Advise sorely sought. What's wrong with me? Not sure

I'm 35. For the last couple of years I've occasionally at times had a strange feeling in one of my ears, not like it's blocked but more like it's "hollow". Very hard to explain. I can hear things fine, although occasionally I've had a ring in the other ear, but this is very rare, once every few months at most.

Here is where things get interesting. For the last few years I've lived in a seismically active region in Mindanao, Philippines which has been struck with a lot of magnitude 6+ earthquakes over the years I've been there. In the last few months however the earthquakes got completely out of hand. In one week there were three M6+ earthquakes, including a 6.8, with hundreds of foreshocks & aftershocks mostly varying from M4 - M5. I was living in a high rise condominium so was particularly susceptible to the shaking. It felt like the place was constantly rocking slightly, that it never ceased. Even on the ground I could feel the rocking. I also felt light headed. I put this all down to the earthquakes. Some other people in the city could also feel similar things to me, some couldn't. Those that felt it were also more likely to be expats like myself, not locals.

Putting this down to the earthquakes I decided to leave and return to my home country which is very non-seismic. Strangely, the sensation of feeling a constant earthquake didn't seem to stop. I'd say every second day or so I'm completely unproductive and barely able to walk, feeling very light headed, like the room is moving slightly, and a disassociation within myself. It's nothing too extreme, but it's enough to prevent concentration, along with an underlying feeling of unreality.

What's puzzling is I'm unsure if these symptoms are related to the earlier mentioned symptom where one of my ears would occasionally become hollow once every couple of months, or if they're related to the earthquakes, or perhaps even both (where the earthquakes may have acted as a catalyst for an underlying condition). I'm at a complete loss.

I don't have migraines, ear pain, hearing loss, ringing (other than for a few moments very rarely for a few seconds once every few months), or anything else. What I do have is nausea and an incredible dizziness every 2nd day now it seems.

It's hard to describe my dizziness specifically, I'm unsure if it's vertigo or another type of dizziness. If I stare at a certain point/dot in the distance, I find my eyes unable to focus on it exactly. They will move very slightly around the dot/point, never being able to hold still and focused on it completely. The room itself isn't spinning, it's just hard to hold focus.

I also experience my body rocking in the exact same manner as I did when I was in Mindanao. This is strange considering there's no earthquakes where I am currently. Whilst I initially put this down to the earthquakes, it's strange that I'm feeling this months later still in a non-seismic country. Also, sometimes I will have apparent 'phantom quakes', whereby I can literally feel the first 1 or 2 seconds of a large earthquake beginning. When I realize it hasn't began, and nothing is happening, I don't experience anything else other than the usual gentle body rocking and unable to hold focus on a distant object with my eyes.

I never had these symptoms before moving to Mindanao other than the occasional hollow feeling in my ear or ringing once every few months. I'm at a complete loss how much of this is physiological, psychological from the earthquakes, or if it may be meniers or something else. Again, it's the dizziness and body rocking that is completely overwhelming in comparison to anything else, none of the other symptoms are that serious in comparison.

I'm curious what this might be? PTSD from the quakes? Menieres? A brain condition? A coincidence? A cofactor? Something else? Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.

 

Hi Anne that is amazing, thank you for sharing that. I looked up PPPV and that seems to almost match everything exactly! Especially the chance of an underlying vestibular condition being triggered by some event. I'm going to see some doctors and see what comes of it. Thanks again.