BPPV-Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

Wow, sorry to hear you had this, Joe but glad you're feeling better.

I had an episode of BPPV while on a motorcycle camping trip.. I woke up in the tent with it and wobbled outside calling for help from my buddy - there was literally no way I could stand up without help. I had had this before so we looked up the diagnosis and treatment on my phone to refresh my memory.

With his help I made it to the campground laundry where he coached me through the Epley maneuver while I was lying on top of the washing machines. I got some strange looks and It didn't work perfectly but well enough that I could get back home. It took the rest of the summer for it to completely go away.

One of the things that helped with the symptoms the first time I had it was an OTC motion sickness med called meclizine which I now carry with me whenever I am riding or driving.

Harry
 
I had Vertigo about 3 years ago , doc said it was calcium crystals , loose & randomly bending haired nerve cells in the 3 balance tubes / inner ear . I was taking Citracal at the time - too much calcium ! Stopped that - no vertigo since.
 
The only issue with the meclizine is that it’s an antihistamine so it’ll make you tired. It helps the symptoms of the vertigo a little but doesn’t do too much for the specific cause, that being the small calcium crystals in the semicircular canals. If I see patients with the vertigo and it’s brief with each episode (meaning a few seconds or minutes per episode), it’s usually not needed
 
Well, that bites. I know about BPPV as someone I know has suffered bouts of it.
Hope the crystals get back where they belong and it doesn't come back!

Patty
 
Mellow, my late wife had this condition. It lasted for 6 months before she found the 'cure'. The 'cure' is done by an ENT who moonlights as a Chiro Dr. The 'fix' is the Dr will 'position' your head in specific angles during the session...her doc actually used a chiro table. Drugs didn't work for her but she had 6 sessions over 2 weeks and the condition went away. A bonus for her was that she learned how to the head positioning thingy and could and did ward off repeat bouts. Apparently, the 'positioning' sequence 'encourages' the wayward crystals back to home port.
 
Joe, good to hear your symptoms are better now...
Don't know how sudden an episode of BPPV could come on. Maybe like someone said, probably more likely to happen after resting.
I would hate to hear about Joe's medical emergency while riding his Tracer. o_O
 
Wow Joe.. Very scary. Glad the problem is self correcting.. with a little help I guess.
Get best quick as possible!
 
Joe, did someone put the Tracer in A mode? I'm glad you are on the mend though. I'm worried about Keith. If he knew you once owned a blue gold wing from dairy queen he would realize you will never be truly normal.
 
ibike2havefun said:
Welllll, I have met Joe, so when I said "normal"...
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Just in case you don't know the REAL Joe, I tell you what he is like. He is the kind of guy who will not give his cherry cobbler to a poor starving friend. Then again the lady sitting on the other side of me wouldn't either. smh
 
I got it several times in the 70's. I think it was linked to Thunderbird.....not the car. Put the Tracer back on B2 and grin really big.
 
Coop said:
I got it several times in the 70's. I think it was linked to Thunderbird.....not the car. Put the Tracer back on B2 and grin really big.
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You sure it was Thunderbird? I thought you told me MD2020..
 
I too suffered from severe vertigo.
The VA did a series of brain MRIs to verify that there was no brain bleeding.
It was complicated by a severe infection in one ear.....antibiotics for 10 days got rid of it.
I also went to a VA Physical Therapist....the exercises were specifically designed to reposition the crystals in my RIGHT ear.
It took over a month before I felt comfortable on the motorbike...
I do the exercises daily.

Ride safe
 
Last Monday was 100% disorientation and nausea...
Tuesday was zero nausea... but about 30% vertigo..
Wednesday I was at about 15% of what Monday was..
Thu through Sat I was at about 5-10%... it was just lingering a little and really only showed up when I bent over for more than a few seconds... then, went away.
Sunday felt like almost nothing and this morning I feel like I'm back to normal...

This is some crazy stuff... I did try some of the movements but they didn't seem to do anything or if they did I was at such a low percentage it wasn't noticeable. I'll keep them in mind if this ever happens again...

Thanks for all the comments, had no idea this was even out there and to see how many have experienced this is surprising... Hopefully, knowing a little more about it will help others if they ever have this issue.
 
Mellow said:
had no idea this was even out there and to see how many have experienced this is surprising... Hopefully, knowing a little more about it will help others if they ever have this issue.
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Is there a post in this thread that explains the crystals? Are they a thing? I've never heard of them or BPPV before. Really- 'crystals' existing in the body sounds like joke but nobody is laugh especially me with how I felt with just a touch of very temporary vertigo. But I'm wondering if there's a relationship between crystals and motion sickness or the vertigo I experienced. Maybe those exercises could help prevent those that.

Good to hear you're doing well!
 
ST Gui said:
Is there a post in this thread that explains the crystals? Are they a thing? I've never heard of them or BPPV before. Really- 'crystals' existing in the body sounds like joke but nobody is laugh especially me with how I felt with just a touch of very temporary vertigo. But I'm wondering if there's a relationship between crystals and motion sickness or the vertigo I experienced. Maybe those exercises could help prevent those that.

Good to hear you're doing well!
Click to expand...
There's all kinds of stuff out there if you google bppv... pics and movements, videos etc..
 
ST Gui said:
Is there a post in this thread that explains the crystals? Are they a thing? I've never heard of them or BPPV before.
SNIP
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As an RN I do searches for 'medical stuff' all the time, there are 2 sources I use no matter how many results I get:
The Mayo Clinic and NIH.gov.

Here is Mayo's hit using 'inner ear crystals vertigo' as the search. LINK

HTH.
Mark
 
Dang Joe, sorry to see this, but thanks for putting a name to it!

Back around '91 I had a bout of this. Not as server as yours, but it last about 6 months, the dizziness and nausea. I still have minor bouts with it, even today. So I think I will look into it a little more.

Hope you get 100% and stay that way! :thumb:
 
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