kfrazier1979,

An Upper Cervical Care Chiropractor could be helpful for you but if you have other physiological issues that you haven't dealt with, the adjustment won't hold and you'll wind up spending a lot of money on that. For example, if your cerebellum, which is responsible for posture, is damaged and you don't rehab it, your adjustment won't hold because the muscles in your neck won't hold it. Or, if your thyroid is low, your muscle cells in your neck won't be getting the proper hormone support to stay in place after and adjustment. So, before you go jumping into that, make sure you have dealt with other issues first, i.e. hormones, cerebellur function, balance, etc...

I'm surprised that you haven't had success with your chiropractic neurologist. They are usually extremely good at treating balance/dizzy disorders resulting from head injuries. As a matter of fact, it is one of their specialties. If you haven't seen any improvement though, I would fire him and go a different direction.

One thing to keep in mind about Chiropractors is that only about 10% of them are any good. The rest are usually people who couldn't get into either medical school or physical therapy school, or some other type of professional school. The requirements to get into chiropractor school are not that stringent either, and I believe you don't even need a college degree to get into most. So, the caliber of student going to these schools is not that high. As a matter of fact, LIFE Chiropractic college, which is one of the premier colleges in the nation, was offering guys on my rugby team in college full scholarships regardless of their GPA. So, that should be an indication of what kind of students they are letting in. However, once in a blue moon you will find a good one and usually this person will be a god send for you.

Good Luck!

BeccaP,
Thanks for your helpful posting here re: the inner ear testing and prior vestibular rehab. I asked my dr. recently about vestibular disorder. Answer: Told me to do neck stretching and neck rolling exercises. (??)

I still have incidents of what I can only describe as vertigo and it is very disturbing. What I experience isn't 'the room is spinning', etc. It's a very definite sensation of [I]motion, swirling, movement within[I] my head.

It's as if my inner-gyroscope has suddenly been spun round.
This sounds funny, perhaps --- sometimes the sensation inside my head feels as if I were 'a bobble-head'! Especially when in a moving vehicle.
This can lead to again feeling nauseous.

Has anyone else here experienced anything similar? It's very difficult to get across to the docs.

Sincerely, Theta Z.

I'm learning that sometimes you just have to find the right audience when you describe your symptoms.

Last week we had a routine eye doc appointment, after a nightmare neuro opthamologist visit a few months ago. After a very thorough exam, comparison with previous exams, and lots and lots of questions, our eye doc described how my daughter's optic nerves are miscommunicating with eye muscles and gave us some eye exercises to try at home. He said her vision is similar to the feeling when you try to watch a train go by...the jumping sort of sensation.

He would say, "does it feel like X?" "Ok, then does it feel like Y?" And so on. It doesn't hurt that he has been our family eye doctor for 20 years, goes to our church, and has a vested interest in seeing her get better. He has seen lots of head injuries. I just didn't think he would be "specialist" enough back in the beginning.

Her vision is still 20/20. He said her optic nerves took a shock and now are re-learning to communicate with her muscles. He said it would heal on its own eventually but the exercises will help for a speedier and more complete recovery.

He then went on to explain how the calcium crystals in the inner ear can get dislodged and cause vertigo. I mean no offense, but I read about "dislodged crystals" on this forum months ago and completley dismissed it. Being the medical professional that I am NOT I wrote it off as some weird, imaginary, mid-evil sounding idea.

I was WRONG! This is a real, treatable condition. We have an appointment with an ENT to check into BPPV or other vestibular issues on Friday. BPPV can lead to nausea, lightheadedness, lack of concentration, panic attacks, nystagmus, migraines, etc. In other words, all of the lingering symptoms my daughter is currently experiencing.

Lesson learned: just because she never used the word "dizzy" doesn't mean she might not have a vetibular issue. And just because I never knew I had rocks in my head doesn't mean I don't :)

I know that feeling!
 

WOW! :D I'm new here, and I JUST ran across your post! What you are describing sounds EXACTLY like what I'm experiencing when I get my "vertigo spells". I didn't think ANYONE would be able to understand what I'm saying!

My brain feels like it's moving in a "vertical" clockwise circle in my skull. After a moment my eyes seem to want to follow the motion (not sure if they are actually moving or not). I then become extremely nauseous (within seconds). This has only happened when I'm sitting down - if I'm standing it usually seems more like an aura, like a vague similar feeling. I crawl to the floor usually with my eyes closed and I lay on my back with my knees up until it passes (usually 2-3 minutes, or thereabouts. I've only gotten really close to getting sick one time more recently (but I had a double ear infection a month ago, so that may have contributed to the extra nausea).

I have a history of migraines, and a history of minor head traumas (2 or 3 of which might have been worse than was recognized at the time they occurred - the last about 10 years ago. I've been having my "vertigo" spells (which my ENT told me last week might be seizures) for the last 18 mos. or so.

I still have to read the rest of this thread. :o I just got really excited that I found someone who sounded like they knew what I was feeling! LOL :hug:

~ Michelle

I experience that too. I just describe it as feeling "dizzy".

Hi, Michelle -
I have been offline for some many months now.
I've been to neuro-ophthalmologist recently; no answers to the what I now can perhaps only describe as episodic rotational vertigo. Hope that you get some good answers. Theta

Thanks for the reply! I didn't think I'd hear from you after I noticed the date of your post. I hope you can eventually find some answers, too.

I promised my anxiety doc that I wouldn't do much research until after my neurologist's appointment next week as I was driving myself and my family crazy, but I didn't want to go too long without checking in. It was great to find your post.

Hope you find answers soon, too!

LOL -- Yep, that's what I'm calling it for now, too. At least since the ENT I saw said it wasn't true "vertigo"! We'll see what my neuro calls it, I guess. ;)