I have been a teacher and a student for much of my adult life.I have raced along and burned up energy and I have accumulated much stuff. Much of living has been tedious and based on survival but creative activity such as drama, dance and art has provided light and grace. Being a hoarder and not a good sorter I have a lot of stuff that I now must sort through and mostly dispose of. My forays into the visual arts have created much of this stuff. It is tempting to plod along masochistically with this necessary and time consuming work but balance needs to be achieved with creative activity. Nowadays computers provide scope for learning and creativity without taking too much time or creating too much mess. And digital cameras make easily stored art quickly and cleanly. Writing too can be done using only the computer. Thus balance in all things is important. As I am a vertigo sufferer even physical balance can be a challenge; indeed perhaps I suffer from this ailment to remind me of this fact. I’ll say then that I will blog to create balance in my life, to give me a forum for short pieces of writing and photos, none of which I plan to put too much time into.It is also something completely new to me so a leap of faith I will take and happily share with you.
Seaside Meanderings 
Thank you for coming by my blog, may I ask, what is your vertigo caused by, or do you know?
No i don’t really know. Long bouts of BPV seemed to follow on from a virus more than once over the years and we know that is caused by crystals floating around in tiny ear tubes; but when the BPV is virtually gone there is still a chronic sort of imbalance that the chiropractor reckons comes from my neck. Panic attacks I have cause dizziness as does anxiety, and when my BP is high that does too. A specialist came up with migraine without the headache. I have tried so many ideas. Ear candling that some rave about seems to stir up vertigo and a healer I saw recently seemed to stir it up too. Fun and games eh!
Well darling, you have hit on a few things there. I too have BPPV…and not all of my symptoms go away when I’m not having a full attack…when the crystals are in place. When I’m in bed and turn over…whoosh I get a spin of vertigo bad! but it goes away. Anxiety can cause vertigo. crazy huh? it’s kind of a Catch 22 there. Anxiety causes Vertigo, Vertigo causes Anxiety…round and round we go. BP too high or low can cause it. low B12 can cause it. I have vestibular migraines. or as they also call them….Migraine Associated Vertigo. You do not have to have a headache to have the vertigo. That is wicked, and it is very possible. I’m on special medication to reduce those. I have to see a neurologist to be treated for that. I see a neurologist that specializes in headaches. Hard to find one of those. The ear candling bothering you…that is much like a test called Caloric test they give you to test for a vestibular disorder. They put warm and cold water in your ears to see what happens and well…it really bothered you. It is really used to see the difference between the two ears, but many people who have vestibular disorders get sick when this test is done. I’m having it done on Tuesday…this is like the only test I haven’t had done before.
Yes…fun and games darling. Fun and Games.
I’m heading to John Hopkins on Tuesday. Well my appointment is on the 11th, but we are going up early because they won’t let me take anything for vertigo for 48 hours before my test and I’m not traveling without being able to take those meds. So I’ll be hanging out up there, and hoping that doesn’t mean I’ll be hugging the toilet the whole time before my appointment.
yes…fun and games.
(oh…BTW….one doctor I saw here acted like me turning my head and the vertigo coming in waves doesn’t have anything to do with the BPPV, well that’s bunk. It didn’t happen before I had the first attack, and it has happened every night since then. I’ve had 2 full blown, last all day, don’t look to my left at all attacks since the first, but I have that, ick few seconds of vertigo feeling every night. and sometimes when I look up. I’ve talked to a friend of mine who suffers from BPPV bad and she said she has the same thing…hers is just a lot worse.
Good luck lady.
if you ever need to chat…holler at me.
Whew! Your John Hopkins sounds interesting! I am in Australia you know. Yeah and I have to re look at the fact that my vertigo might be migraine without headache. Those headaches would be the pits! I did take migraine prevention med for awhile but stopped. And I have had migraine auras in black and white—-just twice! And did I say I can avoid rolling on to my left side but not going back to lie against 3 or 4 pillows and that causes giddiness for ages, each time I get up during the night to pee. I take Stemetil though the GPs hate it . They like to blame it for the rocking i often do and know is caused by vertigo!!!! Good luck to you.
I did forget you were in Australia when I wrote the comment. Duh. John Hopkins is a Hospital connected to a University. It does extensive research into a bunch of stuff, but it has a renowned Vestibular Clinic. Hopefully, they will know more than Duke did…that is also a Hospital connected to a University and it is very renowned for research, but not as much in vestibular issues. I only went to Duke because I lived near that hospital. Hope that all made sense.
