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. ;)

 

[Gaby]

Vertigo has become very frequent since the COVID-19 era. There's so much of it, that there's published studies about it:

Vertigo and Dizziness After Coronavirus Disease-2019 Vaccination: A Nationwide Analysis - PubMed

Dizziness/vertigo was generally a mild adverse reaction after COVID-19 vaccination, but it was the third most common adverse reaction in Korea. Studies are necessary to clarify the causal relationship between vaccination and dizziness/vertigo and to prepare subjects for this possible adverse...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I saw it in several patients every time they had a respiratory viral exposure, vaccine or otherwise. Before the COVID-19 era, I would never had made an association with a respiratory virus.

I had an underlying problem in my inner ear since over a decade ago. COVID-19 era brought it back on a milder basis, but annoying enough. I was finally diagnosed with endolymphatic hydrops. My specialist gave me glycerol syrup of all things, the kind of stuff that Revici was prescribing for his cancer patients.

Glycerol is anti-inflammatory and I published an anti-flu protocol here:

Inflammatory fatty acids are the first responders to a viral infection and they cause the first symptoms to a viral infection. Less fatty acids are less symptoms, less symptoms while your body develops immunity. Glycerol neutralizes fatty acids. It disables them, so, glycerol reduces symptoms and sometimes eliminates them too. Glycerol has three OH, Hydroxy or alcohol groups that are positively charged. These three positively charged groups attract the negative charges at the end of fatty acids. When the two bind the fatty acids are disabled. When glycerol, which has three hydroxyl groups to bind fatty acids. When it binds one it’s a monoglyceride. When it binds two it’s a diglyceride and when it binds three it’s a triglyceride. This is very natural and very physiologic. It is not a drug. I recommend glycerol a lot. For example in January, for my then 16 month old grandson, we gave him glycerol for a lingering cough after a cold, a URI he had the previous month. We gave him ⅛ teaspoon, three times a day. The cough subsided within twenty four hours. We continued the therapy for another four days and stopped. No symptoms since. I also recommend glycerol for those with cardiovascular risk or cardiovascular disease and especially those with high cholesterol. High cholesterol is an indicator that there are inflammatory fatty acids running amok. The cholesterol’s purpose is its attempt to neutralize the fatty acids. Dr. Revici found that giving glycerol actually reduced the cholesterol. But, that was awhile ago and things are much more complicated now. So, I would not recommend it as a cholesterol lowering drug but as part of a regimen. For people with cardiovascular risk or disease, I recommend ¼ teaspoon, three times a day. Glycerol is much overlooked home remedy. We have to address then, is it toxic? I have never seen any side affects from glycerol. But, if you look it up on the web there’s talk of headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. However, I could not find how much it took to cause those side affects. Since glycerol is sometimes used for hydration or constipation, I suspect those doses are quite a bit higher than what I’m recommending here. I woke up this morning to a text, from a friend who has a fever of 102 and cough. So, I recommended ¼ teaspoon of glycerol four times a day, spread out over his waking hours. I also recommended ¼ teaspoon twice a day, for his wife who is totally asymptomatic and we want to stay ahead of the symptoms. Many of you hearing this probably don’t have glycerol at home and my office is closed. So unfortunately, we can’t send any to you. If possible you could get it on Amazon, look for an organic that’s ideal or look for USP Grade which means pharmaceutical grade. However, it its just glycerol and no other added ingredients, most likely, it’s safe and it’ll do the job for you. I’m wishing you all, all the best.

In some countries, glycerol is the only syrup you're allowed to prescribe to babies. My specialist was saying that it is the kind of thing they all prescribe even though there are no official studies. It has healed symptoms in many patients.

The only problem is that it's super sweet because of its properties. Glycerol is sweet, period. No way around it.

It does help me immensely though. Even though it's used as a general anti-inflammatory, it's no magic bullet... Those who stand to benefit the most, symptom-wise, have endolymphatic hydrops and/or Meniere's disease.

My dose is one tablespoon three times per day, magistral formula: Glycerin 64% and purified water 48%. I know of other people who get diarrhea with this dose, though. It's so sweet, that diabetic people will see their blood sugar levels go up. If you're desperate and it relieves your symptoms, the sweetness should pose no problem that berberine or metformin could fix.

AI-free pubmed search here:

Experimental endolymphatic hydrops and glycerol. Electrophysiologic study

Contrast-Enhanced MRI Combined With the Glycerol Test Reveals the Heterogeneous Dynamics of Endolymphatic Hydrops in Patients With Menière's Disease

Glycerol for acute stroke

I gave all the necessary sources to Perplexity, which did a well job in digging up the European literature and recommendations:

Glycerin and glycerol are chemically identical — the distinction is purely one of nomenclature — but in the pharmaceutical context of treating endolymphatic hydrops, this label difference does matter in a subtle but clinically important way related to grade, concentration, and formulation standards.

