Diagnosed with allergy induced vertigo

Approximately one year ago, I was diagnosed with allergy induced vertigo. Currently, I take Clarinex-D and two nasal sprays (Veramyst and Astelin). In addition, I take Singulair in the evenings. The sprays work OK, but it doesn't seem as if the Clarinex does anything. Usually about lunch time, I'll start feeling a little off. If it worsens, I get the full out vertigo which prevents me from getting out of bed completely. I can live with having allergies, but this dizziness has affected my job and my life. Does anyone out there have something like this? If so, does anything help alleviate your symptoms? I am beginning acupuncture, so all remedies are welcome!



NK

my mother has had vertigo for almost 5 yrs. she's 78 yrs old with no known allergies.she's had 3 mri's, seen 2 ear,nose and throat docs,been to a clinic that specializes in inner ear. they adjusted the crystals in both ears but that didn't stop the vertigo either.she also saw a neurologist, who says she has a blocked artery.we just don't know what else to do. nothing seems to work for her. it has really changed her life. any suggestions????

NatK said...
Approximately one year ago, I was diagnosed with allergy induced vertigo. Currently, I take Clarinex-D and two nasal sprays (Veramyst and Astelin). In addition, I take Singulair in the evenings. The sprays work OK, but it doesn't seem as if the Clarinex does anything. Usually about lunch time, I'll start feeling a little off. If it worsens, I get the full out vertigo which prevents me from getting out of bed completely. I can live with having allergies, but this dizziness has affected my job and my life. Does anyone out there have something like this? If so, does anything help alleviate your symptoms? I am beginning acupuncture, so all remedies are welcome!



NK

welcome to the world of vertigo , I was diagnosed may of 2010 with bppv which turned out to actually be allergy induced , now every February thru April , I know I'm in for at least one ride on the not so merry go round , mine was so bad at first that I was bedridden for a week at a time , yes that's right , no paycheck for that week , if it's any consolation , my brain has gotten better at ignoring that side of my head and over time , it seems to be not so severe as the first few times which came every month for a week for the first four months , the allergy meds seem to reduce the swelling in the labyrinth , that is what worked best for me , anti-inflammatory with allergy , try taking Advil along with the allergy meds , it helps and maybe with time it will fade , I'll keep my fingers crossed for you , good luck , fellow spinner

UCLA_Girl said...
I had "vertigo" back when I was pregnant 14 years ago. I was dizzy for several MONTHS. To the point that I couldn't stand up without throwing up from motion sickness. I went to several doctors - they gave me typical "vertigo" meds, etc., sent me to an ENT, etc. Nobody could tell me why. Finally, my regular doctor said to me " let's stop all of this & just try Sudafed - maybe it's just allergies". Sure enough...plain Sudafed. The REAL stuff - the kind you have to sign for. It took several days (since it was so severe) to dry me up, but that is EXACTLY what it was. Since then, every year - about this time - it comes back. But, now I know how to fight it. The Zyrtec won't do anything on it's own. It HAS to be plain Sudaphedrine - nothing else works...I don't know why.

I can tell you that I have run into several people with the same issue, and in every case, it has fixed their problem as well (nobody wanted to believe me at first, though). A friend's husband was missing days & days of work every year, and couldn't get a diagnosis. It completely solved his issue too. I do not understand why doctors don't try this approach - I've even had doctors tell me that it wouldn't work...but it absolutely does. Without fail...for going on 14 years!

With me, I never have "normal" allergy symptoms. I never have itchy eyes, or runny nose. None of that. My "indicators" that it's coming are only that my inner ear itches & I need to clear my throat quite a bit. That's my only "sign" that it's coming. Most of the time, I am fine - and then I turn over in bed & I'm spinning like there is no tomorrow. Now, if my ears start itching, or I'm clearing my throat a lot, I start my Sudafed immediately. I can almost always "catch" it before it happens!

I hope that can help someone out there! Even if you've tried other things....just TRY it!! (Just a warning though - some people can't sleep while taking Sudafed, so I recommend taking it throughout the day, and maybe stopping during the night-time after you get it under control.) Good luck, everyone!! I wish you spin-free days & nights!

. Yes for me actifed worked with Advil , I think anything with pseudo ephedrine

Hi every one. I started getting vertigo every January and April about two or three years ago. I lived with it for a few years and I just went to the doctor for it last week. Apparently what causes it is allergies. Instead of getting the runny nose and itchy eyes like every one else our sinuses swell up in our head and it traps fluid in our ears. I went to a chiropractor and she drained my sinuses which helped a lot. Also, she told me that jumping up and down makes it go away because it makes all the fluid settle. So, if your allergy medicine isn't working right away jump up and down a few times when it starts and it will make it stop. I hope this helps.

ClariceVampire said...

NatK said...
Approximately one year ago, I was diagnosed with allergy induced vertigo. Currently, I take Clarinex-D and two nasal sprays (Veramyst and Astelin). In addition, I take Singulair in the evenings. The sprays work OK, but it doesn't seem as if the Clarinex does anything. Usually about lunch time, I'll start feeling a little off. If it worsens, I get the full out vertigo which prevents me from getting out of bed completely. I can live with having allergies, but this dizziness has affected my job and my life. Does anyone out there have something like this? If so, does anything help alleviate your symptoms? I am beginning acupuncture, so all remedies are welcome!



