I’m going to be trying pizotifen. Since I’m in the US I had to order it from Canada and it will take a few weeks to get here with the holidays and all. So, since I’ve been spinning for 10 weeks now my doc wants me to try some valium - 2 mg twice a day to try to calm it down some.
Taking this kind of drug scares me but I’ve got to try something!!!
Does it work for you and how often and what dose do you take?
I’ve had a few days here and there that weren’t so bad and the week before my time of the month seems to just make me so spinny - no other triggers that I can tell. I follow the diet and try to reduce stress. The more I try to do, the more I spin!
You’ll just have to suck it and see. Valium is pretty good for me if I have rocking disequilibrium but it’s done nothing for true vertigo (room spinning), but for others it does help.
Vallium is really helpful for me and for a lot of other people it seems. I can’t say how it will directly affect your dizziness but it is a vestibular suppressant so it very well could make things a bit better for you. If anything it will make you more relaxed and calm any anxiety you have which is always nice.
With my very first dizzy episode I didn’t know what was happening to me and was very scared. After the emergency room couldn’t find anything critically wrong with me my Mom had Vallium and brought it to me for my panic. Sure enough I work up the next day finding that my dizziness was subsibidng. Of course everyone is different and for me I do not have constant dizziness, just episodes, but I would give it a try! At low doses you don’t have anything to worry about, and if you find taking 2 mg is too much you can always split the pill in half. Hope it works well for you.
Yes it helps. For a while, the only thing I used for treatment was 2mg Valium at night before bed, about three times a week. It stops the spinning and reduces the anxiety response that comes with spinning. My worst spinning was at night, so that is when I took the Valium.
However, I switched to Klonopin and found it much better. You see, valium is more sedating than Klonopin, because with Klonopin you don’t feel drugged, you just feel a little more comfortable, you can function better. Once I started on the antidepressant, I found that I only needed a few grains of benzo if I wanted to sleep, so I have cut back to a basically homeopathic dose.
hey julie,
yes, valium helps me. however, i have meniere’s. have had a formal meniere’s diagnosis for 15 or so years. (a mav diagnosis for maybe a couple years now??) anyway, my neurotologist told me to take the meniere’s as soon as i felt the spins starting up and to take it under the tongue. it really worked wonders for me. i could take small doses, like 1 to 2mg for most attacks. sometimes having to repeat the dose an hour or so later if i was still wobbly. he never had me take it on a regular basis. as my meniere’s progressed to more of a “burnout” phase and i was dizzy all the time and having lots of short spins, he put me on klonopin to take everyday. like longshort says, it’s better than valium in that it doesn’t make you quite as sleepy. well, it might initially but you get used to it. it also worked very well for me. it works over a longer period of time than the valium. yet, you can still take small doses of valium if you really need to when it’s that in between time where it’s almost time for your next dose of klonopin but not quite. this got me through a year or more and allowed me to work before my meniere’s ear finally was acting up so much i had to do something else about it. i still take klonopin but fewer doses and take valium as needed.
but short answer is yes, valium can help. klonopin is a great alternative as well. in general, small doses is all it takes. hope my babbling makes sense!
~nicki
Like the others have said…it helps calm the anxiety caused by the spinning. I dont take valium, but the occasional zanex, just a half a tab once or twice as needed.
… since I’ve been spinning for 10 weeks now my doc wants me to try some valium. 2 mg twice a day to try to calm it down some… Does it work for you and how often and what dose do you take? … Julie.
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I use valium but it’s mainly for when I go into a confused state (“delirousness”) during which all sensory processing becomes impaired. I think valium helps reduce the excess sensory inputs which are overwhelming me. I get a good result and function is markedly improved.
However, I am not using valium specifically for VV or MAV.
I would be interested to know what valium is doing that helps those conditions.