Has anyone suffered with vertigo?

Yes. The exercises help, but can be quite unpleasant to do. I did a thing called the Epley maneuvre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epley_maneuver

Staying hydrated can help also, as can a good night's rest. All other quackery should be consigned to the bin.

LR

Not me personally, but I know someone with vertigo who did the epley thing and it really helped. Not pleasant, but worth it.

Had a bad spell of vertigo recently, one day in fact I was bedridden with my eyes shut all day because otherwise I was bound to vomit. I ended up with some meds from the doctor which frankly didn't seem to do a lot, I had to ring back and he basically told me to double up the dose so I hope they work better for you. They said it was viral and that the pills would hide the vertigo but not cure it and only time would do that and magically 2 weeks later it had passed. My dad also had a bout recently and did the epley maneuver and it cured it pretty much straight away because it basically moves the crystals back where they're supposed to be. I think it can be tricky to diagnose which of a few things can be causing the vertigo, mine was happening whether I moved my head or not so Benign Paroxsymal Positional Vertigo was ruled out for me.

Would agree with the staying hydrated, I go through phases of having vertigo for a day or so at a time and I'm a swine for not drinking enough so it would explain why I'm plagued by it.

You have my sympathies, its flipping horrible!

I've had it on the odd occasion, generally as part of a hangover from a very late night. ALthough it seem last for a few days at times.

I take some Avomine (promethazine hydrochloride) before going to bed and it's gone in the morning.

Although yours sounds a bit more severe than mine!

My wife suffers. The exercises help, but they were not an instant fix and were apparently very unpleasant to do. She was also advised to keep moving and not be tempted to lie down for ages.

I had this during lockdown, completely out of the blue. Got up in the night for a pee, was on the ground before I knew what had happened. It was like gravity had swung through 90 degrees and I was getting hauled through the wall. Ghastly

I did the epley stuff, first time was utterly awful but it got better and went away after maybe 3 or 4 days. I had to be careful sleeping - basically propped my up at night and tried never to lay flat. I had one minor relapse and then fine. For a few weeks in the morning when I got up, I would feel nauseous for a bit. The Dr offered me some meds to quell the nausea but I didn;t really want more pills so I gritted my teeth instead!

I think it was caused by sleeping with my head off the back of the pillow, ie sloping backwards. So i'm careful not to do that now

Patience, it will go away. The epley manouvre you need to do it the right direction for the affected ear. If you go the wrong way it's all a bit horrible for a minute!

A while ago MrsP had balance issues and her eyes were flicking side to side like mad and Dr Google diagnosed BPPV - Dr Google also suggested the Epley manoeuvre an the 'barbeque roll' which I did and they resolved it immediately. A year or so back I had a bout of BPPV myself so self administered the BBQ roll which helped but I had residual symptoms and started feeling seasick while sat on the stairs, so did it again a day or so later and it sorted me out.

I've had it a couple of times and one or two  epley manoeuvres worked both times with the vertigo clearing 1-2 hours after. The manoeuvre itself triggers both the vertigo and the twitchy eye thing for me so is unpleasant but worth putting up with for getting rid of the vertigo. Beware the manoeuvre is handed so you need to figure out which inner ear is being troublesome first.

I've had a couple of bouts of this and the Epley manoeuvre exercises did work but they do make you feel awful in the short term.

I got this during covid times so after half a day of not being able to get up off the floor without getting the worst hangover room spins I got a telephone consultation and told to google the Epley manoeuvre & Brandt-Daroff Exercises.

By the next day it had dropped to mild nausea and went away after a few days.

I was told that if you have it once you'll probably get it again and I've had another bout but restarted the exercises straight away and that was less than a day and no where near as bad as the first time.

