Damn You Alfred Hitchcock!

March 22, 2011 8:38 AM

This morning I awoke to the worst case of vertigo I have ever experienced. Sitting up on the couch made things a lot better - and after dozing off there I feel much better. Now what?

So I woke up drenched in sweat and my field of vision kept zipping sort of diagonally to the left.

Sitting upright made it better and after making my way to the couch and sleeping in a sitting position for a few hours I feel like I've been to the amusement park and forgot that I was a roller coaster person and went off with the spinny ride group. (A slight headache, a little bit nauseous, no I don't want a bite of your corn dog!)

My doctor is out and the nurse suggested I go to the emergency room which sounds like a great way to spend a lot of time and money to feel miserable for a couple hours and then get a prescription some ear drops.

posted by Kid Charlemagne to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Best answer: I'm not a doctor. Experimenting with these protocols could make things worse:

http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/disorders/bppv/bppv.html
posted by zeek321 at 8:42 AM on March 22, 2011

I would wait until you can see your doctor and go in for an appointment. Or perhaps call the family medicine (i.e. see a GP) department at your nearest in-network hospital and see if there are any doctors with available appointments today.

You should see a doctor, but I, personally, wouldn't go to the ER for this. I say this as someone with a neurological problem and not infrequent bouts of dizziness. But you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable.
posted by phunniemee at 8:46 AM on March 22, 2011

I had this problem the other day. I didn't have any pain at all, but a wicked case of the dizzies. Had to hold on to the floor so that I wouldn't fall off.

I had a raging ear infection - on it's way to ruptured ear drums. You would think that would cause some pain or a runny nose or something... but nope.

You should probably see someone. Urgent care? The urgent care local to me allows a web-checkin so you don't have to sit in the lobby for hours.
posted by LyndsayMW at 8:48 AM on March 22, 2011

I had this once...turned out to be an inner ear infection which kept me housebound and dizzy for about a week. Finally went to the doctor after a few days and he said "not much to do, but wait it out." (Sleeping sitting upright was the only way I could sleep too!)

I wouldn't wish that hell upon anyone. Good luck!
posted by Zoyashka at 8:49 AM on March 22, 2011

I was just diagnosed with vertigo, so I'm not sure I can help much. But the exercise on that link is exactly what I was told to do. Every night before bed. Also, I was prescribed a motion sickness pill and take zyrtec/flatiron each day because mine might be allergy related.

None of that is particularly outrageous if you wanted to try it - I'm not even sure if it's helping me. But an antihistamine, an OTC motion sickness pill and one little exercise can't hurt, can it? I'm just not sure it'll help.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 8:50 AM on March 22, 2011

I woke up one morning a few years ago with extreme vertigo. I was totally freaked out because I had not experienced it before (not much of a drinker!). If I lay on my back and didn't move I was fine, but if I sat up or lifted my head the room went ultra-spinny.

I was living with my sister at the time, and I finally got her attention and she called 911 (on reflection, a bit of an overreaction). They basically did a bunch of tests, had me sit up and it finally went away. I went to an Urgent Care clinic when they opened and they told me it was an inner ear infection, and they gave me something to take in case the vertigo came back (and it did work when I needed it for occasional mild flare-ups for a couple weeks).

Seems worth a trip to the doctor, but I wouldn't go to the ER. On preview, what phunnie said.

It was an amusing scene as apparently it was a slow morning for the medics and there were seven or eight guys in my bedroom (including 2 trainees and a supervisor).
posted by Glinn at 8:52 AM on March 22, 2011

If your docotr cannot see you, I suggest you visit a walk-in or orgent care clinic to be assessed for labyrinthitis. It sucks, but the drugs work!
posted by DarlingBri at 8:53 AM on March 22, 2011

I had this once...turned out to be an inner ear infection which kept me housebound and dizzy for about a week. Finally went to the doctor after a few days and he said "not much to do, but wait it out."

I had the same thing a few years ago. It was exactly like what you have now. It was horrible. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I ended up going to the walk-in clinic at the nearest hospital, and they told me I just had to wait it out and it would recover. And, it did.

