Dizziness that occurs when I turn my head a certain way or lean over

[Georgia Peach1950]

I had vertigo in April 2006 and May 2006.  Since that time esp. in the Spring when my allergies act up I have pain in my left ear and this dizziness starts up.  I do not have any spinning or such as some people do.  I just get unnerved when I lean down to get something off my floor, or turn my head a certain way and get dizzy.  I have come close to falling several time.  It is so bad I can only sleep on my right side and not turn over at all during the night.  If I do turn over for some reason I get the dizziness again.  I take an OTC allergy medicine daily and have antivert to take when this gets really bad.  I would like to know what is causing this.  My dr. thought it might be high blood sugar after I was first diagnosed with Type 2 in March 07.  However, my blood sugar is fine now and I still have this every few days.

[Quixotic1]

I will get back to you as soon as I can.  It's been a difficult weekend.  I think you have a form of positional vertigo called BPPV - Benign Paroxysmal Vertigo that probably flares becasue of inner ear congestion combined with sneezing (when slightly whiplashes the head).  I'm going to find a post that I wrote for someone else.  The attacks of BBPV are not always horrible swirlings, but they certainly can be unsettling and cause falls.

What is BPPV? (ALERT! Epic Disourse ahead!)

The main balance organ is in the middle ear. There are three fluid-filled rings called the semicircular canals. These rings are in the three main planes - horizontal, vertical, and frontal. As you move around or move your head, the fluid flows in these rings signalling the direction of movement to the brain. The way this happens is this. In each ring there are groups of tiny hairs sticking up into the fluid. Sitting atop these hairs are tiny little crystals called "otoliths." Yep! Ear rocks. As your head moves the weight of these crystal causes the hairs to sway back and forth and signal movement back to the brain.

Sometimes the little crystals come loose and float freely in the semicircular canal. When the head moves in the right way (into the right position) the crystal falls rapidly in the ring and causes a sensation of whirling or falling or a giant, fast movement. When it happened to me I felt like I had suddenly begun to fall at 100mph! Even knowing I was lying down didn't help and I would grab frantically at the bed. If I was standing and looked up when the sensation hit, I would "throw myself to the ground" actually trying to stop the perceived fall (which wasn't really happening).

The whirling sensation only lasts several seconds, but for several seconds after that you can see objects appearing to "bat" back and forth. Everyone uses different terms to liken what the sensation is. Then the room settles down an you feel very diagreeable for the next several hours.

The crystals can come loose spontaneously - it is common as we age. Or they can be knowed loose by a snap of the head, whiplash, a good bonk on the noggin, etc. I knew a woman who got struck in the head by a little peice of candy, but she saw it coming and reflexly snapped her head out of the way giving herself a minor whiplash injury & BPPV.  I brought on an episode after cleaning the garage and had a spasm of violent sneezing.

When you have BPPV you find that certain positions seem to bring it on. (like bending over and turning your head to look up under a table.  Or leaning your head way back to look straight up. Sometimes it's only at night when you roll into the right position and awaken right in the middle of the whirling. Between attacks often you may just feel a little unstable in space or spacey. The crystals often replace themselves. If they don't they can be treated almost 100% of the time by a series of rotational manuevers called the Epley Maneuvers. (BTW Dr. Epley is my personal vertigo physician :)) Untreated some people suffer periodically for decades.

Okay, now that I have gone on and on, if my description of BPPV sounds similar to what you're experiencing then look at the links below:


http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3400/3480.asp?index=4010&src=news

http://www.aliveandwell.org/html/the_bigger_picture/cursing_the_cure.html


If not, then explain to me again what you are going through and I'll try again

Quix

[microchp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOuzUi5ckrk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6t-Bpg494&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPUmDCyd5ZA&feature=related

And this one is just freaky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBDXQchKapU&feature=related

:-)