Vertigo

@gldnrtrvrlvr Thank you for your comments. I would encourage you to get another surgical opinion if you have severe stenosis. They might be looking for spinal cord damage that happens when the blood supply to the spinal cord is cut off by pressure, and tissue starts to die to show a white area on the spinal cord imaging. That becomes permanent damage. I didn't have any myelopathy visible on my MRIs, but my Mayo surgeon said it doesn't always show on the MRI. It was when I told surgeon #5 about the vertigo, that he dismissed me. I think that opens up a can of worms that could be more serious issues. I've read my Mayo surgeon's papers where he talks about vertigo with cervical spine issues, but I was really afraid to talk too much about it, so I focused more on the muscle spasms. If no one has talked to you about addressing the stenosis, you might want to consider Mayo Clinic. It's a different world there where every doctor there is focused around solving your issues as best they can and you'll be referred to other departments. I don't think most doctors like to hear about fibro either because they want good surgical outcomes, and if a patient has fibro, they may continue to have pain after spine surgery and blame the surgeon. Fibro becomes a catch all diagnosis when they can't identify the source of pain. I was told that long ago, but after I resolved my food allergies, I wasn't in pain anymore. Pain can also be from the fascia if it doesn't move properly, and myofascial release can help that which will also release the waste products that are stored there in the dehydrated tissues.

Your surgeon might be more focused on lumbar issues. My Mayo neurosurgeon is a spinal deformity expert, and teaches cervical surgeries, also has a spine orthopedic fellowship, and does both fusion and disc replacement. I'll be happy to share his information with you if you wish. I'm an artist who was loosing the ability to do my artwork, and my surgeon gave that back to me. In gratitude, I painted his portrait as a gift to him when I was recovered enough to do it. If I ever need spine surgery again, I'm coming back to him at Mayo. I think highly of him as a kind person outside of his profession.

I would recommend optimizing your vitamin D to help the osteoporosis. I take Vitamin K2 D3 from Orthomolecular on the advice of my functional medicine doctor. I think Mayo would be a good place to go regarding your vitamin B genetic issues in case they have something that could help. Migraines and TMJ can also be caused (or made worse) my muscle spasms from a cervical spine problem. Working with a physical therapist helped me a lot during the years when no surgeon would help me, and she would realign my spine the best she could and block pain with some neurostimulation ( Dolphin Neurostimulators).

You do have to advocate for yourself. Don't just wait because your surgeon thinks you're not bad enough for surgery if you don't agree. I think loosing your balance is a problem. I actually fell over like a tree and could not stop myself even though I had my hand on my porch railing. I called my physical therapist a few times and she had shown me things to do in the office. One one occasion, I had fixed about 90% of a vertigo problem myself before I got to my PT appointment. I've been in physical therapy about 4 years treating the thoracic outlet syndrome and I have learned a lot in doing so, and during that time, I developed stenosis after the disc ruptured and bone spurs grew. I had to push for MRIs when doctors kept wanting to wait a year between them, and I saw the bone spurs double in size in 9 months time. My biology background helps me to understand MRIs. Again, thanks for your comments. I'm glad I could help. Let me know if you have other questions.

@archarch @angels4everyone Yes, you are correct. Cervical spine problems can cause vertigo. I am a Mayo spine surgery patient and before my surgery, I had some episodes of vertigo that were touched off by the position of my head. I looked up at birds flying overhead, and became extremely dizzy and when I leveled my head, it didn't stop. My physical therapist was able to resolve it for me. It was happening because of muscle spasms (from the spine problem) that were pulling my cervical vertebrae out of alignment. It was twisting and tilting C1 & C2 causing vertigo and nausea. When I looked up with my neck in that alignment, it caused vertigo. By realigning everything again, it went away. I worked with my physical therapist a lot before my surgery to try to maintain a normal lordotic curve as best I could and we kept working on the spasms that cropped up. I also have thoracic outlet syndrome which makes one side of my neck tighter than the other which pulls harder on all the cervical vertebrae on one side of my neck. Your skull can be skewed as it sits on top of the spine or it can be jammed into the spine by muscle spasms affecting alignment (like looking upward). I'm working on that in PT and I'm 2 years past my spine surgery and there has been no more vertigo since then. A heat wrap (relaxes muscles) or topical arnica jel (pain relief and relaxes muscles) on your neck can help. I recommend working with a physical therapist. they will need to know if there is any instability before they work on you, so if you have not have imaging, that is a first step. If you haven't seen a spine specialist, I would recommend it. You might be OK with physical therapy which they could write a script for. If you do end up headed for spine surgery, always get several opinions so you can make informed choices. I came to Mayo when 5 spine surgeons missed connecting my symptoms with the diagnosis and I am glad I did. It makes me wish I had started here instead of wasting 2 years looking for help from surgeons who refused to help me. Mayo doctors get things figured out quickly because it's a team approach, and I had an offer for surgical help in 2 days after coming to Mayo. I had a great recovery and I don't have any spine related pain.

