Hi,

I've had some episodes of what I think may be related to something in the the inner ear, and I'd really appreciate if anyone could give me an ideas on what it could be. I think they may be 'drop attacks', I'm not sure.

There is no warning. I lose sense of what direction is up and what is down. It feels like the room or street is swaying (not spinning - it is more like the tipping I would expect from a severe earthquake).

I'm not sure if this tipping/swaying is because I am losing balance and therefore my sense of what is up and what is down (vertigo), or if it's because I'm falling and therefore viewing the world at the angle my head is. But the predominant feeling is of the ground swaying/tipping.

I collapse to the ground and it lasts for a few seconds.

I'm not sure, there may be temporary paralysis, for a few seconds - it is difficult to tell, but I think I lose control of my muscles. It happened a few days ago when I was sitting on the bus: my head tipped over to one side and I couldn't move for a few seconds while it lasted.

It has happened 4 times in my life. One time when I was standing, once when I was walking, and twice while I was sitting.

I was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I was not particularly hot or cold, and one of the times I was outside in the fresh air. There is no pain.

I am male, 33 years old.

The first time it happened was approximately 8 years ago, the second time approximately 7.5 years ago. Then the third time wasn't until about 2 months ago. And the fourth time was a few days ago.

If anybody has any ideas about what this could be, or ideas on what area I should research to try to find out, I would be very appreciative of any info.

Thank you very much, Richard

Hi

Sounds like a Drop Attack:(from Northwestern Univ---Information Archive Sticky---1st post on this board)

....."Drop attacks are sudden spontaneous falls while standing or walking, with complete recovery in seconds or minutes. There is usually no recognized loss of consciousness and the event is remembered. It is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and it can have diverse causes. Sheldon (1960) reported that drop accounts accounted for about 1/4 of 500 consecutive falls in older patients. This estimate seems a bit high to us. Nevertheless, drop attacks are a very serious problem.

CAUSES OF DROP ATTACKS

In most instances (64%), the cause of the drop attack is never definitively established (Meissner et al, 1986). About 12% are due to the heart (a variant of syncope), 8% due to poor circulation to the brain, 8% due to problems with both the heart and brain, 7% due to seizures, 5% due to the inner ear (Menieres disease -- called the otolithic crisis of Tumarkin), and 1%, due to psychological problems. Rarely, drop attacks are exaggerated startle reactions. A small number of drop attacks may be due to SCD (superior canal dehiscence syndrome) (Brandtberg et al, 2005)".......

Go to the Information Archive 1st post on this board and take a look at the listed inner ear probs.....

:cool:

Thanks Subs, I'll have a look through those links.