Does anyone here notice that they feel atleast a tiny bit better after they eat??

Yes...definitely. I thought it was strange but I do feel slightly better after I eat even when I was nausous at the beginning. It doesn't have any thing to do with blood sugar because I've had mine tested a couple of times.

Weird, isn't it?

Gloria

I do as well. I have chronic mild on and off nausea and eating helps it out. I also had blood sugar checked. It is weird but it makes me know the nausea is not digestive or eating would not help . I often keep crackers near me if I feel nausea

Howie

Howie,

I know you suffered with the nausea for a long time. I had it for a straight 6 - 8 weeks very severe and throwing up and then it went away. I still get it very mildly every so often and then it goes away. Nothing like it was before. I found that those seabands help. You can get them in a drug store (around the pregnancy stuff or the draimaine). They look like little rist band with a little hard ball on the inside of them. They rest on your palse points on your wrist (where the two vains meet on your arms). You should give them a try. I bought them in 2000 when I went on a cruise with my husband (I was 4 weeks pregnant). I was so nausous (NOT DIZZY THOUGH) and a swedish girl sold them to me. I would never of thought they worked but within 15 minutes I went from green and half dead to enjoy my vacation. They are called SEABANDS and are inexpensive and a drug free alternative.

It must be fun in your household with you and your wife nausous. I never really had morning sickness with my son. I was really tired the 1st trimester and a little nausous in the afternoon. I only threw up once and that is because I tried to eat a vegtable I really don't like. I wish I could trade that for this stuff now. It is funny how life works out. I thought last year at this time that I would be pregnant with my second (my clocks starting to tick). I wanted another child so much and now I dont' think I will ever get that chance becasue of this illness and my age. I never thought I would be struggling with this.

Take care,
Gloria

Gloria:

Mine is a mild nausea but chronic. I do not have it severe where I throw up. My Neuro-Otologist just called me in a prescription for patches you put in the back of your ears for 3 days at a time. Very similiar to your wristbands. Thank you for your advice... I will get these patches on Friday. My wife has not been nauseas at all just tired a lot. Some cramps... So right now its just me. Overall doing better though like 75% to 85%. Nausea is the only bad symptom that bothers me

Howie

Hi Tummy2 and All
I find that good food really helps me to feel better. When I haven't eaten for a couple of hours or done lots of activity then I find I start to feel very ill and weird - dizzy and tired and odd. I try to avoid sugar as I feel that helps me to feel worse. I probably should get checked out for blood sugar problems, but I think since this illness Ive become more susceptible to blood sugar lows and highs.
I'd be interested to hear of anyone else with this sort of thing, Dizzy2 has said in the past that she feels ill when she is hungry too. So I sort of assumed I was normal for this board!
Best wishes
Tesss

Well I have been wondering that for a while. I feel extremely dizzy sometimes and have noticed that after eating the symptoms get less severe. maybe its just timing because I eat around the same time everyday.

Today is my 7 Week anniverssary of this thing.... This thing sucks and I am having an extremely hard time dealing this time around. If anyone remembers me -- This is like the 3rd time I have had this thing in the last 3 years.

1st Time after a Cold, then a reoccurrence after the flu 3 months later, then again 4 months after that when I had a 3 day straight drinking binge in vegas.


Tummy

Oh my....mine better go and never return. The other thing that I noticed makes me feel better is being outside versus inside. Even when it is 90 degrees and sunny; I feel better outside. I see better too.

yea, I know, its quite dreadful when it comes back after it goes away..

Have any of you seen this site??

www.labyrinthitis.org.uk

....Fasting for too long used to trigger vertigo attacks. The longer I went without eating the dizzier I would get until the eventual vertigo. While your blood sugar will always test normal, it's still a blood sugar/ metabolism issue.

....I found that a diet based on medium to low foods on the Glycemic Index ended all the problems I was having. The problem is eating foods that trigger a significant insulin release. As the blood sugar drops and there's still too much insulin, the adrenal gland starts regulating blood sugar instead of the pancreas. This leads to what is called Reactive Hypoglycemia. Not really hypoglycemia because the blood sugar will still be normal but all the insulin and adrenaline seems to cause problems for a lot of us.

....Once we eat then the carbs raise the blod sugar back to a level to where theadrenal gland turns off and the insulin takes over to lower the blood sugar. Situation normal unless we eat a high glycemic food that triggers a significant insulin release again. Thus the cycle can continue endlessly.

