Strange BPPV episode

[Nancy T]

So have you ever heard of BPPV with a simultaneous fast thumping noise/sensation in the opposite ear?

This happened to me a few years ago, over a four-day period (until I cured myself with a "home Epley"): whenever I would tip my head leftward or lie down on my left side, after a few seconds the ceiling would begin jerking up and down. Simultaneously I would feel and hear a thumping in my RIGHT ear. This thumping exactly matched the ceiling-jerking in duration and intensity, i.e., as the ceiling slowed down and stopped, so did the thumping.

Have you ever heard of this, and do you have any theory as to what might cause it? Just curious. I know it is not a normal part of BPPV.

My history (51-year-old female) includes unexplained low-level dizziness since the 1980s, worse since 1999. Had sudden severe left-side SNHL that year when I sneezed hard (but not a PLF). Saw neurologists in 1999-2003 for various odd symptoms (MS was initially suspected) but they ruled out MS via MRIs and office exams. They did find "highly abnormal" ABR on BOTH sides (hearing is normal on the right), plus abnormal acoustic reflex decay in left ear (following the line for "N. VIII disease") in the frequency they could test--namely, 500 Hz, to which point my left-side hearing is still normal--it drops way off at 750 Hz.

Thanks for any thoughts about the strange BPPV!

Nancy

[Nancy T]

That makes sense... although I do not understand the mechanism, or the reason, that this happened, i.e., why the wires got crossed like that. I didn't have a viral infection, at least not anything symptomatic.

Thank you!

[Herbert Silverstein, MD, FACS]

My quess in that the nystagmus that occurred doing the vertigo triggered stimlation in the brainstem of the stapedius and tensor tympani mucle to contract in the contralateral ear.