FROM GOOD TO BAD

                                2007 - 2008  From Good To Bad

                Seventeen years have now passed with no problems and then seemingly out of nowhere, a few episodes of tinnitus, ear pressure, vertigo and nausea return.  They end, again, after I vomit;  they subside on their own.  My only remedy to thwart an attack was to  take a strong antihistamine (first level) like Benadryl, which did the job but made me very tired.  For awhile, I had no difficulties between episodes.  Then things changed.   I officially began menopause, I had just ended 3 very stressful years caring for my mother and I was burned out after 38 years of working.  My symptoms returned.   I resumed my food elimination and rotation diet but that did not help as it did before.  A new level of this problem showed its evil head.  And it was bad.

                2008 - 2012 The More Severe Stages of Vertigo Appear -                                        Becomes Central and Peripheral

            "And she was blinded by the light.  Cut loose like a deuce, blinded by the light...but she'll make it alright"  Bruce Springstein

                On July 18, 2008 I awoke because I was already slightly dizzy; the room was spinning. (The night before this episode I had been to a wine and cheese tasting, had skipped dinner and was very tired from the long day and hour long drive in each direction after work.  I was dehydrated. This will be more meaningful later.)   My husband had already left for work so I was home alone.  When I walked around, the vertigo seemed to improve a little.  I drank coffee and water and had a light breakfast.  Then the nightmare began.  The room was spinning, I became quite nauseated and I had a severe, burning hot flash that left me sweating.  Then I began to vomit.  And shiver.   I dragged myself to the bathroom because, I am sorry and  of course embarrassed to tell you, I had diarrhea.  I got myself back to the den floor and continued throwing up for over an hour.  I could not get up.  I did  not know how to  stop the vertigo.  If I could just get to the phone I would call 911.  But the doors were locked and 911 would  surely use an ax to enter.  I dragged myself over to the table and pulled the phone down to the floor and called my husband.  It was barely audible but I managed to whisper, "come home". 

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               As soon as he arrived, he unlocked the doors and made the call.  The paramedics immediately hooked me up and discovered I had Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib). I also had a high WBC (white blood cell count).   I had never had any heart condition or any health issues.  At the hospital I was put on Valium and then everything was fine and I was sent home.  They recommended follow-up with my ENT  and a cardiologist.  The only residual effect was fullness in my right ear.

            The Cardiologist gave me a good report and stated my stress test did not reveal any issues.  My cardiac and EKG tests were normal.   The A-Fib was transient and non-recurring.

           My ENT found my left ear functioning within normal limits but a mild loss at 250Hz and 6000Hz in the right ear.  The other frequencies were within normal limits.  Also, I now regularly had fullness in that ear.  Speech Discrimination was not affected as I had a 100% correct score in both ears.  She suggested I might have Meniere's Syndrome and did not pursue another RAST test as she felt they were no longer as sensitive a measure as in 1990. 

           I remained well for one year, following my rotation diet, watching my salt and taking antihistamines as needed (often).  My Primary doctor did not want me on diuretics because I have lower blood pressure and they would make it drop even lower, which also can cause dizziness.

          In July and August of 2009 (one year later) my hot flashes returned; the weather was quite warm and my vertigo resumed.  What is it about the hot summer months?  Do I get dehydrated?  The episodes minimized when the cooler night temperatures returned in September. Again, I relied on antihistamines.  I was popping those pills regularly.

         February 2010:   I felt I needed to see a specialist to try and solve this ongoing problem so I made an appointment at the world renown House Clinic in Los Angeles.  I drove myself there and then became very dizzy sitting in the waiting room, under the lights.   The doctor gave me a  pamphlet to read, suggested a diuretic and said I had Meniere's Syndrome. He suggested I always wear sensible shoes. (Thanks !)  I relayed my issues with low blood pressure and he said I only had one alternative:  A shunt procedure - "A mastoid operation is performed and a tube is inserted into the endolymphatic sac of the inner ear to control abnormal fluid pressure", as  is stated in their pamphlet. ( They drill into the inner ear through the mastoid bone and insert a shunt to drain fluid.)  After some questioning, I found out that It has about a 60% success rate and may need to be done every 1.5 years.  I declined.  My audiogram now revealed a moderate loss in the right ear for frequencies 250-1500Hz. 

        From February 2010 until June 2011 I  lived on a lower salt diet and took Meclizine every 12 hours to control the vertigo.  It made me very tired but I had no other choices, I was told, except the shunt surgery.   Then in June 2011 I had a new, more severe attack that seemed to involve both my ear and more central areas in my head.  Any prolonged eye movement like reading, any quick head movements and exercise would set off similar attacks and Meclizine had no effect.  I felt pressure and vibration behind my nose and eyes.  My eyes hurt.  Sometimes I felt tingling in my lips. The new level of attack was intolerable and sent me to the emergency room  where I was put on Valium for several days (yes, I did feel withdrawal symptoms when I stopped them).  Those pills gave me time to follow-up with an ENT recommended by the hospital.  He said he could not and would not monitor me on Valium so they were discontinued. He yelled at me about the Valium but he had no other solutions except to try a diuretic (which I could not do) and he sent me back to my primary care doctor.  He did not notice my shoes.

      During this same time period I began  more research on the internet. All information about Meniere's Disease was the same from site to site and I still could not take a diuretic.   Since I was typing "Vertigo" into the search box, I began reading about the connections between migraine and vertigo, about Migraine Associated Vertigo (MAV) (even though I had never had a migraine headache I did get occasional headaches, that Advil could control) and about food and chemicals as triggers.   I was seeing the words "silent migraine".  The symptoms in these scenarios were so similar and the treatment called for a rotation and elimination diet.  I still was clinging to the fact that at one time, changing my diet did make a positive difference, so this was appealing to me.    
    There seem to be another professional community - one that was linking migraines with Meniere's Syndrome and Benign Positional Vertigo and drippy noses and "sinus" headaches and even hearing loss.   But none of my doctors were in the know.  There were real discussions, backed by science, that I found at  The Chicago Dizziness and Balance Clinic with Dr. T. C. Hain , The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) Migraine and Vertigo/dizziness articles (ASHA.com), The Austin Migraine Support Group (excellent website at:   fincher.org),  The Vestibular Disorders Association (Vestibular Migraine or MAV) and several others around the country.  *(Click Here)

          The university associated clinics and related health organizations were making these connections, but not the community based ENT physicians.  These University clinics all discussed "Vertigo", and that is certainly the most debilitating part of  my problems.  Could it all be linked?  I had many symptoms and some history related to Migraine, but never had a migraine headache (except once a month, like clockwork, three days before my period, for my whole life). I was getting dizzy under fluorescent lights, from moving my eyes back and forth reading or at the computer, and observing that abrupt up/down head movements would  trigger attacks.  These quick up/down movements could cause a thud to the back of my head and a split second blindness - the lights went out for just a second.   By November, 2012, I had hit rock bottom.  The medications (Meclizine and other antihistamines) for vertigo were not working and I had no control over my situation.  I was taking them for 24 hours a day.   I was having vertigo off and on, all the time.  And nausea.  And worse.  HELP. PLEASE.  NOW.    ( Click Here)