Vertigo - Dizziness

[leian1622]

Meadyo nasa topic na off-topic.

I also suffer from vertigo or at least I think it's vertigo.  Back in Oct 2003 I just woke up from bed na biglang  lumingon lang from one side to the other but when I sat up I felt very, very dizzy, my eyes were moving wild  as if I were on drugs  and I was sweating cold.  That continued for the whole day and when the second day came after we had church mass, during the last 20 minutes of mass I was having this sinking feeling that I know I was gonna collapse coz when I was inhaling the air felt cold and I couldn't get a full breath in as if someone was squeezing my lungs everytime I inhale.  After the mass my eyes were moving up and down and my vision was blurry yet my eyes were looking sharp and I was already having pins and needles, electric feeling throughout my body so I told my parents to bring me to the hospital.  5 minutes later I could barely stand up, after 2 minutes I lost sensations on both legs then after a minute I felt the lost sensations going up my body up to my lungs.  It felt like a big guy was crushing me, I couldn't even inhale and I kept hitting my arms on the car's dashboard but I couldn't feel any sensation.  For a second I almost lost conciousness but the good thing we were already at front of New Era hospital and by the time we reached the ER entrance all my sensations suddenly came back but my entire body feel like electricity and I was so weak.  They did a blood check on me but found nothing so I was rushed to FEU hospital.  I was confined for 2 days and the neurologist said that I suffered from vertigo and my sudden lost of sensation was probably due to hyperventilation and panic attack.

 

But here's my problem... ever since that attack my dizziness never went away.  Every year there are new symptoms that are popping up like palpatations, consistent and persistent muscle twitching, and the feeling like your heart skipped a beat.  I went to over 3 neuros since 03 upto now and they performed an EMG, MRI, and CT scan but found nothing.  My most recent test was a CT scan last Sept 04.  Then I was hospitalized early this year coz my stomach felt like it was being sucked by a vacum cleaner and I felt the vertigo and palpatation and difficult breathing.  When I spoke with the physician what he said that since they found nothing wrong with my brain... it was impossible for me to get Parkinson's even if it was in my family line, nor to get brain cancer coz within a month it could be easily be detected with a imaging scan.  So he adviced me to go check a cardiologist.  I was schocked coz I was just 25 that month but within this month I"m determined to get a 2D echo, the perfect imaging test to see if you have any defects, blocks or whatever you have in your heart.

 

Some things about vertigo

 

Vertigo is a symptom of an illness and not an illness itself.

Vertigo problems can be checked by a lotta specialists like Neurologist, ENT(ear nost throat) PT(physical therapist) and even an orthodontist if you have TMJ problems.  But go to a neuro first.

 

I went to the neuro, cardio and ent for the past years and all of them just said that I was having easy panic attacks so the neuro gave me Serc(anti-vertigo) and anti-anxiety pills like Diazepam and Rivotril.  But I found Rivotril to be the best specially the first time I used it within an hour I felt a lot better... my panic attacks were gone, my muscle twitchings were almost gone, no more palpatations, no feeling of laboured breathing and best of all..... no vertigo!!!  But despite that I'm still determined to get a 2D echo imaging for record keeping sake.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

hey we have the same feelings... i think i have a vertigo too...... and im still 25 though.......

i kept on touching my ears with my finger kasi..... maybe thats where i get it......

[leyte]

Taking too much Vit. D can cause Vertigo too. Kailangan watch out your diet and less stress naman. It can be very frustrating sometimes lalo na kung umaataki and vertigo. It would be better to see a doctor that specializes in dizzy spells because there must be an underlying problems in our body.

 

May payo is relax

enjoy life

do not worry

less stress na life

[dsnake]

I'm not so sure if Vertigo is similar to motion sickness. I suffer from motion sickness and it affects my lifestyle in many ways. I love travelling but vomit half of the way to my destination when riding a bus. I love fishing but can't stand more than 15 minutes on a rocky boat. I always have to be the one driving or sit shotgun because I get dizzy when I ride in the backseat. As I get older though, my motion sickness tend to grudually lessen. Here are some stuffs I collected from the net (some were quite helpful)...

 

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What actually causes motion sickness? According to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica,

“Motion sickness is caused by contradiction between external data from the eyes and internal cues from the balance center in the inner ear. For example, in seasickness the inner ear senses the ship's motion, but the eyes see the still cabin. This stimulates stress hormones and accelerates stomach-muscle contraction, leading to dizziness, pallor, cold sweat, and nausea and vomiting. Minimizing changes of speed and direction may help, as may reclining, not turning the head, closing the eyes, or focusing on distant objects.”