...You also probably have the worst time in the mornings until your first meal. That is because of the adrenal hormones regulating blood sugar after an all night fast. I found that eating a medium to low Glycemic food right before bedtime minimizes this effect. I eat frosted corn flakes and milk.

...The adrenal hormones tend to make me feel better but the combination of all these processes going on (high insulin, high adrenaline, blood sugar fluctuations) that tend to trigger the dizzies.

...I had originally solved this issue by eating small meals every 2 hours. It worked but the weight gain was bad. The diet based on the glycemic index allows me to go extended periods of time without eating with no ill effects.

Rick

Hi tummy,

Yes - eating definitely helps me feel much better when I'm feeling rough. I think it's simply because eating calms the central nervous system. Eating is quite important in the morning for people who suffer from depression too apparently. It picks them up. I notice that after dinner I feel the best of all.

Scott :cool:

god yes!! I have to eat right when I feel hungry or I can get pretty dizzy. That started when the vertigo hit. I am now not very tolerant of hunger. I carry nutrition bars or some snack with me all of the time. That is pretty common with inner ear disorders.

Rick, thanks for the info. It makes a lot of sense. I am going to research the GI foods and try to stick with it for a bit and see if it helps. I definately have noticed when I eat lots of sweet stuff I seem to be more unstable with fatigue and dizzyness. Cheers.
Dizzy, I am exactly the same, I carry nutrition bars all the time. I am constantly suirprised by how similar we are in everything we talk about!! Hope you are doing well and enjoying the new job!
Lots of love
Tesss

Thanks Rick, I did read to the end and I think it does explain whats going on with me too. When I eat a lot of sweets I always feel bad a bit later on. if I continue to eat a lot of sweet stuff and drinks then I generally get tired and jittery as you describe. Someone I work with is a diabetic and when I described to him how I felt he said it sounded like a hypo. But wheras he would eat sugar it wouldn't help me - probably cos I ate too much of it. For a while I have severely limited the amount of sugary stuff I eat, and funny enough I also stopped eating potatoes in the main. I was confused before because chocolate didn't seem to make me feel ill in the same way, and after your post I looked at the GI index and it isn't a high GI food. SO making a lot of sense for me.

I also have PCOS so I had assumed that something wasn't quite balancing but assumed it was because of that. Im now wondering whether a low GI diet will help with symptoms from this.

Can I ask a question - what do you eat? I did read that eating 1 low GI food in every meal is a good way to go but is that enough in your experience?

I am definately going to buy a book on this tomorrow!
Cheers
Tesss

....There's lot's of info on the relationship of PCOS and the glycemic index and from what I understand, dietary changes are a big part of the treatment. It's hard to say what dietary changespeople should make because diets vary quite a bit from region to region. But for me, it was mainly reducing potatoes and rice. White starches, in general, are the biggest offenders.
Rick

I also have PCOS so I had assumed that something wasn't quite balancing but assumed it was because of that. Im now wondering whether a low GI diet will help with symptoms from this.

Hi Tesss - I hadn't noticed this post until Rick brought it to my attention. Without question, a low GI diet will help or remove PCOS from your life. There's a student in our group working on her phd about this very topic. She presented recently and has seen some brilliant results thus far.

Hunt down info on the web about the glycemic index and all will be found there.

Best - Scott

I definitely feel a little better after eating (for maybe an hour or two). My main symptom is chronic but mild nausea. From doing a lot of research (never heard it from a doctor), I found that causes of nausea are additive in nature, which makes a lot of sense. If you're already feeling a little nauseous from your inner ear, if you do something that would otherwise make you a little nauseas anyway, such as drinking alcohol, not eating, sudden movement, etc, you will feel worse. Therefore I believe eating soothes the stomach just a bit to help relieve the nausea, even if it's originating from the inner ear.

Hi Chuzzlewit,
It's ironic that I just replied to your post about feeling nauseated 24/7 earlier this afternoon. In that reply, I said that I still do experience nausea on and off quite often, but that I am able to eat enough, even with the nausea, to maintain my weight now, which had been a major factor with this whole thing from the beginning in March, 2004. I am eating because I know I have to, but unfortunately it does not make me feel better. Maybe I'm eating the wrong things - cereals, crackers, lots of yogurt, fruits and veggies, protein shakes as well as drinking supplements such as Ensure+ - usually things that I find it "easy" to palate. I'm just wondering why eating does not make the nausea feel better in my case, when most others on this thread who seem to have similar vestibular symptoms, do feel better when they eat. Anyone have any answers/suggestions???!!! I'm out of them right now - sorry to whine - just need a little boost I think... or maybe the brain fog is causing me to miss something ... I'll just blame it on brain fog ... it may as well have some use!

