Sudafed for Vertigo?

Yesterday and night--worst of my life and I'm 67 years old, so I have a lot to be thankful for that I've lived this long without the 11 hours of sheer misery with vertigo and finally a few hours of sleep. I tried the hanging head and some form of the Epley exercise and an eye movement exercise, all of which I found earlier on-line. With any slight change of position, my head was in the toilet or a barf bucket. After 10 hours, I finally kept a meclizine pill down and I put the anti-nausea pill under my tongue instead of swallowing it and got to sleep.

We had company when all this started and my husband's buddy went on a mission to help and his friend, a nurse, told him I should take Sudafed in addition to the other pills. This doesn't sound right to me and we didn't have any. Now I can't find any substantiation on-line for using it in this way. I recently used a box of Sudafed my ENT doc recommended after I was having a sudden flare up of symptoms, which did not include the vertigo, and it didn't help. The doc then put me on an antibiotic and that didn't help. He then changed the diuretic to the generic Dyazide, which I've been on for a few months. The only noticeable change on the plus side is a marked decrease in the tinnitus. The bad fullness and hyper-sensitivity to higher sounds and music were the worst of it until some more frequent episodes of vertigo and then the worst of all episodes last night.

So, has anyone had any experience with adding a Sudafed pill when vertigo symptoms start? And what do you take for the lousy, head-achey feeling the next day. I read somewhere that Ibuprofen is not a good choice.

And one more question...does anyone have experience going to an ER during a vertigo attack? The last one I had in May was as severe, but lasted only a few hours. I called the ENT doc's office the next day, hoping to get an Rx for something stronger the next time, and a nurse told me I should have gone to the ER. I can't imagine getting in a car for the 40 minute drive to the nearest hospital. If you go by ambulance, will the EMT's give you some sort of sedative? Just thinking about being jostled about like that makes me relive the attack in my mind.

I also had 2 attacks in June, but a meclizine and a few "exercises" and I felt better. I'm afraid I'm starting a new pattern. I was previously diagnosed 2 years ago with Cochlear Hydrops, but I think the doc will change it to MM the next time I see him.

I found the JOH regimen, thanks to reading some of your posts, and I ordered the full batch of pills, so I'll start that this week. I'm surprised the ENT doc's office has never offered any information on this or on the exercises for vertigo.

Thanks for reading this long rant and for your comments.

 

Thank you, Wendy. How often do you do those Epley exercises? Do you do them when you feel dizzy or when you're more steady? I'm encouraged by your improved balance, hearing, and tinnitus after taking the Lysine for just a couple of months. I'm hoping for those results, too, and that it will reduce the sensitivity and fullness that I am most bothered with. I took a cruise in March with my high school friends--10 of us! We do this every couple of years and I was miserable. I had to wear noise canceling headgear, even at dinner. Couldn't go to shows. And I had a hard time hearing in general, even with the hearing aid on my bad ear (which has since been adjusted to my more sudden loss of hearing, but I can't turn up the volume enough to hear words and still be comfortable). The only quiet place on the ship was in my room. I took a electric bicycle tour which was so much more fun. I could tolerate the outdoor noise and wind noise near the ocean so much better than the indoor noise. Fortunately, I wasn't having vertigo at that time, and it had been about a year since a previous episode. I can't imagine having vertigo on a ship! I have till 2021 to get my MM symptoms under control. I don't want to miss the next cruise! I don't know much yet about the steroid injections, but I'm hoping the JOH regimen will help. I see a well-respected ENT doc/surgeon and my next appointment will be in the late fall or winter. I'm hoping I will be able to report to him some positive result from the JOH because I'm guessing if I asked him about it first, he would say it's a bunch of hooey!

 

Wendy, thanks for the follow-up. I don't know if I have BPPV or just vertigo from MM, but I thought those exercises would be helpful for either, and if so, I don't know how often you should do them. I do know I am often dizzy, especially if I stand up or move my head quickly. I find myself going in slow motion, especially in public, so I don't trigger an episode. I did those eye exercises in the bad vertigo episode, but that didn't seem to help. I just took the first dose of Lysine tonight and I'm hoping for a similar result as yours so that I will be able to be with a group in a restaurant again in a few months as you did.

 

Saera, what great advice about the chewable meclizine! I'll look for that. And I'll add the alcohol swab to my emergency kits, bedside and in my purse. Now that you mention it, I do remember reading someone's post about that. Good advice, too, about the doc. I think he's a well-known surgeon, but I'm hoping to not have to go down the path to surgery without trying other things first. I'm away from home now so I won't have an opportunity to shop for a new doc for awhile, but you give me something to think about, and I'll start to look for a doc that maybe has some experience with nutrition therapies. I travel over an hour to see this doc, so I have a good excuse to switch, even if I have to go back to him down the road for more invasive treatment.