Aa
Loooonnnngggg term dizziness.
This history is that of my 41 year old wife. Before this matter, she was a normal, healthy, reasonably fit, sporty girl.
At the end of March last year, she came home one evening from a gymnastics class saying she felt "odd". A couple of days later she was complaining of weakness and extreme dizzyness, (difficulty walking or even sitting unaided). She had tingling sensations in her arms and legs and her skin was clammy, (the latter symptoms are possibly anxiety related as she was very frightened).
Our own doctor thought it was a sinus infection, gave her some anti-biotics and took some blood samples. All of which returned normal results. She was admitted into hospital where she was given some i.v. antibiotics, (I don't know why), more blood tests, (normal), and a CT scan which showed her sinuses to be clear. She was discharged and given some nasal sprays one decongestant and one for allergy.
Through April her condition remained very bad but slowly started to improve. An ENT specialist examined her and tested her hearing and reported all was normal. An orthop
At the end of March last year, she came home one evening from a gymnastics class saying she felt "odd". A couple of days later she was complaining of weakness and extreme dizzyness, (difficulty walking or even sitting unaided). She had tingling sensations in her arms and legs and her skin was clammy, (the latter symptoms are possibly anxiety related as she was very frightened).
Our own doctor thought it was a sinus infection, gave her some anti-biotics and took some blood samples. All of which returned normal results. She was admitted into hospital where she was given some i.v. antibiotics, (I don't know why), more blood tests, (normal), and a CT scan which showed her sinuses to be clear. She was discharged and given some nasal sprays one decongestant and one for allergy.
Through April her condition remained very bad but slowly started to improve. An ENT specialist examined her and tested her hearing and reported all was normal. An orthop
The Epley manouvre is designed to adjust the position of crystaline deposits in the semi circular canals. My wifes condition does not show positional components. Thanks anyway.
As an update, I have been pursuing TMD as a cause and have recently discovered that I can temporarily alleviate her symptoms to a certain extent by manipulating her lower jaw at the same time as pressing on the pterygoid muscle on the same side, (difficult to acheive I assure you!). I have arranged ANOTHER session with the powers that be later this month.
As an update, I have been pursuing TMD as a cause and have recently discovered that I can temporarily alleviate her symptoms to a certain extent by manipulating her lower jaw at the same time as pressing on the pterygoid muscle on the same side, (difficult to acheive I assure you!). I have arranged ANOTHER session with the powers that be later this month.
I have CIDP and besides the usual symptoms I have bouts of severe dizziness. What has really helped me is undergoing the EPLEY MANEUVER. Sometimes it takes three EPLEYs before the dizziness subsides, but it always works. This has also helped my elderly Mom who had an inner ear infection. It is non-invasive, safe if done correctly, and worth a try! Ask the vestibular department of the hospital if they have someone trained in the EPLEY. Hope it helps you!
Owl Woman
Owl Woman
No. I have started to research this. Thanks for the tip.
My Mother in law experienced a similar bout of dizziness that she jsut woke up with one morning this past March. Drs originally thought it was vertigo and probably the result of an inner ear infection. After the symptoms did not clear up, they suspected it was vestibular nueritis and recommended rehabilitation excercises. In the meantime, at the urging of family she underwent tests to rule out the possibility of a stroke. These tests ucovered that she had small cell carcinoma in the left lung, and she began treatment of the tumor in May. While her tumor has shrunk in half, Her neurological condition steadily worsens and now Drs suspect that she has Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration which is asscociated in rare cases with small cell carcinoma. My research indicates that this condition can sometimes preclude the onset or discovery of the cancer by as much as 4 years. There is a blood test that can detect whether this is an underlying autoimmune response to cancer. I took her for the test on August 6th and am awaiting the lab results. We have an appointment on the 23rd with the Nuerologist. Have you pursued this with your Dr?
Your wife sounds like she's been through a lot. Dizziness affects nearly 8 million people in this country and for half of these people, the causes are multifactorial. Your wife's case seems to be persistent and fortunately all of the testing thus far has been normal. Vestibular (inner ear) and psychiatric causes are most common. Possible medications include meclizine (for inner ear) or antidepressants.
But some other causes include problems with the neck like cervical muscle spasms, arthritic spine disease, and irritation of the nerves in the neck which may all cause symptoms of dysequilibrium or vertigo. In that case she could try relaxation techniques, massage, or light physical therapy.
If she has has a history of fainting or is near fainting, she may need a workup of her heart to make sure she doesn't have a rhythm problem or a tilt-table test to see if she's able to maintain adequate blood pressure in different positions.
If you've run out of ideas, we do have a special neuro-ENT doc here at the CLeveland CLinic named Dr. Oas who has a dizzy clinic. Best of luck to you and your wife.
