Worst day ever !

[MossRoad]

RSKY, I can 100% relate to your condition. No fun!!! I went through exactly the same ordeal less than a month ago. And I'm pleased to learn the cause and the solution, which I'll detail for you at the end of this comment.

The cause is due to Cartlidge in the inner ear canal not moving up and down as it should. Generally, that's caused by the canal becoming 'sticky, and slowing or preventing the tiny pieces of cartilage to move as it should. This causes the sensation of falling, either to the left or to the right, or both.

A simple 10-minute exercise twice per day cured the problem for me.

I first read about the cure outlined by John Hopkins University. I then went to a Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist that diagnosed my dizzy spells (vertigo) and recommended me to visit a sports rehab center. In the meantime, the ENT specialist recommended me picking up a bottle of Meclizine, a cheap OTC drug, to take as needed while I finished the rehab exercise cycle, if wanted and/or needed.

The rehab routine was twice a week for 6 weeks for a 30-minute exercise. I'm happy to say, after less than
2 weeks I was able to cancel the balance of the Rehab Center's routine period. It has now been 4 weeks since my last occasional self-administered therapy with zero recurrences.

Here is the John Hopkins University procedure, which was also used by the Rhab Center:

Start by sitting on a bed

Turn your head 45 degrees to the right.

Quickly lie back, keeping your head turned. Your shoulders now will be on the pillow, and your head should be reclined. Wait 30 seconds.

Turn your head 90 degrees to the left, without raising it. Your head will now be looking 45 degrees to the left. Wait 30 seconds.

Turn your head and body another 90 degrees to the left, into the bed. Wait another 30 seconds.

Sit up on the left side.

Reverse the above exercise by beginning with your head turned to the left.

.......................................

After 2 or 3 days of the above complete routine, I found that I could achieve the same results by tilting my head to the extreme left and holding it there for 10 or 15 seconds. Repeat for the right side.

The Rehab Center did add to the above procedure some tests which entailed watching my eye movement when following an object moving back and forth at arm's length. I'm not at all convinced that that portion of the routine actually contributed to my recovery but suspect it contributed to the Rehab Center's fee.

Again, I truly sympathize with your condition. There's nothing more depressing than to discover that you're completely disabled. But there's light at the end of the tunnel. Best Wishes.

That sounds like the procedure for what others have called the rocks falling off your shelf. I've had that a couple times, too.

RSKY has Ménière's disease. I think that's different.

 

[ponytug]

Yes, the described procedure is the Epley maneuver, relevant to "rocks falling off the shelf", and not relevant to Ménière's disease that @RSKY has.

All the best, Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, the described procedure is the Epley maneuver, relevant to "rocks falling off the shelf", and not relevant to Ménière's disease that @RSKY has.

All the best, Peter

When my rocks fell off the shelf, I'd get really dizzy, but only if I did an elevation change quickly. So, for instance, I'd lie down in bed, and then ZOOM! the room would take off for about 20 seconds. I'd just lay there and laugh because it reminded me of my drinking days. I actually like the feeling.

On the flip side, though, if I sat up in bed and went to stand up, I'd have to grab the wall, close my eyes and wait for it to end before moving or down I'd go. While I still enjoyed the feeling, it was pretty nerve wracking to think what could happen if I was on stairs or a ladder or even driving the car. So off to the ENT I went. That's when she did the Epley maneuver on me and showed me how to do it at home. It only took a couple times to get my rocks back in place, as they say.

It came back a couple times after that, but it's been probably more than 10 years since the last episode.

 

[etpm]

When I first got dizzy the best balance doc in Seattle couldn't figure out what was causing the problem. All sorts of drastic solutions were suggested, but they all involved nerve death on one side. I demurred. I didn't want any nerves cut or killed, seeing as how there is no going back from that. Over time I just got used to it. Ménière's disease was suggested as the cause but they couldn't be sure. I tried the Epley maneuver many times with no help. Ménière's disease was at one time considered idiopathic, I don't know if this still the case. After decades of being dizzy I have just become inured to it and don't really care except that lately I have started to get more dizzy and I need to be more careful. I have almost no balance in the dark for example. Still, it doesn't bother me yet enough to have nerves killed. And since I don't get motion sickness and never have it is easier for me to deal with being dizzy.
Eric

 

[civilian]

@MossRoad I was told those rocks were the crystals in the ear. I also have used the Epley maneuver but on a coach and falling to one side or the other with the head twisted up and to the opposite side you are falling to. Jon

 

[RSKY]

RSKY, I can 100% relate to your condition. No fun!!! I went through exactly the same ordeal less than a month ago. And I'm pleased to learn the cause and the solution, which I'll detail for you at the end of this comment.

The cause is due to Cartlidge in the inner ear canal not moving up and down as it should. Generally, that's caused by the canal becoming 'sticky, and slowing or preventing the tiny pieces of cartilage to move as it should. This causes the sensation of falling, either to the left or to the right, or both.

A simple 10-minute exercise twice per day cured the problem for me.

I first read about the cure outlined by John Hopkins University. I then went to a Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist that diagnosed my dizzy spells (vertigo) and recommended me to visit a sports rehab center. In the meantime, the ENT specialist recommended me picking up a bottle of Meclizine, a cheap OTC drug, to take as needed while I finished the rehab exercise cycle, if wanted and/or needed.

The rehab routine was twice a week for 6 weeks for a 30-minute exercise. I'm happy to say, after less than
2 weeks I was able to cancel the balance of the Rehab Center's routine period. It has now been 4 weeks since my last occasional self-administered therapy with zero recurrences.

