anyone have any tips at all for dealing with vertigo?

hey,  i know so many of you here have suffered with this.  my intuition tells me there are no easy answers, but just in case....

i am currently at work and feel as though my head is vibrating with each and every blink or move!!  i think that even typing on the computer makes my head jumpy--though i should clarify where the vertigo fits in.

"vertigo" is when the world is actually spinning, right?--this happens to me when i bend over, get up, roll over (in bed) and a few other times.  in between all of this though, i have a hard time explaining how i feel.  my field of vision seems to "jump" with each and every move.  if i stay perfectly still it  can settle mind you.  i am terribly off balance with tinnitus and some hearing loss, yet i also feel extra sensitive to certain sounds!??!  horizantal nystagmus during vertigo bouts.

it would seem the more visual stimulation around, the worse i feel.

i've tried going to chiro for epley maneuver and doing vestibular exercises--all of which made me feel much worse for several hours afterward.  

last wed.my doc. prescribed me with serc, which doesn't seem to be having any effect, but for the fact that my ear feels less full.

anyway, just wondering if anyone has been through this and if anything at all can be done?

i am awaiting mri of my head on sept. 6th and referral to an ENT specialist.  

must confess, i am a tad worried about this symptom.  i hate the waiting!!!  

it would seem the easy answer would be to sit someplace calm, but this is not really an option in my life right now

help!!!!

xoxox  michelle

[jensequitur]

Vertigo really s-u-c-k-s...  

The usual cause is a lesion on the cerebellum, or the nerve leading to the vestibular canal (if it's caused by MS, of course...)  And maybe the pons too - can't remember.

I had vertigo for a long time after diagnosis.  Diagnosed in August 2007.  I want to say it was at least a year total after diagnosis before it went away.  The doctor wanted to prescribe a antihistamine for the vertigo, but I asked if Benadryl would work, and he said yes.  It didn't.

Unfortunately the only thing that helped was to get plenty of sleep.  If I was reasonably energetic, then the vertigo was there but didn't bother me.  If I was already fatigued, it was the proverbial straw, and all I could do was sleep.

[HVAC]

I have learned to move more slowly and deliberately to the left. No sudden movements. Oh and gently stretching my neck helps since tightness makes it worse.

Alex

[michelleislay]

ok...sleep/slow/stretch.  i will try all of the above.  

and i'm taking it that my description is par for the course with vertigo.  
that makes me actually feel much much better.  

thanks both jen and alex so much for your input.  

i actually came home from work and lay down for a bit.  

i'm off for physio and acupuncture soon.  perhaps the acupuncture will do something...

xoxoxoxo  thank you.

[willowwoman7]

Have you tried vestibular therapy? I had such bad vertigo I couldn't even drive and my neuro told me to try it. My nickname for vertigo is the "spins" like when you get good and drunk. (flashback to my 20's). It took her all of about 10 minutes and the vertigo was gone! You might ask your doctor about it - it worked beautifully for me. I'm not saying I don't just get plain dizzy at all, or light headed, I use mecclizine for that and that works for me.

[figuerpa]

I also take mecclizine (antivert) for my vertigo. It helps to slow the spinning for me be doesn't take it away completely. Luckily mine has been under control. I do get dizzy if I scroll up and down pages to fast on the computer, and if I move to fast. For a while there I had to keep my head facing forward, couldn't turn my head or look up or down. Doc was not so pleased that I drove myself to the office when she found out I couldn't move my head.

Vertigo really ***** and I hope yours gets under control real soon.

Paula

[michelleislay]

thanks paula and willowwoman7,

i have kept my head as still as possible all night and it has definately slowed down.

man though, typing even seems to aggrivate it as i imagine my head is moving just a tiny microscopic amount while doing this activity!!

crazy.  thanks so much for all of your responces.  i think i was a tad on the panicky side today not knowing if this feeling was "normal" for vertigo, so it really does reassure me to hear from you all.

thanks a million!!!

xoxoxo