But some other causes include problems with the neck like cervical muscle spasms, arthritic spine disease, and irritation of the nerves in the neck which may all cause symptoms of dysequilibrium or vertigo. In that case she could try relaxation techniques, massage, or light physical therapy.
If she has has a history of fainting or is near fainting, she may need a workup of her heart to make sure she doesn't have a rhythm problem or a tilt-table test to see if she's able to maintain adequate blood pressure in different positions.
If you've run out of ideas, we do have a special neuro-ENT doc here at the CLeveland CLinic named Dr. Oas who has a dizzy clinic. Best of luck to you and your wife.
The problem with brevity is it's lack of information content. With medical conditions, the possible diagnoses increase exponentially as the number of symptoms/facts available decreases.
Patient "Doctor, my hand hurts"
Doctor "Hmmm, could be a nerve disorder"
Patient "The pain gets worse when I twist the nail stuck through my hand"
Doctor "Ah I think we have it licked now sir"
Silly I know, but think about it.
I was fishing for some topics to research. I discovered TMD's by chance after yet another careful rewording of my searches. I'd never heard of TMD's but, wrapped up in that label, was a whole range of non-life threatening conditions which matched the symptoms and which we could investigate, and, as it happened, more or less rule out. How many other areas are out there? The medical profession doesn't seem to be doing anything, someone else has too, and that someone is me.
I am sorry if you don't understand that.
Patient "Doctor, my hand hurts"
Doctor "Hmmm, could be a nerve disorder"
Patient "The pain gets worse when I twist the nail stuck through my hand"
Doctor "Ah I think we have it licked now sir"
Silly I know, but think about it.
I was fishing for some topics to research. I discovered TMD's by chance after yet another careful rewording of my searches. I'd never heard of TMD's but, wrapped up in that label, was a whole range of non-life threatening conditions which matched the symptoms and which we could investigate, and, as it happened, more or less rule out. How many other areas are out there? The medical profession doesn't seem to be doing anything, someone else has too, and that someone is me.
I am sorry if you don't understand that.
Do I sympathise. I know what you mean. I, personally, do not have the problem, it is my beloved wife, and I'm trying my hardest to help her, nobody seems to be getting us any further forward.
I remember us discussing the MRI, before the results came back, we were almost hoping it would show something, (hopefully something non-life threatening of course), such that we would have SOMETHING to fight. But no. Another negative. Back to square one. Round the circuit again, (of course with the delights of waiting a few weeks between each station).
I don't know enough about what you have tried, but if the problem is vestibular, try searching the net for Cawthorne exercises - these are a self paced self help type thing. There are also planned vestibular rehab. programs, but most require someone to work with, (throwing balls to you while you stand on a wobbly board, (don't laugh - it's true!), and so forth), which if you live alone, may be a problem.
A couple of other net resources, look up the "Balance Disorder Institute", and browse the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, look for the "Center for hearing and balance". They have some useful stuff online which can help you get a better idea of what is wrong with you. By understanding some of the basics you will be better able to describe your condition to your doctor, (and with "dizzyness", description can be really difficult, but quite important, there are many different types).
I wish you all the best.
I remember us discussing the MRI, before the results came back, we were almost hoping it would show something, (hopefully something non-life threatening of course), such that we would have SOMETHING to fight. But no. Another negative. Back to square one. Round the circuit again, (of course with the delights of waiting a few weeks between each station).
I don't know enough about what you have tried, but if the problem is vestibular, try searching the net for Cawthorne exercises - these are a self paced self help type thing. There are also planned vestibular rehab. programs, but most require someone to work with, (throwing balls to you while you stand on a wobbly board, (don't laugh - it's true!), and so forth), which if you live alone, may be a problem.
A couple of other net resources, look up the "Balance Disorder Institute", and browse the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, look for the "Center for hearing and balance". They have some useful stuff online which can help you get a better idea of what is wrong with you. By understanding some of the basics you will be better able to describe your condition to your doctor, (and with "dizzyness", description can be really difficult, but quite important, there are many different types).
I wish you all the best.
This is the first time ever that I have posted to a site. Somehow, I found this site...........Long Term Dizziness. It has been very interesting to read about. I am on my second month of daily, extreme dizziness. I live alone, have a full time job, and am being shuffled from doc to doc to chiro to cranial/sacral therapy, soon to have ENG exam and Vestibular therapy. It is beyond frustration. I am not blaming anyone, but the medical community has GOT to UNDERSTAND that some of us die along the wayside, because everyone else thinks we look wonderful, show up at work, socialize and go on with our lives. But it is not like that. I cannot concentrate on my work and soon shall face management that I can no longer fake off. I have MRI scheduled for Tuesday Aug 14. I hope I get some answers. 60 days feeling like I am on a boat is horrible. I almost want to hear I have a huge lemon size tumor for explanation. NO one understands.!!!! P1
Dear Adrian,
The reason we posted the "reminder" is because your posting is VERY long.