 

Traditional preventative cures for motion sickness include drugs such as Dramamine, whose active ingredient Dimenhydrinate, may cause tiredness. There is a patch available that is worn on the body like a smoker's patch, but instead, behind the ear. It should be placed in position about 12 hours before riding. It works by administering the drug Scopolamine Hydrobromide through the skin. It may be worn up to 3 days, but cannot be reused. For those that wish to try a drug-free method, there are wristbands that apply pressure to an acupuncture point on the arm. Two bands must be worn, one on each wrist in the correct position to be effective. Even worn properly, they may not work for everyone.

 

Hypnosis techniques anyone can apply for relief. Research has proven that stress and fear responders in the body contribute to elevated blood pressure and tightened muscles, resulting in discomforts such as headaches, tension, dizziness and nausea.

 

The first step toward alleviating these symptoms involves relaxing your body. This can be achieved quickly by three simple steps: 1) Close your eyes to eliminate outside distractions 2) Breathe deeply and slowly 3) Imagine yourself in a peaceful and calm setting, perhaps your favorite place to read or relax, or maybe a safe and beautiful spot outdoors that you enjoy.

 

Notice as you continue breathing and mentally focusing on that place that both your mind and body gradually ease and relax. In addition, as you continue to calm yourself, clasp your hands gently together, or press the tips of a thumb and finger together. This gesture will act as a trigger in the future to assist you in reaching that relaxation even more quickly. It is a good idea to practice this technique several times a day prior to taking your trip.

 

Another method that is useful in reducing the discomfort of motion sickness is to actually imagine yourself experiencing your trip. As you practice the self-hypnosis for relaxation, project yourself into your trip. This is called future pacing and is supported by the belief that you become what you think. In this case, seeing yourself on your trip, enjoying yourself, feeling healthy and happy, will actually assist in the manifestation of a pleasant voyage.

 

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Motion Sickness: Quick-Action Cures

 

The sky is blue, the sea is green, and you are bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked, out on the deck of a sun-dappled sailboat bobbing along in the waves. Bobbing and dipping. Dipping and lobbing. Lobbing and listing. Listing and rolling. Rolling and rising. Rising and sinking. Sinking and splashing. Splashing and crashing. Crashing and churning. Listing and bobbing and dipping and rippling. Crashing and churning and stomach turning. And before you know it, you're launching your lunch into glistening green waters, quaking and quickening. It's altogether sickening.

 

The French call it mal de mer, and even the most seasoned sailors can suffer from it. In the air, it's airsickness. On land, it's car sickness. And then there's amusement park ride sickness-at least one visitor a day turns green on Disney World's Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. But it's all the same thing-that queasy, uneasy feeling collectively known as motion sickness.

 

"Motion sickness results when the brain receives wrong information about the environment," explains Rafael Tarnopolsky, M.D., a professor of otolaryngology at the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences. To help keep our bodies in balance, our sensory systems continually collect information about our surroundings and send it to our inner ears, and like computers, they organize the information and send it on to the brain.

 

It is when our balance system notes a discrepancy between what our inner ears sense and our eyes sense that motion sickness can take hold, says Horst Konrad, M.D., chairman of the Committee on Equilibrium of the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery. Not everyone gets it, but the signals are pretty clear when we do. We get dizzy. We sweat. Our skin turns pale. We feel nauseated. And if things don't get any better, we throw up.

 

Once you feel the symptoms coming on, motion sickness can be very difficult to stop, especially if you've reached your particular point of no return—usually when nausea sets in. But the following remedies can help nurse the symptoms and might be able to cut them short. Better yet, they might keep the symptoms from starting in the first place—next time you're bobbing and dripping, dripping and bobbing along on a pretty afternoon's wave.

 

"Motion sickness is partly psychological," says Dr. Konrad. "If you think you're going to throw up, you're probably going to." Instead, turn your thoughts to something wonderful.

 

Leave nursing the sick to someone else. It's a common occurrence. You're on a fishing boat. Everything's going along fine until someone gets sick. You watch in sympathy, maybe even offer a comforting shoulder. Before long, you're the next body down. Then there goes another. It's the domino theory in action. As cruel as it may sound, do your best to ignore others who are sick, says Dr. Konrad. Otherwise you're liable to end up in the same boat.

 

Get your nose out of the joint. Bad odors such as engine fumes, the dead fish on ice in the back of the boat, or the sardine sandwich being made in the galley can contribute to nausea, says Dr. Konrad. Aim your nose elsewhere.

 

Butt out. If you're a smoker, you may think that lighting up can calm you, deterring motion sickness. Wrong. Cigarette smoke can only contribute to impending nausea, says Dr. Konrad. If you're a nonsmoker, hightail it to the nonsmoking section of the plane, train, or bus if you feel queasiness coming on.

 

Travel at night. Your chances of getting sick diminish when you travel at night because you can't see the motion as well as you can in daylight hours, says Roderic W. Gillilan, O.D., an optometrist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, who has helped hundreds of patients overcome the problem.

