I also suffer from vertigo; but my first incident took place while undergoing cancer treatments in 1997. Apparently my body reacted to the radiation treatments by giving me vertigo. It was short-lived, thankfully. However since then I do suffer from it several times a year. I have found that I am especially troubled with it when my allergies seem to flair; when a storm rolls in or the weather system changes; and especially when I am experiencing symptoms of a head cold or upper respiratory ailment. Now I have found that if I don't get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep (using my CPAP) I will experience some degree of vertigo when exceptionally tired.

It appears that my vertigo is not related directly to any viral or bacterial infection but is simply something that has happened to me over the last 10 years. When I do notice symptoms, taking my allergy medications helps lessen the affects. IMHO as I am not a doctor, there is an OTC dramamine 50 mg. that you can take which is touted for motion sickness, another way to describe vertigo, BUT that dose may make you very drowsy and unable to function during waking hours. A generic low-dose called meclizine (sp?) at 25 mg. is a better alternative to try first. When my vertigo seems to be acting up, I'll take one 25mg. meclizine at bedtime since one pill lasts approx. 24 hours. That way, if I were to experience drowsiness it wouldn't matter. I'd be sleeping anyway. That has worked well for me and now I keep this drug added to my list of helpful meds. You might considering asking your pharmacist about it.

I had my first real bout with vertigo about 1 1/2 years ago..well before starting my use of my CPAP. I awoke with the room spinning so badly that I started vomiting from it. I ran to my bathroom falling down the whole way because I couldn't tell which way was up. My eyes started dancing (nystagmus) and jumping from side to side. My toilet is between two walls and my head kept hitting those walls as I tried to aim to throw up into the toilet. That real vertigo lasted about 10 days. Doc said it was 'the rocks in my ears' that were stuck out of postion. Sort of like a water level that couldn't find it's level mark so it didn't know which way was up.

Luckily that was the one and only time I had real vertigo. I have since had dizzy spells that have lasted a few minutes or an hour or so. Thankfully nothing like that first spell. I do notice feeling dizzy at night when the lights are off..but I write that off to old age in my case..something I am sure you don't have to deal with :)

Maybe we should all have a slumber party. That way if we get dizzy we can just all bump into each other ...we do seem to like each other well enough :)

Let me know if you sort it out.. I never get to play around with my schedule enough to see if changes help it at all. I would be interested to see if changes help yours.


Good luck!

Pam
The Not so dizzy blonde

Thanks for your input, everyone.
MC

no....vertigo here..

whew..thankgod..have enough other stuff..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck with that.. it must be horrible...

Hmm, I haven’t had any vertigo issues, but when I wake up in the morning it takes my a few moments to ordinate myself; which, might be slight vertigo.

The sinus issue I had before the sleep apnea. When I was a kid, my ENT doc had me flush my sinuses out with salt water (saline solution). I used to snort the solution from a glass, and spit it out. When I got married, my wife’s mother introduced me to a nettle pot that lets you pour the solution in one nostril and out the other. A lot easier, and I know it sound gross, but it washes all that stuff out of there and keeps the sinuses moist. It made a big difference with my sinus infections and allergies.

I try to do it once a day; before I go to bed. And, if I feel a head cold coming on, I will do it 2-3 times a day.