Living with Vertigo and Dizziness for 40 Years

UnluckyUnicorn~I've had ever test in the books. MRI and all. BUT one test I refused to do was they put you on a table and spin you till you passout. No thanks! lol. I have a new family dr., I see him next week and going to see what he thinks. It's been 40 years so not getting hopes up of a cure.

This is long but bear with me, especially the people with with tinnitus. My vertigo came on very sudden. I was in the shower and thought the floor had opened up and I fell against the shower door. After that happened. I would have frequent bouts. It took years before I remember when I was much younger I used to complain about my balance I found myself walking at work and sort of lifting to the left sort of like when you're on a cruise ship and you think you're walking straight but you're not. So 🤔 My vertigo could be a swimming feeling, literally seeing the room spin, moving in bed and the room seems to flip, and involuntary eye, or trying to walk straight but I can't, for the sensation of being on a moving ship. Like someone else mentioned, I had a really bad case of it years later and it ended up being a virus attacking my inner ear primarily the left side with small heading lose. I had an MRI. I had the full eye movement test in the dark I also was given epley movements and I had an MRI - none of these really showed anything or the source but I've been told most recently that it's probably nerve damage. My inner ear simply can't send signals to my brain to tell me what's up and what's down. Today is what I call a vertigo day. Today is an off balance day. For the people with tinnitus I have read some things about it. I worked with people with hearing loss, tinnitus, meniere's, and I'm actually married to a person who is Deaf. Hence the reasons for me researching things about tinnitus. One theory suggests that tinnitus originates from damage to the cilia in the ear from exposure to a loud noise and that the brain begins to get used to this sound andthe origin of the sound is no longer in the inner ear, but is literally a recreation that the brain has decided is normal and creates the sound. In other words, it's literally in your head. The therapy for it is to wear hearing aids that give you white noise which may help with diverting the brain to the white noise and then to gradually reduce the white noise until your brain readjusts and stops making the noise. I have an opposite problem 0 one summer I slept with a fan on and 20 years later I cannot fall asleep in silence. I must have a fan on or some ambient sound or white noise or something., As a matter of fact I play loud thunderstorm at night and this is the only way I can fall asleep or stay asleep. My phone cuts off this loud sound in my ear I will literally wake up. The brain really does work in mysterious ways. This therapy is hard to get and one of the reasons for that is because people become impatient and they want the therapy to work right away they don't stick with it. Insurance may not even cover it. But here's the thing it may be possible to have that therapy pay for you if your insurance does not cover it through your state's vocational rehabilitation department. If you are a working person and your vertigo or tinnitus or meniere's disease interferes with your ability to work you may qualify for funding.

Vertigo is an inner ear thing. I’ve had it once in each ear. For me it was diagnosed as a viral infection. Twice, because as my comedian ENT joked, you’ve got 2 ears…

Ok I just read your entire message and see you mentioned tinnitus. It definitely sounds like you have Meniere’s Disease.

I have Meniere’s Disease. I have to say vertigo and dizziness are different. Do you have tinnitus? Do you have any nausea with your dizziness or vertigo?

I think it sounds like you had poor doctors. Have you gone to an ENT doctor recently? Have you had an MRI done of your brain? If it’s a central problem and not inner ear then usually something shows up on the MRI like MS. If you have all the assumptions then I don’t see why you wouldn’t have the diagnosis, did you do a balance test?

I have been told I have all the symptoms of Meniere's but that I don't have it, go figure! I was even told by one doctor that it wasn't coming from an ear problem. One says one thing and another something else. I guess I'll live with it and the tinnitus since I have no choice, but it is torture.

I think technically they are different. Usually Vertigo is an inner ear problem (can be a central problem but that’s more rare I believe). Vertigo causes eye movement that dizziness itself doesn’t. Have you ever been check for Ménière’s disease?