For those with Vertigo? Identifying Cause/types?

[Udkas]

Hi Guys,
Is there a way that you can tell what type of vertigo you are suffering from (like that it is coming from the inner ear or from the Central Nervous System?

I get vertigo from time to time, I think it is becoming worse but mine seems to be aggravated by movement of my head like when I am peeling the potatoes in the sink for dinner and I am lifting my head down and up, it is only a mild vertigo but usually I just feel like the floor is moving but sometimes I get the feeling I have been on a spinning ride and that the room is spinning around me, when its like this I can't walk straight and I am more likely to smack into a wall.

Driving long distances and movement seems to upset the balance. Today I went on a 3 hour trail ride on my horse and now my vertigo is terrible, so this is obviously caused from riding and the movement of the horse. Does this kind of vertigo happen with MS?  I am finding at the moment i feel very off balanced and weird every time I tilt my head to look at the keyboard.  I did wonder too if I had caused my vertigo from just being tired as although you sit on a horse it is quite demanding physically to do a 3 hour ride.

I might ad that I have hearing loss (profound) in my right ear that the audiologist is saying is caused by nerve damage of some type and will be having another MRI in the future (when see the ENT).  Just curious if this is an ear problem (had my ears checked for fluid etc.) or a MS prob.

Cheers,
any input appreciated,
Udkas.

[Londres70]

BPPV, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.  Head positions can precipitate this.  It is also associated with migraine activity as well.  Google and check out the symptoms.  

The ENT specialist should be able to tell you if the the vertigo is coming from the peripheral or central nervous system.  

Personally, I do not think it is your brainstem, but an MRI of the brain/head with CONTRAST should be obtained to rule any possibility of lesions, etc.  I think your situation is ENT and involving the peripheral nervous system.  I highly doubt this is MS as well.  

[twopack]

What wonderful fun that ride must have been, especially doing it with your daughter.  Congratulations on being Reserve Champion (a fancy way we have here of saying second place).

Mary

[Udkas]

Hi there,
I get vertigo on a regular basis but, I have discussed it with my neurologist in the past and put it down to migraine.  I am diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis but he does not think I have brain involvement but he did do a bit of a backflip one day and say that there was a possibility that I had a lesion in the brainstem, I thought that a lesion there could cause vertigo.

My vertigo is worse with moving and sometimes when I lay down, that's why I wondered if it was not from my CNS but from something to do with my ear but I do get Uthoff's bad enough when I get hot and although it is cold here at the moment I still managed to get hot on the ride and very tired.  I have had vertigo that bad for weeks on end where I was unable to ride.  I don't get vertigo every time I move but that makes it worse.

Two Pack
a Navigational ride is where they have cryptic clues etc, and landmarks along the way, you have to feel in a sheet and follow the clues, you do it in pairs, my daughter and I went together and we found out that we come second! There was over 100 people on the ride and it was a very long ride.  When we stopped half way and i got off my horse I was unable to walk...lol, the first aid people were asking me if I was right and my daughter pipes up "mum's always like this" but I needed help to get back on my horse..lol  I must admit my biggest fear is not being able to ride but after being taught by a lady the other day from a wheelchair (riding lesson), I felt inspired by what you can do around horses even from a chair on the ground.

LONDRES70
What is BBPV?   I don't think it is from MS but I don't know, my neuro does not think I have MS but I do have a higher chance than normal of developing it. Neuro thinks it is from migraines (silent ones)
How can the ENT specialist tell if it is CNS or peripheral.

Love My Monkeys
I am so sorry that your vertigo is so bad, mine is only mild but it's there, if I do a plane trip I always seem to get vertigo when I hop off or a long drive this is why I think it might be different from the MS vertigo, it seems to be associated with my eye movement (hope this makes sense to someone)

Cheers Udkas.

[twopack]

Oops, meant to say navigational ride.  (Wish we could edit)  What exactly is that?  Do you have to locate certain landmarks along the way?

Mary

[twopack]

I'm not sure I would pin it on the riding itself either.  After all, hippotherapy is used to improve balance issues in general.  Am I correct that outside heat wouldn't be a factor this time of year in Australia?  But a three hour ride is certainly capable of creating fatigue and raising your exercise temperature enough to cause MS symptoms.

I'm glad you are still able to enjoy riding.  I shed a few envy tears as I read about your environmental ride.  I had to rehome my horse last year when it got too difficult to get to the boarding barn and too unsafe for me to ride.  Hyperreflexia also made it hard on her if I startled.  

I'd see a doctor to pinpoint the reason behind your symptoms.  Too often we jump to the MS cause when there are many other possibilities.

Mary

[Londres70]

I would not pin it on MS just yet.  ENT testing will rule out if it is a peripheral or a central nervous system problem.  

I have had BPPV in the past and have unresolved labyrinthitis now.  When I experienced the BPPV, head movements would cause the symptoms you are having.  My vertigo now is more of a swaying/rocking sensation pretty much 24/7 unless I am in a deep sleep; it is worse when I am stressed and/or tired.  At times I feel like I am walking on uneven ground and/or the floor is shifting/moving.  I would not wish this on my WORST enemy.  

You can also post in the ENT Forum too.  :)

[lovemy6monkeys]

Udkas,

I've had vertigo once (my first suspected MS attack) and it started off in the morning as just feeling a bit "off" almost groggy. I thought I was just tired. Went to fix myself coffee and realized when I walked I drifted to the left. I ended up seeing my doctor that morning. He did an exam and found nystagmus in both eyes. He said that if the symptoms get worse over the next day or so it can be considered and MS attack (he had checked my ears and they were fine, so the down-beat nystagmus made him pretty sure it was brain stem caused and not ear caused). By the afternoon I was feeling like you described, being on a spinning ride. Mine was constant, though, no matter what position I or my head was in.

I ended up going in that evening and starting a 3 day course of IV steroids (followed by the prednisone taper) my first experience with steroids. They helped and the vertigo was gone in about 3 days. It does show up mildly when I'm over-tired.

I'm sorry you are having this! I would say give your neuro a call tomorrow morning. My neuro stresses that he wants to see me when I have any new symptoms or if old symptoms start up again.

I hope you feel better throughout today! Try to rest if you can.
~Jess *who is jealous that you get to go horseback riding! I have always wanted to do that!