NK

welcome to the world of vertigo , I was diagnosed may of 2010 with bppv which turned out to actually be allergy induced , now every February thru April , I know I'm in for at least one ride on the not so merry go round , mine was so bad at first that I was bedridden for a week at a time , yes that's right , no paycheck for that week , if it's any consolation , my brain has gotten better at ignoring that side of my head and over time , it seems to be not so severe as the first few times which came every month for a week for the first four months , the allergy meds seem to reduce the swelling in the labyrinth , that is what worked best for me , anti-inflammatory with allergy , try taking Advil along with the allergy meds , it helps and maybe with time it will fade , I'll keep my fingers crossed for you , good luck , fellow spinner

Hi Clarice,
Urs sound closest to my problem. I hope you are still watching this thread to share some ideas:
Here is my story: I moved to US in 99, came to arizona and would get vertigo episodes twice a year, February and October. Each time it would last for 3-4 weeks ( present all the time) and i feel dizzy only when I move my head to the left side and it last only during the time of motion and anytime my head is still i dont feel anything else. So I learned how to live with that, no sports etc, would get drowsy and my mind gets slow as the day progresses. The end of the episode is very distinctive and intense, even a small motion of my head in any direction ( just a gentle nod) would make me feel very dizzy and nauseated and that lasts for a day or 2 and those days i am bed ridden and cannot do anything. I moved to california in 2007 and since then the episodes are less predictable and also less frequent, averaging about 2-3 every 2 years. So far no one was able to figure out what I have and today I am in the middle of the episode and the Doc confirmed that it is no BPPV but symptoms are caused by allergies. He prescribed me meclazine and I used that last time when I had it ( makes me feel very dizzy and drowsy when i take it) and the episode only lasted 1.5 week, not sure if it was the medicine. I am going to try that again this time and see if the results are consistent. Before I would use allegra along with psuedophed but didnt make any difference once the episode started.
How are you doing?

Had it too but antivert which your pharmacist should have worked for me. You need a script and it is easy to diagnose with checking out your eyes. Antivert has a generic and it is not a controlled substance or anything like that.

I took two first day or two and then one everyday until the episode ended. I was instructed by an allergist in New York City to do it that way. I must drive and do not feel comfortable driving with vertigo. The episodes have gotten less and less and I believe it was veloset (an antibiotic) which brought it on. I am very allergic to drugs. I do not remember how long the first episode lasted. I could not walk on the streets of New York City against traffic. Night was ok because you could not see everything so clearly.

Hope you can get some help.

No and it is easy to diagnose, the doctor just can tell from your eyes that you have vertigo. They ask you to move your eyes around and they look into your eyes with a bright light. They do not touch your eyes or put harmful rays in your eyes. They can tell if you have vertigo. Then they will give your the script. There is over the counter stuff too called dramimine (spelling). There used to be a patch too for people who go on cruise ships and get dizzy from the waves.

Get some help with the dizziness.

Tell the doc to take care of dizziness. I have a script ready in case I come down with it.

IT IS EASY TO DIAGNOSE.

I have the same problem with allergies. It's not so much the "room spinning" kind of vertigo, but I can just be sitting there, and all of the sudden I feel like I'm falling, or sometimes it feels like the floor is moving under my feet. When I walk, it almost feels like I'm drunk, like my equillibrium is REALLY off. I always have this "off balance" kind of feeling. Meclizine does not work for me. Like UCLA_Girl said, when I took straight Sudafed, it helped dramatically.

My problem is, I also suffer from anxiety and panic disorders, so sometimes the Sudafed ramps up my anxiety. I have found that taking Advil Cold & Sinus gives me the same relief because it contains psuedophedrine, so sometimes I will take that with a Benadryl, and that works perfectly. I hope this helps some of you, and I'm SO happy to have come across this post! I was afraid that I was the only one this was happening to.

Oh! And I also suffer the "not being able to walk down the street" without feeling REALLY funky. I suffer the most ALL summer, from the end of June/beginning of July, until the end of fall due to my allergies to 7 different types of mold spores and dust mites.

Thanks again!

((hugs)) Fox

An alternative to Sudafed that won't keep you up at night is the herb Fenugreek. I like the tea: Put 1 T. herb in 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and steep for 20 minutes. Strain out the herb. Sip the tea throughout the day. Can add other herbs for flavor, such as thyme or peppermint.

Alternative: A combination of Fenugreek and Thyme dry herbs in a capsule. I sometimes prefer this method over the tea. 2 capsules 3x/day helps keep my sinuses open.

I just read the postings from 2008-2014 about allergy induced vertigo. I am astounded. On a fluke I looked this up on the internet, not expecting to find anything of much value. I have just had my 4th incident of severe vertigo in 14 years - which requires a trip to the ER to get it stopped (think Tilt-a-Whirl on steriods - spinning so fast you cannot move, vomiting until nothing is left, can't walk or open my eyes unless they drug the heck out of me). I so do not want this to happen again. I can't tell you how helpful your comments are - I feel like I'm finally not crazy. I got an "ah hah!" with this incident - it's the 3rd time I had this specifically in the SPRING when allergens are very high in MN, so maybe the cause is allergies - but I have no allergy symptoms. You all have given me hope that with sudafed/psuedophedrine/fenugreek I might be able to avoid this in the future- that some of you have found the ear fills with fluid even though you don't know it. As I think of it, I can feel my ears lightly pop when I swallow - so maybe that's my cue about what my body is doing.

FYI In 2013, after my 3rd episode, I went to my ENT who sent me to a ENT specialist, who conducted about 7 different tests including one where they tried to make vertigo happen but they could not induce it nor find any cause for it. They gave me a low dose of meclazine -- which helps marginally. This last round, even though I took meclazine with the first spin, it wasn't enough to stop it. When I get the vertigo, it goes from 0 to 100 in a heartbeat and is out of control for hours.

So - thank you for giving me hope with practical knowledge, experience and tips! Any other suggestions are welcome.