OT - BPPV

Sometimes when I get up to fast I get real dizzy but I've always chalked that up to my blood pressure medicine. There are times though that I can't walk a straight line, I feel like I'm veering off to one side or the other, so if this is it, it's very mild.

oh no. one more thing to worry about as I get older. now have a broken shoulder from falling while walking because my gait is off balance
now I need 2 surgeries for cataracts. anyone have that done yet? I'm a little nervous about that. it says to stop taking aspirin for 10 days, but I take it for atrial fibrillation.

BPPV is supposed to be transient - the loose crystal gets reabsorbed after some days/weeks.

Chronic vertigo/dizziness is probably something else and definitely worth getting checked out - it could be anything from a virus (a colleague of my bf's had that and it sounds horrible), to meds, to positional orthostatic hypotension, to I don't what else...

The ER doctor was quickly able to determine which ear by looking at my eyes. The Epley procedure is supposed to move the crystals back where they belong but they can dislodge again in time - how much time? I don't think that is known and may vary from person to person.

When I do the Epley at home, I am to turn my head to the right first (since it is my left ear that is affected) and, after a minute, to the left. When I turn to the right - no problem - when I turn to the left - dizzy. I stay to the left until the dizziness subsides and, so far, it does. Then I do the "to the floor" part on the left side. I am not dizzy with that either. I am to keep my eyes open with all positions.

Apparently it is "rare" to have it in both ears. We'll see about that!

Good luck Read up on the Epley though because I thought you had to do all 3 (?) motions very quickly for it to work properly.

My dizziness was originally diagnosed as BPPV when I was 35, after about a year of repeat episodes & Drs. in ER unable to determine which ear (it seemed to be both), the original diagnosis was found to be false. I have Meniere's Disease, bilateral (both ears). I have dizzy spells with no warning, much like BPPV. When my seizure disorder started, I felt like they were connected, but neuro did not. Eventually they determined seizure disorder was actually rooted in my sleep - I had been on CPAP several years by that time. Anyway, BPPV is quite common, if unpleasant, Meniere's is uncommon, also unpleasant.

Sounds like you have the garden variety of BPPV, so sorry you had to join that club.

Thanks jencat. I'm sorry our condition turned out to be something more complicated. Hope you have something or can do something to give you relief when it hits.

echo -I was told slowly and that SEEMS to work, for me anyway. Did your reading tell you to do it quickly?

So that's what those episodes are.
Who'd have thunk it?

Hawthorne wrote:echo -I was told slowly and that SEEMS to work, for me anyway. Did your reading tell you to do it quickly?

Yup, in order to avoid having the crystal settle, or something like that. But don't take my word for it, it's been a while since I read all that! Or maybe it was the *motion* itself that had to be done swiftly i.e. moving from 1 position to the next. :/ sorry for any misinformation!