Yesterday was my first Santa gig. I was scheduled to be at Bass Pro Shop from 5-9. Everything was great until 5 minutes 'til 8. Fortunately for the line ended. One little boy and his mom and little sister came back for one visit. As he was sitting on my knee I felt the vertigo/dizzies coming on. As soon as he left I reached into my pocket and popped in a valium. I soon realized I needed another Valium. Fortunately, nobody else was coming to see Santa. I was told I could leave at 8:15. I was afraid to get up and try to walk out of the store without appearing to be Bad Santa ( because I was walking like a drunk. I took another 5 mg of valium and drove home. I was like hung-over from binge drinking until midnight when I went to bed. No matter how bad I felt I was going to watch FSU-Miami football game. Well, now its 10:40 and I have to be back at Bass Pro in an hour and I'm still feeling pretty bad. But, I will go and do my best and hope I don't get any worse. I'm not stumbling now. I'm just kind of worn out. Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Day
I love the Bass Pro Shop, but I hate Florida State! Hope you feel better Santa, don't be afraid to slay the beast forever, I sympathetic to the laby.
I hope today is a better day for you Santa. I know that for me if I don't get enough sleep it is a major major trigger for me. Drink extra water and try to rest later if you can.
It is true Santa, get rid of the beast and get on with living dizzy/vertigo free! So sorry you are suffering.
Thank you Friends, Today was a much better day. I have very loud tinnitus and it seemed like I was going go verti/dizzy a few times. But, I didn't. Saw lots of families for five straight hours. It's nice to be a part of so many wonderful people's magic and joy that many feel this time of year. Thank you for your good wishes.
The tinnitus is screaming. And I feel like a Verti/dizzy can happen at any time. I haven't had an attack in two days. Yesterday I bought some meclizine. I'm not sure if it helped much although I didn't get verti/dizzy but seemed like I came close a few times. I am gonna keep taking the meclizine and keep the valium handy. I have a twelve hour work day today. Singing at a preschool and an assisted living facility and then 6 hours of Santa at Bass Pro. I'm wondering if I need more than three weeks of valacyclovir at 3 times per day. This two times a day is keeping my aural fullness down and the tinnitus up. But, I was hoping for better results by now. Oh, well, still fighting the beast. Happy Days!!
Keep fighting, Santa, we're all counting on you this season! I cannot give advice on the AV dosage but it does seem like results can vary and adjusting the dosage until you "settle in" on what works for you may be required. I'm finishing up my first three weeks on Acyclovir today and I experience that unbalance feeling every so often. Staying hydrated seems to be very important in staying balanced. Good luck today.
Santa, I just wanted to say that I admire you for going out there and doing what you do even when you aren't feeling great. I am sure you put a smile on many kids faces. I hope you have better days ahead.
Thanks Friends, I had a pretty good day. I ended up taking one meclizine in the morning and a valium around noon and another meclizine around 2. I made it through the day pretty well. The screaming tinnitus and low hearing were my biggest downers today. But, I put a lot of smiles on families faces today. So,it was a great day. I had to re-bleach my hair today which is always a scary thing to do. If I leave it on too long my hair just melts and breaks off. So, I did have some stressful moments today. I have a ten inch beard starting at my lower lip which really gives my an authentic "Santa" look. The bleaching worked and now my hair and beard are snow white. I don't know if I really needed to take the meclizine or the valium but I felt like I couldn't take the chance of getting Verti/dizzy today. Good Health to All
What you do is amazing! Not just for the kids and parents but also for the preschool and assisted living places. I'm sorry you're suffering, too! I hope you get through the season feeling better everyday. Someone who brings so much Joy to others should be held in Gods Hands. I'm worried about you driving after three Valium or even Meclizine. Please, next time call someone or take a cab! Feel better
Santa, I am by no means an expert, but I believe I have read here that some people do require a longer period of time at 3x/day before tapering down. I know that for me the doctor agreed to another 4 weeks because i was getting relief with the pressure and ringing but not 100%. The extra 4 weeks did great and then tapered down to 2x/day, etc.. I think, personally, if you are experiencing any improvement it shows that the a/v is working for you. Good luck...and Ho Ho Ho!
Nic, thanks for your timely post on this. This morning I was supposed to officially complete my first 3 weeks of 3g per day, but initially i thought i might just want to extend the 3g per day by one more day. But I became more "greedy" and decided 3 more days till this Sunday. After you posted your extra 4 weeks, maybe I will extend mine to one more week or so and go by the gut's feel.
Keep in mind when you do decrease and symptoms return go back up to the previous dose for another 2 weeks or so then try again. Many of us had to deviate from the protocol and stayed on doses longer as needed, I did as well, it took me months before I could decrease to my maintenance dose w/o having symptoms return. I would guestimate it took me about 8 months to go from 2400 mg to 800 mg of acyclovir.
Vicki, Did the AV calm the tinnitus as well as the other symptoms? I'm wondering because I have been on the acyclovir for the 3 weeks and am stepping down today to 2g per day but my tinnitus is as loud as ever. Also I have occasional dizziness which I am attributing to the AV side effect because it is different than the vertigo or disequillibrium I have experienced in the past. I guess what I'm asking is how did you know it was time to decrease to the lower dosages? Thanks for any help.
if it controlled your vertigo, I would say try and decrease, you will know soon enough if you need to go back up on the higher dose. I am assuming you have been on 2400 mg for the last 3 weeks. AV's help some people with their tinnitus others not, it hasn't helped mine but mine is livable, usually background noise drowns it out except when I am sick or have allergies then the loudness increases. You may also want to look into MAV migraine associated vertigo (headaches not required) since you are experiencing a different type of dizziness, I was only able to realize I had MAV and MM once my MM symptoms were under control. There is good info about MAV in the forums database.
Yes I too went an extra week with Acyclovir on the highest dose with much improvement. Then switched to valacyclovir with another ratchet up in wellness. This is my third week on full dose. My blood test results are in but I haven't heard anything yet. Have a hearing test scheduled for Tuesday next week. Since there is still some days better than others, and reading this, I may entertain staying on the higher dose awhile longer if my tests are good. The thought of a backslide scares the you-know-what out of me. The MD's are very hung up on protocols so that might be a battle. Fighting is good for me
different treatment, here is the link from the database, the complete thread which is lengthy can be found in the archives of old database http://menieres.org/talk/index.php?topic=32.0