Vertigo was one of the first things I had to face. It was downhill from there. I was diagnosed at Scripps in San Diego. What a miserable disease. From there I went to what they called Fibermyalgia. Then Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was still working full time and dealing with all of this. Now I am retired and I am treated for Rheumatoid Arthritis. I saw doctors at the University in Texas for over a year. Now relocated to Idaho and in a small town I don't have the resources of a big city. But, the doctor I saw today, shocked me to my senses. He said, we can treat the pain which will never be totally gone. We can start therapy, but Lee, you must realize that your bodies parts are all sick. We can do all we can do to help you. I can never promise you that you will be free of pain. I won't go into the other "thing" that are wrong with me. Some are body breaking down. Many could be from all the meds I have had to take over the years. I have fallen 4 times and broken bones. I have concrete in my back. You could see me walking down the street and not think anything i wrong with me. I carry my head high and I fight this horrible disease which has taken over my body. I hate Rheumatoid Arthritis, but it is not going away. So, I must get over it and live.

@archarch @angels4everyone Yes, you are correct. Cervical spine problems can cause vertigo. I am a Mayo spine surgery patient and before my surgery, I had some episodes of vertigo that were touched off by the position of my head. I looked up at birds flying overhead, and became extremely dizzy and when I leveled my head, it didn't stop. My physical therapist was able to resolve it for me. It was happening because of muscle spasms (from the spine problem) that were pulling my cervical vertebrae out of alignment. It was twisting and tilting C1 & C2 causing vertigo and nausea. When I looked up with my neck in that alignment, it caused vertigo. By realigning everything again, it went away. I worked with my physical therapist a lot before my surgery to try to maintain a normal lordotic curve as best I could and we kept working on the spasms that cropped up. I also have thoracic outlet syndrome which makes one side of my neck tighter than the other which pulls harder on all the cervical vertebrae on one side of my neck. Your skull can be skewed as it sits on top of the spine or it can be jammed into the spine by muscle spasms affecting alignment (like looking upward). I'm working on that in PT and I'm 2 years past my spine surgery and there has been no more vertigo since then. A heat wrap (relaxes muscles) or topical arnica jel (pain relief and relaxes muscles) on your neck can help. I recommend working with a physical therapist. they will need to know if there is any instability before they work on you, so if you have not have imaging, that is a first step. If you haven't seen a spine specialist, I would recommend it. You might be OK with physical therapy which they could write a script for. If you do end up headed for spine surgery, always get several opinions so you can make informed choices. I came to Mayo when 5 spine surgeons missed connecting my symptoms with the diagnosis and I am glad I did. It makes me wish I had started here instead of wasting 2 years looking for help from surgeons who refused to help me. Mayo doctors get things figured out quickly because it's a team approach, and I had an offer for surgical help in 2 days after coming to Mayo. I had a great recovery and I don't have any spine related pain.

Who was the Dr at Mayo that was able to help you? I am habing neck instabliikty even with PT, dry needling, muscle relaxers (to loosen my traps and not pull on my neck), chiro, you name it.

I'm at my wits end here

Thx

I am not sure if my vertigo is related to the autoimmune diseases. My doctor gave me a dizzy test in the office to diagnosis. Man did that make me feel sick. I take mecklazine when it is bad. Therapy did help lesson the dizziness. She said it is an autoimmune disease of the inner ear. I am just guessing that it is related but have no scientific evidence.

Yes, I occasionally struggle with vertigo, and yes, yes, yes Physical therapy helps, in fact after several treatments I have no dizziness. I have never been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.