Wellness

[santorini]

This happened twice to me. It is so scary while it's happening. I was sure I was having a stroke. I went to the cardiologist and he checked everything and did a bunch of blood work. Turns out I had fluid in my ears.

On an earlier salon visit, the young hair-rinser-outer girl had apparently not been trained right and she didn't cover my ear while rinsing, and as a result, water shot full-force into my ear. I sat straight up and tried to get it all out, but I guess I didn't. The horrible incident didn't happen until a few weeks after that, so I didn't think of it immediately. This post reminded me to order some ear plugs from Amazon. I don't ever want to take a chance of that happening again.

[Cyndog]

Thanks tons for all your replies. I'm going to try to respond by memory to your posts as I can't see them all at once on my phone. Judging from all the sticky things on me, I think I did have the 12 lead EKG. The hospital gave me IV anti nausea and a prescription for Meclizine. I'm always afraid of "zine" drugs as I'm highly allergic to compazine, an anti nausea drug I took as a child when high humidity made me nauseous. I've had unexplained calf pain for about a year and have had every test known to man for it so that's why I asked doctor for a brain scan and he suggested do a neck scan as well, maybe I'll have a pinched nerve like I think Q said. I'm also terrified of MRI machines, but found an open one when I had to have it looking for calf pain explanation. I do take two painkillers a day for my calf pain with Tigan, an anti nausea drug because painkillers do make me sick, but I've been doing this for six months so I don't think that's it. The ear doctor didn't think it was my ears and the physical therapist should have been able to fix that, but I didn't show those symptoms when I was there. Lordy, I barely set foot in a doctor's office until the past year and all these weird things hit me. My doctor did suggest checking my heart out next. And yes, the anxiety and worrying about it coming back is the WORST. I'm only near a small rural hospital. I asked the paramedics to take me to a larger hospital, but they didn't advise it as my condition was unknown. The funny thing was the paramedics saw some of my I Love Lucy things and all the way to the hospital trying to keep me conscious I figure, he talked about Lucille Ball and he was pretty well versed for a dude, ha, ha. I was thinking in my dazed state, OMG, I'm going to die and I'm having a conversation about Lucy! So thanks to all for being so generous with your replies. I will update you all.

[sidsmom]

You said 'travel' in your OP. Have you been aboard recently? Reason I ask? I watch those 'Monsters Inside Me' shows on Animal Planet....even in the desert, some people get unknowingly get bitten by creepy crawly things...or a parasite enters their body, causing all sorts of 'weird things' within a normal, healthy body. Hard to pinpoint, but maybe my post will reasonate with you. Good luck! Sidsmom

[Q4u]

Just thought of something.... take it with a grain of salt, and just asking because the doctors ~never~ think of this and that is... do you take cholesterol drugs? Any kind of statin? I was on one years ago because the doctor felt my 210 was way too high. So I took it faithfully for a year before I started noticing that my leg muscles (calf) were hurting. For me it was like an electrical shock but it also felt like a cramping and sometimes like a sharp pain. It would sometimes gravitate up and down. I only became alarmed when I had trouble one day going up stairs, I thought what the???? It was a very slow realization. I also had trouble opening bottles of water. I thought good grief, It wasn't that long ago that I was breaking boards with those hands in Karate.

I was turned onto Spacedoc.com and read an incredible story about Statin poisoning. Long story short, my doctor asked me to try another type of Statin, it did the same thing. I slowly (never do this fast) weaned myself off the statin drugs! Very slowly, the pain in my legs (and weakness) went away and my hands felt better. BTW, both have not come back entirely! After reading Spacedoc I was not surprised as the Doctor Astronaut who has this website stated that his own body is now crippled from the Statins.

It doesn't happen to everyone. And those that are successfully on a Statin should continue. But there are those of us out there that have a problem with the drug and unfortunately the doctors really don't believe us. Mine didn't at first. She does now. And I take a supplement Cholestoff that has been successful in lowering my numbers.

Like I said, just another thought thrown out there regarding muscle pain that no one can figure out where it comes from.

Very good luck....

[SoCarolina]

I experienced similar symptoms. Not as extreme as you have indicated but, nausea, dizziness and head spinning. Turned out that I had a buildup of ear wax, the doctor extracted it with a syringe of water. Looked like a small rock. I was back to normal soon after.