Often the normal migraine prevention does nothing for vestibular migraines, it is special medication for those.
I had to look up Stemetil because it isn’t available in the US, but it is supposed to help vertigo, and nausea and vomiting….I was actually jealous that I can’t get that drug. Why would they think it is what is causing the rocking? and can you get it without a prescription?
Since you are taking Stemetil and aren’t getting too much relief….I’m really wondering if it isn’t from migraines.
I’m not trying to diagnose you…I would never do that. I just hate you are going through this. I want you to find some relief.
The problem from turning over….I have it because I had a bad case of BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo)…you can Google that. and when I lie down for a while things get off wack a bit, then when I turn over things go Woosh! and I have vertigo for just a few seconds normally, sometimes a bit longer. Every night, and morning. Drives me crazy. If I just lie down it doesn’t do it most of the time, I have to have been lying down for a while.
I hope you get some answers.
If you ever need to talk….I’m here.
xo
wendy
Stemetil is prochlorperazine, seems it can cause ‘Parkinsonian’ symptoms not rocking!!!!PBV on l side lessening at the moment but not giddiness from going from sitting upright back to semi reclined. Very humid here at the moment and this seems to exacerbate vertigo. My friend in her 80s says this and she is scared to talk to her doctor about her horrible vertigo because he might stop her driving. I am about to phone her to say ask him to get some physiotherapy for her; driving shouldn’t be an issue we don’t have V when sitting still.I find young physiotherapists are learning quite a bit about V nowadays.Janice
Oh I take that back. Of course we get V when sitting—-at a meeting with people talking all around, or at films that i persist in watching, even at the computer, esp playing the addictive WWF! I guess it’s just when sitting the reality is you can’t fall over so you can tell yourself it’s safer!
I was about to say…if you don’t get vertigo when sitting still, I’m at a loss. And I would never move. LOL
I don’t drive because of my vertigo, I don’t think it is safe. I have very sudden attacks of rotational vertigo. It would be very irresponsible of me to continue to drive.
I made that decision before my doctor ever said it, I’m don’t know if he would or not. Here in the states, it seems they rarely tell people they need to stop driving, even when they really should. (I’m not just talking about vertigo patients…I’m talking about a lot of people).
If your vertigo isn’t like mine. You don’t get sudden attacks of rotational spins with no warning, you should be able to drive. I used to, because I had warning signals that an attack was coming, now I dont.
Many peple with vestibular problems say they do much better in cars if they are driving. It makes you use a different part if your brain. When I’m having vertigo. If it isn’t super fast, if I can see the captions on the TV and concentrate on trying to read them, it helps, often slows and stops the attack.
Good luck.
I hope you get more help soon.
Let me know.
I’m following your blog now, but when I’m in a bad way, I miss post, so if anything happens, be sure to give me a shout out if I don’t comment.
xo
wendy
I’ve just sat through a meeting feeling light headed and nauseous. I like to have some sort of arms on chairs.I feel most stable sitting on the bed with legs crossed more or less, so I do lots of that. Friend Pene is ok sitting so therefore driving. She feels wobbly when walking, uses one crutch. She lives alone, but drives her male friend around. I so feel for her. I am VERY behind with blog posts, must get going again. I wish you stability.
I wish you stability too.
I do know a few people who have lost a lot of their vestibular function who feel better driving because they are in control. They know where the care is going, where to look, ect. Riding is harder. When sitting also, our bodies are still so your ears are trying to balance it. We balance with our eyes, ears, and body…the brain had to understand all of them, if the ears are reading things right, then things go all wonky. My trip to John Hopkins…I just wrote about it yesterday. I see my new doc here in my home town tomorrow. He will be working with the doctor at John Hopkins to treat me. But the plan right now is to get me vestibular rehab, and kill of what is left of my balance system in my ears so my eyes and body will take over and my ears will just be out of the picture. It’s hard to do that, but I can’t be worse than I am now. Have you been through vestibular rehabilitation. I’m thinking maybe that would help you….from what the doctor at JH, said, it can help just about anyone who has this kind of stuff.
I need to keep my blog more up to date too.
Peace lady….may you be as well as you can…no wonkies today. 🙂