My mom has been suffering from what the doc's say could be vertigo. This has been going on for about a year now. She can no longer drive for fear of having a dizzy spell and she is way too young for this. She went thru the therapy for a month and they said that most people are basically cured after this, she is not. Any input? I am completely ignorant of this disease and could use some help.

Charmed.1
Could your mom have ]Benign Proximinal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). This is where the crystals in the inner ear migrate to other parts of the ear. When you turn a certain way they move around and cause extreme veritgo. It just lasts seconds but can cause falls, etc. My MIL has had it for 4 years. When she was first diagnosed they did a proceedure where they manipulate the head to try to get the crystals back where they belong. She was to keep head movements minimal for a week but the minute we got into the car to go home she forgot and started moving her head.

We went thru this 3 times before we realized she was not able to follow the directions. Since then I have taken her to a ENT surgeon but he gave her exercises which she cannot do. Now that she has ALZ she complains about it all the time and wants to be taken to the Dr. There is nothing they can do for her.

If your mom still has her right mind and this sounds like the problem, take her to a ENT specialist to have the proceedure done and get exercises she can do at home to help it. Good luck.
Turquoise

Yes, my mom has it too.

The doctors gave her instructions also, don't move the head too quickly or rise from sleeping quickly, but with dementia, she never remembered their orders. Didn't even remember she'd ever been dizzy or gone to the hospital from one of the falls.

She suffered 2 very bad falls. Now, they give her a medicine to stop the spells. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of it. I'm sure someone else will come along who knows the name. It starts with an "m" and can be purchased over the counter without prescription. My mom takes it in the evening and hasn't had a fall since taking this med. About 6 months now.

Hope that helps.....

:( I had a bout of vertigo many years ago. It was awful. The dizziness also made me nauseous, so it was a matter of feeling dizzy, throwing up, and falling. I was diagnosed with an inner ear imbalance and put on some medication (this was so long ago I don't remember what it was.) It went away after only a few days, thank God. They were terrible days. I could not drive, walk, cook or anything ..with 3 small kids at home.

I feel so sorry for anyone with this condition. I hope they will get rid of it with medication. Mine never came back. It was at least 20 years ago.

Good luck!

Love,
Martha

I had a friend who was off work for 3 months because of severe vertigo so it can last a while. They never found out what caused his. It just went away on it's own.

Barb

Oh, I just remembered the name of that medicine. It is Meclizine.

I think you have to be careful about driving, etc., because it can cause drowsiness. But it works for mom's vertigo.

Hi,

Like Sandyspen said - my father has also taken that drug, for dizziness/vertigo. My dad could not describe which it was. He took it for about 9 mo. It helped a bit. But, then it was found that his blood pressure and pulse were getting really low and he needed a pacemaker and he has no more dizzy spells, unless he gets up very quickly from sitting and trys to walk immediately. You can tell him to stand up and wait and wiggle his legs, but he does not remember.

Hope we all helped you some.

Love, Wannabe

That does help me some. She also did the exercises at home for a while. She was still having the dizzy spells though. She doesn't drive any more because she is afraid that she'll have a spell while driving. She is absolutely in her right mind though. She follows the directions and does what they tell her to do. Its just not working. So I'm wondering is this vertigo? Has she possible been misdiagnosed? If she goes to church there's a good chance that she'll have a "spell" and have to leave. It's better lately but still there and doesn't seem to want to go away. I think that its starting to depress her because she feels like she can't do anything normal in fear of another "spell". Thanks for all the input and any thing else is welcome. :)

Charmed,

From what they told me about my mom, it's sort of a deterioration of the inner ear. The doctor said it couldn't be "cured," but it's just a matter of controlling the affects. Mom is 82, totally deaf in one ear and a hearing aid in the other. Yet, she still doesn't hear well.

The actual vertigo comes and goes, so now they just give her a small dose of the meclizine every day and she hasn't had a spell in many months.

I know it has to be awful for your mom. My mom had a spell while sitting in my living room and I was shocked. It literally looked like someone had grabbed her arm and thrown her down as she was getting up from the chair. They don't even have time to brace themselves. Then, with mom, she doesn't remember it happened so doesn't take caution when getting up too quickly. It was really a difficult time.

Charmed,

From what they told me about my mom, it's sort of a deterioration of the inner ear. The doctor said it couldn't be "cured," but it's just a matter of controlling the affects. Mom is 82, totally deaf in one ear and a hearing aid in the other. Yet, she still doesn't hear well.

The actual vertigo comes and goes, so now they just give her a small dose of the meclizine every day and she hasn't had a spell in many months.

I know it has to be awful for your mom. My mom had a spell while sitting in my living room and I was shocked. It literally looked like someone had grabbed her arm and thrown her down as she was getting up from the chair. They don't even have time to brace themselves. Then, with mom, she doesn't remember it happened so doesn't take caution when getting up too quickly. It was really a difficult time.

That is awful. I haven't been with mom during one of her spells but I have seen her after and it's awful. My mom is 63 and otherwise extremely healthy. She walks everyday, a mile or two. They haven't offered her any medicine. After the exercises didn't work, they started her on the therapy 2 or 3 times a week. She's been doing that for about 6 weeks or so. The "spells" are not as frequent but are still happening. I just wish we knew that the diagnosis was correct. If most people have gotten it under control at this point and she doesn't...????

Vertigo isn't really a diagnosis. It's a symptom of something else that's going on. It could be a sudden drop in blood pressure or many other things, some of which were addressed already by others here.

Get as much information on vertigo and it's causes as you can and go from there.

I'm glad to hear she's not having as many episodes. Like I said before, it took my friend 3 months before his episodes subsided enough that he could go back to work.

Love, Barb

Vertigo isn't really a diagnosis. It's a symptom of something else that's going on. It could be a sudden drop in blood pressure or many other things, some of which were addressed already by others here.

Get as much information on vertigo and it's causes as you can and go from there.

I'm glad to hear she's not having as many episodes. Like I said before, it took my friend 3 months before his episodes subsided enough that he could go back to work.

Love, Barb

I know that I do want to know more. She has been going through this for a little over a year. She did try that drug that starts with an M (can't remember the name) but it drugged her out so bad she couldn't take it. The doc had also told her that the medicine would mask the problem. Thank you for your input and I welcome any more thoughts.