I have been suffering with vertigo attacks for about 2 years, in the past two years i have had about 12 full blown attacks. the first thing i feel very sick to my stomach and my head feels like i just rolled miles down a hill and suddenly stoped and stood up. the vertigo is so bad it last for up to a week straight with no pauses, and then im left with feeling all messed up for months after with imbalance.

before i lost my job and all my insurance i seen a nerolagist and got MRI CT scan done, blood tests all normal. I have seen 4 ear nose throat spiecalists and they cant find anything wrong, doc at layhe clinic said there is nothing wrong with your inner ear and sent me on my way with no clues as to what else it could be. no medication they ever gave me helped me at all with the exception of valuim when i had an "attack". at first they gave me a water pill and i ended up peeing out all my potassium and my hands,tongue, wrists all cramped up and i could not move them and had to be rushed to the ER where they gave me potassium.

well my last attack was 2 months ago and about 2 weeks ago i was feeling horrible so i took an asperin. I really felt bad before i took it then about 20 mins later my whole body felt better. next few days i started taking one in the morning and one at night before bed and i feel better then i have in 2 years. the ringing in my ears is going away, the feeling of imbalance is going away, my skins not grey anymore, my eyes not puffy like always, i feel like i breath alot deeper. all that from a few asprin when nothing they gave me in the past 2 years had helped me the slightest? one bad thing i have noticed is my lungs feel like they burning and i also feel like i have heart burn now, the nurse told me it was asprin causing the heart burn.

I dont have insurance anymore so i cant see docs when i want, instead i have to go to the out patient clinic and the appiontments i get are 7 months apart unless i call up and insist on one. I called them last week and they reluctantly got me an appiontment this morning. i told the doc all this and he said he is not inclined to really do anything, if the asprin is working keep taking it, or if i chose stop taking it and see what happens, he thinks it would be intersting to see what would happen if i stopped taking it, i told him dropping dead is not interesting in my book. he went on to say that im 29 years old and walked in there on my own two legs, so more or less i dont fit into there "budget" to run all these tests to see if its heart or cardio problem. seems to me if an asprin is effecting my entire body so much its a cardio or heart problem. I really dont know what to do at this point, i ask for tests and im told i dont need them. the way this doc put it to me made me so mad, it was like your not worth the costs of the test because you dont fit the profile of someone with cardio problems. if anyone has idea's please let me know, i've lost 2 years of my life, job.. everything, now that im starting to feel better i want to do everything i can to find out what is causing my problems and prevent it from ever happening again. sorry this was so long.



[This message has been edited by mike290 (edited 06-30-2003).]

Mike,

Have somebody give you a prescription for meclizine to have on hand...failing this, dramamine.

At the first sign of an attack of vertigo coming on take the drug. If it works and stops, or considerably lessens the vertigo, it is probably a case of labyrithitis. Often comes on with a cold or any upper respiratory distress.

I really doubt it has anything to do with your heart.

Hey Mike. I'm not a Dr. but your symptoms sound exactly like Meniere's Disease to me. EXACTLY! And I should know...I have it. Take this information to the clinic as soon as possible and they'll get you on a treatment plan. There is hope!

In the meantime, look around the internet to learn more about Meniere's. It's basically a problem with fluid build up in the inner ear that screws up one's balance. For a lot of folks, the condition is aggravated by salt, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, and processed (that is, not naturally occurring) sugar. This is not so for everyone, however, so lay off all of them until you start feeling better. Salt is terrible for someone with Meniere's, and that's why Dr.'s usually prescribe a diuretic to treat the condition. In which case, drink a lot of water to replenish your system after the salt is flushed out.

Good luck and really cut down on the salt, nic., caff., and alcohol in your diet, if you ingest those things. That's been a great help to me.

One more thing: Reguarding Dramamine and other motion-stabalizers, they might help you get over an attack of the dizzies, but they won't prevent other attacks from coming on. For that, look to the strict diet I mentioned (I sound like a broken record, but that's the truth.) If you can't afford a prescription for a diuretic (which takes excess salt out of the body), there are over-the-counter diuretics that work well also. Good luck again!

These are some sites that might help.
http://oto.wustl.edu/men/mn1.htm http://www.menieres.org/ http://www.menieres-disease.ca http://oto.wustl.edu/men/

Hi - I can soooooooooo sympathise with what you have described. I ma no doctor but have the same symptoms as you. I have had all the test too and have been diagnosed with labr's - well that was over 2 years ago and like you the symptoms go on and on and on. I get the same as you I get really nauseated - then an attack of vertigo and then you got it the imbalance senstaions. I have been told many many times that basically although it is no longer actual labr's it has left my nbalance system over sensitised so it does not take much to knock it off kilter again. Stess, fluid retention, a bug, tiredness etc. I guess a way of thinking about it would be like if you broke your leg - ok it heals up but there is always a weakness - an ache in bad weather or after exercise etc. It is the smae as the inner ear - it takes tiem and in the really lucky few (or from the inner ear posting most of us) absolutely blo**y ages!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would doubt that it has anything to do with your heart what-so-ever, I myself have pretty chronic PVC (premature ventricular contractions) which although persistent are harmless and do not cause a balance problem. take heart you had an MRI scan which looks at your vascular system and it was obviously fine - as that is a possibility with these balance things. Switch over to the inner ear lonk - you will find tons of us with the same old same old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!