I’ve had severe vertigo since Monday morning. Somehow I made it through work (kindergarten special Ed teacher), but have been home resting in bed or on the couch since Monday eve. When I do get up(get a drink/food, take dogs out, etc) I feel awful and need to sit or lie down to recover. My family tells me i look like im drunk and honestly I don’t feel far from it. My questions-Am I prolonging my vertigo by resting too much? Will walking around help? What has worked for you?
When I’ve had this in the past it’s lasted up to a month before disappearing. I was planning to go back to work Monday, but thinking that may not be a good idea. I am just tired of being dizzy.
Hi Debbey
So sorry you are going through this awful spell. It’s really hard to advise how much you should be resting - sometimes it can be so bad that’s really all you can do. I don’t think it’s going to prolong the vertigo either - just that if you can do things to take your mind off it (as long as it doesn’t make you worse) you can feel a bit better. What dose of Topamax are you on? The Topa can increase dizziness initially as a side effect so that may be contributing.
I’m trialling Topamax too and am now on 50mg. It has taken me 10 weeks to get this far - going up in 12.5mg doses as very med sensitive! Quite a few side-effects so far but determined to stick it out as it seems necessary to achieve 75 -100mg for a few months to see good results.
Be kind to yourself - rest as much as you need & give the Topamax a good chance. It is a very strong med and some of the people on the forum who have been successful have taken the “low & slow” approach to give their brains time to adapt to it.
Barb
Hi Debbey. I’m a teacher too so I know how hard it must have been to make it through a day of work feeling that bad. As far as going back to work - just from my own experience - getting up and moving around will help you get used to dealing with this, but it will also exhaust you. I had to take over a week off the first time this happened, and starting back was scary. But it got better gradually. Try to stick it out with the topamax, I couldn’t , but my Dr. kept telling me it was the best thing to try. I finally ended up on Verapimil, which helped. Good luck.
Satx that is great that verapamil helped you- how long were you on it until you noticed a difference? Did you have any trouble with walking and if so did it help you with that?
Sarahd, I started at a very low dose on the verapimil and gradually got up to 180 mg. It was about a month before I noticed a big difference. I was very impatient because I wanted an immediate fix, but my doctor insists that we have to go slow in order to find something that will work long term. The verapimil helped with walking, but I still tend to have an awkward gait. It’s decreased the dizziness and fogginess noticeably, but I still have it, especially when I’m tired. How about you? What’s worked for you?
nortriptline has helped with rocking when sitting still, brain fog, and some motion intolerance- but my balance is horrible and my vision is a mess- still need something to help with those. I want to try verapamil at some point- I tried Norvasc which is also a calcium channel blocker but it made all my symptoms worse.
I just saw a neurologist and she prescribed sertraline, which is similar to the noritriptiline, I think. Adding that to the verapamil has helped also. It’s frustrating because it’s trial and error, and different for everyone.
That’s great that zoloft helps you too- what symptoms does it help with? With both of those meds, what % do you feel like you are at? I have seen at least a handful of others on here who find zoloft helps them too.
Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad at the moment. I’ve had spells in the past that have lasted that kind of length of time, with a few days how you are describing when I would feel terrible, but be able to just about manage, and then it would fade gradually away to something that was not nice, but more bearable. I feel that keeping doing things and forcing myself to do stuff was good for my recovery, for two reasons: one is that I think too much resting and being careful about how you move your head etc can stop you compensating properly, and the other is psychological in that I felt better for being distracted and not sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. But - and sorry for sitting on the fence here- that’s just how things were for me, so I’m not saying this is the right way for everyone. Only you know if you think resting would make you recover quicker or whether you are someone like me who benefits from keeping busier.
I was going to ask about medication, but would I deduce from Barb’s reply that you are taking topamax? Hopefully that will help you soon and make your life a lot easier. I do sympathise, as I remember feeling exactly the same as you, although luckily once I found the right medication for me I have been a lot better. Take care.
Thanks for the replies. I am trying to accept that this is something that is going to come and go. I made it to work mon, tues, and we’d this week. I had to take today off due to being exhausted-all I am doing is going to work and coming home and relaxing. My husband is driving me to and from work and my family is helping out with everything. I think it’s a combination of the topomax and the continued vertigo(day 11). Hoping to feel better soon. I’ll be upping my topomax this weekend,from what I’ve read here I might go from 25 to 37.5, but the pills are so tiny I’m not sure I can cut it in half, even with a pill cutter. Oh well, I think I’m rambling, I need to get ready to go to work tomorrow.