UKC

For the last four or five days I've been getting spells of dizziness. It really only seems to occur when I lie down or turn over in bed. It doesn't seem to happen during normal day to day activities and I'm ok when exercising. I'm seeing the doc tomorrow but in the meantime Dr. Google seems to suggest "Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo".

Just wondered if anyone else has had similar symptoms.

In reply to FesteringSore:

It can be caused by an ear infection. Do you have other symptoms of one?

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:


No, although I had thought of that.

In reply to Neil Williams:

No earache or discharge although I think I might have very slight tinnitus but I think I've had it all my life - just never really been aware of it.

In reply to FesteringSore:

"Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo".

Be aware that this is simply a medical way of listing the symptoms you described to your doctor, with the hopeful addition of 'benign' suggesting that, based on what happened to some other people, you probably won't get much worse!

In reply to Dave Garnett:


Is it? I know someone that had this, and there is this "Epply Manouver" that helps re-seat the errant calcite crystals in the right ear tubes. It worked a treat. But of a pain not being allowed to lie down for a few days afterwards.

In reply to wintertree:

Sure, I'm not saying there aren't things that can be done, I was just being flippant about the rather pompous descriptive medical label.

In reply to FesteringSore:

I had pretty much exact same thing. Was told it was a bug that was affecting my inner ear (and therefore balance). Basically like flu but without any of the normal symptoms. Weird and annoying and probably doing the rounds. Was prescribed Prochlorperazine.

In reply to buffalo606:

Thanks. How long ago did you have? How long were you on meds?

In reply to buffalo606:

Yes, could be as it does seem to have affected a couple of people I know. I had something similar a few years ago - doctor just said wait a few weeks but come back if it gets worse. It didn't, just slowly eased off. I'd definitely go see the doc (which you are) though to be sure. Don't worry - more likely to be something minor than not

In reply to mountainbagger:

Good job I'm not planning to do the Cuillin Ridge at the moment!

In reply to FesteringSore:

No but I am on Saturday so stay away from me

In reply to FesteringSore:

I have had something like this with a virus that's going round. Hope its nothing serious.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Most people in our village have this according to my doctor.

You just learn to live with it. It can strike without warning , for me if I move quickly out of bed or often when I am climbing an overhanging left facing corner for some reason.

Join the club.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Surely Dr. Google should have diagnosed terminal brain cancer, even if it is only an ear infection.

In reply to FesteringSore:
Had BPPV 10 years ago - triggered when I looked downwards with my head tilted slightly to one side. Symptoms: the world span, all concept of balance vanished and I'd find myself lying on the ground. GP was surprised I had no ear infection and no recent head trauma, and gave me Brandt-Daroff exercises to do twice a day. Said that should cure the condition within a couple of weeks, or I'd be stuck with it for good.

No change after 2 weeks, but condition was manageable once I figured out the exact head movement that triggered it. Resumed leading (muttering a mantra of "don't look down...") but became very wary of standing unroped on the edge of crags.

Continued the exercises just in case, and after 6 weeks, BPPV suddenly disappeared. Doesn't sound quite the same as your experience. Treatment with drugs and not sleeping lying down, were never mentioned. Hope you have a happy ending like me.

In reply to FesteringSore:

I had this once; found myself clinging to the bed for dear life feeling I was about to fall out....very odd experience, had brief spells of dizziness after this but convinced myself it was just a bit of anxiety and, fortunately, it went away.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Also could be labyrnithitis (which has similar symptoms to BBPV and can lead to BBPV). It usually goes away fairly quickly. I've had this twice. The first time it went away quite fast. The second time it didn't and I have had ongoing balance problems for years since. I think this is less common than it just going away quite fast though. I no longer have vertigo (the spinning thing) or tinnitus, but do still have balance problems and have been back and forth to various ENTs and to neurology etc. etc. That sounds a bit depressing but it's also worth noting that I still climb, run off road etc. etc. It is much better than it was, so now I'm just a bit more wobbly than I was, fall over much more easily and get quite tired. In short, I have acquired quite a lot of first-hand experience of vestibular trouble.

If your symptoms don’t just go away quite quickly, the key advice I would offer is do your best not to avoid the movements that make you dizzy/off-balance (unless doing so would be dangerous in other ways – e.g., if you are up a ladder). This is counter-intuitive and quite unpleasant but there’s a good reason for it. Chances are your brain needs to 'relearn' the signals coming from your ear and it won't do that as well if you avoid the things that trigger the trouble. I believe that the exercises mentioned above (like Brandt-Daroff - which worked wonders for my BBPV) are designed to reproduce vertigo symptoms specifically to allow this retraining (they are sometimes called 'vestibular retraining exercises'). If you are acutely ill with vertigo you might need to wait a while to do this, but in the longer term (in my experience, and assuming it doesn't just go away in a few days) you have got to do the things that make you dizzy for it to get better. I'm not a doctor, by the way ... that's just based on my own experience and a lot of reading.

Just seen my GP who has confirmed Dr. Google's diagnosis of BPPV!