Hi - did your boyfriend ever get relief for the dizziness and/or BPPV?
I hope he's ok now. Your post was so heartfelt and caring.
I pray he's feeling better now.
Thanks Mimi. I am not a medical person, but when you've been dizzy for 9 years (or 25, depending on how you count), and the doctors don't know why, you learn a thing or two when going through all the differential diagnoses. :)
Great post Nancy, I knew nothing about vertigo and learned a lot from you. Thank you!!
Melissa
P.S. BPPV usually does NOT get worse. Many doctors know little or nothing about dizziness unless they are ENTs.
What kind of doctor(s) has he seen?
If he truly has BPPV, it is VERY treatable--in fact, quickly curable in 85 percent of cases--with head maneuvers. (Medications do nothing for BPPV.)
Sometimes BPPV recurs, but in extreme cases I think there is a surgery that helps (canal plugging).
If he hasn't, he should be seeing a neuro-otologist (inner ear specialist, an ENT with extra training in the inner ear). See lists of these doctors at the American Neurotology Society Web site.
Physical therapists with special training in vestibular (inner ear) disorders are called vestibular rehab therapists, and they know how to treat BPPV. His ear doctor can refer him to one.
It's hard to believe doctors are giving him medication for BPPV. Maybe something else is going on.
Please get him to a neuro-otologist if he hasn't already seen one.
Meanwhile, read up on BPPV. Here is an excellent place to start, with detailed and up-to-date information by a well-respected dizziness specialist:
http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bppv/bppv.html
Good luck to him. BPPV should not ruin anyone's life, because it's VERY TREATABLE!!
If he is depressed for other reasons, he needs to get help for that from his family doctor or psychiatrist.
Nancy T.