## The Chemistry: Genuinely the Same Molecule

Glycerol is the IUPAC systematic name (propane-1,2,3-triol) for the molecule, while glycerin is the historical commercial name originally derived from saponification of animal fats or vegetable oils . Both terms describe the exact same triol structure — C₃H₈O₃ — with three hydroxyl groups attached to a three-carbon chain, with identical physical properties: same boiling point (290°C), density (1.261 g/cm³), and full miscibility with water . When a French ENT writes "glycérol" on a prescription, they are referring to the same substance a British formulator might label as "glycerin."

## Why the Nomenclature Distinction Matters Clinically

The practical concern is not chemical identity but **pharmaceutical grade and concentration**. A prescription for therapeutic use in hydrops requires glycerol meeting Ph. Eur. (European Pharmacopoeia) or equivalent standards — with an assay of 99.0–101.0% for anhydrous grade or 83.5–88.5% for the 87% grade. "Glycerin" found in cosmetic or food supply chains may not meet these purity thresholds or may contain trace impurities incompatible with internal use at the required doses. So when a pharmacist compounds it, the label used (glycerol vs. glycerin) should be standardized to a recognized pharmacopeial monograph. [ar-reagent](https://www.ar-reagent.com/products/chemicals/solvents-water/Glycerol-Ph-Eur-BP-USP-GMP-IPEC-grade-cas-56-81-5.html)

## Mechanism of Action in Endolymphatic Hydrops

Glycerol acts as a **hyperosmotic agent** that creates a transient osmotic gradient between the blood plasma and inner ear fluids. After oral ingestion, it is rapidly absorbed and raises serum osmolarity, drawing fluid osmotically from the endolymphatic compartment. This reduces endolymphatic pressure and volume — which is precisely why the *glycerol test* works diagnostically: a positive test (hearing improvement ≥10 dB at two or more frequencies) confirms the presence of fluid-sensitive hydrops. The 2020 MRI-based study confirmed directly through gadolinium-enhanced 3D-FLAIR imaging that glycerol ingestion measurably and significantly reduced endolymphatic volume, particularly in the vestibular region across all patients, with cochlear hydrops reduction being strongly correlated with baseline hydrops severity (r = 0.7691, p < 0.001). [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32354483/)

## Why It Helps When Betahistine and Tanganil Fail

This is pharmacologically coherent. Betahistine acts primarily as an H₁ agonist/H₃ antagonist that improves microvascular circulation in the stria vascularis, potentially modulating endolymph secretion over time. Acetyl-DL-leucine (Tanganil) is thought to act on vestibular compensation at the central level, modulating neuronal activity in the medial vestibular nucleus — it does not directly address endolymphatic fluid volume. Glycerol bypasses both these mechanisms entirely and acts **directly and physically** on the fluid compartment through osmosis. In patients where the primary problem is a significant endolymphatic volume overload rather than a microcirculatory or central compensation deficit, glycerol can be effective where the others are not. [sciencedirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196070920301800)

## Therapeutic Protocols and Evidence

The animal model study you linked (1993) demonstrated statistically significant hearing improvement in guinea pigs treated orally with 0.50–0.75 g/kg/day for 4 months, with dose-dependent reduction of hydrops volume confirmed histologically. Human therapeutic use — as opposed to the single-dose diagnostic test — typically involves oral glycerol at approximately 1.0–1.5 g/kg diluted 50% in water or lemon juice to improve palatability, taken on scheduled days. Intravenous glycerol has also been formally studied as a therapeutic option in patients with definite unilateral Menière's disease refractory to dietary restrictions, with the rationale that bypassing GI absorption produces a more controlled osmotic effect. Vestibular hydrops, notably, was consistently reduced in *all* patients after glycerol in the MRI study, regardless of whether the glycerol test was audiologically positive — suggesting that the vestibular component of hydrops may be more osmotically responsive than the cochlear component. [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1870166/)

## The Practical Bottom Line

When an ENT prescribes "glycerol" for chronic therapeutic use in endolymphatic hydrops, what distinguishes a clinically appropriate preparation from household glycerin is not the molecule itself but the **pharmacopeial grade (Ph. Eur./BP/USP), the concentration, and the absence of excipients unsuitable for repeated oral ingestion**. A compounding pharmacist preparing it to the correct standard can legitimately use material labeled either way, provided it meets the monograph. The therapeutic effect — osmotic dehydration of the endolymph — is a physical consequence of the molecule's properties and does not depend on which name appears on the label. [clyzo](https://www.clyzo.com/excipient/glycerin/glycerol--usp--bp--ph--eur---pure--pharma-grade)