hours. Eventually, yesterday night it subsided enough that I could walk on my own (very slowly) and they released me.

I feel a lot better today but still a little weak and “woozy”. My dumb stubborn arse decided I need to finish mowing the lawn, which I did, but it definitely set me back a bit. So now I’m just chilling but am worried about it occurring again, lifting weights again (which I may try tomorrow), snowboarding, hiking, etc.

It wasn’t so much scary, as I imagine chest pain would be, but it was the worst I’ve ever felt in my life which includes walking on a broken leg for a couple hours. I couldn’t turn my head without feeling like I would fall over, could barely mumble words and there was pretty much nothing anyone could do to make it better. I would wish death on my worst enemy over that.

So if anyone took the time to read my novel, this is why I’m wondering what others experiences were like and the results.

Edit: Can’t wait to see how many thousands of dollars this will rack up. At least I got peace of mind by ruling certain things out but I’m willing to bet between the ambulance, ER visit, CT scans, meds, etc I’ll be looking at a min 5K bill for something I could have stayed home with and got the same results.
 
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aria

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When I was in my early 20s, I was perfectly fine and in great shape and health.

I was sitting at my desk working while eating a snack pack of Planter's Cashews. I started to stand up and everything started spinning. I sat back down thinking it was just a head rush. When I sat back down, I felt a little weird but my office stopped spinning almost immediately. After a couple of minutes, I tried to stand up again, and the same thing happened.

Since I was fine while sitting, I decided to ignore it and go back to working, which I did for a little while. Then I tried to stand up again, and the same thing happened.

I ended up having to call my dad, who came to my work and held me up as I walked to his car. He took me home and I stayed on the couch for several hours. When I eventually tried to get up, everything was fine.

I had never had that happen before then and have never had it happen since. I don't know if it was the cashews or an inner ear infection or issue, but I never really worried about it since it never happened again.

As for diagnosing on the internet, don't do it! If you are really worried, go see a doctor!
Reading your story was interesting because I wonder what would have happened if I did just go .home and take it easy like I should have. Would it still have happened? Happened later? Not happened at all? Who knows but thanks for sharing and the info.
 

aria

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Mine is pretty mild like CC's. I don't know what caused it. It showed up about a decade ago and hasn't subsided since. The worst episode was when I got up on the roof to do some work and then couldn't get down. I sat up there for probably close to an hour then finally powered thru stepping onto the ladder and hugging it terrified until my feet hit the ground.

I still can't cross a bridge without holding on tight to the rails. There used to be a commercial that was shot from high up and over a huge drop off that caused me a sharp intake of breath every time I saw it. Stuff like that, not too serious.

I have a step sibling who had an episode so bad that they called an ambulance. She was just working at her restaurant. No recurrences.
Man, that sucks! Sorry to hear that it’s a recurring issue. Have you ever been to an ear doctor?
 

paladin

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I still can't cross a bridge without holding on tight to the rails.

I never knew what vertigo was until one day I tried to walk across one of those old time Railroad trestle bridges.
I looked down and everything started to spin, it wouldn't stop til I got off the bridge.
I can skydive, rappel and high dive w/o any problem, but I won't step foot on a RR trestle again.
 

CouchCoach

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I never knew what vertigo was until one day I tried to walk across one of those old time Railroad trestle bridges.
I looked down and everything started to spin, it wouldn't stop til I got off the bridge.
I can skydive, rappel and high dive w/o any problem, but I won't step foot on a RR trestle again.
I will stand on the RR trestle and watch you skydive.
 

aria

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Keep us posted, hope you keep feeling better.
It's frustrating when the medical experts provide so little insight.
I’m somewhat in that field myself so I understand both sides of it but I’ll day this...there’s a legitimate reason they call it “practicing medicine”.

Thanks for the well wishes! My biggest concern is kind of what caused it but more importantly, will it happen again? Just a month or so ago I did a 15 mile hike in CO with my wife and we saw one other person for the first 10 miles and had no cell phone service. Lots of climbing, narrow trails, etc. I told my wife “what if this happened out there”. I would have either been taking a 20K helicopter ride if they could find me or would have to wait it out without any camping equipment and try to hike back the next day.

At least I can be thankful it happened at home when someone was there otherwise I would have left a trail of puke while crawling to get to my phone and to the front door to let the FD guys in.
 

kskboys

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I've had 3 bouts.

First was an inner ear infection. Doc fixed it w/ meds.

2nd was from opening up a freezer that had quit running and I got a lungful of putrid meat. Must have sucked in some airborne stuff, as I was a bit dizzy. Subsided after a week.

The other time was when I was in my mid-late 20's. I spend an entire weekend drinking cokes and tea. No water. When I woke up Monday morning, my eyes were crossed and would not uncross, along w/ vertigo. Freaked me out. Doc nailed it, dehydration. I learned then that soda and tea not only don't hydrate you, they dehydrate you.
 

csirl

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When I was in my early 20s, I was perfectly fine and in great shape and health.

I was sitting at my desk working while eating a snack pack of Planter's Cashews. I started to stand up and everything started spinning. I sat back down thinking it was just a head rush. When I sat back down, I felt a little weird but my office stopped spinning almost immediately. After a couple of minutes, I tried to stand up again, and the same thing happened.

Since I was fine while sitting, I decided to ignore it and go back to working, which I did for a little while. Then I tried to stand up again, and the same thing happened.

