Since we're talking about vertigo
 

Has anyone experienced the up and down vertigo, versus the room spinning vertigo?

I never had the room spin (except at the fair when I was younger). When I had 2 bouts last summer, it was up and down motion. Like, I'd be looking at the phone book on my coffee table and it would raise up, and then when I blinked it would be back down again and begin to rise again.

Words were a complete blur. No hope in heck of reading, and my depth perception was completely whacked out. I was tripping over my own feet.

[QUOTE=dmplaura;365099]Has anyone experienced the up and down vertigo, versus the room spinning vertigo?

o yeah...think i will die sometimes...low dose of valium or sea sickness meds helped for awhile..nothing much does anymore......steph

I've had vertigo that felt like it was sucking me down into a drain or maybe suddenly making it seem like gravity had gotten a lot stronger. It came up one side of me, hit my head, made me feel like the ground had just disappeared and then went down the other side of me, pulling me down with it.

Once I was sucked to the floor, or pulled down into a chair or onto a bed, it felt like I was being twisted in every direction, back, forth, up down, sideways...

Very disturbing when the vertigo can hit you in seconds like that.

It sounds like yours was rather different, but I did have a period of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) where the motion was up and down instead of sideways whirling.

BPPV is a specific type of vertigo caused by out-of-place debris in one of the semicircular canals. I've heard that it can occur in MS, but mainly it occurs in older (otherwise normal) people, though anyone can get it, especially people with inner ear disease of some kind. BPPV is brought on by specific head-position changes.

What happened with my BPPV is that whenever I'd tip my head leftward, the ceiling would start jerking up and down rather fast. Simultaneously, I'd have a thumping/beating sound/feeling in my right ear. That second part was NOT normal for BPPV. Makes me think something is wrong with my brainstem. (Well, that and the abnormal auditory EPs.)

I don't know what significance, if any, your "vertical vertigo" would have. I would ask your neurologist at next visit (or sooner, if it continues and bothers you a lot). If by chance it's BPPV, that can be cured by simple positional maneuvers (Epley maneuver, aka canalith repositioning maneuvers) if the doctor knows how to do them.

Nancy T.

I actually went to a ENT (ear nose throat) doctor who sent me along for my MRI, which lead me to my MS diagnosis. He was aware of the vertigo I had, and he checked things out. It's true however that BPPV won't appear upon ENT examination, correct?

My chiropractor is trained in how to 'treat' BPPV, and it's something we discussed after I had 2 bouts of this.

Knock on wood, I have not had the vertigo like this again since. At least if I do have it, I can have my chiropractor do the technique (I've read about how it's done) to see if this helps.

Funny enough, I did have an ear canal infection a few months ago (that was completely ouch). I was always riddled with ear infections as a child.

That's nice that your chiropractor knows how to treat BPPV. It's not that hard to learn the maneuver, and you can even do it at home if you know which canal the debris is in (usually the main Epley manuever works).

BPPV can be seen on an ENT exam if it happens to be active at the time of the exam. It is diagnosed by the Dix-Hallpike maneuver, which consists of lying the patient quickly back on a table with head hanging slightly overboard at an angle and observing the eye movements for the typical BPPV nystagmus.

But a person with BPPV won't necessarily be symptomatic at the time of the exam, so a negative Dix-Hallpike doesn't rule out BPPV. Usually doctors can tell (or guess) from the patient's description of the symptoms and what brings them on.

Laura, you look so young, did they say whether they think your BPPV is related to MS? Usually (not always) it occurs in older persons or people with inner-ear disease. (Outer or middle ear infections shouldn't be related to it, unless they get into the inner ear area.)

A vestibular therapist once told me that it occurs more frequently in people with MS (for unknown reasons), and I think I heard this once somewhere else, too. But I don't know whether that's really true or not.

Best of luck to you--you have a lot on your plate already these days!!

Nancy T.

I apologize for any misunderstanding. I was not diagnosed with BPPV. It was something that was considered, and something they would explore if the vertigo returned in future. Serc managed to get my vertigo under control to a point that I could function, and it eventually faded (3 weeks first time, 2 weeks ~ lesser intensity, the second time).

I have vertigo that is more like being on a boat than anything. Like waves either from the front or sides.

I had the first bouts around age 20, but a lot more lately. I'm 45 now. It can last months and be nearly all day now. When it's gone, it can be completely gone for months and I have no trouble no matter how I move or what's going on.

I have been to an ENT -who found nothing wrong. I never had an ear infection or damage in my life, and my hearing is perfect.


Had a BAER which was a bit off, but didn't indicate anything positively.

I had a field vision test at the eye doc that looked fine.

No idea what's causing this.