the doc did the epley manoevre on me this morning for my mild BPPV, and he surprised me a little by only doing it once, I expected him to do about 3 rotations but he just did the 1.

because my symptoms are v.mild it was not clear at the time if it worked, as the day has worn on, I am inclined to think it hasnt worked, but I am aware that there is an anxiety element to this and I might have got into such a state that it might be improved, but I just cant recognize it.

anyhow I asked him about the modified epley and he wasnt keen on me doing something myself at home, as he thought home manoeuvres were as likely to make things worse as better.

anyhow I have decided to leave it 2 days and if I am convinced it is still there I will try the MEP myself.

does anyone have bad experiences of doing epley themselves?

another thing he didnt do the nystagmus test to diagnose BPPV and which ear it was, he did an audiogram which showed that I had lost a little of the high frequency range in my right ear which he said was an indication that it was on that side he also had me marching on the spot with my arms outstretched and my palms upward with my eyes shut, and he said my right foot was more erratic where it made ground contact, and that was another indication that it was on the right side.

from what I read neither of these tests are standard but he seemed to know his stuff.

what do you guys and gals think about this lot ?

regards

elpirata

Hi Elpirata
I have never had the Epeley done at the doctors but have done the MEP at home and have been vertigo free as a result.
Did he give you specific instructions regarding head position at night, sitting upright and not bending down? When you say mild BPPV, what symptoms do you get, any vertigo when rolling over in bed or by head positions?
I would wait it out a bit to see if his maneuver works, but if not, then I would try the MEP....PROVIDING you are very certain about which side to do it on. I knew because of an earlier case of labs which resulted in vestibular loss on my right side, and I figured it must be the affected ear. The march test is pretty good for indicating the side from what I have read but I am no expert on that.
When I found out about the MEP I did it three times a day for a week, but after the 2nd time doing it the vertigo was gone. I don't think you can injure anything by repeating it, especially if you are doing it correctly. There are some videos to download on the first thread on this board which shows how to do it exactly.
Good luck
FC

hey firechick,

he gave no specific instructions except for "take it easy" for a couple of days,

by mild I mean it is noticeable when walking, but not really when driving, but is noticable getting in and out of cars or looking over my shoulder at other traffic etc. the other week i went up in the loft and had to balance on the beams (no boards you see) and a sort of brain fog descended on me.
rolling over in bed sometimes gives spinning feeling but all symptoms are v.subtle. the other thing I noticed is going in a DVD store and turning head to read the edge of the boxes, brought it on a bit.

what I dont know or havent read is what happens if you are pretty sure the right ear is the problem and do the MEP for that, but it is actually the left, can that make the symptoms worse or does it just give no result, any thoughts ?

glad to hear you are sorted, and now that it has been more than 12 hours since doc did the epley, i am starting to think it may be sorted but dont want to put my head in unusual positions till monday.


regards

elpirata

Hey back
Sounds like a good idea to wait it out a bit.
As far as doing the MEP on the wrong side and what happens...I guess you stay dizzy and the crystals don't go back where they belong, but I don't think you can actually damage anything.
THe brain fog may stay with you for a while, I have been 18months and still get it from time to time.
Am having a very bad night right now, not sure why. Am going to bed Very early tonight.
FC

The test he gave you is the Unterberger stepping test. It's very vague and doesn't provide anything in particular that helps with diagnosis - just that you may have a unilateral vestibular problem. Lots of docs do it though as its a reasonable first thing to do before testing further.

I dunno about the rest though.. because there is no way BPPV can cause hearing loss. I have no idea why he'd use all those things to justify a case of BPPV (especially because the hearing loss one is simply wrong). There is one and only one way of diagnosing BPPV, the dix-hallpike manuever which is really easy and takes only a few seconds. The direction of the nystagmus also provides all the info they need to localise the problematic canal. In fact, the way the Epley is done should be guided by the nystagmus from the Dix-Hallpike manuever.