āI started to feel odd soon after New Year. I would be walking the dogs and be unsteady on my feet. I began to hold on to trees. I wouldnāt look round to see if Mini Puppy had stopped to sniff, as that would make me dizzy.
āIt got worse. I couldnāt get out of the car. I felt so dizzy in the Co-op, Iāve never dared go back. Iād wake up, and the stripe of light from the window seemed horizontal. Iād be watching TV and suddenly the room would spin. I would only have a minute to make it up to bed. Once Iām dizzy, I vomit for 24 hours. These attacks have grown more frequent: every few days.ā
Read this by Liz Jones in āYouā magazine back in July and immediately thought she is probably āone of usā. Following her hospital scan she updated thus:
āif I get the all-clear and a cure for the vertigo, Iām determined to enjoy life. To not dread the walk upstairs. To be able to turn my head to watch Mini Puppy sniff. To go to the Co-Op without hanging on to strangers. Thatās all I want. That will be enoughā
Iād have hated to disillusion her about the ācureā but her symptoms certainly seem familiar. Therefore, having it read, I felt I really had to post this link to her recent ENT consultation experience. She certainly was very unlucky. I wouldnāt want it to put anybody off attending a vital appointment. It canāt regularly be that bad. It will be fascinating to hear her eventual diagnosis.
Makes me angry that so many of us have had this same experience. I saw ENT 3 times and they then just said it was all in my head - like that was any help. I had to go private (thank you to my Aunt for paying) and got listened to for the first time in 13 years.
I only had good experiences as well. Before my major VM attack in May, I saw my GP for dizziness and visual auras and he said āit could be vestibular migraine and there is preventative medication availableā. I decided that I can handle the symptoms and that I wonāt take medication.
Then when I had my major attack which landed me in hospital for 4 days, the neurologist immediately said āthis is vestibular migraine, but we need to rule out benign positional vertigoā. She asked a physiotherapist to come and see me and he supported the diagnosis of VM. She also offered medications (including pizotifen) which I all took.
Youāve been very fortunate in that case. All those enlightened people. Cynic that I have become I can say your experiences prove you are not a U.K. residentš. Iāve had this condition since 2003 and it was only last year I first happened on a GP who recognised it and Iāve since actually had a consultation with another who does. I doubt youād get a similar experience here.
Getting back to Liz Jones story I must admit to being amazed that any ENT consultant didnāt have a mask through which she could lip read. That is inexcusable. The fact that he was unaware of the existence of her scan came as no surprise. Same had happened to me with another ailment in the past. Worst part I can see is sheād waited 4 months for what then amounted to a āholdingā exercise making no discernible progress on the day. That I considered a total waste of an appointment. It will be interesting to follow her progress. Iām all but convinced sheās āone of usā.
For the sake of completeness I came across this little update in her most recent column
āI go to see the doctor in Harley Street, and after a battery of tests (a contraption is strapped to my head and I have to follow fora on a screen with my eyes), I am told I havenāt had a stroke. I donāt have a tumour. I have an imbalance in my left ear, and am prescribed water tablets, which should do the trickā
So I was wrong. It seems the lady isnāt āOne of Usā after all. Or is she?
What sort of diagnosis is that? And from Harley Street tooā¦
Isnāt that much like saying āyou have Vertigoā? Why is there an āimbalance in the left earā? Unless some information has been withheld for her privacy which would rather make the entire exercise seem rather pointless to me Iām rather confused. The only other, possibly relevant info I know is the lady in question is extremely deaf and has been for many years. Iām sure I wouldnāt have been all that pleased to receive such a statement from Harley Street. Be interesting to see if her proposed treatment does indeed work.
Given the mission of this website of more recent times is to support all people with chronic vestibular conditions without a specific consistent underlying aetiology or diagnosis in mind perhaps she is?
That said, who says we donāt all have an imbalance in at least one of our inner ears? Even a transitory one.
Iād say in my case it is very likely. In anyone who has dizziness and significant tinnitus Iād say itās a strong possibility.
Who here has had a test that can scientifically rule that out?
I think fluctuating Hydrops is likely to be a cause of migraines because itās a condition that might distort and corrupt the learned correlation between inner ear response and movement and positional stimuli over time and irritate the brain, causing neurological symptoms of many kinds that might escalate to severe migraine.
What causes Hydrops? They donāt know. Poor serotonin regulation, stress, trauma, diabetes, blocked inner ear plumbing, auto immune response? So many theories ā¦
FYI I did try a āwater pillā briefly but it didnāt seem to help.
I did check out for more info on āwater pillsā after posting. Interestingly I actually found a paper outlining why it can actually be detrimental to some people. I would never have linked āan imbalance in the left earā to Hydrops. I donāt doubt you but why if he meant Hydrops wouldnāt it have been easier to have just said so.
Further confusion with this one and I was so convinced she was āone of usā but just happened on a further reference to her āvertigoā in another article. There she wrote of ābeing diagnosed with vertigo, an imbalance in my left ear which is caused when crystals in the ear become loose. Hearing loss can apparently cause balance disorders ā¦ā¦ prescribed diuretics. Iām not allowed to drink while on medication, and the ENT professor told me that alcohol can worsen the vertigo, and certainly not help my stressā.
Well apparently the treatment worked. In her current post in You magazine she mentions as an aside to comments on another topic that her vertigo is now sorted.
