Vertigo is a form of dizziness that causes a person to feel as if his environment is rapidly spinning. It is an odd sensation that can temporarily make a person lose his balance and sense of reality. Symptoms include nausea and vomiting, and sufferers have been known to sweat profusely during an episode. The condition and the symptoms combine to affect quality of life. There are three major types, and they’re caused by many different factors.
Spontaneous vertigo is the mildest of all types of vertigo. An attack can occur anytime and anywhere. It usually passes quickly and another episode isn’t likely to occur for a while. Spontaneous vertigo is usually caused by impulsive unilateral vestibular failure, a condition in which a cranial nerve fails and, as a result, the central nervous system doesn’t receive movement details.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common type of vertigo. It can occur when there are sudden changes in the position of the head, such as when a person tips his head up or down or sits up in bed. A person with BPPV may feel out of balance when standing up or walking.
There isn’t a specific cause of BPPV, though the vestibular labyrinth, part of the inner ear, plays an important role. Inside the vestibular labyrinth are the otolith organs, which contain crystals that make people sensitive to gravity and motion. When these crystals are dislodged, it makes the semicircular canal extremely sensitive to the changes in the position of the head and, as a result, can cause severe dizziness.
Malignant vertigo is a condition usually induced by various diseases. Cogan’s syndrome and Meniere’s disease are two disorders known to trigger vertigo. Cogan’s syndrome causes extreme swelling in the connective tissue in the eyes, along with hearing problems and dizziness. Meniere’s disease can make the fluid pressure in the inner ear fluctuate, which results in vertigo.
There is no cure for vertigo, though there are different medications available to treat the condition. For example, appropriately prescribed antibiotics can resolve the condition if a bacterial infection is to blame. There are a few physical maneuvers or exercises that also can be used to treat the condition. If Meniere’s disease is to blame, the patient may be placed on a low-sodium diet and prescribed a diuretic to help decrease or diminish the episodes. In some cases, surgery also can be used to correct the condition.
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orangey03
Post 9 |
Panic attacks brought on my vertigo. In fact, extreme dizziness and lightheadedness were among the first signs that I was about to have one.
They would come when I least expected it. I didn’t even have to be thinking about anything stressful. All of a sudden, I would feel a light tingling in my hands, followed by a sudden drop in my center of gravity. I felt like I was floating away from reality, and the room did spin a bit.
I’m so glad I don’t have them anymore. They made me feel really ill. I would get hot and short of breath, and I could not walk until the vertigo disappeared. |
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kylee07drg
Post 8 |
I suffer from vertigo anytime that I squat for awhile and then stand up. It happens to me in stores when I lower myself to look at something on a shelf near the floor and then stand upright. I become very lightheaded for a few moments, and I feel like I am going to faint.
The first time that it happened, I was in a shoe store. I had to squat down because they had my size on the bottom shelf, and when I stood up again, I saw spots and felt faint. I’ve never been to a doctor about it, because all of my friends say they experience the same thing. |
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LisaLou
Post 7 |
My sister was having terrible symptoms of vertigo, dizziness and nausea. She would get sick to her stomach because the dizziness was so bad.
They figured out she had an inner ear infection that was causing all of her symptoms. There are many causes of vertigo, but because hers was an infection, it had to be treated with antibiotics.
Even this was not a quick fix. It took a few weeks before her vertigo and dizziness completely went away. |
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andee
Post 6 |
I have a history of migraine headaches, and the very first clue that I have one coming on is a feeling of vertigo.
It doesn't matter whether I am laying down or standing up, when I start to feel things spinning around me, I know that the migraine is not far away.
I am not sure what causes the vertigo, but it does give me an opportunity to take my migraine medicine before it gets too bad. If I can do this right away, the migraine is not has bad and I don't have to spend the whole day in bed. |
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sunshined
Post 5 |
The older I get the more often I have symptoms of vertigo. One of the things I do most often that causes this to happen is bending down to work in my garden.
If I am bending down for awhile and stand up too quickly, I get dizzy and things start spinning around. I have learned that if I stand up slowly, this doesn't happen nearly as often.
The blood must flow down to my head when I have my head down, and the sudden change in movement is what probably causes the dizziness. This dizziness usually only lasts for a few seconds, but is still not a pleasant thing to have happen. |
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SauteePan
Post 4 |
@Oasis11 -I read that there are surgical treatments for vertigo. They basically put a plug in your inner ear to offset the imbalance and it is supposed to be really effective.
In fact they say that the operation has a 90% success rate. I looked into it because I have problems with vertigo and I am looking for anything that can help. I feel like I am missing out on things because I am so afraid of doing something that make my vertigo symptoms flare up. |
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oasis11
Post 3 |
My mother in law suffers from severe symptoms of vertigo from time to time. She is very sensitive to motion and gets sick easily. Last winter, she tried to go on a cruise to the Caribbean and got so sick that she had to take a flight out once the ship docked.
Although the ship contained stabilizers that would prevent most people from getting seasick, my mother in law is so sensitive to motion because of her vertigo that the slightest movement can make her sick.
She says that she starts to feel like the room is spinning and then gets really light headed and begins to vomit. It is really a terrible condition to live with because there is no vertigo cure.
My husband also has some problems with vertigo and he says that it related to an inner ear imbalance that both he and his mom share. I think that the vertigo symptoms get progressively worse with age because my mother in law's symptoms are far worse than what my husband experiences. |
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Sara007
Post 2 |
I am convinced that my mother suffers from spontaneous vertigo because sometimes she just loses her balance completely and complains that the world is spinning. She usually makes it to a chair OK so she doesn't fall, but there have been a few close calls.
My mother is really stubborn and while I want her to see a doctor about a condition she always refuses saying that she'll be just fine in a minute. It is worrying and frustrating because she's getting older and a fall would really injure her. We're probably going to have to force her to see a doctor. |
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lonelygod
Post 1 |
For years I have had trouble with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. No matter how many times I tell myself I am going to get out of bed slowly in the morning I always end up jumping up in the morning and immediately I get terribly wobbly and my head swims.
The dizziness that I feel usually makes me want to throw up, but I never do. It is just more a feeling of intense discomfort for a few moments until my BPPV passes.
I actually saw my doctor about my vertigo because it was making me feel so ill and he told me to just get up more slowly. When you are groggy in the morning it just isn't always an easy thing to remember. |
