Tackle your issues with good ole supplements vs running to docs for their high priced everything and all give side effects. I'm one old folk who has never had vertigo and I'm also one old folk taking grape seed extract which works on our circulation and cleans our blood. Read up on vergito and grape seed extract. I'm one testimony.
Since this speaks to some of the symptoms expressed in the OP, as well as the title, I guess I'll put it here. I woke up this morning, a little earlier than usual, but my neck hurt so I thought I'd take my Levothyroxine (which is to be taken on an empty stomach), and then sleep or listen to some podcasts for an hour or so while sitting in a recliner, then maybe eat breakfast and get on with my day. I dozed off and on but otherwise felt okay. Then, I decided that it was time to get on with my day. Only, when I got up I was afraid I was going to fall over. I won't say that the room was spinning, although the sensation was such that some might have described it that way. That's not a common problem for me, but I was afraid I was going to fall over while trying to walk into the kitchen. I ran some water to do the dishes but I still felt uneasy on my feet so I decided to sit down again and let the water cool a bit because it was pretty hot. A few hours later, I woke up and still felt dizzy. I didn't get on with my day until a few minutes ago, after 6 pm, and I still feel dizzy, and there is a pressure, not quite strong enough to be a pain, high on the back of my neck. I need to get some work done before turning in my hours for the week, so I am up. It didn't seem that sitting in a chair or sleeping was going to make it go away, anyhow. Perhaps I should pop a grape seed extract capsule. I have some here. ... No, that didn't work. I tried one a few seconds ago and it didn't help a bit.
This is good sinus weather and I know you live up there in that cold damp area so maybe it's just a sinus attack. I felt like that all last week but other than the light head I felt pretty normal. I have this every other year in the fall and sometimes if I feel extra bad my vertigo kicks in when I am laying on my right side. Everything spins so bad I cannot tell if I am up or down. Makes no difference if it is day or night I feel the same way. Finally found out what it was which is the vertigo due to some tiny piece of bone floating around in my ear canal when fluid is high, like say for instance sinus. This weather is perfect for that. Now tomorrow night we have cold windy wet weather coming and dropping down into mid to lower 30s all weekend. I have been feeling better but I ran out of that back and body pain killer from Bayer and this morning all I had was the normal arthritis tylenol 650mg. It does a half job on the neck pain but the knees hurt so bad I could hardly feed cats at 5:30 this am. I have to be careful when I open the front door with so many young ones all trying to run in the door and I have both hands full of food and some milk. I always thought I was having blood pressure issues when I would get this vertigo but the blood pressure has never been dangerously high. I have not had any meds for 6 months now and I feel no different than I did while I was taking them for the past 13 years. I was actually more dizzy taking the meds than I am without them. I was working outdoors when I first started them and I would be out in the hot July sun and I would bend over to turn on the water hose at work and get so dizzy I would have to hold onto the wall and straighten up, then I came back to normal. I got use to it all. I'm sure with your profession you already know your blood pressure is not the cause. Then too you know a simple stomach virus will do the same thing. I had a touch of that while In vietnam and spent 4 days in the local hospital on our airfield. I walked outside late one night to our latrine and coming back into my barracks I passed out right in the doorway. I woke up in our little 6 bed hospital and they quickly determined it was a simple stomach virus that they dealt with time and time again due to nasty water. At times when rainy season would start our wells would get stirred up and everyone on the airfield had the quick step, it was so bad they had to send in an emergency team to check everyone and take care of the worse cases. I learned to eat out of a can and drink sodas and beer, no water ! I remember times when I came in from a long day and ran over to the mess hall before they closed and ate supper, then walk outside and all of a sudden just heave it all out. Very poor refrigeration of our food contributed greatly to the problem. I hope you feel better and nothing serious is going on.
@Thomas Stillhere First our inner ear deteriorates with age just like the rest of us. It is our balance mechanism. There are many disorders of the inner ear with a common one being Endolymphatic Hydrops as we age. The good news is that the best therapy is a balance of protein, fats, and carbs. It has nothing to do with diabetes, but if one eats much like a diabetic, then that will help. Five small meals a day are recommended with each being balance with a ratio recommended by the Zone Diet. Search the Zone diet by Dr. Barry Sears for an idea of how to get started if you are interested. Anything that strengthens the immune system is recommended such as vitamin therapy. Beware of taking certain herbs such as St John Wart that can really cause problems. Getting a correct diagnosis is next to impossible even from ENT doctors. A visit to a neuro-otoogist is out if on medicare or VA medical. The good news is there is lots of info on line I can recommend if you are interested. I have suffered from vestibular problems for over 20 years including losing one balance nerve due to the zoster virus that can be active inside without ever breaking out into shingles. I worked as a volunteer for 2 years with the Hearing and Balance center which was overseen by a NASA scientist and a practicing neuro-otologist. I was also one of the early persons to get the inner ear infusion developed by Dr. Epley and also test his balance machine in its early stages. Chances are it isn't BPPV, but if so the Epley maneuver would help. If you have Hydrops, then the Epley maneuver might make you really sick for days or weeks. More info if you are interested. If not, I will zip it!