[kittymomNC]

On 11/7/2014 cyndog said: Thanks tons for all your replies. I'm going to try to respond by memory to your posts as I can't see them all at once on my phone. Judging from all the sticky things on me, I think I did have the 12 lead EKG. The hospital gave me IV anti nausea and a prescription for Meclizine. I'm always afraid of "zine" drugs as I'm highly allergic to compazine, an anti nausea drug I took as a child when high humidity made me nauseous. I've had unexplained calf pain for about a year and have had every test known to man for it so that's why I asked doctor for a brain scan and he suggested do a neck scan as well, maybe I'll have a pinched nerve like I think Q said. I'm also terrified of MRI machines, but found an open one when I had to have it looking for calf pain explanation. I do take two painkillers a day for my calf pain with Tigan, an anti nausea drug because painkillers do make me sick, but I've been doing this for six months so I don't think that's it. The ear doctor didn't think it was my ears and the physical therapist should have been able to fix that, but I didn't show those symptoms when I was there. Lordy, I barely set foot in a doctor's office until the past year and all these weird things hit me. My doctor did suggest checking my heart out next. And yes, the anxiety and worrying about it coming back is the WORST. I'm only near a small rural hospital. I asked the paramedics to take me to a larger hospital, but they didn't advise it as my condition was unknown. The funny thing was the paramedics saw some of my I Love Lucy things and all the way to the hospital trying to keep me conscious I figure, he talked about Lucille Ball and he was pretty well versed for a dude, ha, ha. I was thinking in my dazed state, OMG, I'm going to die and I'm having a conversation about Lucy! So thanks to all for being so generous with your replies. I will update you all.

cyndog, I'm so sorry all this has happened to you, and I hope your doctors will get to the bottom of it and be able to help you. This really resonates with me! A few years ago I had a 2-hour episode of vertigo during which I could not lie down. I wanted to because I thought it would make me feel better, but if I tried, I would feel like I was passing out. It finally went away. A year or so later, I had been out one morning at yard sales, came home, and decided to take a quick nap since I had been up so early. I laid down on the bed, then started to get back up for some reason, and almost passed out. I laid my head back down, but every time I tried to lift it off the pillow, I thought I would pass out. I managed to call a neighbor, and she came over to check on me. We wound up calling an ambulance... she had thought she and my friend who was coming could get me to the car, but I told her they could never do it, if I lifted my head, I would pass out.

The ambulance came, and they had to lift me off the bed in a completely prone position without lifting my head. I spent the entire day in the emergency room and about 7:00 that evening, I was able to get up and walk. They had given me two kinds of medicine, which I kept on my bedside table, some in the kitchen, and some in my family room for the longest time. I've had no more bad episodes, although from time to time I can have a moment of slight dizziness that goes away. The doctor at the ER said that sometimes even a speck of dust in your ear can cause it.

Also, the reason I bolded your line about compazine is that I had a bad reaction to that when I was in my early twenties. I had been having stomach problems, started taking compazine, and a day or so later started having very severe muscle spasms (my dr said I was on the verge of convulsions), my eyes would roll back in my head, I had insomnia, couldn't focus, almost couldn't walk - I literally thought I was dying for about 5 days, until they finally figured out that I had every side effect listed in the PDR for compazine. Now even my dentist has that on my list of allergies, although it wasn't actually an allergy.

And I've also been having pain in my calf - it started as severe cramps from time to time, but sometimes it almost feels like the muscle is trying to twist my leg. I'm on statins, but my doctor doesn't seem concerned about it. My son was given something by an acquaintance that they said would help, and believe it or not, it works! I've had a cramp in that calf so bad that I literally wondered if a person could just die from pain alone. I spray this stuff on my leg and rub it in when I start to feel the pain/cramping, or if I get a real sudden bad cramp, and it's gone within two minutes. It's called "Proven Old Amish Formula...Stops Leg & Foot Cramps in About One Minute", from Caleb Treeze Organic Farm - All Natural Ingredients. It only contains certified organic apple cider vinegar, all-natural ginger, and garlic juice, but they say it's the specific formula that makes it work. (www.stopslegcramps.com) It is cheaper on Amazon. It sounds crazy, I know, but this stuff works! However, if I continue to have this problem, I think I will talk to my doctor more about the statin medication I'm on.

