spinning....make it STOP!!!! (venting about vertigo)
 

oh lucky me...I woke up at about 3 or 4 this morning with vertigo.

I feel like a dreidel. (traditional Jewish haunakah toy, a spinning top)

I went back to bed, hoping it would go away. Nope. It's gotten worse.

I called my neuro, and he said if I still have it tomorrow to call him and he'll call in a Rx of oral Prednisone to the pharmacy for me. (Oh goody! I wont have to get into a car to go see him to get some steroids!)

Amazing, he wont give me steroids for optic neuritis or bone deep numbness, but tell him that the world is spinning one way while I'm spinning the other and he'll give me steroids (as long as it lasts more than 24hrs)

He was going to make me wait a COUPLE OF DAYS before he'd get the Rx pad out, but then he said if I have it 24hrs, he'd write the 'scrip.

I dont even want to have this 24hrs. I want it to stop now. I dont care if I wouldnt get any steroids, I want it to stop now!

I cant lay down, it makes it worse. Sitting is ok for a while, standing is not fun. This is the one MS symptom that will have me begging for steroids.

I feel like total crap. It's giving me a bad headache and making my eyes hurt.

At least it's not making me hurl...yet (but then I've never gotten sick like that with vertigo)

At least I have some Meclizine. Hopefully it works.

Sorry about the whining.

Anyone have any tricks or head movements or sleeping positions that they can suggest to make the vertigo stop???

It's interesting (to me at least) that last year, right about this time, I had vertigo that would hit me out of nowhere. I could be sitting and reading a book when that vertigo would hit me. Knock me onto my back for 20 minutes and then it would go away and leave me with a headache. I called it "drive-by vertigo". Last years vertigo went away after my regular doctor gave me prednisone.

I think today's vertigo isnt quite as bad as the drive-by vertigo. Sure, today it hit me out of the blue and hasnt gone away yet, but the drive-by vertigo would hit me with no warning, and I usually had no time to try to sit down if I was standing. It hit, and I would hit the floor. I could feel gravity get stronger and just suck me down.

My only worry about getting oral prednisone is that I'm worried the prednisone will make me more susceptible to getting optic neuritis. (I read the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial) The neuro doesnt think I should worry about that. He said that he wont give steroids to people with ON who dont have a diagnosis of MS. But once they have the diagnosis of MS, he'll give oral steroids to MS patients for symptoms that he thinks warrants steroids...like vertigo.

He said the side effects of the IV steroids would be worse, and wanted to keep me from having the stronger side effects...said I'd probably do better on the oral.

Ok...enough whining, I'm going to go pop another Meclizine and see if I can go back to sleep...or at least see if laying down is any better than it was.

So sorry, Erin. I haven't had vertigo in years, but I remember,
laying on one side or the other, really helped, so I could sleep.

Steroids didn't help, it just had to run it's course.:mad:

Feel better soon..:hug:

Sorry about the vertigo, Erin. I've had that a couple of times but I couldn't do anything - let alone type!!! How do you manage to be on the computer? I would have gotten sick if I even tried to read anything. I just had to sit very, very still for a very long time in order to get any relief. First time I dared to move a wave of it would come rushing back.

I hope the doc calls in a prescription for you. This isn't pleasant stuff to have.

Erin, once my vertigo got so bad, I kept throwing up... which meant I couldn't keep the Meclizine down, so it never got a chance to work.

my Neuro prescribed some suppositories, which really helped.

I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of the medicine - that was 15 years ago.

but your doc will know.

hope that helped.

Vertigo is a horrible symptom for me! I feel like I am not connected to the earth, and someone spun me round and round and then put me on a fishing boat with high seas.

I hope you feel better. :hug:

It took me a long time to type that. But when I was typing it, I wasnt even as dizzy as I've ever been. I still had to sit very still and not move my head while I was typing.

Last year, when I was going thru the worst vertigo that I've ever had (the drive-by vertigo that would drop me to the floor if it hit while I was standing) there was no way I could have typed like I did this morning.

I went back to bed after typing that message earlier. The Meclizine finally kicked in probably about an hour ago. My head was hurting so bad that I had to take a migraine pill. I still feel kind of sick to my stomach tho....and strangely enough, hungry (I'm not about to eat anything yet tho) I'm still slowly spinning, but as long as I dont do any big movements or leap to my feet, I feel a little better than I did earlier, but I still feel like crap because my head still hurts.

I kind of get the feeling that the Meclizine is going to wear off again soon. (neuro told me to take one Meclizine 3 times a day) I dont know if it's the Meclizine that gives me the headache, or if it's the vertigo that causes it.

Right now, I feel like someone has been stomping on me. At least I'm not quite as dizzy as I was. I'm just scared that it's going to start up again. I just want it to go away and leave me alone. I dont care if I wouldnt get any steroids, I just want it gone.

It's just weird that I havent had vertigo since last summer, and this is almost the exact time that it started up last summer.

Is there such a thing as "seasonal MS symptoms"???

I think I'll go lay down again. I think I'm ok sitting up for about 20 minutes before my head wants me to lay down again. This really sucks. So far for me, vertigo is the worst symptom for me with this stupid MS.

I've had vertigo for years. Since about 6 months to a year after I had mononucleosis. (that was in 96, I think I've had MS that long now and just didnt know it till 2yrs ago)

In all that time, I dont think I was ever physically sick with my vertigo. I know I felt like I wanted to be, but it's never made me actually barf during the vertigo.

I guess I can be glad for the lack of vomit.

I just wish the Meclizine would last longer. I think it only kicked in an hour or two ago, and now I think I'll need to pop another one fairly soon. I'm definately laying down again in a few minutes...once I crawl into the bathroom to refill my water bottle.

