Flu almost killed me

[Per409]

I had the flu in 1974 at age 16 with a high fever, I remember seeing everything jumping up and down,walls tables, everything. After I got over the flu there were weeks or months of feeling confused and lightheaded. I March 1979 I had my first severe dizzy spell and since that day not a day or an hour passes that im not somewhat dizzy from mild to extreme. On the other hand my sister has the same dizziness and been on ssi for years - I'm going to try for it to.She says it's inherited but I blame mine on the flu. I guess the question is - can the flu/high fever cause permanent damage to the inner ear?

[movexu]

A while ago many people died because of bird flu in China .

[mkh9]

Well, it could be meniers or migraine or acoustic neuroma. Parkinsons makes you shuffle your legs not really makes you dizzy. These other problem do make you dizzy. they can from mild to extreme and any of them be every day. Migraine is much more prevalent than the others. My neighbor has migraines daily for years. She is a nurse practitioner.  You really need to rule out all these things.  Migraines are genetic and Parkinsons is not known to be. You don't sound like you have the symptoms of it. Have you tried to get on disability or the Affordable Care Act?  My sister in law is only going to have to pay $64 a month in California. The scan would be negative for migraine but if your sister didn't have an EEG (electroencephalogram) which looks at the brain waves, then you wouldn't see it. That is how they found mine.  I hope this helps.
mkh9

[Per409]

I don't thing it's related to migraines it's been constant (from little twinges to extreme) since 1979. As i've told doctors, it's hard to explain.

[mkh9]

I'm so sorry about what happened to your uncle.
Well, if you have migraines does your sister have migraines too? Do you get vertigo,  where you feel like falling over or dizziness? Either way it is possible you have the same type of migraine variant I have or it is migraine related. You can try Amitriptilyne and if that doesn't work then go to Topamax like I did. It really works if it is a migraine. Topamax (topiramate) is hard on the short term memory. Amitriptiline is an antidepressant but works well on back pain and on migraine too. Its main side effect is dry mouth and eyes. If that doesn't work given your uncles terrible accident and history it could be Parkinsons related. I hope not and I hope you both don't have any thing like that. If you can afford it see a neurologist that specializes in migraines. Or have your GP try you on Topamax. They will taper you up to either 75mg or 100mg. I had tingling in my hands and feet for a couple of months but that went away. You have to make sure you don't have a certain type of genetic glaucoma and drink 8 glasses of water or fluids a day. I hope this helps. I know it is a lot to think about.
mkh9

[Per409]

I've been seeing doctors and specialist since 1979 and tried all there treatments. As for mri and other scans that takes a lot of money which i've never had cause there's nothing I can work at. Yes I do get migraines often and typical headaches like the past week of deer season,to much looking and staring lol Anyway my older sister has the same dizziness and she's had every test and scan known,, doctors can find nothing wrong with her but i've seen first hand what she goes through, just like me except she can drive, pulling over or calling someone to come after her from time to time.

I had an uncle with early parkinsons disease, he was killed in an auto accident at around 42 - 45

I just found this forum and thought i'd throw this out there.

[mkh9]

Hi and sorry you are going through this. Firstly, we are not doctors on here. But I will give you some opinions. If the fever was very high 105 or you had 102 degree F for a day or two you could get damage to the cochlea in the ear. You could got to an ENT and have your ears checked and see if your dizziness is related to meniers disease and if you have lost any hearing on that side. If it is  Meniers they can treat it with water pills. If not they may do a CT scan to rule out an acoustic neuroma. This is a benign brain tumor behind the ear.  Do you only get the dizziness with movement or anytime? Also, there is some evidence that you can get Parkinsons disease from the Influenza virus. I'm not saying your symptoms are that of Parkinsons but that it happened to my father in law. He got the 1918 flu and later developed Parkinsons as did many others. Here is a link:
http://www.parkinson.org/NationalParkinsonFoundation/files/6d/6dea0022-01a5-4d55-926c-42efa0084c18.pdf
His Parkinsons wasn't quite like the other Parkinsons in that his didn't  have the palsy but he had disconesia (I don't have the correct spelling of that). If you can see a neurologist and/or get an MRI of the brain to see if there is any thing suspicious. They probably would do tests first and if they didn't have the symptoms they wouldn't do the MRI.  If not well there are some treatments to lessen dizziness. Do you get migraines? I have severe vertigo that I got last year for the first time and it is related to my migraines. I am now on Topamax to keep the vertigo away. It seems to be working so far. yours does sound like the inner ear. I think a visit to a good ENT that your FP doc recommends would be a good idea to start with.