 

Don't get friendly with unfriendly food. If certain foods don't like you when you're standing still, they're going to like you even less if you're moving. As tempting as plentiful meals may be during your travels, don't overindulge, advises Robert Salada, M.D., director of the Travelers Health Care Center at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio, and assistant professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

 

Go ahead, get fresh. Deter nausea with a breath of fresh air, suggests Dr. Salada. In a car, open a window. On a boat, stand out on deck and take in the sea breeze. On an airplane, turn on the overhead vent.

 

Think before you drink. "Too much alcohol can interfere with the way the brain handles information about the environment and can set off motion sickness symptoms," says Dr. Konrad. What's more, alcohol can dissolve into the fluids on your inner ear, which can send your head spinning. Drink in moderation during plane and ship travel.

 

Get enough sleep. "Your chance of getting motion sickness increases with fatigue," says Dr. Gillilan. So be sure to get your usual quota of sleep before taking off on a trip. If you're a passenger in a car or plane, catching a few zzzzs while en route can help, too, if only to temporarily ward off potentially sickening stimuli.

 

Sit still! Your brain is already confused enough without your creating extra motion. Keep your head especially still.

 

Get up front and out ahead. In a car, move up to the front seat and focus on the road ahead or the horizon, says Dr. Tarnopolsky. This will bring signals from your body and your eyes into balance.

 

Better yet, get into the driver's seat. When you're behind the wheel, you're sensibly looking straight ahead, says Dr. Gillilan, and you have the added advantage of anticipating any quick changes in motion.

 

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The Alternate Route

 

Age-Old Cures Still in Use

They may not work for all and may not work every time, but folk remedies for motion sickness have probably been around since man first decided to seriously check out the scenery beyond his own backyard. Some of these remedies are still popular today and are certainly worth a try.

 

Gingerroot. The first settlers to the New World might have taken it to ease their transatlantic voyage. Although the tradition dates back hundreds of years, eating a bit of ginger recently passed scientific scrutiny when an experiment showed that two powdered gingerroot capsules were more effective than a dose of Dramamine in preventing motion sickness. Ginger works, researchers theorize, by absorbing acids and blocking nausea in your gastointestinal tract.

 

Olives and lemons. The early stages of motion sickness cause you to produce excess saliva, which dribbles down to your stomach and makes you nauseous, some doctors say. Olives, on the other hand, produce chemicals called tannins, which make your mouth dry. Hence, the theory goes, eating a couple of olives at the first hint of nausea can help diminish it, as may sucking on a mouth-puckering lemon.

 

Soda crackers. They won't stop salivation, but dry soda crackers might help absorb the excess fluid when it reaches your stomach. Their "secret ingredients" are bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar.

 

Coke syrup. Prescribed as an antinauseant for children, Coke syrup added to seltzer water may help. The same may be true for any carbonated cola beverage. See for yourself.

 

Acupressure wristbands. Sold in many marine and travel shops, these lightweight wristbands have a plastic button that is supposed to be worn over what the doctors in the Orient call the Nei-Kuan acupressure point inside each wrist. The wearer is protected against nausea, the theory goes, by exerting pressure on the button for a few minutes.

 

Get caught up on your reading some other time. Don't read while you're riding in a car or on a rough plane or boat trip, says Dr. Tarnapolsky. The movement of the vehicle you're in makes the printed matter on the page move, which can make you awfully dizzy.

 

But if you must read, there are ways to do it without getting sick, says Dr. Gillilan. Among them:

 

Slouch down in the seat and hold the reading material close to eye level. "It's not the reading itself that makes you sick," he says, "but the angle at which you're doing it. When you look down while traveling in a car, the visible motion from the side windows strikes the eyes at an unusual angle, and that is what triggers symptoms. This method brings your eyes into the same position as if you were looking down the road."

Hold your hands next to your temples to block out the action or turn your back to the window nearest you.

Find the center of most resistance. On a ship, get a cabin amidships, where the least amount of rolling and bouncing occurs, advises Dr. Tarnapolsky. On a little boat you may find no such escape, although a forward cabin may be smoother than aft.

 

Come out from under. Staying cooped up below deck in a boat or ship, especially in a poorly ventilated area, is just asking for trouble, says Dr. Salada. Cone out, come out, wherever you are.

 

Set your sights on something stationary. It'll help get your sensory system back in balance. Standing in a bobbing boat and watching the horizon, however, may make you sick because the horizon will bob along with you. Instead turn your sights to a stationary point in the sky or the land in the distance.

 

Take a preventive pill. If motion sickness is as inevitable for you as snow in January, you might want to consider taking an over-the-counter medication like Dramamine or Bonine. Taken a few hours in advance, it can prevent symptoms from occurring in the first place, says Dr. Salada. One or two tables last for up to 24 hours. But be sure to take it in advance, because it won't be effective if taken once the symptoms start.

