How do you describe dizziness? How do you manage it?

Some of the exercises I was doing at PT really helped a lot with my bad dizziness. I’d describe my dizziness as the room whirling around me, or a severe whirling in my head. 2 different sensations. The room whirling around me has returned and I’d gone back to PT just before the poo hit the fan. They said all the crystals in my ears were back where they should be, so that wasn’t causing the dizziness to return and it was most likely brain damage. I get this sensation if I turn quickly while walking, or if I’ve been looking up at something and lower my head. I grab things when this happens and try to steady myself; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a feeling that my feet turned but my head didn’t follow them, if that makes sense. I’ve had a couple minor falls in my home, but have fallen on things like cardboard boxes, and I’ve been able to straighten myself out somewhat as I’m falling. No damage except bruises and rushes of adrenaline.
The other one is much worse. I’m inevitably lying in bed, on one side, and I’ll turn my head to look over my shoulder and it feels like my brain is on a tilt-a-whirl inside my skull. Terrible sensation; I close my eyes and groan out loud. Loudly. In PT they taught me to move my eyes before turning my head, and that helped a lot. I forget to do that, and I suffer. Immediate nausea, sweating, and tears because it’s such an awful feeling.

Most of the time I’m able to sit down, close my eyes, shut down all distractions and the about 15 minutes later, I find I can resume my activity. If that doesn’t help, I grab my cane snd fight against it. I’ve tried various exercises, but most are only slightly successful and then against particular causes, e.g. picking something up from the floor. On bad dats, when I can’t seem to control it, I mostly relax and stay seated or rely on my cane for short movements.

I’ve just suffered through two days of terrible dizziness. Thursday, I had been puttering and decided to finish papering a wall in my bathroom. When I was doing that, I tried to get on the tub rim to hammer a nail, ( not too smart, I know) and the leg I was pushing off with wouldn’t support my weight. I fell not far at all, but landed on my toilet seat, broke the hinges and slid with it a short space. No bruises, even. But the next day, I had tilt-a-whirl brain without moving at all. It continued all that day, and several times I thought I was going to seriously fall. Wall walking. I had to go collect some meds, and was just barely able to do that, with my cane. Every movement sent my eyes spiraling. Saturday, I was a wee bit better, but I stayed in bed and took care of myself. Sunday was the same. I feel pretty well today.
I think my poor brain got sloshed in one direction when I fell on the toilet seat, and boy, did I suffer. I was scared that I’d had a stroke.
(Hi, Colleen! I wrote you a p.m. in a panic. All is well)

Hi @mugglemary, I'm just seeing your post and PM now. I had unplugged for the weekend.
That must've been scary for you to have been so dizzy after the fall. I'm glad that self-care and bed rest have helped. Do you think that you should check in with your doctor?

HEY COLLEEN! I didn't follow up with my PCP, as I think they're still doing remote visits.
And of course, it was during the weekend that it got really bad.
I've discovered something that I've been doing for the past 2 days that I think is helping with some of my dizziness! Como Park has a labyrinth that I walked, and it really helps with my balance and concentration. It's meditative, and gets me out in our lovely summer weather! There's a site called Labyrinth Locator, and they use your zip code to find the ones near you. I'd recommend it to any of the other TBI-ers.

What a fabulous idea, @mugglemary. I bet it helps with balance and walking a labyrinth can be very meditative too. Is this the Labyrinth Locator website? https://labyrinthlocator.com/

That’s it, and I just typed in my zip code and got my results. It truly is good for my balance, and staying grounded. I turned the wrong way once and didn’t realize I had backtracked till I was back in the middle again. I can just feel my brain grinding as I walk.

It’s helping me concentrate. You’re supposed to concentrating on your breath on the way in, and I’m finding that surprisingly difficult. I was on my way in, and later found myself back at the start. So I started again and walked it correctly. I walked it twice yesterday with no overly painful results today. Off again soon to tackle it and take a photo.