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Dizziness/Vertigo for almost 2 years
Hello all,
I have had dizziness/vertigo for almost 2 years now.
I am wondering who I should see in Minneapolis, Minnesota that can hopefully give me answers and maybe a cure.
When I first got it I think I was sick. When I healed from being sick one day when looking up, I became extremely dizzy for 3 days. I could not get out of bed. Crawled to the bathroom when I had to go. Then as time went on I would only get dizzy when looking up and bringing my head back down to normal resting position. I wouldn't get too dizzy or anything looking down then moving the head back up. Sometimes dizzy when tilting left or right. Mainly looking up and coming back to normal resting position. I saw many doctors and had many tests/scans done. MRIs and CT scans. Everything came back normal. The only thing that seemed to help was I would take a migraine medicine and it made the dizziness into a headache versus being dizzy.
This went on for over a year. Then this year I got Lasik done. While I was home healing from the surgery I noticed I was no longer dizzy. I figured maybe my old glasses were causing the problem, I was due for a new pair. My old glasses were 10 years old, looked terrible so probably missing my astigmatism and what not in the glass. I attributed not being dizzy to finally having the correct prescription via Lasik. I was doing a bunch of exercises from a place that said they specialize in dizziness/vertigo treatment but the exercises never seemed to improve my condition. It got to a point they just seemed to be trying anything that would work. I did not have confidence that they could cure me. Then I got Lasik and felt better.
I went 4 months without being dizzy. Life was back to normal. I could do whatever I wanted, roll on the ground, hit the gym and do incline/decline workouts, I could do my job which I'm in awkward positions and getting dirty.
Then on July 3rd I felt a little off. I figured I was dehydrated or low blood sugar. The next day, I was dizzy. Since July 3rd/4th I have a constant dizziness and a headache. I get dizzy in bed, dizzy moving my head in directions, dizzy at work due to the positions I have to get into sometimes etc. The weirdest part is also when I walk, I am getting a weird head sensation with every step. When I jump I get the same sensation. When I drive my car I am fine except for when I hit bumps in the road. I get a quick dizziness for 3 seconds or so then back to normal.
I have seen some more doctors lately who think maybe vestibular migraine or vestibular hypofunction. Or a combination of both. Meclizine does not work. My migraine medicine does not work this time. I did feel tightness in my neck/shoulders/back. I have been stretching and getting massages to try to alleviate that which seems to reduce the tightness. Some have tried to perform maneuvers on me with no success, I have tried at home as well. They say I do not have nystigamus so they don't believe I have BPPV but honestly I don't think anyone knows.
I'm coming here for support for ideas or whom to see in the Minneapolis, MN region.
I'm going into my 3rd week of constant dizziness unless I'm just sitting on a chair, then I am fine. It's impacting my life and my work.
Any help is appreciated
Thanks
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I’ll share what has worked for me temporarily, meaning I can go 6 months without a reoccurrence which is only when I roll from the left to right in bed. The Epley maneuver doesn’t work for me, I suspect that’s what you tried. Look up on the internet the Carol Foster MD maneuver. She is an ophthalmologist who experienced vertigo and figured out how to best get the crystals back into the inner ear. It works for me every time. Sometimes fluid build up in my ears causes vertigo so when allergy seasons hit, I take Claritin before bed and run an air filter at night for prevention. Good luck.
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1 ReactionI would head for Mayo Clinic in Rochester! Either have your PCP do a referral or do a self referral. I was dizzy for 8 months plus terrible episodes of vertigo until I started doing my own research. I discovered the culprit was Eliquis that I was switched to from Warfarin was causing the problem. Well documented in the literature if you look! Definitely would go to a large well-known medical center......you are so close to Mayo!
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1 ReactionI will attempt her maneuver. Hopefully it will work
That is my next step I think. I do have another neurology appointment soon, I was thinking if they can't figure it out to go to Mayo and see if they can help. I appreciate it
You may have to do it 2-3 times as the Dr. states in her video, at least 15 minutes apart. Please let us know how it goes for you.
I tried it today 3 times, no change but I am going to try again tomorrow. Tomorrow I will try in the morning versus today I tried when I got home from work and I feel like my body is more agitated from the day
I have a prior post with more detail about my vertigo situation. The Epley maneuver would not have worked for me because I had what is called “horizontal” positional vertigo, rather than “posterior” which is most common.
This was diagnosed and treated by a vestibular physical therapist. He saved me. I was so nauseated by the dizziness that I vomited. Look up horizontal and if it makes sense to you, seek out a vestibular PT. I used AI to find a good one in my area and was successful.
Best wishes, Cindy
Sounds like it could be PPPD. I was diagnosed with it with similar symptoms and negative results on mri, blood work, and ENT evaluation.Sometimes they just don't know for sure.