I do hope you're better soon, and can let us know what the doctors find out.

[Lovemakeup]

I had to reply, because I had a similar thing happen to me several years ago.

When I woke up in the morning,I was so dizzy with the room spinning around. I managed to crawl to the bathroom, because I thought I was going to be sick. I NEVER had a feeling as bad as this. It's worse than you can imagine, unless you've been through it! I was SURE I had a brain tumor. I managed to get to the doctor the next day...and since I'm a nurse did some research before I got there. I had a viral infection in my inner ear! It took a few days to feel back to normal. When I got back to work, it turns out the doctor I worked with had the same thing happen to her at the same time. Must have both been infected by one of our patients.

[SaggingGal]

I have had it for over 30 years. Scary but it does pass for me with a small dose of meclizine. Awoke one morning and went to stand up and I could not. It literally forced me down to the floor and I stayed there. I could not get up. My husband called my GP who sent an order asap for meclizine to our nearby pharmacy. No paramedics, no IVs, nothing invasive. The pill fortunately worked. Took about 4 hours to do so. My husband slid a pillow under my head to ease my discomfort about two hours later since I was frozen to the floor and any movement was too much. My vertigo is called benign positional vertigo and can be caused by something as simple as straining my neck forward too far, especially when I garden, or sleeping on too large a pile of pillows behind my head that cause the nerves in my neck to strain, or bending forward for a long period of time washing the dishes. All of it is affected by the osteoarthritis in my neck, and the pinched nerves in my neck as a result of being the victim of a car accident. Lots of issues to deal with. Fortunately there is over-the-counter Dramamine. One of the versions of it offers meclizine as a key ingredient. The vertigo episodes seem to come in clusters, like 2-3 during a few weeks of the year and then nothing for years. A frightening experience, there is no diminishing the sheer terror of knowing you have no control of yourself. Some hints to lessen: keep your ear canals cleaned out, wax buildup can be a nasty contributor, be aware if you experience increased tinnitus as this is a sign of lessened hearing, do not allow yourself to turn your neck to the hard right or left, be gentle with it, and do not prop a phone on your shoulder, this will increase the severity of neck issues and bring on vertigo attacks. Also be very quiet when you have an episode, try to focus on one spot that does not continue the severity of the attack, visually focusing near or far can have a major impact during an attack--figure out which does not make you feel more nauseous, like when watching the shoreline when you are at sea on a boat. Lastly ask your GP for vertigo exercises, they take about 5-10 minutes per day, these simple exercises will stabilize the crystals in your ears if done very, very, very carefully and eliminate vertigo. Of course there are other reasons for vertigo that may be far more serious than mine but I have managed quite well for a very long time. Best of luck to you in your resolution of this problem.

[homecoming queen]

I have had vertigo for almost I have suffered from vertigo and tinitus for 35 years. My attacks occur out of nowhere and the first day is usually the worst. Nausea, sweating are a few of the symptoms, while I have trouble focusing my eyes, as the previous poster mentioned. I sit quietly and try to focus on one spot on the television. I feel anxious and a complete loss of control. My husband stays close by so he can help me walk to the powder room. The next few days I feel lightheaded and weak and my diet consists of tea and toast. I buy "Travel Sickness" over the counter medicine at Costco. My drugist says it is the same as Antivert. It is very inexspensive for a large number of pills. I buy 2 bottles, just in case. I never leave the house without some in my purse. If I feel an episode coming on, I have them near me. As the years have passed, after so many episodes, I try to tell myself to try not to be anxious, and ride it out. That being said, I still worry about the next vertigo attack.

[devalen]

I have had vertigo for over six years. I was so sick when I had an episode that I was confined to bed for the day. I learned a few things that have kept me free of episodes for a few years now. 1) I have a bad side (most people do with vertigo) so I started avoiding sleeping on my left side. Really helped because I would flip over from my "bad" side in the morning, activate the movement in my ear, and the room would start madly spinning like I was on a record turn table. 2) I found that there are a few different Epley maneuvers (described on the internet). The one my doctor described for me did not help as much as another one I tried from the internet. So check out the different ways you can do it. 3) Don't bend over from the waist for long periods of time - like in gardening. You will have light nausea for possibly days. It will never go away completely, but I have my life back as it is under control now and I haven't had to repeat the Epley maneuver for over three years.