I just saw a post by @Shirley Martin that she went to the ER and has cellulitis. You don't suppose that's what your wife has? Good heavens, we are all going to pot. Hope the Mrs. is OK.
Thank you for the offer, my ear problem is service related so I would have no problem getting care from the VA. I live so far from the clinic I get into no hurry to bother with them. I was told they have 3 procedures that could be done to fix my problem which they are pretty sure it is a shorting of the nerves due to some contraband floating around. I believe that because it only happens when laying down and on my right side. I wouldn't waste any time having it done if I had a problem while standing or say driving. I can't imagine driving and having a sudden attack of vertigo. I have already schooled myself to just be sure and apply my brakes slowly and come to a stop no matter where I am. Luckily I don't drive that much today. The good answer to stop my vertigo is to simply roll over on my left side and it goes away immediately. It was good news to find out about that and it has helped me cope with it when I feel especially bad and the sinus is bothering me.
No, not me as my doctors recommend that it would make my inner ear problem worse and wouldn't help my glaucoma unless I smoked it 24/7. I need my sleep so that puts the big quietus on me going to pot.
I took her to a clinic this morning and got steroids (Prednisone) and she is on diphenhydramine. The swelling and redness seem to be decreasing, but she doesn't feel able to drive yet, so I am the chauffeur for the day.
Glad she is better, and those steroids really worked good for me last month, hope they will your wife too.
@Thomas Stillhere I know I promised to zip it but decided if this info helps you then it is worth one last try. I will zip it after this on this thread. The VA is famous for doing procedures that actually make trauma-caused vertigo worse. What you describe is classic positional vertigo. There is only one successful treatment and that is the Epley maneuver. Several other doctors have their versions, but they are all based on the research and maneuver developed by Dr. John Epley of Portland, Oregon. It is simple and can be done by many laypersons with training, physical therapists, and even chiropractors. Chiropractors have their version that takes more treatments simply to make more money. It is important to understand trauma-caused positional vertigo as opposed to trauma-caused vertigo where the position has no effect. Positional vertigo in your case was caused by the trauma of war. Even a mild blow to the head can cause it and even a concussion from a nearby explosion. What happens is the crystals that are in the otolith organs that sense gravity and give us balance get dislodged and move into the semicircular canals where they sense a false balance that causes the brain to go into vertigo. The Epley maneuver simply moves these crystals back into the otolith organs. The original version is you simply lay on a table in a position where the crystals on the offending side are up and can be moved down out of the semicircular canal by simply dropping your upper body down suddenly. This can be a long-term or even a permanent fix, however, some folks require this therapy several times a year. The result would be you could lie on either side with no vertigo. It is said that BPPV can be cured using this maneuver. I had BPPV also along with my other problems and my BPPV was fixed by ONE treatment using the Epley maneuver. My other inner ear problem is permanent. If you have only positional vertigo, you are very fortunate and it is an easy fix. The reason I am very skeptical of any VA treating inner ear disorders is because of several war veterans I know who were in my vestibular group and started out with BPPV that could have been treated with a simple physical maneuver but the VA did surgeries and/or procedures that damaged the inner ear and caused permanent damage where the hydraulic action of the endolymphatic fluid expands the sac causing vertigo. Once the sac is stretched it never goes back to normal. In many cases, the sac is stretched so far it tears, and once diet and bed rest get the sac to seal against the boney labyrinth vertigo will subside but many times these patients (I am one) will remain off balance and have to take great precaution to prevent any surge of endolymphatic fluid for life. This is called full-blown endolymphatic hydrops or Meniere symptoms. The Meniere simply refers to Doctor Meniere who first described the triad of symptoms around 1850 or so. There is no disease called Meniere, it is simply a syndrome, a collection of symptoms caused by full-blown endolymphatic hydrops. It is not mysterious as many online sites promote and many profit from keeping it mysterious and calling it idiopathic. I would certainly encourage you to check with a local physical therapist about getting the Epley maneuver. You might be able to rid yourself of this forever with one simple visit. Why suffer when it is so treatable? Even if it cost you a couple of hundred out of pocket if it fixes your problem and gives you back the confidence to drive without fear of vertigo, isn't it worth it?