January 6, 2013

Jan 06, 2013

Happy New Year!

Hubby and I went out on NYE and had a great time. I'm not the girl in the micro mini (especially at a BMI of 31 and age 53!) But we did have fun. I had a couple of drinks slowly - over the course of the evening, which I know I should not have. At first the next morning, I thought I might have been experiencing a hangover!!

When I woke up the next morning I had the most severe case of vertigo that I've experienced in years. I'm used to the dizziness, having had it multiple times, so I knew it wasn't really a hangover. The difference between the last episode was that this time I couldn't vomit. Oh, my, the dry heaves were horrible and I gagged and choked while my head spun and the room whirled. This is about the 4th episode I've had of severe vertigo. I simply hold still, don't move any more than I have to, don't drive, watch TV, read or play on the computer. I take meclizine and within a few days, it passes. Well, this time, I decided that since this was most likely an inner ear canalith, I would do a routine on myself, called the Epley Maneuver, to dislodge the tiny stone and preempt the vertigo. It didn't really work; in fact it made it worse for a short time. I decided again that enough was enough!

Luckily, I was able to slide into the ENT's office the next day.  When he repeated the Epley Maneuver, he found the same thing; I had persistent nystagmus (eye movements) in a horizontal, rather than rotational motion and they did not go away; they were also present on both sides. He sent me for an MRI the next day, to differentiate between labrynthitis and an acoustic neuroma and started me on steroids (LOVELY! Thanks for the appetite stimulant!!) The dizziness started to resolve within 8 hours  and what started out as a horrendous New Year improved rapidly. I'm about 99% back to good now. Of course, there was NO brain tumor, LOL. But another finding popped up. "Demylinating deep tissue white matter disease" in scattered areas. Now the ENT is concerned about MS. The only other symptoms that could be considered in keeping with this are fatigue and mild depression (and maybe a little imbalance.) But I've always related those to working more than I should and not getting enough sleep. I'm seeing a neurologist tomorrow, and am hopeful that this is really just a red herring. Whatever it is, I know I can handle it. Just keep the vertigo away!!

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