Here is the John Hopkins University procedure, which was also used by the Rhab Center:

Start by sitting on a bed

Turn your head 45 degrees to the right.

Quickly lie back, keeping your head turned. Your shoulders now will be on the pillow, and your head should be reclined. Wait 30 seconds.

Turn your head 90 degrees to the left, without raising it. Your head will now be looking 45 degrees to the left. Wait 30 seconds.

Turn your head and body another 90 degrees to the left, into the bed. Wait another 30 seconds.

Sit up on the left side.

Reverse the above exercise by beginning with your head turned to the left.

.......................................

After 2 or 3 days of the above complete routine, I found that I could achieve the same results by tilting my head to the extreme left and holding it there for 10 or 15 seconds. Repeat for the right side.

The Rehab Center did add to the above procedure some tests which entailed watching my eye movement when following an object moving back and forth at arm's length. I'm not at all convinced that that portion of the routine actually contributed to my recovery but suspect it contributed to the Rehab Center's fee.

Again, I truly sympathize with your condition. There's nothing more depressing than to discover that you're completely disabled. But there's light at the end of the tunnel. Best Wishes.

I will try this. It is similar to some exercises the doctor gave me.

My problem is more than just dizziness. On August 10th I had an attack at church. It took two grown men to get me out of the pew and get me to the lobby away from everybody else. I had two very experienced RNs checking me out before they could get me completely out of the auditorium. Symptoms were so bad they thought I was having a heart attack and started giving me nitro pills. According to what the told me later my face turned a dark gray and even though my skin felt cold I had sweat dripping off my elbows and face. I could barely respond to questions and don't remember much of what happened. Ended up in an ambulance, then a local ER where five (very nice looking when I came to my senses) nurses surrounded me and started shaving my chest and hooking various things to me. Two days later after a stress test, CT scans, and MRIs they let me go but scheduled a follow up with a heart specialist at a larger hospital. When I finally got to my ear doctor in Memphis a week later he said it was a "classic Ménière's disease attack".

RSKY

 

[ponytug]

@MossRoad I was told those rocks were the crystals in the ear. I also have used the Epley maneuver but on a coach and falling to one side or the other with the head twisted up and to the opposite side you are falling to. Jon

Yes, the sense of balance comes from small calcium carbonate crystals (anatomically otoconia, or in geologic terms, calcite) in our inner ear that are attached to nerve endings. The crystals act as antennae for the nerve endings to sense the motion of fluid in the semicircular canals, giving us a sense of balance. The crystals do break off occasionally disrupting our sense of balance, aka vertigo.

Hence the description of rocks (calcite) falling off.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

I will try this. It is similar to some exercises the doctor gave me.

My problem is more than just dizziness. On August 10th I had an attack at church. It took two grown men to get me out of the pew and get me to the lobby away from everybody else. I had two very experienced RNs checking me out before they could get me completely out of the auditorium. Symptoms were so bad they thought I was having a heart attack and started giving me nitro pills. According to what the told me later my face turned a dark gray and even though my skin felt cold I had sweat dripping off my elbows and face. I could barely respond to questions and don't remember much of what happened. Ended up in an ambulance, then a local ER where five (very nice looking when I came to my senses) nurses surrounded me and started shaving my chest and hooking various things to me. Two days later after a stress test, CT scans, and MRIs they let me go but scheduled a follow up with a heart specialist at a larger hospital. When I finally got to my ear doctor in Memphis a week later he said it was a "classic Ménière's disease attack".

RSKY

Man, that's scary.

 

[RSKY]

Man, that's scary.

Should have seen it from my point of view.

One of the RNs is head nurse at a local hospital and she has seen it all. Told me the next week that I scared her badly. And the next week I told our preacher that I had scared the devil out of more people that one Sunday than he had his entire career.

You will laugh at this. When I had the attack at church a lady called her daughter in law and told her what was happening. Daughter in law happens to be my great niece. She called her grandmother who is my sister. She called my other sister that lives more than forty miles away. By the time the ambulance got to the ER my sister was there. As was my oldest daughter who was also in church thirty miles away. Youngest daughter had called her. And before my wife got to the ER following the ambulance she was being texted by friends in other churches wanting to know how I was. Said there was prayers being said in my name in at least four churches before I got to the ER.

Telegraph, telephone, or tell a woman. The story will get around.

RSKY

 

[ronjhall]

I will try this. It is similar to some exercises the doctor gave me.

My problem is more than just dizziness. On August 10th I had an attack at church. It took two grown men to get me out of the pew and get me to the lobby away from everybody else. I had two very experienced RNs checking me out before they could get me completely out of the auditorium. Symptoms were so bad they thought I was having a heart attack and started giving me nitro pills. According to what the told me later my face turned a dark gray and even though my skin felt cold I had sweat dripping off my elbows and face. I could barely respond to questions and don't remember much of what happened. Ended up in an ambulance, then a local ER where five (very nice looking when I came to my senses) nurses surrounded me and started shaving my chest and hooking various things to me. Two days later after a stress test, CT scans, and MRIs they let me go but scheduled a follow up with a heart specialist at a larger hospital. When I finally got to my ear doctor in Memphis a week later he said it was a "classic Ménière's disease attack".

RSKY

That’s sounds like what my mother had. After many test it was determined that the problem was caused by a medication she was taking for blood pressure. I do not remember what the medication was. She died 10 years ago at age 96.