Vertigo

[rofo6850]

In my experience I used to have this sudden vertigo crisis often. They start out of nothing and go by themselves. I have had my ears cheked, MRI on neck and cervicals and nothing. A neurologists gave me the most credible hipothesys: an effect of generalized anxiety producing a massive discharge of catecholamines and adrenaline, which momentarily altere the equilibrium centers in the ears.

Nothing to worry, purely functional and another sign of stress.

Natural muscle relaxing herbs and NCS calming products can improve the condition, although in my case is transitory and episodic.

 

[PopHistorian]

Well, after two weeks it was 90% better. Now it's nearly three weeks and it's about 95% better. It seems like the brain starts adjusting to the altered perception even as the issue continues to right itself, so it's like a moving target. The recovery starts fast and ends slow, with a long sustain, like the vibration of plucking of a guitar string, or maybe reminiscent of an asymptote. _http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/ahd4/jpg/A4asymp.jpg (second image). Hope it doesn't happen again!

 

[dj]

Hi Psyche,

Thanks for your interest -

By intensive, I mean being sure I get in all the treatment modalities at full dosing. It's actually a pretty informal process, but when the ear ringing increases and I get the edges of vertigo, I get religion (so to speak). I up the dose of fish oil, take 1 or 2 spoonfuls of phosphatidyl choline daily, get in 1 to 3 sessions of the IR light (1/2 hr session that cycles through the Nogier frequencies), and make sure I'm taking plenty of magnesium in my water, 1 or 2 b-50 vitamins (in addition to multi mineral/vitamin daily), and usually up my vitamin D as well, to 2,000 to 5,000 u/day. I also use the FIR blanket Laura has written about 1 to 3 times weekly, and have added the EE program to that. I now take Dr. Sherry Rogers detox cocktail with the FIR blanket treatment and take about 1/2 dose of it most days of the week.

I don't have good objective data on what's working - or even that this is not all just coincidence, but subjectively, something I'm doing is effective. When I slack off my fish oil or get stressed or fatigued for days at a time, or sometimes if I feel a virus getting started, the ear ringing increases over a period of days to weeks - reaching a level that impacts hearing on that left side, and I start getting just the edges of vertigo up to a few times a day. If I get a full blown attack (hasn't happened in 2 or 3 years), the vertigo spells get very bad - to the point where just to stay standing is not always possible. The vertigo may hit 2 or more times a day, and can take from 10 minutes to an hour or so to resolve.

Subjectively, it seems like the fish oil (and maybe the phosphatidyl choline) is doing the most good. I can stop the IR light treatment for weeks at a time with no apparent ill effect. My most recent increase in symptoms came as I lowered the dose of fish oil and started taking Krill oil to replace it. If the Krill oil had worked, it would be more convenient than slugging fish oil from the bottle, at not much more cost.

When stumbling about for some way to treat the Meniere's at a root level (ie not the treatments suggested by my specialist who diagnosed me), I thought it might be effective to try to rebuild healthy cell walls and ion channels in the tissue that makes up the membranous labyrinth in the inner ear. According to Dr. Rogers' writing, this might be facilitated by supplementing with good oils and phosphatidyl choline. In addition, fish oil seems to have anti-inflammatory properties so it gives me two mechanisms to help with the Meniere's.

My hope is that as I increase my detoxing, the dysfunctional tissue and ion channels in the inner ear (if that is indeed the mechanism of what's affecting me) will be able to repair itself and keep itself healthy.

This is a brief summary of what I'm doing. I'm kind of using myself to try and sort out a way to treat Meniere's without the drugs and surgeries. If I can figure out what's working, I'd love to get the information to others that are dealing with this. It doesn't seem to be all that uncommon, but in my experience, it's hard to get it diagnosed correctly (it took me about 8 years and a handful of doctors, dentists, and specialists), and alternative therapies I've been able to find don't seem to work very well.

Please let me know if I need to expand or clarify anything, I'm delighted to have a chance to try and share anything that might be helpful.

 

[3DStudent]

I was at a health food store yesterday and a customer asked the clerk for something to help vertigo. I kind of "clicked" and remembered this thread. But I didn't remember specifically what helps vertigo and have only skimmed this thread, so I didn't say anything.

 

[Gaby]

Please let me know if I need to expand or clarify anything, I'm delighted to have a chance to try and share anything that might be helpful.

Thanks for sharing. I had vertigo a week or so ago and it made me sick to my stomach. It was triggered by a detox reaction and now it is all better, but have to go easy on my detox. I was doing something similar to your protocol except for the IR light. I added it and it seemed to help, I loved the feeling it had on my ear. I'm also did a home version of the Epley maneuver and I'm using 3 drops of DMSO 25% in my ears. The DMSO drops at the beginning will make my ears hurt a little bit, but as the pain faded a away, I felt much better. Probably is helping to dissolve whatever is lodged in my inner ear.

