UKC

Hope I'm in the right forum. I recently suffered an attack of "Whillans disease ". Benign Vertigo. Never had it before in my life. Very disturbing-everything spinning ! Doctor diagnosed BV. Said it occurs in "old farts" ! I have some little exercises ( nearly standing on your head ) to get the calcium carbonate crystals back to where they belong. |Anybody had BV ? Any suggestions of how one might treat it ?

It's gone at the moment- but I don't want it again.

In reply to petemcewen:

Why's it called 'Benign Vertigo'? And what, then, 'Malignant Vertigo'? The only time I've had vertigo (on the very last climb I ever did - the result of a bad eye problem) it seemed rather serious. I felt dizzy and sick, and it affected my balance quite seriously.

In reply to petemcewen:

If it's benign paroxysmal positional vertigo you're referring to = http://patient.info/health/benign-paroxysmal-positional-vertigo-leaflet

Patient.info are pretty good generally, I recommend checking out the info there and any questions - go back to your GP. M

In reply to petemcewen:

Sorry to hear that.
I suffer from dizziness now and then and it can be debilitating. Dr thinks it is labyrinthitus and prescribes Prochlorperazine which takes away the symptoms but not the cause, I find it helps.

In reply to petemcewen:

My partner gets it and she found some video's on U tube of how to get the crystals back by rolling about on the floor. She has found it works really quickly, and she has it very rarely now.

In reply to petemcewen:

I had positional vertigo along with other vestibular symptoms after having labyrinthitis. I did vestibular retraining exercises for a while (which basically meant deliberately putting my head in positions that would induce the vertigo). They seemed to work well for getting rid of the positional vertigo. In my case, the goal wasn't to settle calcium carbonate crystals in my ear, because I didn't have BBPV. It was more to do with neurological retraining, I think. I definitley think they are worth doing and the fact that they feel so horrible is kind of the point. The conclusion I came to is that it's really important not to avoid the things that make you dizzy if you have a vestibular problem as it can make it worse.

You can get positional vertigo from a number of different conditions and the impression I got is that it's important to work out the underlying cause as treatments will differ. My experience of trying to get this kind of problem properly diagnosed and treated was, sadly, very negative. Luckily for me, my symptoms have almost totally gone away (expect for a bit of mild tinnitus when I'm knackered or very stressed) pretty much of their own accord. Slightly less luckily, it took just under two years (which adds to my suspicion that what I had was secondary hydrops). Anyway, I found this website to be very informative: http://vestibular.org/

Good luck - I think I was fairly unlucky and it's quite common for these kinds of problems to go away fast.

In reply to petemcewen:

Have a search for the Epley Maneuver. It's what I use to treat my symptoms and it seems to work.

In reply to petemcewen:

I occasionally get BPV. It's particularly noticable when climbing because moving your head from looking up (at your hands) to down (at your feet) is what brings on the dizziness. However I've found the Epley manoeuvre really effective at sorting it. It's well worth trying - just Google for instructions.

BTW I've always assumed it's called "benign" because it's not symptomatic of anything more sinister

In reply to petemcewen:

I recently suffered an attack of "Whillans disease ". Benign Vertigo. Never had it before in my life. Very disturbing-everything spinning ! Doctor diagnosed BV. Said it occurs in "old farts" ! I have some little exercises ( nearly standing on your head ) to get the calcium carbonate crystals back to where they belong.

Oh. I thought this thread was about 'Vertigo', the company I work for coz I too have head spins every time I go there but head-butt various walls to feel better. Am an 'old fart' too. Which might explain things.
Sorry, back to the serious OP.

In reply to AP Melbourne:

I read the above posts with interest because I had my first sudden attack of dizziness in June. It seemed to follow a mild bout of earache. Although my subsequent dizzy spells are nothing like the first one I do not want to persevere with this especially when climbing. I very recently, quite by chance, found out about the Epley Manouvre. It has a 95% success rate. I am paying £30 for the treatment privately by a physiotherapist in 10 days time. My doctor was willing to refer me to the ear, nose and throat clinic at my local hospital for the Epley Manouvre free but it meant waiting longer. Consquently £30 is worth paying to be back to normal as soon as possible.

In reply to Carol B:

My mum had the same issue, you can even do the Maneuver yourself with a small amount of reading/practice.

In reply to petemcewen:

I had an attack of BPVV, three years ago. With brilliant timing it came on the day I arrived at Whistler and had just booked a rafting trip with my family.

I used the technique of repeatedly inducing the attacks (mine were on the left side only) until my brain became accustomed to it and presumably filtered it out. It was much better within a few days and completely gone within a fortnight.

As yet, there has been no recurrence but it was absolutely horrible at the time, and very scary when it first came on.