We certainly understand what it's like to be frustrated by a lack of diagnosis and treatment and we sympathize greatly with your wife's medical dilema. Frustration over a lack of clear diagnosis is one of the main reasons we began Med Help International!
While we cannot offer a diagnosis online, we certainly CAN offer qualified suggestions for "next-steps", based on the information people provide. Med Help has done this for tens of thousands of people, during the past 7 years.
The doctors working with us are pulled in many directions every day and we are VERY grateful that they still manage to find time to offer their expertise in our forums.
Everything Med Help Int'l. has is offered free to all in need. All we ask is that our visitors be as brief and to-the-point as possible, when posting in our forums. This will help insure that our forums will be here for you.
We are also grateful to all of our visitors who take the time to help others in our forums. We believe that a combination of medical experts and people who have "been there" is the best support in the world!
Med Help International
The reason we posted the "reminder" is because your posting is VERY long.
We certainly understand what it's like to be frustrated by a lack of diagnosis and treatment and we sympathize greatly with your wife's medical dilema. Frustration over a lack of clear diagnosis is one of the main reasons we began Med Help International!
While we cannot offer a diagnosis online, we certainly CAN offer qualified suggestions for "next-steps", based on the information people provide. Med Help has done this for tens of thousands of people, during the past 7 years.
The doctors working with us are pulled in many directions every day and we are VERY grateful that they still manage to find time to offer their expertise in our forums.
Everything Med Help Int'l. has is offered free to all in need. All we ask is that our visitors be as brief and to-the-point as possible, when posting in our forums. This will help insure that our forums will be here for you.
We are also grateful to all of our visitors who take the time to help others in our forums. We believe that a combination of medical experts and people who have "been there" is the best support in the world!
Med Help International
I am not asking for a diagnosis. It would be completely inappropriate for a medical professional to proffer a diagnosis on the basis of a history such as I posted, without a full consultation/examination/tests. I would not expect, nor trust such an offering. I was simply asking for ideas, so that I can continue researching, a single, or better, short list of keywords to search for would be enough.
If I posted "My wife has been dizzy for a year and a half" then the possibilities are endless, hence, I included as many of the salient points I considered useful, (you will note that my follow up messages in reply to others included details omitted from my original post - there are others).
You say you only wish to clarify existing diagnoses. In that case, what are people without a current diagnosis, with continuing debilitating symptoms, and a chain of doctors sending us from one to the next in a circle of gradually increasing size supposed to do?
If I posted "My wife has been dizzy for a year and a half" then the possibilities are endless, hence, I included as many of the salient points I considered useful, (you will note that my follow up messages in reply to others included details omitted from my original post - there are others).
You say you only wish to clarify existing diagnoses. In that case, what are people without a current diagnosis, with continuing debilitating symptoms, and a chain of doctors sending us from one to the next in a circle of gradually increasing size supposed to do?
Dear Friends,
We have noticed that some people are posting entire medical histories and requesting a diagnosis. We need to remind everyone that:
1) The doctors working in this forum have VERY limited time, so please be BRIEF and to the point!!
2) This forum is intended to offer general medical information about a diagnosis you have already received from a qualfied physician or medical professional.
3) WE CANNOT OFFER DIAGNOSES FOR ANY MEDICAL CONDITIONS.
4) IF YOUR POSTING IS A REQUEST FOR DIAGNOSIS (i.e. "what could be wrong with me?") WE WILL HAVE TO DELETE IT.
5) ONLY YOUR PHYSICIAN CAN GIVE YOU A DIAGNOSIS, BASED ON HIS OR HER PERSONAL EXAMINATION OF YOU AND/OR APPROPRIATE TESTING.
Thanks to all of you for your help and consideration!
Ned Help International
We have noticed that some people are posting entire medical histories and requesting a diagnosis. We need to remind everyone that:
1) The doctors working in this forum have VERY limited time, so please be BRIEF and to the point!!
2) This forum is intended to offer general medical information about a diagnosis you have already received from a qualfied physician or medical professional.
3) WE CANNOT OFFER DIAGNOSES FOR ANY MEDICAL CONDITIONS.
4) IF YOUR POSTING IS A REQUEST FOR DIAGNOSIS (i.e. "what could be wrong with me?") WE WILL HAVE TO DELETE IT.
5) ONLY YOUR PHYSICIAN CAN GIVE YOU A DIAGNOSIS, BASED ON HIS OR HER PERSONAL EXAMINATION OF YOU AND/OR APPROPRIATE TESTING.
Thanks to all of you for your help and consideration!
Ned Help International
What's going on with this site? I thought that they had a new Dr. to answer our questions. It would be a real shame if this site wasn't around anymore!
The drug she was given was called Mianserin. She took it for quite some time, but it had no real effect.
