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Topic Title: Vertigo
Topic Summary: Yes, it's an old people topic, but if you ever get it you'll be glad to have some reference
Created On: 05/10/2019 04:54 PM
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 05/10/2019 04:54 PM
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moody

Posts: 3577
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

So I've spent the past two months dealing with...

Vertigo from hell. Everyone says - oh, go get the crystals in your ears realigned, it fixed me right up. I didn't have that sort of vertigo (BPPV) - what I had was viral vestibulitis, which kind of goes away on its own timetable.

I had to have every test known to man to eliminate all the other things it could be (MRI - at first they were thinking I was having a stroke, so they hospitalized me, which was scary, then annoying when it wasn't a stroke, but hey, if it HAD been...).

Then lots of hearing testing to eliminate meniere's disease (from the surfing I have a bit of tinnitus so that was a red herring), and finally, they just decided that it was vestibulitis when they couldn't find anything else.

So I ended up with a month of PT to help me learn to walk again and compensate for it (it was bad enough that at its worst, I was clinging to the bed trying to keep it from throwing me off).

PT was not a lot of fun. They make you dizzy and force your brain to learn to cope with it. Eventually, strangely enough, your brain kind of gives up and does. I'm about 95% better now, even though I'm not "cured." I'm still doing my exercises, and trying to regain my strength.

If you have BPPV, get to a PT quickly; they can fix you fairly fast, but even if you can't be fixed, they CAN do something about it, even if it's not pleasant. I rode my bike for the first time this week, and paddled my board in the pool (old board). I will hopefully try going out on a calm day to paddle around in the kiddie pool soon; hopefully I can cope with the wave motion ok. If not, oh well, I'll keep working on it.

Apparently this is common - I've talked to a lot of people who have had it. It's isolating as heck though. I haven't even been able to drive myself for a month and a half. I can finally drive again, at least. I thought I was going to have to file for disability, and it was a bit scary. If you ever get it, feel free to drop me a line because this was not an easy thing to go through (not as bad as the Pulmonary Embolism I had a few years ago, of course) but it's an ongoing series of problems. The PE I was just going to die or not die - this was really debilitating and affected my ability to work, and may affect my ability to surf, which is why I'm posting it here.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
 05/10/2019 05:09 PM
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SunriseSurfer

Posts: 8610
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003

Sad to hear but happy to hear you're back on the road
and seem to be recovering more and more.

Wishing you a full recovery.
Stay strong and keep on keeping on.






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Puerto Rico 11 - 24 - 2013
 05/11/2019 03:37 AM
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RocketSurf

Posts: 645
Joined Forum: 03/20/2014

Bummer Moody, my wife suffers bouts every month or two. She has the crystal type so I put her through the paces and sometimes she vomits but it will usually cure it for a while. My mother (87) suffers from Alzheimer with dementia and just recently developed some type of vertigo. She, of course, does not remember this and will call me in the morning to tell me she is very dizzy. I told her "Mom, you just woke up with Vertigo" and her response was "Well, where is that Italian man now?"
Best of luck with your PT and overcoming this issue....
 05/11/2019 06:13 AM
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moody

Posts: 3577
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

Thanks, and I had to laugh about your mother. I may have to call it "that Italian man" from now on. You have to take the funny stuff where you get it - I'm really sorry about your mom; that's tough. I did joke with the PT that the years of surfing probably helped me a little and she said "yeah, you're the most balanced drunk person I've ever seen!"

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
 05/11/2019 06:27 AM
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RegularJoe

Posts: 3679
Joined Forum: 11/20/2011

Glad you're doing better, Moody. LOL at Rocket's Italian Man.

My mom's severe vertigo was finally tied to a Myasthenia Gravis diagnosis, which took local docs about 6 months to get to.

Head injuries can also affect the vestibules and cause vertigo. It took a couple months and 4 docs to catch that aspect of my son's concussion. PT helped a bit with that.
 05/11/2019 07:37 AM
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moody

Posts: 3577
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

Post-concussion syndrome is no fun. I have a friend dealing with that as a result of a bad fall off a horse. It's tough, because she keeps expecting to be better.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
 05/12/2019 06:31 AM
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Cole

Posts: 68180
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003

Good lord, that sounds like a nightmare. If it fixes it self, do you have to recondition yourself the other direction?

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I was right.
 05/12/2019 02:07 PM
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RegularJoe

Posts: 3679
Joined Forum: 11/20/2011

Moody, my son's PCS symptoms got better after about a year. Still a few issues though. Even the MRI focused on his inner ear didn't identify the vestibular inflammation, but at his second trip to an ENT (Balance specialist), they did an ENG (Electronystagmogram) and came to a pretty quick diagnosis. The PT did help with that. His neurologist recommended a regimen of vitamin B-2 and Butterbur to reduce the headaches. That helped some as well. Best of luck to you and your friend.
 05/12/2019 05:19 PM
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moody

Posts: 3577
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

Originally posted by: Cole

Good lord, that sounds like a nightmare. If it fixes it self, do you have to recondition yourself the other direction?


That's kind of what I'm wondering. I'll ask at the next therapy appointment; no one has mentioned it. I guess it doesn't fix itself very fast if it does; it just gradually gets better as the inflammation goes down. I'm not really looking forward to surfing. That's ok, Marc managed to herniate two discs so he's out of soccer for a while (which is why you haven't seen him - he's really upset about that). We're a couple of pitiful specimens right now.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
 05/18/2019 05:22 AM
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Cole

Posts: 68180
Joined Forum: 07/22/2003

Being lame seriously sucks and it's always something, though your run of misfortune has been beyond the pale. Hopefully the fates will give you smooth sailing for a few decades or so...

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I was right.
 05/19/2019 07:18 AM
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moody

Posts: 3577
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

Eh, it's not been all bad . I figure the highs have to come with some pretty spectacular lows to balance out the karmic wheel at this point.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
 05/20/2019 06:58 PM
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JBSURF

Posts: 2125
Joined Forum: 10/11/2004

I believe that about 70% of your balance comes from your upper vertebrae mostly in your neck... If you have vertigo try this and see if it helps, look to one side then the other and see if it gets better or even goes away. Indicates neck out of alignment and needing an adjustment,,,, trust me it works... sometimes reading or watching TV with a pillow under your neck can be just enough to push things outa wack... My Chiropractor sees this as a common issue thats mostly over looked or unknown to most,,,

Dr. Zimmerman on MI is the `Man` let me tell ya...

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I've decided to accept the fact - I'll always be a big kid!
FORUMS : NPNR : Vertigo

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