Is this weird...?

Okay this is another reason Im confused…

When Im up and about, I feel less dizzy. The minute I sit down or LAY down, I feel dizzy. Fuzzy.
Especially when I lay down for bed, the minute I lay back on the pillow I immediate feel yucky!
Alot of my dizziness is with head movements. Some visual as well.

Im not on any medication at this time. Still trying to sort everything out. Probably start Celexa this weekend.
Hopefully it helps with the fuzzy, heavyhead feeling.

Anyone else?
Thoughts?

Thanks!!
Kristina

I had a long spell of time where I was worst lying down (though I never felt fine being upright and moving around). I used to have to sleep propped up on about five pillows at one point as every time I lay flat I felt like I was moving and swaying. It was really unpleasant :frowning: On the upside, it did go away eventually.

How long did you have it for? I have had this since late August. Everynight, with some better and some worse nights.

Hi Kristina,

I actually feel better when i am laying down. I get my dizziness mostly with visual things (riding or driving car when looking out), certain patterns (a tablecloth that I can no longer use because I look at it and am instantly dizzy), lighting in stores, and sometimes it is just random while I am walking around or just sitting at the table eating dinner.

I have also had my problem since August and have been unable to drive since then. It’s very frustrating.

I am currently on 75 mg. of Effexor and started at a very low dose working up to this amount in about 5 weeks. I haven’t noticed a difference yet. I was also on Propanolol which helped with headaches only and now have to go off it due to bad side effects.

If you try any meds let us know how you are doing with them.

Take care and I hope you start feeling better soon.

Donna

Donna,
I was prescribed Propranolol or Effexor, doc gave me the choice. That was a month ago. I tried topamax for 3 weeks, only 25 mg. That didn’t do anything. Actually felt better getting off of it. I have not tried anything else, because I dont believe I have MAV. I read everyone else’s post and its just different than mine.

I feel more fuzzy/heavy head with some dizziness. The more things I do and the more I move around… the better. When I lay down, I feel so bad. Only for a few minutes until I fall asleep. Im very aware of it so i move so slowly/careful when Im in bed. I also had BPPV, thats when this whole dizziness came about. Epley took care of it twice, just have wavyness afterwards. I think Im very anxious and fearful of it all, I bring it on with my anxiety. I also have a rx for Celexa. Scared of that to, Im afraid of being more dizzy and having a headache.
I keep leaning towards chronic subjective dizziness, as one out of 3 docs dx with that instead of mav. This is so confusing. I know i should just try a med and see. But even the pharmacist said EWWWW Effexor?? Try and stay away from that one. Its horrible.

What is your experience on Effexor so far?

Thanks!

I have only been on the Effexor for 5 weeks and am just starting the 75 mg. today. I haven’t notice any changes as of yet. I was on the Propanolol for 2 weeks and just went off yesterday because the 30 mg. caused me too many side effects. I was having heart palpitations, bad circulation to extremities (cold blue lips, toes and fingers), horrible nightmares, terrible insomnia and worsening depression. The Propanolol did actually help my daily headache issue, so I am kind of upset that I couldn’t tolerate it.

I am seeing my regular doctor tomorrow to see what else I should try. Hopefully, we can figure out something else to help me.

Let me know when you go on a med and which one you choose. I am interested to see what works for you.

Good luck.

Donna

— Begin quote from “Kristina”

How long did you have it for? I have had this since late August. Everynight, with some better and some worse nights.

— End quote

I had it for months. Until I took migraine medication and everything very gradually went away. By the way, I think my case was quite similar to yours as I had MAV and BPPV too.

I feel better when I stop moving. Sometimes it takes while for the spinny feeling to settle but eventually it does. I just started Nortriptyline so I can’t tell you if it works for me or not yet but many have been helped with it and the side effects seem mild from whatI’ve heard - and I’m hoping so!

Donna, I just read your post. My dad passed away last year as well, unexpectedly. He was 66 yrs old. Before that my Favorite Uncle (his brother) passed away 7 months earlier, same year! Then 7 months earlier, my Grandpa, there father. Then I had a car accident, coming back from planning his funeral. Then I had Hip surgery up in Tacoma, 15 mins from his house. He was supposed to visit after work. I finally got back to work fulltime and 3 months later, my head started hurting. Turned out to be from my neck. Hand surgery this last September. Headache came back 9 days after surgery, I felt helpless. My vertigo which started late August came back the same day. I felt hopeless. Epley took it away. Then headache went Nov 5th. But felt wavy/heavy head fuzzy, ever since. Anxiety… ?

Opus, when I was prescribed or giving the choice of Prop. or Effexor, I did my research and asked for Nortriptyline. Doc refused. He doesnt like it.
Hope it works for you!

Beechleaf, I read your post. Wow you have it worse then me to, im sorry. Im not really provoked much. I can ride in a car, drive. Walk on treadmill etc…
just get foggy after an hour or so online. My dizziness is sometimes visual, but I mean its more like Im doing something and my focus goes off, and my eyes lose focus and need to readjust.

I tried Vitamin B12, but I have somewhat of a head irritation both days. Coincidence…? My head felt great at first, then later even more heavy and a little pain.

Anyone try B12…?

— Begin quote from “Kristina”

Beechleaf, I read your post. Wow you have it worse then me to, im sorry. Im not really provoked much. I can ride in a car, drive. Walk on treadmill etc…
just get foggy after an hour or so online. My dizziness is sometimes visual, but I mean its more like Im doing something and my focus goes off, and my eyes lose focus and need to readjust.

I tried Vitamin B12, but I have somewhat of a head irritation both days. Coincidence…? My head felt great at first, then later even more heavy and a little pain.

Anyone try B12…?

— End quote

Don’t feel sorry for me Kristina! I was really bad, but now I am pretty much recovered :slight_smile:

I’ve not tried B12. I work as a nutritional scientist and am generally in favour of getting nutrients through diet, not pills. Of course it is different if you are actually deficient in something, or have an illness that causes a deficiency, and then you might need to take a supplement.

Kristina, you seem to be describing positional vertigo.

Beech, Im glad your better!

Tim, yes that is how it all started with BPPV. In the middle of the night. Epley fixed the true vertigo/spinning.
But I still get the bad feeling when laying down or leaning back and moving my head. I went back to the PT and she
checked me for BPPV again, which I knew was gone because Im not spinning. She doesn’t understand why I feel
like Im about to spin, and feel chronically fuzzy etc…
It makes no sense.

many BPPV ers continue to have dysequilibrium even thought the classic positive dix hallpike test is now negative
are you still doing postural manuevers?

Hi Dougiedd,
That is the funny thing. My balance has never been an issue. I can close my eyes and walk a straight line, never feel dizzy when walking.
Stand/hop on one foot… etc… Its all in my head, heavy, foggy, fuzzy, its all with head movements. Never had any dizziness before my first
bout of Vertigo. Epley took it away twice, and just left with this fuzzy feeling.

Postural maneuvers? You mean epley at home. I asked 2 docs and PT and they said that does not help if you do it at home when your not having true vertigo. I saw online that it can help prevent it, they said absolutely not. So??

What I would call Visual Vertigo. I checked out and I wrote very similar words in my PD almost exactly two years back about a new bright orange and white patterned cloth. Things really do improve and not necessarily that slowly, the offending cloth has been on a sabbatical at the back of the airing cupboard long time since just recently to resurface. I remember being surprised when I reacted to it because although I have always known patterns can ‘get’ migraineurs I am not a typical migraine headache person in the strictest sense.

Rather an obscure titled thread unfortunately. Parts might interest you @Belindy

Thanks Helen, yes this quote is me to a tee. Also the stuff about visual vertigo. Having to readjust the eyes.

@system does sound very much like me. Especially the readjusting the eyes. They just do not track moving things well at all, and I do feel like my vision buzzes or vibrates or shakes (pick a word) a bit. It’s so annoying.