I do hope you are feeling better than earlier, Chuzzlewit ... Take care ...

~Swirlygirl

swirlygirl, I'm not sure the scope of your symptoms, but have you had a full GI workup? Though I am no doctor, I have done TONS of research on nausea related to both GI and Inner Ear and everything else under the sun. Nausea which gets worse from eating resulting in significant weight loss is a red flag for a GI workup. If you've done all that, please ignore. Although it may be hard to accept, remember that it's possible you have separate problems with you dizziness and nausea. Did they appear at the roughtly the same time? Thanks for the kind words and I wish you the best of luck. BTW Eating doesn't seem to help me nearly as much as it did when all of this started.

Hey Chuzzlewit,
Thanks for your concern re: the nausea/weight loss issue I've been dealing with. I have had a very thorough GI workup throughout the last year (almost 2 years now actually - hard to believe it's been so long!). I've had gastroscopies with and without biopsies, gastric emptying studies, upper GI ultrasounds, etc., etc., etc. - it seems that it's gone on forever. The long and the short of it is that the basic agreement, even from the last gastroenterologist that I saw who was very thorough, (much to my discomfort!) is that the nausea is caused by the vertigo that I experience, and not from anything possibly more sinister related to gastric problems. To answer your question about when the symptoms started, the nausea definitely accompanied the vertigo from Day 1 and is quite awful when I'm swirling, but it is also always there in the background in between, and seems to be associated with the disequilibrium that I experience pretty well 24/7. I still do think though, and I know others here have expressed their scepticism as well, that there is still something missing in my dx because I still cannot get past this swirling even though I am trying so hard to do what I think is right - basically MEP, VRT and lots of CBT! Anyway, I hope to find out something more on the 19th when I see the Otolaryngologist who 1st dx'd me with BPPV - I sure hope she has something more that I can try.

I hope that you are feeling better, and thanks again for sharing your research with me...

~Swirlygirl

Hi Swirlygirl,
Have you actually had an ENT or Otologist acknowledge that 24/7 nausea can be present between episodes of vertigo? BTW How often do you have vertigo? I've hammered 2 general ENT's plus 2 Otology-specialist ENTs including epley, and not one has really acknowledged this possiblity. Therefore, though I believe it is possible, it must be exceeding rare. We must be some of the lucky few :confused: . Anyway I'm glad you've had the extensive GI workup, sounds like you don't have to worry about something serious there. After 3 years I'm at the point that I really don't want to go through any more tests, I just want this all to go away. BTW Do you believe your diagnosis of BPPV? Does your vertigo actually seem to follow rapid or repeatible head movements? I've only had vertigo a few times, but many times I will get a falling sensation when I look toward the side, such as when I'm crossing the street and look from side to side, so I still think that BPPV is possible in my case, although it would be of the horizontal canal variety. Also have you had a VEMP test which is relatively new?
Best of luck!

Hi Chuzzlewit,
I, in fact, have had the very same experience as you, in that the ENT's, Oto-neurologists, Otolaryngologists, etc. that I have seen (4), have always expressed surprise that I experience so much nausea (24/7) and that I have experienced so much weight loss at the beginning. Therefore, if I do indeed have BPPV, it does seem to be exceedingly rare, which has bothered me from the beginning. As for believing my dx of BPPV, I have expressed suspicion that I still think something is missing. It's amazing that you're really bothered by looking from side to side, because that is one of my major triggers - which makes grocery shopping a pain in the *. The attacks of vertigo were averaging 3 - 5 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, and "usually" associated with head or body-turning movement (such as turning to go up the next flight of stairs). I'm pretty sure that when I wake up at night with vertigo, it is caused by turning over in bed. No, I have not had a VEMP test - will ask my Oto on the 19th.