Also: Learn from my experience: No work meeting is so important that you should drive under this condition. Even though I got there safely and without incident, that was, in hindsight, fairly stupid of me.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 9:12 AM on March 22, 2011

I've had this happen to me a few times, usually when I'm under some sort of extreme stress. I do the Epley maneuvers at home and that usually helps clear it up more quickly than it would otherwise [which in my case has been a few days]. You can take dramamine which is likely to knock you out but will reduce the dizziness significantly. I ran to the doc the first time this happened to me, but subsequent times have had me riding it out since I know it's not the beginning of some neurological problem, something that I was not sure about at the time. So I'd err on the side of staying home if you're not puking and not in a panic and try to get a doctor's appointment soonish.
posted by jessamyn at 9:23 AM on March 22, 2011

I had this and it was clogged/mebbe infected ears and sinuses triggered by seasonal allergies. Good luck! Vertigo is so debilitating.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 9:33 AM on March 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not a (medical) Doctor and am certainly not your doctor, but I do, unfortunately, experience bouts of vertigo from time to time. In my case, certain positions (e.g. lying on my back) are far worse than others, so I can relate to you feeling better sitting up than laying down. In my case, after a bad episode certain positions and head-movements will trigger dizziness for several weeks. Unfortunately, this seems to run in my family.

Definitely do see a doctor, since vertigo can be caused by all sorts of things (some serious, some not), but in the meantime, if you need temporary symptom relief, try taking meclizine; your doctor may very well prescribe for you in the form of Antivert (usually 12.5mg tablets in my experience) but it's also available over the counter as Bonine, Dramamine Less Drowsy Formula, WalDram (the Walgreens generic version of the former two) and others (usually in 25mg tablets that can be cut in half; no don't know why the prescription does is half as strong as the OTC dose). Be warned that, despite the name "Less Drowsy Formula" you will likely be very drowsy (although this diminishes if you end up taking it regularly for an extended period of time), but in my experience it works quite well, provided your nausea isn't so bad that you can't keep the pill down. It's also good for hangovers.
posted by Dr. Eigenvariable at 9:35 AM on March 22, 2011

Do you get migraines? I do and vertigo is a common (unwelcome!) accompanying symptom.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 9:38 AM on March 22, 2011

Please, Please, Please (!) consider seeing an audiologist if this continues. It sounds really hokey or supernatural, but there are crystals in our inner ears that can become lose or out of place. Audiologists are knowledgable about this and would be able to give you some positioning exercises to work the crystals back to their right place. This requires no medication! Motion sickness meds for vertigo can cause bad side effects, and regular family doctors aren't always knowledgeable about vertigo like an audiologist, if the problem stems from your inner ear.

An audiologist would also be able to just look in your ears and see if there is fluid or signs of infection. I had lots of fluid in my ears last year around this time, and it is allergy season.

Good luck to you!
posted by shortyJBot at 10:01 AM on March 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I am going to recommend seeing a doctor or going to the ER asap. A few years ago, I woke up and had what I thought was a bad case of vertigo. I ended up in the ER, where they discovered my blood pressure was sky high . I found myself spending a week in the hospital as they were trying to stabilize me. The end result is that I lost almost all my hearing in my right side and a possible lifetime of hypertension meds.

Anything that messes around your brain is not something you would take lightly.
posted by HeyAllie at 12:13 PM on March 22, 2011

I'd vote for labyrinthitis as well which is true suck. No other symptoms except vertigo - no pain, no other cold symptoms, just a sudden onset of super vertigo. Apparently it's very a very common thing and varies a lot in severity. Mine stayed for 3+ weeks. For the first week I couldn't even open my eyes without heaving. My doctor prescribed some anti-vomiting medications which helped enormously but there wasn't really anything else to be done. I'd at least call them if it's possible - there was no way that I could have gone anywhere in the first 48 hours in anything other than an ambulance, but it seemed real overkill given that if I just closed my eyes and didn't move my head I felt fine.
posted by marylynn at 4:47 PM on March 22, 2011

I had a bout of vertigo which turned out to be BPPV, but which landed me in the ER for most of a day and night. My eyes zig zagged and I threw up every few minutes for many hours. No drug touched it. Nothing significant on the CAT scan.

It was the otoconia (stones in the ear) mentioned above, and the Epley maneuver a few times in a row rapidly fixed it for me. I've had milder bouts since, and have learned to do the maneuvers myself, with someone standing nearby.
posted by Riverine at 7:08 PM on March 22, 2011