Lots of people report feeling less dizzy lying down. Not me! I feel it a lot. I really think that as BPPV started this whole thing, positions that provoked it then still provoke it now. Head movements were awful and still can be.

So interesting m, thanks @Onandon03

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The issue of laying down (getting back on Topic of OP) convinces me there is definitely a physical element to this condition. This absolutely, conclusively, rules out the possibility that migraine is the only thing going on. There is definitely something going on with angle of head, local blood pressure impinging on middle or inner ear (more likely latter if we are honest about the anatomy).

The missing piece here is much finer analysis of what might be going on in more subtle ways within the inner ear. The perception of things moving more than they should (spinning) when moving into certain positions would suggest to me a very definite physical cause of some kind that causes the labyrinth sensors to emit different signals to what the brain is expecting (which causes the brain to interpret the situation as spinning). If medics are unable to resolve this by ‘shifting otoconia’ (even if that is really a thing - to my knowledge it’s just a theory and has never been imaged in vivo before and after a ‘manoeuvre’ like the Epley), there must be some other physical explanation.

To back this up from personal experience, I had a relapse with spinning attacks in bed recently, about two weeks ago. They were limited to just two nights after which I completely lost the sensation when turning over. If the issue was related otoconia, they are supposed to stick around in the wrong place for months (without treatment), not disappear in two days - so what is really going on?!

I am always amazed at the variety of ways individuals can be affected by MAV. The concept of being worse when lying still in bed It better up and moving around is one totally foreign to me. I am pretty much the exact opposite. Oh I have experienced true vertigo turning over in bed and when severely acute nowhere, even bed, was comfortable but generally my experience is the reverse. Getting out of bed every morning for years feeling as if I needed to relearn the art of being vertical and walking on two feet. If MAV is a Migraine Variant Balance Disorder which I truly believe it is how can it be people feel worse lying still. All just seems to prove to me that MAV is an umbrella term for a variety of conditions.

One could argue lying down or sitting up are positional hence BPPV?

With me, and I must stress here I am not a life long migraineur (my childhood sick headaches were never dx and I have had 3? Classic Migraines since chronic) I strongly suspect my migraine element to be effect rather than cause. I had vestibular attacks for over a decade that simply involved extended periods, up to 72 hours, of vertigo with accompanying D&V and nothing else. All the rest, photophobia, rear head pressure filled in gradually later on. Although I never had ear pain all my attacks would start first thing of a morning upon waking as I tried to sit up. Or couple of times would awake me from a deep sleep by causing vertigo as I turned in bed.

I well remember reading somewhere years ago that once preventatives ‘worked’, sometimes the root cause would then become obvious and recently I have been pondering on this. Fluctuating hormones can affect the inner ear. Papers have been written on it. Recently I had to start high dose Vitamin D due to being extremely deficient. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone I read and has brought back many menopausal symptoms including hot flushes and with the hot flushes comes inner ear pressure, feelings of off balance, swimmy heads etc each time in direct correlation to the severity of the accompanying hot flush. I have known this some months but since the Doctor reduced the dose of Vitamin D to every other day it is so obvious. The day I take the pill I am fine or at least 90% so. I take the pill midday and develop side effects (headache) late evening then the following day I have loads of auto outs menopausal symptoms and some ear pressure etc, etc and feel off balance. With luck I am better by evening and fine for the next 24 hours. Fast reaching the conclusion it’s the hormones affecting the ear that are my problem.

BPPV must surely require ear involvement because ear involvement causes BPPV so it’s not the BPPV causing the symptoms it’s whatever is causing the BPPV.

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Yup. But if you read Hain, untreated BPPV takes months to resolve. The BPPV like symptom also comorbid with MAV to a point where one has to ask: perhaps it’s part of the same condition?

Oh don’t get me wrong, in this relapse the ‘BPPV’ element resolved but I still got out of bed unsteady for over a week and still feel a little sicky sitting in the chair during the morning.