Do any of you have the most trouble with their dizzy spells while bending your neck downward? I’m trying to figure out if I’m having a neck problem or if its my MAV. Any shared stories would be greatly appreciated 
I have had this during and after the big vertigo episodes where bending forwards feels really bad. I would guess if bending forwards is making you really dizzy and you don’t have any really obvious problems with your neck then it is probably MAV x
I know my C2 is out of alignment but I’m hoping that its not causing all this crap because I can’t get adjusted because I also have a chiari malformation (yes I’m a big mess) lol
Oh right well it could well be that then. I have heard chiari malformation can cause dizziness and similar problems to MAV - I did wonder about that myself once x
They said its mild and the spinal flow is good so it “shouldn’t” be that. I’m just scared to get adjusted and potentially make it worse (which it can). I’m a couple of days into effexor hoping that this will work but its still too early 
Well good luck, it really is a complicated maze to get through trying to figure out what’s causing what. I have neck pain myself and have often tried to work out what is causing it or is it causing dizziness. It’s so tricky x
I get dizzy looking up at items on a high store shelf or when inputting grades (the slight motion of looking up from a paper to the computer). The pain in the neck though is persistent (what’s the connection to MAV?). I was rear-ended twice in 1997 and since developed slight herniations in two disks though MRIs don’t show anything requiring surgery. For years I’ve gone to the chiro and to the masseuse to relieve neck tension, but since MAV symptoms started about a year ago, it’s been to relieve neck pain (especially at night). I’m now weary of going to the chiro, but I do wonder about what can help relieve this particular symptom.
So it seems as if looking up and down can cause mav symptoms or neck issues can probably make them worse?
I get dizzy looking down and then back up, like if i was to look at my necklace on my chest and then back up again.
I don’t seem to have a problem looking upwards though - very weird, but sometimes looking to the right or left far can make me dizzy too.
I have also have had trouble with looking down and looking up. In addition, I had vertigo from other movements of my head, and at times I had nystagmus (eyes beat back & forth). I saw several doctors over several years and got treated like I was a loony. They would run bloodwork that would come back normal, shrug their shoulders & then let me go on my way. Finally found a doctor who sent me to an Ear Nose & Throat specialist. The ENT told me that he suspected that I have been suffering from Vestibular Migraines. He described them as a migraine headache without the headache. He specifically asked me if I suffered from dizziness when I look down or up.
I am scheduled to visit a neurologist for a definitive diagnosis. He ordered an MRI to check for possible tumor within the inner ear and a blood test for an auto-immune condition of the inner ear (never heard of that before).
I don’t know much about all of this, but I think that the vertigo that you are suffering from is generally called “Positional Vertigo”, meaning that you get dizzy when your head is in specific positions, and that there may be more than one cause for it. I think that the dizziness is only a symptom of a bigger issue.
I had an Immunologist tell me that I was suffering from the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck and its trigger points - called MyoFascial Pain Dysfunction, or MPD. That muscle was the huge knotted spasmed muscle in my neck that I kept telling the doctors about and they ignored. It causes pain in and around the ear and it causes physical disorientation as it affects the inner ear. I also have a compressed disc, C4, and the neck bones are straight, rather than curved like they should be to balance the weight of the head. I think these problems in my neck are significant, though no one has told me so. He also told me that I had Fibromyalgia. That explained the all-over muscle pain that I felt. I thought that I had muscle spasms and that they caused the dizziness.
Which one of these problems came first? I have no idea. They all seem to be intertwined. I just can’t figure out yet what’s the most important culprit but I keep seeing the suggestion that low serotonin levels may be involved, over & over again.
Hope this helps you some.
Thank you to everyone! I know I have muscle spasms In my neck because they actually showed up on my MrI. I’m thinking my neck is a bigger culprit than they’re giving it credit for. Another bizarre thing is I’m fine in motion but instantly get the vertigo when I stop.
Hi there,
your last comment I feel I could have written. I also feel worse after stopping movement often. I also feel dizzy but when looking up and feel its related to neck tension on the left side.
This entire thing is so bizarre it just makes no sense. Has anyone had any luck with Chiropractic?
I certainly do not want to be too controversial with sharing the experience I’ve had in the past month or so. However, it is what it is… As I have mentioned previously, I had a cervical disc fusion beginning of October for a ruptured lower cervical disc that was compressing the spinal cord as well as the nerve roots, especially on the left side. Among other issues, I had left-side posterior neck pain that radiated up to my left ear.
Prior to surgery, I would get extremely dizzy when I bent my neck forward. I would have the sensation of being pulled down into the floor. Moreover, I had similar weird feelings when I lied down on my stomach, face-down, feeling as if I was being pulled into the wall and slightly down into the floor.
Anyway, one of the first interesting changes I noted once I had the hard collar off last week was that I no longer felt anything weird at all when bending my neck forward… nothing… Also, at physical therapy this week, the therapist had me lie on my stomach with my head in a face cradle so he could work on my shoulders and back of my neck. I was completely amazed that I felt absolutely nothing out of the ordinary at all.
I do not know if these encouraging changes are permanent or not, but I pray to God they are.
On another note, I have read on the VEDA website, I believe, that migraines can cause positional vertigo. Dirtyblonde: I, personally, would NEVER allow a chiropractor to “adjust” my neck. I see very little up-side to that and lots of risk… Just my own opinion.
Wow! I can relate so much to this, given my own history of neck issues (two whiplash car accidents in one year, two resulting slight disk herniations). Why can’t it be better diagnosed and treated? I’ve always suspected it to be at the root, but I just don’t get why it’s so complicated when it’s so logical.
My recent dizzy spell was from looking at hawks in the sky! Though going to a loud movie also sent me for a whirl and a dull throbbing head! I just went to a neurologist this week and she didn’t give me a clear diagnosis; basically some vestibular migraine as well as some ear (though my hearing test was better this time than six months age when I was worst off with dizziness and no diet or meds). She also reduced my meds and sent me to physical therapy because she felt the spasms in my neck. I guess I’ll have to wait and see…
Dirty Blonde, i’ve been having oseopathy for my neck and it really helps - has meant i feel alot less pain, pressure and tightness which in turn makes it easier to look down :mrgreen: