I've got bad vertigo this week, and my right eye is super dim right now (I was just sitting outside with my parents)

My neuro said he'd give me steroids if this lasted longer than a day. (oral Pred) It's now halfway thru day 2 of the dizzies, and I talked to the neuro earlier and he said he'd give me the choice of IV or the oral, and he seems to be pushing the oral.

I'm just not particularly thrilled with the thought of steroid side effects. Almost tempted to try to wait out the dizzies. (hey, I'll lose weight this way, food is not totally appealing to me right now)

He told me to up my dosage of Meclizine and to call him by friday morning if I want a Rx for the 'roids. I'm starting to already rethink my decision to try to wait this out. I just dont want to deal with the nasty tasting prednisone, and the stomach problems and all the other side effects. I could do the IV, but a lot of the side effects can be worse with that, since the neuro told me it's stronger.

I just dont know if I can wait another day. This is the one symptom that I really dont deal with very well at all. The numb and tingly stuff is really annoying, but it was easier to deal with.

I just dont like feeling like I'm drunk when I didnt even get to have the fun of drinking flavored drinks all night.

Right now I've got ice on my head (inbetween typing sentences here) trying to cool off the brain so that hopefully I wont be so dizzy and that my vision wont be so dim.

why does MS have to be so <swear word> annoying???

How long would you wait?

I dont know, Erin. I have never dealt with vertigo or vision issues (ON) related to MS.

Using steroids or not can be a difficult decision. I tend to wait out my exacerbations but I used oral prednisone for my first 2.

I hope your doing better soon

Erin - I hate being in that position. Personally, I use the steroids b/c I hate the symptoms and figure why suffer. Of course, my first two times, I used IVSM and it not only worked like a charm, the side effects were pretty much nil.

But as I'm sure you read, I just finished an horrendous course of oral prednisone. And i'm still struggling - and have been thinking about asking my neuro for an IVSM course. I was going to call today to get it started, but just didn't have the energy. I actually see him tomorrow....I might ask. Just such a pain in the butt. And it is costly (a few hundred $$ vs $30 for the pills). However, with that said, I don't think I will EVER agree to take those pills again. OMG - I just keep telling myself that it would have gotten worse had I not taken them....because if I believe otherwise, I get upset and even nuttier.

Good luck - vertigo and double vision STINK!!

~Keri

I would also recommend the iv over the oral. I will not take oral steriods.

I may just ask him for the IV...have to see which one he pushes over the other... If I do the IV, I'm taking a bunch of crochet/knitting stuff with me. I really hated the taste of the oral pred last year. Taking it with some lemon flavored yogurt (lemon meringue Yoplait) helped it a little bit. At least I didnt get bad stomach aches when I ate yogurt with the steroids.

I'm just tired of the vertigo already, and am hoping that if I do a steroid that I'll get some visual benefits from it too.


Maybe I can get a couple of days of the IV with a taper chaser.

I just hope that if I take the steroids, all the weird little piddly MS things will leave me alone for awhile...the numb toes (used to be the entire foot) and the weird dim vision, the vertigo...and hopefully the steroids will help my sore back that I dont think is MS related.


I just dont want to get a ton of infections like I did after the last steroid I did last year. Ended up with bacterial vaginosis, MRSA in my nose, and I just hated having to constantly go potty because the steroids made me pee every 2 minutes.

Hi Erin! I may be the minority here, but the Oral Roids have not bothered me w/side effects at all. I have taken them several times and the only side effect I had was more energy *yah* and a loss of appetite *another yah*.
Alot of people have trouble w/the orals, so maybe the IV route is the way for you, but I think you really need to get in touch w/your Dr.

Good luck and do keep us posted.

I have to see which steroid the neuro is being the most pushy about. I got the feeling that he wanted me to take the oral.

I'm just wondering if I should check with my regular doctor to see if I have any infections (like a UTI, or even an ear infection) before hitting the steroids.

I'm not sure, but arent steroids + infections = bad juju?

I wouldn't wait at all. I've been down both those roads too many times. I would take the IV over the oral any day of the week.

Just talked to the neuro. He'd been trying to figure out how to avoid giving me any prednisone since I dont like the side effects.

He wants me to get my ears checked for an actual ear infection, and if there's no infection, to go to an ENT (Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor) to see if there's something physically affecting my inner ear.

The neuro asked me if I was having any problem hearing. Told him my ears were sensitive to loud noises, my tinnitus (that I've had since I was a small child) is a little more noisy than it usually is, and there is some pressure in my ears.

Also told him that when I had mononucleosis in 96, my head got so swollen that I couldnt breathe thru my nose, couldnt hear anything, and couldnt speak for close to three weeks. He's wondering if the mono could have damaged my inner ear somehow and made me more susceptible to the vertigo from things other than the MS.

I dont know if I'm disappointed or not at not getting any steroids today. At least the neuro is paying attention and wants to make sure of things before he starts writing out the Rx for the 'roids.

hi ya erin,

i think vertigo is one of the worst symptoms of ms myself. deciding what to do about a flare up is right up there too. if it were me i think i would ask him to call in an rx and then you can pick it up ''IF" things don't simmer down for you.

none of us like the side effects it causes however on the flipside we don't care for sitting on the fence and waiting it out either if you have the rx called in and there for back up at least you have that choice if you get my drift. nothing worse then imo then not having your neuro at your fingertips and heaven forbid it be a weekend or the middle of the night. with that said i hope you can manage without them