There are 4 main types of vertigo:

• Positional
• Central
• Labyrinthitis
• Vestibular neuronitis

Positional is caused by little crystals forming in the fluid of the semicircular canals of the balance organs in the middle ear. This is more common as we age. It is characterized by certain movement setting off the vertigo. Anti-sickness and anti-dizziness medications can help, quite often it resolves spontaneously.  This is the case where doing the head moving exercises to put the crystals back in the reservoir in the balance organ can lead to complete resolution.

Central is when it's cause by a neurological disease, sometimes a stroke. Fortunately this is less common, and generally obvious as there are other symptoms as well.

Labyrinthitis is when it's caused by an inflammation of the middle ear including the balance organ. Usually there's a history of a viral illness with some sort of ear symptoms, such as hearing changes or tinnitus. It gets better by itself, but anti-sickness and anti-dizziness medications can help.

Vestibular neuronitis is when it's caused by an inflammation of the vestibular nerve that runs from the brain to the balance organ. This is a poorly understood condition, but often it is after a viral infection. It is different from labyrhinthitis in that you don't have any hearing symptoms or tinnitus. It too gets better by itself, but because the brain has to recalibrate itself to the irritable nerve, anti-sickness and anti-dizziness medications can make an episode last longer. If it doesn't get better by itself, vestibular rehabilitation exercises are often used.

I tend to tell my patients that if it's not well on it's way to getting better after six weeks then to come back and see me again on a routine appointment. YMMV. Obviously if it's in the context of other neurological symptoms as well, earlier review would be needed.

The Vertigo is caused by a discrepancy between the signal the brain is receiving from the balance organ and your eyes. The balance organ says your head is moving, your eyes say it's still, your brain interprets this as the room spinning.

General things to do to help, avoid smoking, caffeine and booze. Try and keep to a regular getting up time, and go to bed when you're tired. Try not to get too stressed.

Thanks for the replies everyone, some useful information there. I didn't realise you could self administer the Epley manoeuvre, will go and look at some Youtube vids.

Not had it, not read the replays but this podcast may be of interest.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4y47?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Had it about 6 months ago. The Brandt-Daroff exercises worked for me - went after about a week.

Found it quite fun - you know the room is going to spin, so you’re ready for it… and spin it does. Exactly like being pissed! Very weird but it clears up whatever is wrong in you ear(s)

ps. from exactly the same diagnosis as the op. Hardly used any of the pills.

My Dad had it, and when he started talking about crystals in his ears and head tilting exercises I thought he was talking nonsense, but it's not and yeah the exercises cleared it up over time.

I had it for a couple of months after being hit on the back of the head by a Ford Focus. Luckily I also had a broken spine so wasn't really keen on moving much anyway. For me it just passed with time though. Nearly vomited once or twice, didn't love it. Not sure that's of any help except to say that for me it was probably the 'crystals dislodged and floating around unhelpfully' version, and once they settled it went away.

I had it.  Exercises helped, don’t remember any medication.  It eventually cleared although I still stay clear of roller coasters!

I had Labrynthitis 3 years ago, absolutely horrible. Felt like I had had a stroke, mouth wouldn't work, limbs were sluggish, brain stopped completely being able to focus on the simplest things. Tablets for it were awful as well. Not a  nice experience.

Wife had it, did exercises, it worked, took a while.

So this week it was my turn, I’d had the comedy ‘comedy boat in a storm’ type a few weeks ago, but Thursday was eyes closed all day and puking. Checked blood pressure and it was 187/120 so we went to A&E. seven hours later and after a drip and some anti sickness meds I went home. BP still high, but not critical. I’m hoping it’s a virus that has caused both not a near stroke. I’ve not been doing much exercise this last year due to other illness and crashing so it’s a wake up call for sure.

I get Labrynthitis about every three months. It does tend to go away on it's own after a week or two. The problem is that I'm a decorator and have managed to fall off ladders quite spectacularly when I get dizzy. Can't afford to have weeks off so just have to get on with it. It is pretty horrible feeling like you have a terrible hangover for about a week though.

CS you have my sympathies, my job will be impossible if this becomes a regular thing.