Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

linkage:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BPPV -- BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) - MayoClinic.com



It's basically ear canal-induced vertigo that is brought on by head position changes (and other movements).

I've always thought I have it or something like it. If I lean back too far (head below horizontal) or do somersaults, I get ridiculously dizzy for several seconds or so. Not like too many times on the merry-go-round dizzy, but like falling from a cliff dizzy.

The kicker is that I get this occasionally from hard accelerations--like when I'm riding with someone else or on the Superman ride at Magic Mountain. When I'm driving, it's not been an issue.

Until today.

Took off from about 2700rpm in 2nd gear and floored it to about 6500 (took about 3.5 seconds) and about halfway through, I got the vertigo. I probably drove 100 yards or so like that. It's a weird feeling... I have to concentrate very hard to keep from flipping out.

So, sadly, my car is too fast for me.

Thankfully there's good results from simple head positioning therapies. I just need to find a doc to do them.

 

I have experienced this before; it came on with out warning and lasted about 2 months. I could be laying in bed, roll over and the world would violently start spinning, it was so bad I found my self holding onto the mattress for dear life as if I would be flung off. I would experience this when attempting to work under a dash and often wile lying on a creeper. These episodes of vertigo only lasted 20-30 seconds, but would leave me feeling dizzy and nauseous the rest of the day. I can’t imagine trying to drive during an episode of vertigo; I decided to cancel flight training for fear of an episode wile in the air. The over the counter see sickness drug Bonnie proved to be quite helpful.

 

Double post FTL

 

I had vertigo for about 4 days straight about 6 months ago. I was driving home from dinner one evening and bam it hit me. I have no clue how I was able to still drive. After the 3rd day I went to the doctor and he prescribed MECLIZINE for it. After 2 days of taking it I was fine. Real shitty feeling though, go to the Dr asap.
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Do this YouTube - Epley Maneuver from time to time.

common, non-harmful problem that.

edit: oh yeah, affected side downwards when laying back.

if you are unsure (non diagnosed) go see the doc anyway, just to make sure.

 

My brother was afflicted with this in the early 1990's. Turns out, upon visiting the doctor, that his ears were plugged with wax. They flushed them out, and the symptoms disappeared. Something about the buildup pressing on a nerve/pressure point in there.

His hearing was not affected at all, so it wasn't like his ears were full, just a particular spot deep inside.

 

I doubt I have anything like this, but I get dizzy super easy. Just spinning around once or twice makes me dizzy. Swinging on a swingset makes me dizzy. I loath those tea cup things!

 

My wife had it pretty bad while in University. Oddly enough consumption of caffeine contributed to the frequency and severity of the episodes. That and being tired (hence the caffeine).

She pretty much never has problems now, but occasionally if her head is down long enough she'll have a brief moment of vertigo and then it goes away.

 

Strangely, I can do the teacups at disneyland without a problem--even to the point of making other people sick in them when I'm in charge. Also love the tilt-a-whirl.

but anything that increases acceleration toward the back of my head.... oh man.

Milton Tucker's explanaion of holding on for dear life is about right. I had the experience once while riding around Thunderhill in Keith from FM's seven.

Plainly put: It sucks.

I've tried some of the epley maneuvers before actually. I want to go see the doc to make sure it's nothing else.

 

I'd for sure go see the doctor, they very well might be able to do something for you. Very easy to misdiagnose this kind of thing yourself without any kind of professional input.