Hi,
Iām new here. I found this website recently, thank you for making it.
Iām Sara, from London, female, 30 years old .
Bit of a long story, I was wondering if anyone would give me advice or help me out.
Basically nearly 2 years ago around the same time that the first UK lockdown happened I started getting a light headed / floaty / head cold feeling when I was walking. At the time I had no idea that I had an ear infection, I had no pain and had no idea what vertigo felt like.
I canāt exactly remember when it started getting worse but one of my friends told me it might be labrynthitis. Because of covid and the lockdown i couldnāt go to the doctor surgery to get checked out but I was given antibiotics. My ear infection was pretty bad so I had to have two doses of antibiotics.
I used ear drops, an ear wash to wash it out. Found out that I had a small bit of cotton wool stuck in my ear which must have been in there for 6 months, Iām not sure.
The ear infection cleared up but I had vertigo nearly every day since then and itās been nearly 2 years now. The waiting list to see an ENT through the NHS was 11 months.(because of covid) I couldnāt wait that long so I booked a private ENT , did a lot of tests, did an MRI which came back normal.
Hearing tests were normal too so itās not Menierās Disease.
The ENT told me he doesnāt think the vertigo is related to the ear infection and think itās vestibular migraines. I donāt think my parents have ever suffered from migraines and I havenāt ever had migraines. I have noticed since my ear infection or since the vertigo had gotten worse I canāt listen to loud music with my headphones anymore and have to turn it down.
I might have a slight sensitivity to bright lights and this is why the ENT thinks itās VM.
I was taking Stemetil (prochlorperazine maleate) 10 mg , 3 times a day for nearly 2 years ever since which helped me get rid of most of the vertigo most of the time but sometimes I would still get bad attacks. Itās the only medication which would help me feel normal.
Sometimes the vertigo would go away for a week but come back.
I realised that coffee made it worse so Iāve stopped having caffeine for nearly a year now.
I went to a Neurologist recently about 2 weeks ago to get a second opinion. I did another hearing test which came back normal. He told me it isnāt Menierās Disease and told me he canāt work out what it is but thinks it could be Vestibular migraines.
Iāve been reading a lot of info online and the migraine diet and been trying to avoid most triggers and still get vertigo. I had 3 days with no vertigo last weekend then it came back.
I started going to a chiropractor who said he treats patients with vertigo. He told me 90% of his patients who have vertigo get treated by him but he said he doesnāt want to give me false hope.
I did some exercises with him and he said I do walk slightly to the right. He thinks I could have an inflammation in my inner ear from the ear infection causing the vertigo or he said maybe nerve damage?
I just donāt know what to do anymore.
Iāve been prescribed propranolol again (the first time from the ENT i took 20mg 3 times a day for a few weeks and it didnāt get rid of the vertigo so he told me to stop taking it.
Now Iām taking 30mg twice a day to see if that helps.
(I tried taking 40 mg once and felt floaty, light headed and weird all day)
I just canāt tell if itās from my ear infection which is when the vertigo started or if its VM.
What do you guys think? Has anyone had anything similar?
If the vertigo is caused from the ear infection do you know if it will go away on itās own ?
Thank you,
Sara