Hi Donna thanks for responding!
Yes I feel like I have lost all control too. I wear glasses so when it happens my first reflex is to throw off my glasses... not a good thing cause godforbid they would break.. and if my little yorkie is on the couch with me I grab on to her....and it freaks her out..
I usually have two pillows on the couch and grab one to hold on to till it stops spinning.. I do sit up to and keep head straight too...but it makes me so very tired and it constricts all my muscles in my body and neck and I get in so much pain too..
Antivert is not available in Canada but it is the same as serc.
I take xanax for anxiety so valium and xanax eeek....
unless I just keep valium for the atttack.... and take an extra serc when it happens. I dont get spinning for days.....
but I do get it often......
yes I have hearing loss too from the tinnitus and my tv is always on. I time the tv when I get into bed so I could watch tv and not pay attention to it.
do you have neck problems... that is a cause too. cause it stops the blood flowing to the brain....
I do avoid salt, msg, and suphites and nitrates... yes I know they disguise msg with other names and am very careful with that. for sure.
I do take them serveral times a day. the serc that is and when I get an attack I take an extra one.
yes I get visual triggers too. I have thyroid eye disease and have had three surgeries to correct double vision but still have some and wear a prism in my eye lens.. for the leftover double vision.
sometimes tho if i spend too much time on the computer and even if I dont I find i have double blurry vision and then wham a few days later I get vertigo.
yes that is true with the surgery.. my cousins wife had it done
and she was fine for 2 months and then wham it came back...
but how do you cope with it...... are you afraid of another attack all the time.. i went two years with just aura's of it and then it all came back... the last three months have been of and on and off an on
literally as i said a prisoner in my own home. even with a shower chair and grab bar.... I am afraid at times to take a shower.
I have started using these silicone earplugs in my ears when i am in the shower to wash hair.....
too much head movement also doesnt help....
it sure does suck big time...
Hi there...I have Menieres also...have had it for thirty years. The vertigo is very disturbing and I too get very anxious when I am hit with an attack because I feel like I have lost all control over everything. I find laying down makes it worse so I sit upright in a chair and don't move my head. Like you said, the spinning can last for a few hours or several days. I also have screaming tinnitus and severe hearing loss...I sleep with the television on to drown out the ringing.
Salt and MSG trigger my attacks as these substances restain fluid in the ear canal...which is what causes the vertigo. It's hard to avoid these things completely as they disguise MSG with other names.
Valium is supposed to be the drug of choice as it sedates the little cilae that control balance. I took that for awhile but became tolerant and weaned off (which was not a pretty sight). The problem with this class of drugs as you have to keep updosing to get results and before you know it, you're at the limit and doctors won't prescribe it any longer. I also heard Antivert works but that is too sedating for me. None of these drugs work once the attack has started...you have to take them several times a day to prevent the attack. I also read that closing one eye helps...and doing balance exercises confuses the signals and lessens the severity of the vertigo. (standing on one foot with your eyes closed...then the other).
I also get some visual triggers...I looked in a kaliedescope once and immediately started spinning.
Besides surgery where they insert a tube in the mastoid bone to drain the excess fluid, and antibiotics, I don't know of any other procedure that helps. Even these things only help in half the cases.
It sucks...sorry you are suffering...I hear ya!
Donna