One other reason I've questioned my BPPV dx is because I have other things that do not normally go with BPPV, but I know it can be so different for everybody. I experience numbness in my hips, legs, and hands, that causes difficulty walking or doing things with my hands needing fine motor control - this numbness comes and goes and was thought originally to be caused by the major weight loss in the beginning, but I'm not sure if this is the case anymore because I have not lost any more weight for several months. I also have the brain fog that many more people have with vestibular disorders making me have difficulty with word retrieval, memory (big-time), slow thought processing, confusion, etc. I accept that this is part of the VD, but there are others, such as difficulty swallowing, speech slurring and hesitancy, and the inability to raise my voice above a certain pitch at times (feels weak) that don't seem to fit the basic "norms". And I have a fullness that comes and goes daily in my left ear, even though the BPPV was dx'd on the right. I don't know anymore either, I've tried the MEP - really given in a good go at various points - and on different sides at different times - given it time to work from what I know of it, but if the rocks are in there, they don't seem to be coming out with this maneuvre. Like you, I want it to go away, but I'm still willing to go through as many tests as I have to to get answers - unpleasant as some of them are - I feel an overpowering need to know and keep searching.

I guess we are a couple of the lucky ones that have unusual nausea associated with it, but I'm still determined to get answers. Others have symptoms, such as tinnitus, vision blurring, etc. that I don't get at all - except for the obvious blurring when I'm spinning. So I guess we're all different. Good luck to you ... I'll keep you updated with what happens after my next appointment ... maybe I'll find something to help both of us... take care..
~Swirlygirl

Hi Swirlygirl,
Wow, it seems our nausea/dizziness symptoms are similar, although I don't have the numbness and other symptoms you describe. Do you ever have trouble from looking up? If you only have trouble from horizontal movements like me, the Epley maneuvre and test for BPPV (Hallpike) don't apply. From my rather extensive research a few years back (I actually bought a textbook on VD that doctors in training use), 90% of BPPV is caused from within the posterial vertical canal, whereas only about 10% is from within the horizontal canal. Also the horizontal canal is actually at a 30% angle, so it's less likely to be repeatible unless you tilt your head just right. It's funny you should mention a store causing trouble, because my latest relapse of nausea in December was preceded by an incident at Walmart where I was walking down the middle aisle looking left/right, left/right for my kids, and bam! I thought I was falling. Do you have trouble at malls or crowded stores just from all the movement in your peripheral vision? I also have extreme difficulty going to the library, tilting my heads to read the book titles, within about 5 minutes I have to skidaddle. I'll have to say it seems like my nausea has been decreasing in the past week, but the dizziness from the above mentioned activities is getting worse. Did you ever try a course of prednisone? I tried it 3 times and it really seemed to help the first 2 times, cleared the nausea right up, but a few days after finishing it came right back. The 3rd time it didn't do much so I don't know what to make of that. I think my next approach to resolving all this will be getting the VEMP, although I currently don't have any doctor appts pending (from what I read there aren't that many places doing it yet.) Best of luck with your appt, and if you want, you can assure your doctor there is at least 1 other person in the world with VD-induced constant nausea.

Hey Chuzzlewit,
Wow is right! Most of my vertigo is definitely triggered by side-to-side movement, such as walking through narrow, tall corridors and looking from side to side or I've also had it triggered from standing still and watching a line of people walk by me while I kind of follow (scan) their movement (I work in a school and coach soccer - used to coach - not right at the moment - where there are lots of line-ups of children), so I've noticed that trigger quite often. I have, at times felt a little more unsteady from looking up, but I don't usually experience a full-blown vertigo attack. Definitely not comfortable with lots of peripheral movement or patterns or colours and also in malls or pools I've noticed that I feel worse - not sure why - echoing in large buildings maybe - who knows. I have never tried prednisone - I have had some relief with gravol or dimenhydrinate and maxeran - but it never did cure it right up - it more allowed me to eat more than I could without it. Anyway, it is a huge comfort (sorry to say I take comfort from your discomfort!) to know that there is at least one other person out there who has experienced this much vd-induced nausea that has lasted so long. I did have one Oto-neuro ask me point-blank why I felt so nauseated because he was adamant that it was NOT because of the vd - he was a cocky, self-absorbed "you're wasting my precious time" sort of person - who I didn't really benefit from seeing because he did absolutely no testing before he said he basically could not help me. (I guess I could look at it as a benefit in that his actions and attitude assured me that I would no longer be wasting my time with him). He was the only person who was ever that rude in all the medical people I've seen, thank goodness, as I have read comments from others here who have experienced it more than once - it really ticks me off!!
Anyway, thank you for sharing your experience and asking questions and giving answers to my questions ... I'll go to bat for both of us at this upcoming appointment ... if there's one thing I've learned from all this it's that I have to be my own advocate - my own best friend in a way - and not stop until I either find something that works, or I come to the conclusion that I have exhausted all avenues and accept that I have to live with it. I'm not there yet ... I'll stay in touch...
~Swirlygirl