The up and down swings in her condition do not appear synchronized with external factors. Earlier this year, for example, her father became ill and subsequently died, during the course of this episode, her condition ebbed and flowed in the same way it always seems to do, i.e., randomly. I have looked for patterns, but if there is one there, it has so far eluded us. It is simply n good days, m bad days where n and m are random. I believe there may be a longer term component. What I mean by that, is there are longer periods, (6 - 8 weeks), where her good days are really good and her bad days not so bad at all, followed by a period where her good days are average, and her bad days, incapacitating.
I've spent ages researching this, but I am really baffled.
The up and down swings in her condition do not appear synchronized with external factors. Earlier this year, for example, her father became ill and subsequently died, during the course of this episode, her condition ebbed and flowed in the same way it always seems to do, i.e., randomly. I have looked for patterns, but if there is one there, it has so far eluded us. It is simply n good days, m bad days where n and m are random. I believe there may be a longer term component. What I mean by that, is there are longer periods, (6 - 8 weeks), where her good days are really good and her bad days not so bad at all, followed by a period where her good days are average, and her bad days, incapacitating.
I've spent ages researching this, but I am really baffled.
I think that this is related to fluid in the inner ear as a result of allergies. It is hard to clear this up. I have had this myself for six months this winter from November through April, and then it went away, and now it is back. I had it the year before too. The first thing that I would do is drop dairy from her diet. Many people are allergic to this and it really makes me a mess. One good dairy meal and I am dizzy for days. The second thing that I would do is start taking Vitamin C every day, in two installments. I take timed release C in 1000 mg doses twice a day, but when I really get dizzy I up it to three times a day. Avoid sugar, since when I eat a lot of sugar I also get messed up. The third thing that I would do is take everything that has dust out of her bedroom--make it a very clean, dust-free environment. My period makes it worse, because that is when my immune system really messes up. I don't know what you can do about that.
Thanks for your input.
Something my little, (little?!), potted history has omitted is that a couple of months into the problem, she was prescribed a mild tranquilizer - (for the life of me I can't remember what it was right now, but I have records). Basically, she was given this to try to help her sleep more than anything, (the dizzyness was sufficient stop her sleeping , (anxiety I suspect), but even when she did sleep, it would sometimes wake her up).
Glad you're okay now.
Something my little, (little?!), potted history has omitted is that a couple of months into the problem, she was prescribed a mild tranquilizer - (for the life of me I can't remember what it was right now, but I have records). Basically, she was given this to try to help her sleep more than anything, (the dizzyness was sufficient stop her sleeping , (anxiety I suspect), but even when she did sleep, it would sometimes wake her up).
Glad you're okay now.
Well, the medicine they gave me my doctor told me helps produce some chemical that will keep you more calm and help anxiety from being a problem. But it takes time to kick in.
I nearly have went through the same exact thing you wrote about. I never had any spotches, but other than that, everything. For me it started one day, just sorta feeling a bit dizzy. It continued, I saw a doctor, he said allergies, gave me meds for that and that was that. It got no better, so went back and he did blood tests. They were normal. My condition got worse, very worse. I was in a constant state of dizziness, and my head felt like it was in a vice grip. The main pressure was on both sides of my head, starting at my temples, and running down to my jaw. People said that was probably TMJ, but happening out of nowhere in both sides was too odd. By this time I had went to the afterhours ER clinic many times for getting worse and worse. I started to feel pains, especially in my chest, but they did EKGs and they were all fine as well. Had a CT scan, normal. I was going everywhere and getting no answers. I had the hearing tests, the balance tests, everything you named, I had. I started getting numb and tingly all over my body and that scared me, so went to the ER where they gave me a spinal tap to rule out MS and make sure I didn't have like an aneurism that wasn't showing on the CT scan. Next came the MRI... again completely normal. So my doctor said the final conclusion he can come to is anxiety/stress. I didn't think everything I had been feeling could possibly be something like that. But... it was. He put me on a mild anxiety/anti-depression sort of medicine called Celexa that I take once a day. He also prescribed xanax, which I also take once a day in the morning. He said it would take a few weeks for the medicine to really start to work, so we wouldn't know til then. Amazingly, i woke up one morning, and no more pressure on the side of my head. I was still dizzy, but that pressure was gone. Slowly over the next few days the dizziness went away. That all happened back in november/december of 2000. I haven't felt any of that come back since. I'm still taking the meds daily, my doctor is going to slowly work me off of them to see if I can stop taking them, but I may have to do it for life. Just a note, i'm only 20, so never too young for something like this to happen. The case of your wife just seems so much identical to mine that I hope maybe she is just having the same thing, and it can be solved. Talk to your doctor about it, hope everything turns out well. If you can, keep me posted on what the doc says and how she progresses. Thanks, and good luck.
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