I ended up having to call my dad, who came to my work and held me up as I walked to his car. He took me home and I stayed on the couch for several hours. When I eventually tried to get up, everything was fine.

I had never had that happen before then and have never had it happen since. I don't know if it was the cashews or an inner ear infection or issue, but I never really worried about it since it never happened again.

As for diagnosing on the internet, don't do it! If you are really worried, go see a doctor!

I had exactly the same thing happen to me a few years ago. Went to doctor and was diagnosed with an inner ear infection. Cleared up quickly, never experienced it again.
 

CouchCoach

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Vertigo is one of those things that they may never arrive at the cause, they just eliminate possibilities.

What pissed me off is that I had my Mom tell them to check his meds because I had looked up several and all had a drop in BP as a possible side effect. They dismissed her and ran some tests and it turned out that a nurse was the one that spoke up because her Mom had been on two of the meds and had the same experience. They changed the meds and no more vertigo.

I agree/disagree with Reality, get all the info off WebMD you can to be better informed but it's best to see a specialist if that happens again. I do agree with him about the inherent dangers on the internet. When my wife was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, I went on there and spent what amounted to about 6 hours of the most depressing and hopeless information not to mention the companies with warm fuzzy names praying on people for "cures" to a terminal illness. There are some real lowlife dbags out there.

BTW, speaking of WebMD, and I was, have you ever seen the Physician's Dashboard? Holy take two and call me in the morning, I could be diagnosing posters here for free, oh, maybe a large bottle of top shelf hooch as a thank you gesture, but my doc showed it to me when he was trying to diagnose some neuropathy I was having in my hand. I did not know that part of it existed and he refused to give me his password. I may seek a second opinion as I always wanted to be a doctor, just didn't want to have to go to school, study and cut dead people open to support the grave robber black market.
 

CouchCoach

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I've had 3 bouts.

First was an inner ear infection. Doc fixed it w/ meds.

2nd was from opening up a freezer that had quit running and I got a lungful of putrid meat. Must have sucked in some airborne stuff, as I was a bit dizzy. Subsided after a week.

The other time was when I was in my mid-late 20's. I spend an entire weekend drinking cokes and tea. No water. When I woke up Monday morning, my eyes were crossed and would not uncross, along w/ vertigo. Freaked me out. Doc nailed it, dehydration. I learned then that soda and tea not only don't hydrate you, they dehydrate you.
Did your eyes uncross? I've noticed some oddities in your typing.
 

CouchCoach

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Boy, glad I didn't have to be around you back then! You must have stunk something fierce during that time! :laugh:

Sorry to hear about that aria. Best of luck dealing with it or hopefully it was just a one and done episode.
LOL, I had to put a stool in the shower and my wife would stand there and make sure I didn't tip over. At least that's what she said, I don't think she could get enough of seeing me nekkid.
 

TheBigEasy

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In my opinion, there is absolutely NOTHING worse than dizziness. 3 years ago, I was lifting 5 days/week, eating as clean as one can without being called psychotic and had never felt better. One morning, I woke up and could NOT hear out of my left ear. All that I could hear was the same sound as when you put a seashell up to your ear. Obviously, I immediately freaked out, went to get up and literally fell back into bed. I had never been so dizzy in my entire life. I spent the next few days crawling to the bathroom to throw up. Once the dizziness subsided, I immediately went to the docs to see what the heck was going on. 3 years later, after numerous MRI's, hearing tests, balance tests, etc., I still can barely hear out of this left ear and not ONE doctor/specialist can tell me what is exactly wrong and what I can do to improve on it. It's the most frustrating thing in the world and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Over time, I've learned how to cure the dizziness when I get it. Mine all revolves around the crystals inside my ear. Somehow, a few got loose and there's no way to stop the dizziness until they go back. I really miss listening to music through headphones. It really stinks.
 

CouchCoach

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In my opinion, there is absolutely NOTHING worse than dizziness. 3 years ago, I was lifting 5 days/week, eating as clean as one can without being called psychotic and had never felt better. One morning, I woke up and could NOT hear out of my left ear. All that I could hear was the same sound as when you put a seashell up to your ear. Obviously, I immediately freaked out, went to get up and literally fell back into bed. I had never been so dizzy in my entire life. I spent the next few days crawling to the bathroom to throw up. Once the dizziness subsided, I immediately went to the docs to see what the heck was going on. 3 years later, after numerous MRI's, hearing tests, balance tests, etc., I still can barely hear out of this left ear and not ONE doctor/specialist can tell me what is exactly wrong and what I can do to improve on it. It's the most frustrating thing in the world and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Over time, I've learned how to cure the dizziness when I get it. Mine all revolves around the crystals inside my ear. Somehow, a few got loose and there's no way to stop the dizziness until they go back. I really miss listening to music through headphones. It really stinks.
Damn, that's awful.
 

cowboy_ron

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Anyone ever a personal experience with vertigo or know someone who has? I recently had a very severe episode, it was my first and although I’ve been doing a lot of reading up on the internet I’m curious to hear others stories.

How did it happen? What were you doing? First time? Ever happen again? What did you do for it? Things along those lines.
Yes, I've dealt with bppv for over 30 years from getting my bell ring many times in my youth. They have positional treatments that can help as long as it's only in one canal, for me I have it in two so the treatments don't work but you can learn to live with it and the nausea that comes with it. I would suggest the positional treatments and see if that helps, good luck to you aria.
 
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