It has been well over a year since I had to deal with the Dizzys. I don’t remember when they went away but I do know I haven’t had them at this job and yesterday was my one year anniversary.
The first day always freaks me out. I feel like it takes over my life and I can’t see. Everything vibrates and it comes and go at random times. I have come to realize that if my life did stop when this happens, I would never be able to do anything. Not work, not watch TV, not read, not move or walk about. So I need to adapt. And I can and will. I lose focus and start recognizing things by outlines. I stop trying to see details. I learn to pause and wait out the wave because it will end. Another may start right after it but it too will end. I have learned to walk along walls and drag my hand along them to give me a trusted reference for where is Down because my sense of gravity has been thrown for a loop. I can seem almost normal. Or normal for someone that doesn’t know me.
But I do hate the feeling. There is a tension in my brain when this happens. It feels like something is squeezing either my scalp or my actual brain. I call it a brain storm.
Doctors can’t figure out what this is. Nothing on the MRI. I have seen regular general practitioners, Ear/Nose and Throat doctors, an Optometrist, an Opthamologist, Neurologist, an Opthamologist-Neurologist. Nothing on any test gives any clue as to what might be going on.
I have a belief that my body created it to keep me off motorcycles. It seems that when I finally gave up ever being able to ride again, it went away and stayed away. And when I started thinking about it again, it showed up to shut me down. But I have given it up, even the longing. I was thinking about it last night and how I haven’t had an episode for a long time and how motorcycles don’t draw me anymore. Having it hit me today goes against this theory.
The other theory might be cats. I am cat sitting this week and have brought the kitty to my place a couple of times in the last few days. I might have hit an exposure limit. I have been around cats without problems but not regularly. There is a possibility that the dizzys stopped when the people I cat sat for previously moved away.
I have taken some meds for it and it seemed to help for a little bit. Now it is back in full and I am very mellowed out.
I don’t like this. I wish it would go away. Or at least that I could find out what it is so I could better control it or understand it.
yowza – that would drive me nuts not know what the cause is
then I am in a similar situation regarding my skin reaction
hope it leaves you soon!
I have been watching/reading your skin issues with interest. I know what it is like to have no clue what is going on with you and I feel the not knowing it worse than the actual problem.
This is the third thing I have that the doctors have no clue about. They are not life threatening and are severely annoying so they are livable if I figure out how to adapt. I think yours is siding one worse.
A friend as multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS)and she is pretty much house-bound by it. I am grateful that my stuff isn’t to that level and am worried that it might be a low level of that and it could get worse.
I was curious if your thing will end up being diagnosed as a low level MCS and have been amazed you have been able to work with it. I hope it isn’t the Bay Area that is triggering the reaction.
I have a condition called Labyrinthitis, don’t laugh it’s real. I get dizzy spells sometimes minor and once it was that I cannot hold myself up variety but very very much just like what you describe. I went to the ER when i could not keep myself stnading they gave me extra strong dramamine, it helped..the smaller ones just need strong allergy meds.
Not that this is what you have but it sounds so very much like what happens to me.
Very interesting. Do you know if there are any tests for Labyrinthitis or is it diagnosed via symptoms?
The major feature of mine is that my vision shakes at a 45 degree angle but the eyes don’t move at all. I figure the dizzy aspect is because of the screw up on my vision.
Also in the past, the bouts would last between 3 and 9 seconds. And I could get over 20 in 10 minutes or one in a day.
Considering my interest in Labyrinths that you can walk, this would be funny if this is what it turned out to be.
Here’s a good description
http://www.vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/specific-disorders/labyrinthitisvest-neuritis.php
Re: Here’s a good description
the ER doctor said it is also a pretty common illness that many adults get and it goes away in many cases though it comes back from time to time. Which is what happens to me, I’ve never had as bad as the time that sent me to the ER thankfully. But there are times it makes driving interesting when I get a sudden wave of dizziness. Fortunately the instances of this are few and far between.
Re: Here’s a good description
lol, I actually found this one with my google search and it is really good.
I just sent off an email to my general doctor to find out why Labyrinthitis might not have been suggested when I went through all the different doctors and testing. I got the idea that since nothing showed up on the tests they did, they had no answers for me.
From what I am reading, there are no tests and not knowing what is going on with you is actually detrimental to recovery.
Re: Here’s a good description
more to the point, if I read it correctly, if it’s vestibular neuritis rather than labyrinthitis (vestibular nerve inflammation rather than inflammation of the vestibular labyrinth) the vertigo might be one of the identifying symptoms.
Re: Here’s a good description
Hopefully it can help…
*HUG* I hope it goes away soon.
I wonder if it’s a weird version of a migraine.
Just out of curiosity – have they tested for optic migraines?
They would need to do EEG scans to determine – but I had a variant during pregnancy since I get clinical migraines and went to the doc.
It sounds much like this.
((hug))
Been there, done that. The EEG scan came back normal.
For the most part I do well on tests, damn it.
I would rather a test came back abnormal so we could figure out what is wrong with me than getting “within normal range” on practically every medical test I have ever had. And I have had a lot of tests.
This is about the only place where I am “normal” and I think it is because I am abnormal because the problem is there even if tests don’t show it. We just don’t know what the problem is.
LOL, the one time the test showed something, I think I was actually fine. I think I had one of my painful gas attacks that usually last for an hour but this time lasted for over 8 hours. They found an elevated white blood count and sent me to the ER. The CAT scan showed that I might have an early appendicitis. When they poked me it hurt. It had been under strain for most of the night and day so of course it hurt. I felt fine but that spot was sore. They admitted me and geee, it seemed to go away on its own. A lot of angst for what might have been nothing. More safe than sorry is where I filed the experience.