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What to do about dizziness?
I've noticed that a lot of us deal with dizziness/vertigo. I'm wondering if I should do something more about mine.
Yesterday at physical therapy, my PT worked on my neck, which increased my dizziness somewhat, though not as bad as in the past. She then took me to the gym to try a new exercise to strengthen my gluts, saying that I needed a strong platform in order to keep my neck from being so constantly rigid, tight, guarded, whatever she called it.
She had me stand on a box, put my weight on one leg, and reach behind me with my other leg, tap the floor, bring the foot up without touching the box, and repeating 10 times. By #9 on the second leg, I totally lost my balance, fell sideways off the box, landed on my left leg (tweaked my bad knee), stumbled across the gym sidestepping until I wrapped both arms around the front of an exercise bicycle.
My wee PT tried to catch me, but I was falling and stumbling; at first she thought I was joking around, she said. Then she was horrified, and glad that I didn't hurt myself.
My knee now yelps at me with normal walking (my ACL{second replacement} is already loose and thinning), and doesn't help with balance issues any.
My question is what can I do about my dizziness?
A few years ago my otolaryngologist said that he could do a test to see if I had BBPV, but that would just show if moving me around caused my vertigo to be worse. He gave me some low-dose Xanax to take, which helped very little, if any. The last time I tried it, it actually seemed to make things worse.
He said that my dizziness was not from my allergies.
I called him after my brain MRI showed all those lesions, and asked if my dizziness/vertigo could be caused my MS. He hemmed and hawed, said it was possible, since some people with MS did experience dizziness, but it was difficult to say, since he's not a neurologist, yada yada.
Since we've had discussions here about peripheral as opposed to central vertigo, I'm wondering about tests such as a VNG or others I can't remember now. None of my neuros have thought my dizziness extreme enough to be of any concern to them, but since it's messing with my life, I'm thinking that maybe I'll bring it up with a little more emphasis at my next appointment with my MS specialist next month.
Or do I see a new otolaryngologist? Any ideas, suggestions?
Thanks,
Kathy
Yesterday at physical therapy, my PT worked on my neck, which increased my dizziness somewhat, though not as bad as in the past. She then took me to the gym to try a new exercise to strengthen my gluts, saying that I needed a strong platform in order to keep my neck from being so constantly rigid, tight, guarded, whatever she called it.
She had me stand on a box, put my weight on one leg, and reach behind me with my other leg, tap the floor, bring the foot up without touching the box, and repeating 10 times. By #9 on the second leg, I totally lost my balance, fell sideways off the box, landed on my left leg (tweaked my bad knee), stumbled across the gym sidestepping until I wrapped both arms around the front of an exercise bicycle.
My wee PT tried to catch me, but I was falling and stumbling; at first she thought I was joking around, she said. Then she was horrified, and glad that I didn't hurt myself.
My knee now yelps at me with normal walking (my ACL{second replacement} is already loose and thinning), and doesn't help with balance issues any.
My question is what can I do about my dizziness?
A few years ago my otolaryngologist said that he could do a test to see if I had BBPV, but that would just show if moving me around caused my vertigo to be worse. He gave me some low-dose Xanax to take, which helped very little, if any. The last time I tried it, it actually seemed to make things worse.
He said that my dizziness was not from my allergies.
I called him after my brain MRI showed all those lesions, and asked if my dizziness/vertigo could be caused my MS. He hemmed and hawed, said it was possible, since some people with MS did experience dizziness, but it was difficult to say, since he's not a neurologist, yada yada.
Since we've had discussions here about peripheral as opposed to central vertigo, I'm wondering about tests such as a VNG or others I can't remember now. None of my neuros have thought my dizziness extreme enough to be of any concern to them, but since it's messing with my life, I'm thinking that maybe I'll bring it up with a little more emphasis at my next appointment with my MS specialist next month.
Or do I see a new otolaryngologist? Any ideas, suggestions?
Thanks,
Kathy
Ha! I missed the laptop; my cat is only a laptop if I get up and pick him up after he meows and snags my jeans for a while!