 

Remember, time heals all wounds. And this includes motion sickness. You may feel like you're going to die—in fact, it may sound like a blessing—but motion sickness doesn't k*ll. Your body will eventually adjust to the environment in a ship or boat—although it might take a few days—and will stop reacting.

 

So be patient. Things will get better.

 

- - - - -

 

Treatment and prevention of motion sickness

- Prevention may be accomplished by facing forward and looking outside a car, ship, plane, etc.

- Staying busy and occupied with an activity that distracts the mind from the swaying environment may help.

- Gazing at some distant fixed object like the horizon as soon as queasiness sets in may help.

- Alcohol, smoking and greasy foods should be avoided.

- Reading should be avoided while in motion.

- Some fresh air on the open deck of a ship or seeking areas of lesser movement on the ship may help reduce symptoms.

- Cold compresses may be applied to the eyes and neck.

- Several non-prescription products are available for the prevention of motion sickness. (Specific products may be recommended by a physician or pharmacist.)

- If recommended, medication should be taken 1 to 2 hours before travel.

- Stronger motion sickness medications may be prescribed by a physician if necessary.

 

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A simple cure for motion sickness

Next time you forget the Dramamine, reach for some cold water and a turkey sandwich instead. A Penn State University study found that cooling your forehead with a cold rag and eating a protein-rich snack may help you avoid developing motion sickness. Researchers say that the cold will help keep you from feeling nauseated, while any food that's high in protein can make your stomach more resistant to feeling upset.

[philos]

There are certain exercises that can help, you can go visit a rehab specialist who specialize in this... there are habituation exercises we do, to gently get the patient to get used to the feeling until you can screen it out. Course for severe vertigo, medicaitons are the only way to go initially.

[philos]

hey we have the same feelings... i think i have a vertigo too...... and im still 25 though.......

i kept on touching my ears with my finger kasi..... maybe thats where i get it......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't think touching your ear could lead to that.... except if get an ear infection... there's this things called the vestibules kasi inside ur ear, they give you your sense of balance so to speak.. if these becomes infected, it might result in balance problems.

[largebelly]

my tip to minimize bouts of vertigo is to go on a low salt, low msg diet. there are also some exercises that can help with strengthening yourself against the severity of the attacks but i've forgotten them.

 

I used to suffer severe attacks before. attacks so bad that i can only go to the bathroom by crawling (pretty pathetic). but after going on a restricted the attacks are not as severe anymore.

 

just a warning though, not all ent doctors are good, so always go for a 2nd even a 3rd opinion. my case was misdiagnosed three times before the last doc hit the nail.

[wEbStAr]

The best way to cope up with vertigo is to avoid stress.

[antwanshakeel]

The best way to cope up with vertigo is to avoid stress.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

ear infection could also be a cause

[Phrozhen.Khold]

Getting enough sleep is the best way to counter any stress related illness...

 

I was advised before to take power naps as other people woulda call it... power naps are 30 minute naps... you can do this like after taking you lunch so you have enough energy for the rest of the day...

 

Also minimize your salt intake... one more thing... lessen any vice that you might have if you really cant kick the habit... especially smoking...

 

Thats my advice... :hypocritesmiley:

[S\\m//T]

Getting enough sleep is the best way to counter any stress related illness...

 

I was advised before to take power naps as other people woulda call it... power naps are 30 minute naps... you can do this like after taking you lunch so you have enough energy for the rest of the day...

 

Also minimize your salt intake... one more thing... lessen any vice that you might have if you really cant kick the habit... especially smoking...

 

Thats my advice...  :hypocritesmiley:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree. :thumbsupsmiley: The best cure is prevention.

So to prevent this from happening then I suggest to take enough sleep.

 

By the way, what's the difference between VERTIGO and VITILIGO ???

[chinits]

la pa rin ba cure for it?

[angel05]

mahirap yan pag inaatake ka. dapat lagi ka may kasama pag lumabas ka.

[Mr. Protein]

Take bonamin =)

[cinnzeo]

hehe vitiligo is a skin problem

 

maraming causes ang vertigo. pwedeng due to decreased cerebral circulation , pwedeng internal ear infection (beyond the tympanic membrane aka ear drum), pwedeng hypersensitivity ng hair cells sa semicircular canal (these are the sensors that gives you your position sense), pwedeng due to hypertension.

 

the way to treat it can be investigative. rule out one possible cause after the other. a good way to start is when a physician thoroughly asks about your history. and gives you a thorough physical exam. kahit an ent specialist should do that to patients with that kind of complaint :thumbsupsmiley:

[chinits]

nawawala pa ba yun?