There must be because I tend to have all my flares in the Fall - usually around October/November.

Hi Erin,
I hope the vertigo goes away for you soon. I've had it before and I know how horrible it is. When I've had it, the Meclizine didn't seem to help much. What about a low dose of Valium? I've heard that's helpful for vertigo.

Hey Erin--did you know that migraine attacks can cause vertigo like you described? It's true! It's actually much more common than most people (and most doctors) know about.

Search on "migraine-associated vertigo."

I'm not saying it's not your MS--only that migraine can and does cause dizziness/vertigo, too.

Sorry you're suffering with that... it sounds awful!

Nancy T.

Yeah, I know about the migraines. Usually at the start of my vertigo, I'll have a headache the first day. A really really bad headache. My neuro said that it's normal to have that happen with the vertigo. Only it doesnt feel like the migraines I get. It's more of an ache-y sensation. Makes my entire body hurt.

I got checked for an ear infection tonight. My doctor's office was booked, but they just started a new emergi-care that opens right after they close. They have a group of doctors that I guess "borrows" their offices for the evenings. They're open till 1am.

So, tonight at 5pm, I went in, got checked for an infection (and checked for a UTI, just in case)

They found nothing.

I do have a small suspicion that it could be dental related. The next batch of teeth that I need to get worked on to replace my amalgam fillings (they're cracking my teeth apart) has been sore this week. I go to the dentist next week for a cleaning, so I'm trying to wait till then to get it checked. If that's infected, I'm going to get an antibiotic and have them replace the fillings after I've been on the abx's for a few days.

I had a pseudo or maybe a real exacerbation (bone-deep numbness in the right foot) immediately after having dental work done in March, so I wouldnt be surprised if it's my teeth causing me problems this time again.

I am going to go to an ENT as soon as my neuro suggests one to me next week. Just in case there's something wrong with my inner ear. (when I had mononucleosis, everything in my head closed up...deaf for about 2 or 3 weeks, so I worry that something got damaged then)

I want to figure out if my vertigo is an MS thing, or an actual non-MS related thing, or if it's a non-MS related thing that's getting triggered by some MS thing.

I've been dealing with a lot of vertigo lately too. One trick that seems to help is keeping an eye on a fixed object at a distance, not looking down, not looking at things that are close. That's what they tell you to do if you get sea sick on a boat, look at the horizon.

I hang onto something solid and look at the furthest thing in the house as I walk. And I go very slow on the stairs.

At times I have to avoid situations where there will be bad lighting )flickering or too bright), too many things moving - like in the wind lately, the trees moving around and stuff - and too many distractions in general.

I can't do shopping like this.

I hope you get your script and feel better soon.

I'm starting to think that I'm having a little flare of the optic neuritis, probably from a dental issue raising my temperature a little bit (yes, I'm taking Tylenol) and that the vision stuff is causing the vertigo crap.

It seems like it's visual things setting it off.

That doesnt quite explain why the vertigo woke me up from a dead sleep on tuesday, but I think it explains some of the vertigo.

Or, the dental issue is causing the visual issues, and as an annoying double whammy, it's ticking off my 8th cranial nerve and causing the vertigo.

I have had vertigo and dizziness from the very beginning. I used to lie on the sofa and face the cushions, hold on to the top of it and curl up so I could feel somewhat secure. It has been awful. I always described it as like the childhood game of spinning around and around and then trying to walk. I remember that was such a fun game. It's not fun with MS.

My doctor's gave me valium for dizziness and vertigo years ago. It slows the CSN down a bit and it does help. I have much more problems with dizziness now but still have vertigo so I just hold on for the ride.

I also have vertigo occasionally when I have migraines.

I hope you feel better and can find something to help you. I know how miserable it is.:)

My vertigo is nearly non-existant right now. It's started to feel better some since about 10pm tonight.

I need to get some sleep tho, but we just had a tornado and I'm a bit wired up right now. We didnt even lose power, so where I am is all good.

I do get migraines. I take Midrin for it. (a migraine med...one of the oldest ones on the market, havent felt the need to change the Rx yet)

Maybe if I wake up tomorrow with bad vertigo, or if it wakes me up, I'll try a Midrin first and see if it helps me any.

I'm really thinking tho, that this is either being triggered by a dental infection of some sort, or it's visually induced. I went to Best Buy with my dad today, and we walked around in there for about an hour or so...trying to find something to buy me for my birthday (ended up getting the 2nd box set of the Indiana Jones Chronicles on dvd)

By the time we left, I was staggering back and forth. I'm sure the Best Buy employees thought I was drunk. Next time I go into a store, I'm taking my cane (that I bought specifically for this purpose, just keep forgetting it this week) It kind of helps me keep the balance because it's just something to hold onto, it tells me that the ground isnt moving.

Hey Erin, any better today?

Vertigo has been one of my constant MS companions for decades. It's just plain MS doing it to me. My best defense is my recliner with my head stabilized by a feather pillow surrounding it. I don't move unless I have to and I sleep there too until it passes. I take high doses of meclazine to help me keep food and liquid down so I won't get dehydrated (again).

I too have battled ON, vertigo, dizziness it seems from day one. I know how frustrating it is! I hope you feel better ASAP!!

Erin, I hope your vertigo has settled. From reading this thread, it seems to have gotten better. At least, that is my hope for you.

AMN - I quoted you just because since having MS, I read things wrong. Can't quite explain it but I see a different word.

I had to say something to you on this thread because when you said "I take high doses of Meclazine," I saw the word "Mescaline." The hallucenogenic(sp) drug. I had to laugh thinking, no wonder she is dizzy!:D

Erin - I use my cane for vertigo too. Good idea. And if nothing else, people realize you're not drinking.

Aarcyn - LOL! I saw mescaline too.