I have the computer across the room from the bed, which has been known to be my Command Center on bad days.
Kathy
I have the computer across the room from the bed, which has been known to be my Command Center on bad days.
Kathy
Wow, I knew there were a lot of us with dizziness/vertigo/whatever you want to call it!
Jensequiter, I did tell them about my balance issues/dizziness at PT, and they said they would do an evaluation at the next visit. A different PT filled in, and had me walk up and down the hall, looking at a list more than at me, and do a few other things. I guess since I didn't actually hit the floor, I was deemed fine. Even after I told them about the day I left there feeling like my brain was floating above my head...
My knee is easily tweaked; I lost my balance in a restaurant a few days before this incident at PT and banged the patella on a chair; Arnica time!
I'm seeing a different PT this morning, and I'll ask her if she's more familiar with the balance testing. She did really great at helping my knee and lower back pain the one time I saw her before.
Pastor Dan, I appreciate the advice on terminology; maybe my neuro will pay more attention if I catch it with the right words. I also appreciate your sense of humor; taking up riding a bike to cure baldness! Actually, i think I saw an infomercial for that!
I rarely get queasy enough to lose weight. I did for a few weeks, but then I ate for comfort and gained the lost pounds back, doggone it!
Ess, I hope this is your last bout of vertigo.
Terry, I'll be interested in hearing about the results of your VNG.
Octarine, I've tried Meclizine, Scopalamine, and Xanax; I think the Scopaline may have helped some, but that was years ago.
I pretty much follow your list already; I only have to fill up my gas tank about once a month, and that's always under 8 gallons. I don't have a cane (yet), but I tend to stay near stuff that I can catch myself on.
I've cancelled appointments before because I didn't feel safe to drive because of that light-headedness you describe. I've also arranged to have a friend pick up my prescriptions, drive me where I need to go, etc.
Your Command Center is a good idea, too! I have a bag that I put all my stuff in if i need to move from one location to another; don't need to be lurching around for stuff on a bad day! I tend to step on Fluffy's scratching post, misjudge distances and hit my head on stuff or corner poorly when going into another room; need bumpers on the walls!
Thanks for the good ideas and all your personal stories.
Kathy
I was on the BRAT diet for a while after a virus of some sort, so when I'm feeling queasy I'll eat the more bland, easy to digest food, too.
Jensequiter, I did tell them about my balance issues/dizziness at PT, and they said they would do an evaluation at the next visit. A different PT filled in, and had me walk up and down the hall, looking at a list more than at me, and do a few other things. I guess since I didn't actually hit the floor, I was deemed fine. Even after I told them about the day I left there feeling like my brain was floating above my head...
My knee is easily tweaked; I lost my balance in a restaurant a few days before this incident at PT and banged the patella on a chair; Arnica time!
I'm seeing a different PT this morning, and I'll ask her if she's more familiar with the balance testing. She did really great at helping my knee and lower back pain the one time I saw her before.
Pastor Dan, I appreciate the advice on terminology; maybe my neuro will pay more attention if I catch it with the right words. I also appreciate your sense of humor; taking up riding a bike to cure baldness! Actually, i think I saw an infomercial for that!
I rarely get queasy enough to lose weight. I did for a few weeks, but then I ate for comfort and gained the lost pounds back, doggone it!
Ess, I hope this is your last bout of vertigo.
Terry, I'll be interested in hearing about the results of your VNG.
Octarine, I've tried Meclizine, Scopalamine, and Xanax; I think the Scopaline may have helped some, but that was years ago.
I pretty much follow your list already; I only have to fill up my gas tank about once a month, and that's always under 8 gallons. I don't have a cane (yet), but I tend to stay near stuff that I can catch myself on.
I've cancelled appointments before because I didn't feel safe to drive because of that light-headedness you describe. I've also arranged to have a friend pick up my prescriptions, drive me where I need to go, etc.
Your Command Center is a good idea, too! I have a bag that I put all my stuff in if i need to move from one location to another; don't need to be lurching around for stuff on a bad day! I tend to step on Fluffy's scratching post, misjudge distances and hit my head on stuff or corner poorly when going into another room; need bumpers on the walls!