 

[dj]

Thanks for the hints. I think I'll try the DMSO. I can imagine it helping move excess fluid from the membranous labyrinth (if that's where the problem lies. I'm a bit skeptical, but it certainly feels like my inner ear is stuffed with something and an over-inflated membranous labyrinth might be the reason). I've tried the Epley and although it didn't relieve symptoms, it didn't hurt and felt pretty good.

For those that would like a nice explanation of what might be the cause of Meniere's, along with well done pictures of it, check out www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/menieres/menieres.html#causes

For what it's worth, I've noticed an increasing number of people coming to the pharmacy counter with complaints of dizzyness or vertigo. The increasing numbers started a few years ago and keep increasing. Few seem to get much relief, unless it's viral and goes away by itself.

For some people, wearing a mouth guard or bite guard at night can help - apparently, heavy jaw clenching can have an effect that leads to dizzyness - possibly through an inflammatory process.

 

[Gawan]

PopH, try a few drops of 50% DMSO in the ears. Maybe a few days of that will sort out the fluid issue since DMSO has a tremendous effect on body fluids.

I'm also did a home version of the Epley maneuver and I'm using 3 drops of DMSO 25% in my ears. The DMSO drops at the beginning will make my ears hurt a little bit, but as the pain faded a away, I felt much better. Probably is helping to dissolve whatever is lodged in my inner ear.

Well, I have done today something really stupid, because I acted in a way that a few drops will not hurt. Heck, I have been wrong. Instead of checking out the facts what solution to use, I used the undiluted form of DMSO (99%) in one ear and afterwards for some minutes I have gone through some extraordinary pains.

When this has been a symbolical meaning and a lesson, that I should first listen to the facts before acting and as well listen more carefully to my intuition, which said beforehand I should check out the forum.

 

[Gaby]

I hope the pain is gone by now. Even a 25% solution can cause some temporary discomfort.

 

[Ollie]

My aged mother is currently in hospital, having had what was thought to be a vertigo attack last Thursday. The doctors now think that it isn't vertigo, but something in the blood that is causing the problem - the tests go onto find a cause. She has told them that her left ear is blocked, to no avail. Also she has complained that her sight is changing - she can see better without wearing her, outdated, prescribed glasses! Unfortunately she is putty in the hands of conventional doctors. This thread has been helpful in looking at possible causes.

 

[Lilou]

Also she has complained that her sight is changing - she can see better without wearing her, outdated, prescribed glasses! Unfortunately she is putty in the hands of conventional doctors. This thread has been helpful in looking at possible causes.

Has your mom had cataract surgery? If not, as the lens inside our eye thickens and hardens with age (from toxic build-up), the vision and the glasses prescription will change. It is usually a slow progression, so most people loose quite a bit of vision without realizing it. And perhaps the key word here is *outdated* glasses. In her home environment, she simply may not have noticed the vision change.

I hope your mom returns to full health soon. And a new eye exam will likely answer the questions about her vision changes.

 

[Gawan]

I hope the pain is gone by now. Even a 25% solution can cause some temporary discomfort.

It took many hours until it vanished completely.
Thank you for asking.

 

[Horus_Risen]

Starting around May/June and lasting until October/November, I suffer from intense allergies that produce vertigo-like symptoms. This has gone on for about 5 years now. During this period, I can't drive, I can't exercise, I have increased anxiety (on top of an existing anxiety disorder), and I can't focus on complex problems. I almost fell down in the parking lot of a restaurant after dinner tonight and decided I've had enough.

So far, the best I've been able to do is drink LOTS of water (100+ oz. per day), rinse my sinuses with a Neti pot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neti_pot), and attempt to curb my smoking habit as this tends to irritate my sinuses more. The Neti pot is fairly effective, but since it's only momentarily fixing the symptoms, the pressure around my eyes and ears builds to an intolerable level within a few hours.

As part of the detox plan I'm on, I'm taking ALA (alpha-lipoic acid) and NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) in order to boost glutathione levels which I heard could lessen the severity of allergy symptoms. Alas, this has not been the case for me.

So, I was making plans to get a referral for an allergist, but thought I'd check the forum for a healthier solution before I sold my soul to a pharmaceutical corporation.

DMSO seems like the consensus for dealing with inner-ear issues. Perhaps this, combined with a natural anti-histamine is the way to go. Only one question: assuming this will work for me, is DMSO something that is safe to take every day for 3 or 4 months straight?

 

[Gaby]

DMSO seems like the consensus for dealing with inner-ear issues. Perhaps this, combined with a natural anti-histamine is the way to go. Only one question: assuming this will work for me, is DMSO something that is safe to take every day for 3 or 4 months straight?

It depends on how you react to it, as it can trigger a strong detox reaction. Once a week for 4 consecutive months is something that can be tolerated fairly well.

Regarding allergies, you will find the following threads useful:

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=18076.0
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=7836.0
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=18076.msg167205#msg167205

:)

 

[Horus_Risen]

Psyche, thanks for the info.

I'll read up some more and get an opinion from the doc. I'm really excited about finding a solution to this extremely irritating problem. ;)