My dizziness started 3 months ago. I woke up, turned over and there it was!
I would get dizzy if I looked up, turned my head sideways, bent over...all the typical BPPV kinda stuff.
In addition, I was having vision problems. I would try walking and found I couldn't focus on where I was stepping or on any single point. I had to "soften" my focus in order to keep my eyes from doing strange things.
I've always had migraines, but now they were coming more frequently...at least one a week sometimes for a day or two at a time. In addition to all of this, I've had the worst depression I've had in years. I'm sure it's been brought on by the uncertainty of the diagnosis and being cooped up at home in central Maine for three months in the dead of winter.
I went to my GP who told me to do Epley maneuvers and they didn't seem to help. It took me weeks to get in to an ENT and he said I had BPPV and that tension in my neck was causing the migraines and vision issues because it was affecting my brainstem. He sent me to the chiropractor and after two sessions my neck felt much better and the vision problems went away, but the intermittant dizziness remained.
The ENT told me to do the Epley maneuvers for the BPPV but to hold a vibrator to my affected ear while doing them. This seemed to help much more than doing them without the vibrator. I've tried sleeping sitting up, avoiding head movements and all the usual BPPV triggers. Though my symptoms are by far MUCH better, no matter what I do, I can't seem to make the dizziness go away completely for more than a few days at a time.
I've managed the migraines with Relpax, my depression with Effexor and I've been going to an acupuncturist, as well. Being female and 47, I really wonder if this has something to do with perimenopause, but no other symptoms, yet.
I've read here that people have BPPV, VN, MAV, MAV brought on by perimenopause and others, as well. It's all very confusing, but if anyone has any thoughts on what I really have and what I can do to get rid of it, I'd very much appreciate it.
I've managed the migraines with Relpax, my depression with Effexor and I've been going to an acupuncturist, as well. Being female and 47, I really wonder if this has something to do with perimenopause, but no other symptoms, yet.
I've read here that people have BPPV, VN, MAV, MAV brought on by perimenopause and others, as well. It's all very confusing, but if anyone has any thoughts on what I really have and what I can do to get rid of it, I'd very much appreciate it.
You are at the PRIME age for perimenopause! Read some of my other posts about how to deal with it.
I think you are right! I just met another woman who is suffering from symptoms identical to mine and she ended up having $15,000 worth of tests because her doc thought she had a brain tumor. How can it be that so many doctors don't know about this perimenopause/migraine/BPPV connection?
I am truly amazed at how many women I meet these days who have this exact same dizzy, imbalance, fatigue, weird, nauseating, headachy, insomnia, hot flashy stuff going on. And I am even more amazed (and disturbed) that more physicians out there do not put the pieces together and recognize quickly how much hormones can play a part in it all! There are hundreds of stories exactly like ours. And YES, many, many women are paying thousands and thousands of dollars on testing, CT scans, MRI, balance tests, blood tests, physical therapy, cognitive therapy, vestibular rehab therapy, neurology appointments, medications, etc without any improvement of their symptoms or real answers to their problems. The real success stories are when the women start taking some hormone therapy and ALL of the weird dizzy symptoms go away!
Last edited by moderator2; 03-07-2008 at 06:06 PM.
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Missy, I'm really reluctant to take the normal HRT sort of remedy for this because I have a family history of breast cancer. Have you heard anything in your online travels about some of the natural remedies out there? I've just seen a program on TV about using black cohosh tincture to help alleviate symptoms of menopause.
I'm so new to all of this I don't know where to turn. It just seems so odd that I haven't had any of the other typical perimenopausal symptoms. I've had migraine forever, so the dizziness was my only clue to this change in my life. Thanks again!
Last edited by moderator2; 03-07-2008 at 06:05 PM.
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I was just wondering if you by any chance also take any special vitamins/supplements in addition to the hormone therapy. I was thinking about trying Optivites...??? I'm still working out what's going on with me. I continue to suspect that my major attack was caused by VN, from which I am very slowly recovering (b/c of a viral prodrome & nystagmus patterns, among other things), but paying attention to my headaches and their timing is revealing a hormonal/migraine issue that has probably been there for a while. I just always took several Advils and rested without really thinking much about the head pain before this problem with the dizzies struck.
Mind you, my theories may change as I try to figure this thing out!
Missy, I'm really reluctant to take the normal HRT sort of remedy for this because I have a family history of breast cancer. Have you heard anything in your online travels about some of the natural remedies out there?
I have breast cancer in the family history too, so I have to be careful as well. The best type of HRT nowadays is NOT the cancer causing stuff that was reported on recently (Premarin, which is taken from horse urine). The Bioidentical stuff from plants is what they use now and this has been in use safely for decades in Europe. That is what I am taking (Divigel). I am also being even careful with that, and only taking a very very small amount (.25mg estradiol). But even at that, it has helped SO much with the migraines and dizziness. The natural remedies (Black Cohosh, etc.) don't work very well at all unfortunately.