Thanks for the good ideas and all your personal stories.
Kathy
I was on the BRAT diet for a while after a virus of some sort, so when I'm feeling queasy I'll eat the more bland, easy to digest food, too.
Octarine--I love your Command Center! Mine is pretty much the same except that instead of a laptop computer, I have a laptop cat. :)
My dizziness is a sort of lightheaded world-not-behaving-right issue, made worse when I turn my head and look sideways (as in changing lanes on the freeway). As with my other symptoms (and I'm not Dx), it comes and goes. But when it comes, so do other things and it's pretty miserable.
The ENT vertigo evaluation said it's not peripheral. The PT evaluation (very cool series of tests on what appears to be a prototype Wii) also said not peripheral, with a few key deficits pointing to central, but not enough to impress my neuro.
But what Fluffysmom wanted was advice! Here's how I handle it: I tried Meclizine, but like PastorDan, I don't like the sleepiness it causes. So I adjust my behavior:
1. I don't drive at night or long distances any more. This screwed up a volunteer effort I was doing, but also has resulted in new friendships with people I recruit to drive to concerts and plays.
2. I don't drive at all on bad days. If a dizzy day starts mid-day, I find a ride. Fortunately, two people in my department at work are my neighbors and close friends.
3. I use a cane on bad days.
4. I take it easy on bad days. And no knife work in the kitchen. My child is good at opening cans and using the microwave, and doesn't mind the occasional dinner of breakfast cereal.
5. I eat the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) for stomach upset, with broth and sometimes yogurt. Like PastorDan, my appetite is shot on these days and easily digested food is a comfort.
Are you seeing a pattern? My strategy is to accept this limitation and ask for help. That's not easy. I've been a very active, very busy person and when I've planned to get some things done and wake up to a dizzy day I often get angry. But I try to be kind to myself, take a forced vacation, and remember that there will be good days again.
The other thing that really helps is something I learned first from nursing babies and later relearned with a broken ankle. I make a Command Center out of a reclining chair, portable phone, pad, pen, books, magazines, laptop, water, snack, tissues, blanket, etc. Assuming there's no nystagmus that day (preventing reading), I can get a lot done in the Command Center.
But I'm lucky in not having constant or severe vertigo like you and PastorDan and so many other members. Are any of these ideas useful to you?
Oh, and do be sure to follow up on that fall in PT..
The ENT vertigo evaluation said it's not peripheral. The PT evaluation (very cool series of tests on what appears to be a prototype Wii) also said not peripheral, with a few key deficits pointing to central, but not enough to impress my neuro.
But what Fluffysmom wanted was advice! Here's how I handle it: I tried Meclizine, but like PastorDan, I don't like the sleepiness it causes. So I adjust my behavior:
1. I don't drive at night or long distances any more. This screwed up a volunteer effort I was doing, but also has resulted in new friendships with people I recruit to drive to concerts and plays.
2. I don't drive at all on bad days. If a dizzy day starts mid-day, I find a ride. Fortunately, two people in my department at work are my neighbors and close friends.
3. I use a cane on bad days.
4. I take it easy on bad days. And no knife work in the kitchen. My child is good at opening cans and using the microwave, and doesn't mind the occasional dinner of breakfast cereal.
5. I eat the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) for stomach upset, with broth and sometimes yogurt. Like PastorDan, my appetite is shot on these days and easily digested food is a comfort.
Are you seeing a pattern? My strategy is to accept this limitation and ask for help. That's not easy. I've been a very active, very busy person and when I've planned to get some things done and wake up to a dizzy day I often get angry. But I try to be kind to myself, take a forced vacation, and remember that there will be good days again.
The other thing that really helps is something I learned first from nursing babies and later relearned with a broken ankle. I make a Command Center out of a reclining chair, portable phone, pad, pen, books, magazines, laptop, water, snack, tissues, blanket, etc. Assuming there's no nystagmus that day (preventing reading), I can get a lot done in the Command Center.
