Vertigo

Published on by Yinglan

I have vertigo.

I have been suffering from vertigo for the last couple of years. At first, I thought it was just one of those things that will go away on its own. Apparently not and I feel like it’s gotten slightly worse lately.

If you don’t know what vertigo is, it’s when you experience spinning sensation when standing still. There are quite a bit of symptoms that comes with vertigo. Currently, I’m just suffering from the spinning sensation and ringing in my ears.

It happens when I’m getting up from a squatting or a kneeling position. The first time I experienced vertigo was when I bent down to tie my shoelaces. I was at about 9000 feet elevation on a hike, so I thought that contributed to my vertigo. Nope, it happened again when I bent down to tie my shoes at home. When I returned to a standing position, whoa…trippy.

I’ve never told anyone about the condition. In fact, this will be the first time I’m writing about it. It’s one of those things I don’t think anyone can even take me seriously but I’m worried. What if I lose balance and fall the next time? I suppose my smart watch’s hard fall detection would trigger an emergency response.

In the garden…

I was transplanting vegetable seedlings in the garden last night. I was kneeling on a kneeling pad, when I got up, whoa, vertigo alert. I immediately had to close my eyes and hold on to something. It happened a few more times before I had to call it quits because one, I couldn’t take another episode of vertigo and two, the sun had set and the sky was getting dark.

I should probably tell my mom but I know what she’d say, “this is what you get for working in the garden day and night.” She thinks I’m wearing myself ragged in the garden but that’s not true. Every time I squat down to prune a leaf, I had to take a minute when getting up because of the vertigo and that’s only done maybe once a week. Most of the time, I’m in the garden to escape.

One-sided Relationship

On Saturday, I asked for her help to carry some of the produce harvested that morning, she reacted by telling me that I can carry them inside with multiple trips. She was sleeping on the sofa, I didn’t know. How would I know? I couldn’t see inside the house. “Never wake me when I’m sleeping,” she demanded.

However, when I was napping with my noise-canceling headphones that afternoon, the minute I closed my eyes, she came and started babbling. I couldn’t hear a thing, until she tapped my leg with her knee and demanded I answered her.

Talk about a one-sided relationship, when she needs help, help, I must provide but when I need help, lecture I shall receive. I don’t see anything good coming out of telling her about my vertigo, do you?

13 thoughts on “Vertigo”

  1. Sorry you have these vertigo episodes. I know the feeling, as I’ve ;had this many years. It is related to inner ear, and it is positional, meaning certain ways you move your head it causes the inner ear crystals to move. Anyway, there is a procedure I did from an ear nose throat Doctor, where they turn your head a certain way and the ear crystals move back where they belong. It helps a lot. Also, I used to take a medicine called Meclizine, which is used for this problem, reducing the spinning feeling. You can get it over the counter at the store. Mostly though, it’s just trying to remember not to move your head certain ways so it doesn’t happen. Hope any of this might help. 🙂

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    1. There were many causes for vertigo, according to Google. One of them is when calcium particles get dislodged in the ear. Honestly, I’m not surprised as I have calcium particles deposits in all the wrong spots in my body. So why not the calcium particles misbehave in my ears, too?

      I will need to do some research on this medication. Thank you.

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  2. I think “ghostmmnc” (above) is talking about “Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo”, or “BPPV”)”. It’s pretty common, and usually associated with certain head movements, like looking up or down, or rolling your head to the side, etc… It’s caused by the accumulation of microscopic sand-grain like crystals in the “vestibular canals” of your inner ears. Taking an antihistamine and doing an “Epley Maneuver” (you can look that up) can sometimes dislodge whatever’s causing the problem. And don’t let yourself become dehydrated.

    Meclazine (“Bonine” OTC or “Antivert” in identically-dosed prescription form) helps. It’s also relatively non-drowsy. But…
    I’ve experienced two Meclazine side effects at high altitude. Mercifully, someone had warned me about one of them, which was visual hallucination in your peripheral visual field. Going through a tract of burnt out tree stumps, they’d turn into people as I looked away from them. A little disturbing.
    The other side effect was a powerful need to sleep very deeply for about five-minutes as the stuff wore off after a day of physical exertion. I’d be fine afterward; but it was almost like a sleep seizure. I ended up swapping the Meclazine out for a half-dose of Dramamine (dimenhydrinate). But that can damage your inner ear if you take too much, or if it accumulates in your system over a long time. And Dramamine is better when you want to relax or to sleep, like on a long flight.

    Don’t know if this will help; but I can relate. Big nuisance.
    And be sure to tell you doctor.

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    1. Yikes! That is not a good side effect to have, particularly for someone with a wild imagination.

      I have to Allegra now and then for my skin allergies, that’s an antihistamine, right?

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      1. First, I’m NOT a pharmacists or a physician. So be sure to talk your doctor.

        Antihistamines work on different kinds of “histamine” receptors to reduce swelling. Allegra (Fexofenadine) works on Histamine-1 receptors, which are mostly in the skin. So probably won’t do much for the inner ear.

        The three (in the US) that are usually prescribed for inner-ear problems are dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, …), diphenhydramine (Benadryl, Nytol,…) and meclizine (Antivert, Bonine…). There are a couple more prescription-only that doctors may prescribe for people having severe nausea. The problem with all of these is that if they’re working on histamine receptors in the inner ear, then they’re also going to have some side-effects on your central nervous system. Physiologically, nerves are derived from the same kinds of cells that produce skin, so they tend to react to the same chemicals. Effects can be anything from making you feel relaxed or sleepy to making your heart race or causing hallucinations. They’re also going to be toxic to at least some degree.

        I don’t tolerate antihistamines well; so I don’t have a lot of options. They can also interact with other drugs, vitamins, foods, etc… Fruit juices, especially grapefruit juice, reacts with Fexofenadine. So again, talk to a doctor or a pharmacists. (They especially need to know about any possible calcium issues!)

        If you’re having BPPV vertigo from certain head movements, the Epley Maneuver can be helpful. It’s nice if you can reduce the symptoms without any medication. It’s not much fun looking up and feeling like your feet are going over your head!

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  3. I’m sorry you have vertigo Yinglan. You should see a doctor and get treatment. It could also be orthostatic hypotension. It’s when blood pressure falls suddenly due to a C change in posture. Maybe a side effect of any meds you might be taking.

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    1. Oh, that’s interesting. I’m not sure whether it’s related to my meds as I’ve been taking them for a long time, much longer than the vertigo episodes. Yes, I should see a doctor since it has gotten worse. Last night I bent down to pick up the hose and had another episode. Very annoying.

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      1. It may be related to your blood pressure. A sudden change in position will cause it to fall. You can order a BP apparatus from Amazon and check your blood pressure yourself.

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