Bad Vertigo Story - Anyone Else Get It ?
 

It happened to me yesterday for the first time and it was frightening. A bunch of us went snow-tubing up near Timberline Monday. It was fun but rough. Your back, neck and head get whipped pretty hard when shooting down a mountain on an inner tube.

Except for being a little sore, I felt fine. Until waking up the next morning and finding the whole room spinning like a pinwheel. No matter what I did, I couldn't shake the violent spinning. Instant nausea and panic followed. I could hardly walk to the phone. My wife came home and drove me to the doctor. By then the horrible spinning slowed a bit and was coming in waves.

He conjectured that I received a whiplash type injury up near the base of my skull. This caused swelling which screwed up the inner ear balance mechanisms. An Osteopath manipulated my spine and neck, which was a little messed up, and I was prescribed some heavy duty anti-inflammatories (steroids).

I'm still a little wobbly today but much better. I would rather break a bone than suffer from vertigo again. Neurological shit sucks big time and is scary as hell. Anyone else have something similar happen?
:Hollering

a few years ago i got a concussion playing football with some friends. later that night if the room started spinning, floor to ceiling. i freaked out. didn't think anything of it, till it started happening all the time and out in public. went to the doc, said i had vertigo b/c of the concussion.

lasted for about 4 weeks. found some drugs i use when i fly now :)

I havent even had an injury lately and the past couple weeks I have gotten like that. I leaned back in a chair last night and opened my eyes and felt like my head was in a paint mixer. I got a cold sweat and thought I was going to puke until I shut my eyes and laid there for a few minutes. A friend of mine thought he had it when he was younger so went to get tested and said the appointment was like a nightmare. They had to intentionally set his balance off during the tests to monitor him and when they did he started puking. He didnt go back for the next visit. I think they blew heated and cold air into his ears but thats what keeps me from going to the doctor.

My father-in-laws has it or a form of it. It suxs to watch anyone go through it. He says everything spind really fast and it feels like he is going to fly off the bed. He takes medication and he is find but if he is without it for more than a few days it all comes back. His was caused by a accident he was in.:(

The doctor gave me a few simple balance tests. They were similar to the DUI stuff (close eyes, touch nose, hold out arms). I think he was under the impression I drove to his office, and wouldn't let me drive if I lost balance. Fortunately, I was only experiencing mild dizziness at that point. What was he going to do, take my license away? There was no way I would try to drive with the world spinning in a constant clockwise pinwheel motion anyway.

Anyway, it's a waiting game now. I have to go back in a week for a follow-up. My neck is still sore but things are already better. I do fear a relapse though ... :(

I think it didn't hit me the next morning because things had time to stiffen and swell. I'm scared to open my eyes when I wake up.

happened to a friend of mine after snowboarding :(

Did he develop vertigo soon after the accident? Like I mentioned above, I haven't had an accident recently but was in a pretty violent car wreck around ten years ago.

One thing you could try next time is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory like Aleve (naproxen) or ibuprofen. One of the meds my doc prescribed was 500mg naproxen. You can get almost the same dose from 2 Aleve. It may help if an inflammation process is messing with your inner ear.

They usually end after a couple of minutes but the weird thing is they have so far only occured when I was either sitting up or leaning back and its nothing like a head rush.

I know exactly what you are going through.
My middle ear muscle acts up on occassions..ususally sparked by allergies. I got "officially" diganosed as having "chronic labrynthitis" (sp?).

Two things that I have found that help are:
Meclizine (usually taken for motion sickness in cars and boats)
Trans-scop dermal patch..also used for motion sickness. It's a little round patch you put behind the outside of your ear. It "quiets" the muscle that acts up.

(Btw..scop dermal was approved until the early 90s. This stuff is what the American Indian used to smoke in some of their ceremonies. So..not only does it help..but gives you a pleasant buzz too! :) )

Thanks for the tips. I researched "treating vertigo" a bit and found that antihistamines are often used. That's probably explains the "sudafed" above. I'll check out those other things too, Centurion.