The past week has been a real weird experience for me. I have never had such long lasting dizzy spells. I've had some momentary issues like for a few seconds. But nothing that lasted for hours then days. It really panicked me. I couldn't drive although I had to drive home from the gym where I had been working out when it started. I had a hard time walking around my house. The first night I threw up after I had gone upstairs to go to bed. Thankfully, I didn't have much to come up since the nausea that I was feeling meant I wasn't eating much. I spent a lot of time just reclined or sitting up in bed on multiple pillows. It was hard to sleep of course as I felt miserable. Oh, the headache wasn't so great either.
I didn't go to the doctor but I did talk to my doctor about it. At the time I talked to my doctor, it was actually getting better after 3 days. We discussed what could have caused it. You wouldn't believe some of the different ideas that were floated by my friends on FB . . a bad virus going around the schools in the Dallas area (dizziness and nausea included), could be a heart problem better rush to the doctor, take Dramamine for the dizziness or at least Benadryl. My doc was skeptical of most ideas but the allergy bit.
Yes, the pollen count is up very high due to ragweed, which is typical this time of the year. But wait! It has been raining a lot so mold and mildew counts are up so high. Why would I latch on to this idea about allergies? Because over 30 years ago, I was having dizzy spells during this time of the year in particular. I almost blacked out in front of a work colleague. I could feel the dizziness take over and I fell back against the cubicle wall partition. I went to a neurologist because I was worked I had something wrong in my head. That neurologist gave me some great advice to keep a journal about when and how to help isolate that problems. Once I did that for awhile, the light bulb went on! I went to an allergist. I got tested and found I was allergic to tons of stuff including my cats (the allergist thought that was funny but at least it isn't so bad I end up in the hospital). I ended up doing a shot therapy treatment that lasted several years. This was a desensitization technique in which you take shots of a mixture of what you are allergic to. It involves several shots a week at first to build up immunity, gradually decreasing to 2 shots a week, 1 shot a week, 1 shot every other week, 1 shot a month to no shots at all. I haven't had a shot in many years. But I suffered through bouts of sinus infections, upper respiratory, bronchitis, until I got the allergies under control. It even impacted my seasonal depressions. Who knew that feeling bad with sinus headaches would be a trigger for depression?? Research has been done since then but there is still a lot they don't understand about depression. That is a different topic so back to dizzy!!!
My treatment involved taking my regular allergy meds and I felt that worked but then I had a huge relapse the day after I talked to my doctor. Of course. But guess what? It started to rain here. Lots of rain. I think the barometric pressure was fooling with my sinuses more than usual. I have been known to get bad headaches during weather problems so not an unusual speculation. As the rains abated so did the dizziness/nausea/headaches.
Today I feel OK. Yesterday I felt well enough to drive to pickup prescriptions and groceries then eat a regular meal (not crackers, haha). I want to get back to my regular workout routines so I can feel better physically. But it is still cloudy and I worry about those awful symptoms coming back. Fingers crossed that I will remain OK.
A friend recommended doing this half somersault move. She said her mother had great success with it. Halfsomersaultmaneuver - Reading this on-line doc might be easier than watching the video when in the middle of bad vertigo. But I have given you links for both..
You can watch the video version here: HalfsomersaultVideo
Then there is something called the Epley moves that are said to work. You really need to go to the doctor to learn how to do these, but there are some videos on youtube.
Meanwhile, you can watch one guy's video where he demos on himself at home: EpleyGuyDemo
Or maybe you want to watch these wacky physical therapists. They show the Epley but some other ideas that I think can't hurt anything: WorldFamousPTs
Once you get on to YouTube, you can find a bunch of videos. These are only suggestions really. Go see your doctor if you are worried.
I didn't go to the doctor but I did talk to my doctor about it. At the time I talked to my doctor, it was actually getting better after 3 days. We discussed what could have caused it. You wouldn't believe some of the different ideas that were floated by my friends on FB . . a bad virus going around the schools in the Dallas area (dizziness and nausea included), could be a heart problem better rush to the doctor, take Dramamine for the dizziness or at least Benadryl. My doc was skeptical of most ideas but the allergy bit.
Yes, the pollen count is up very high due to ragweed, which is typical this time of the year. But wait! It has been raining a lot so mold and mildew counts are up so high. Why would I latch on to this idea about allergies? Because over 30 years ago, I was having dizzy spells during this time of the year in particular. I almost blacked out in front of a work colleague. I could feel the dizziness take over and I fell back against the cubicle wall partition. I went to a neurologist because I was worked I had something wrong in my head. That neurologist gave me some great advice to keep a journal about when and how to help isolate that problems. Once I did that for awhile, the light bulb went on! I went to an allergist. I got tested and found I was allergic to tons of stuff including my cats (the allergist thought that was funny but at least it isn't so bad I end up in the hospital). I ended up doing a shot therapy treatment that lasted several years. This was a desensitization technique in which you take shots of a mixture of what you are allergic to. It involves several shots a week at first to build up immunity, gradually decreasing to 2 shots a week, 1 shot a week, 1 shot every other week, 1 shot a month to no shots at all. I haven't had a shot in many years. But I suffered through bouts of sinus infections, upper respiratory, bronchitis, until I got the allergies under control. It even impacted my seasonal depressions. Who knew that feeling bad with sinus headaches would be a trigger for depression?? Research has been done since then but there is still a lot they don't understand about depression. That is a different topic so back to dizzy!!!
My treatment involved taking my regular allergy meds and I felt that worked but then I had a huge relapse the day after I talked to my doctor. Of course. But guess what? It started to rain here. Lots of rain. I think the barometric pressure was fooling with my sinuses more than usual. I have been known to get bad headaches during weather problems so not an unusual speculation. As the rains abated so did the dizziness/nausea/headaches.
Today I feel OK. Yesterday I felt well enough to drive to pickup prescriptions and groceries then eat a regular meal (not crackers, haha). I want to get back to my regular workout routines so I can feel better physically. But it is still cloudy and I worry about those awful symptoms coming back. Fingers crossed that I will remain OK.
A friend recommended doing this half somersault move. She said her mother had great success with it. Halfsomersaultmaneuver - Reading this on-line doc might be easier than watching the video when in the middle of bad vertigo. But I have given you links for both..
You can watch the video version here: HalfsomersaultVideo
Then there is something called the Epley moves that are said to work. You really need to go to the doctor to learn how to do these, but there are some videos on youtube.
Meanwhile, you can watch one guy's video where he demos on himself at home: EpleyGuyDemo
Or maybe you want to watch these wacky physical therapists. They show the Epley but some other ideas that I think can't hurt anything: WorldFamousPTs
Once you get on to YouTube, you can find a bunch of videos. These are only suggestions really. Go see your doctor if you are worried.
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