Im in a major vertigo episode going on 4 weeks now. This is the longest episode I’ve had in 25 years. Waiting for an appt at Wake Forest Univ, so of course Ive been on Valium for this last week to keep me upright, which does nothing but drug me up and drop weight. I know stress makes things worse but I’ve been so emotional thinking about not missing my daughters graduation in June and life in general. I cry way too easily and think way too much. Yes I’ve seen counselors through the years about anxiety etc… But what do you do, when emotional and overthinking during a very bad vertigo attack? I know getting upset exacerbates the vertigo. Can anyone give me ideas as I wait for things to get better on what I could do?
I think you should look into MAV ( migraine associated vertigo) From what I learned and experienced, Meniere’s vertigo attacks last no longer than 24h . I am sure there is plenty of information about MAV on this forum. An old member Vicki posted a lot about MAV in the past which was very informative and helpful. All the best
I don’t get migraines. I will need to read if you can have that but not feel the actual migraine. Thank you
Jen, you do not have to have migraine pain to have MAV. I agree with Marta. Do a lot of research on it and see if any of what you read fits with what you're experiencing. When you say you've had a vertigo attack for four weeks, do you mean that the vertigo comes and goes, or is it constant?
I saw a post recently from someone who had anxiety issues and got treatment for it and saw an improvement in his Menieres. I’ll try and find it.
Vertigo is constant. Can’t do anything in house but sit or propped on pillows, bc I’m ether spinning or lopsided in my brain. Naturally no driving, no working out, no appetite bc I’m nauseous 80% of the time. What meds that used to have me up in a day are now ineffective. Only thing that has changed via bloodwork is progesterone is low but I am not in menopause yet. I think that’s the culprit...menopause. Progesterone did not help, actually made me feel worse.
Prescription Zofran (ondansetron) was effective for me against the nausea at its worst. I found there were a few creative activities that could distract my thoughts from the pervasive anxiety and give me a few minutes in the present moment. On the other hand, trying to read or do things that required logical thinking became frustrating and made things worse. Mindfulness practice -- pushing away thoughts that aren't of the present moment and focusing instead on the here and now -- helped also. Eventually I opted for labyrinthectomy surgery, which stopped the anxiety immediately and gave me back my life. I had already lost my hearing in that ear to Meniere's, so it wasn't a too difficult a decision. After surgery there was a tough recovery process over several months to regain my balance, but today I'm so glad to be a functional and confident person again. Keep us posted.
When I was at my worst, Valium was a miracle drug. 5mg every 2-3 hours enabled me to remain vertical when I otherwise would have been incapacitated by violent spinning. Best of luck to you...
I had lost all useable hearing, which means my word recognition was zero. I could probably still hear a tiny bit of sound, but honestly noticed very little change in hearing after the laby. Losing hearing on one side has social repercussions, as it is so difficult to separate conversations from background noise or other voices. That's the part I grieved most as my hearing faded away. I had a bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) implanted at the time of the laby, and it has helped somewhat, but not as much as I'd hoped. CROS hearing aids (where a mic is in the bad ear and sends sound by bluetooth to a receiver in the other ear) can also help, and that approach is non-invasive. Here's a link to a post last July as I was trying to decide between laby and gentamicin. If you search for labyrinthectomy in the database, you will find an excellent thread by PleaseNoDizzy as she chronicled her laby recovery. I had my surgery about a month after she did and was grateful to learn from her and others on this forum who shared and cheered. Mac started a thread with a survey asking those who've had laby surgery to respond to a set of questions. (Oops - just realized I still have to do that survey -- sorry, Mac!) My own laby recovery thread is posted here.
Jen is this still going on, constant vertigo for weeks? If so you might need and emergency CT or MRI. Menieres and MAV should be more episodic than this- please get serious diagnoses ruled out! And hopefully being in ER might get you some treatment and relief.