But I'm lucky in not having constant or severe vertigo like you and PastorDan and so many other members. Are any of these ideas useful to you?
Oh, and do be sure to follow up on that fall in PT..
The vestibular PT that I saw (many years ago) said "There are some people I know I can help, some I know I can't help, and you?... well, it's worth a try." But she said it rather doubtfully, and said that my neurologist (a dizziness specialist) was just "poking up the vestibular tree," so I wondered if that meant he didn't know whether my dizziness was inner ear or brain. He never really said one way or the other.
I have heard another vestibular PT say that many people with MS can be helped to improve their balance after an exacerbation. So, PT might be worthwhile.
I remained dizzy after PT but I did have less sensitivity to watching movement, such as traffic. My balance was never much affected at all, just head-dizziness. I stabilize myself with my feet.
Ess: one part of the 3-part ENG/VNG involves watching moving lights while your eye movements are recorded. I think this is called the ocular motility portion of the test. I am by no means an expert on ENG/VNG, but I think this is the part that can show central involvement.
Although BPPV is unrelated to MS, I did hear one vestibular PT say that MS patients have it more frequently--I'm not sure whether that's true. (I never heard it elsewhere.) And there wouldn't seem to be any reason for such a relationship, since BPPV occurs from otoconia (small crystals) breaking off from an inner-ear balance organ and getting into a semicircular canal, which seemingly has nothing to do with the CNS.
Anyone wishing to try an Epley maneuver at home can Google "hain dizziness bppv", click on the first page that comes up, and scroll down the page to find an explanation and illustration of the home Epley. Just be careful if you have neck or circulation issues!!
Regarding dizziness during caloric irrigation of one ear versus the other, we hear from a balance-testing expert that symptoms during that part of the ENG don't really mean anything. So, they can't tell anything from whether you did or didn't get dizzy during the water/air-in-the-ears test. What is important is the eye-movement recordings.
Kathy--I will send you a PM.
Nancy
I have heard another vestibular PT say that many people with MS can be helped to improve their balance after an exacerbation. So, PT might be worthwhile.
I remained dizzy after PT but I did have less sensitivity to watching movement, such as traffic. My balance was never much affected at all, just head-dizziness. I stabilize myself with my feet.
Ess: one part of the 3-part ENG/VNG involves watching moving lights while your eye movements are recorded. I think this is called the ocular motility portion of the test. I am by no means an expert on ENG/VNG, but I think this is the part that can show central involvement.
Although BPPV is unrelated to MS, I did hear one vestibular PT say that MS patients have it more frequently--I'm not sure whether that's true. (I never heard it elsewhere.) And there wouldn't seem to be any reason for such a relationship, since BPPV occurs from otoconia (small crystals) breaking off from an inner-ear balance organ and getting into a semicircular canal, which seemingly has nothing to do with the CNS.
Anyone wishing to try an Epley maneuver at home can Google "hain dizziness bppv", click on the first page that comes up, and scroll down the page to find an explanation and illustration of the home Epley. Just be careful if you have neck or circulation issues!!
Regarding dizziness during caloric irrigation of one ear versus the other, we hear from a balance-testing expert that symptoms during that part of the ENG don't really mean anything. So, they can't tell anything from whether you did or didn't get dizzy during the water/air-in-the-ears test. What is important is the eye-movement recordings.
Kathy--I will send you a PM.
Nancy
I recently had the VNG. I am waiting on the results. I don't think it is my inner ear because the part of the test where they cover the goggles and swing you back and to the side did not make me dizzy, indicating the thingys :0) in my ear are working fine. However the nystagmus was rampant. Every test I could feel my eyes moving around. The caloric test was the only part that made me dizzy to the point it felt like vertigo and he said that was normal.
I do take balance training at PT. It has improved my stationary balance with my eyes open...eyes closed nothing has changed, I sway like a tree in the wind.
terry
I do take balance training at PT. It has improved my stationary balance with my eyes open...eyes closed nothing has changed, I sway like a tree in the wind.
terry
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