So I sat down on the Monday before last to check my emails, and all of a sudden it was like someone had pulled the carpet from under me and I was on the floor with the room spinning constantly. I was like that for 11 hours, unable to drink water without vomiting until eventually I managed to call an ambulance. They had to give me intravenous anti-sickness medicine and water -they struggled to get the needle into my vain because I was so dehydrated!

The doctor diagnosed my bizarro condition as (suspected) Labyrinthitis, a viral infection of the inner ear that damages it permanently.

11 days later, I've still got vertigo (except at night when it seems to stabilise), so it's like walking on marshmellows, or quite like being really drunk except without the fun. I was scared mostly because of the possible deafness that can result in some cases, but that seems alright. I'm now scared that I might not fully recover and always be dizzy like in some rare cases.

I'm sort of used to being dizzy now and just trying to get on with life. Being relaxed helps. It could take up to 8 weeks to develop compensatory balance and (hopefully) get back to normal.

Anyway, it being ear-related and utterly bizarre, I thought it might be of interest here.

Cheers

'Strewth! That broken mirror certainly has a lot to answer for. The initial symptoms you describe sound a lot like when I had a stroke. Fortunately it was at work so I had help within minutes (I firmly believe this is why I took so little long term harm from it). But my balance was hopeless for a while so I can sympathise on that. It must have been horrible for you with no help for so long.

CC

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Put the fun back into dysfunctional.
Mr Punch's Studio

I sympathise.

Although mine has never been as severe as you describe, I've had the same symptoms on and off for about 12 years now. Initially, my micro-episodes - max duration about 1 min - were very frequent with it being common to have about 20 a day and 'bed-spinning' episodes during the night. When it was severe if I wasn't in free-fall' then I was, using your good description, "walking on marshmallows". It meant time off work, then working part-time for about six weeks.

I still get occasional episodes now - last one a couple of weeks ago - but they are now few and far between. Mine was diagnosed as 'Benign Positional Vertigo' at the time, but I and my GP eventually realised that mine was stress-related. I've come across others whose similar affliction was stress-linked.

Of course, not saying yours is stress-linked. I offer sympathies as I know how horrible my comparatively mild symptoms are. But hopefully it'll gradually fade away for you. I found that anti seasickness tablets helped somewhat.

All the best...

Mike

Quote J.A.S:

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So I sat down on the Monday before last to check my emails, and all of a sudden it was like someone had pulled the carpet from under me and I was on the floor with the room spinning constantly. I was like that for 11 hours, unable to drink water without vomiting until eventually I managed to call an ambulance. They had to give me intravenous anti-sickness medicine and water -they struggled to get the needle into my vain because I was so dehydrated!

The doctor diagnosed my bizarro condition as (suspected) Labyrinthitis, a viral infection of the inner ear that damages it permanently.

11 days later, I've still got vertigo (except at night when it seems to stabilise), so it's like walking on marshmellows, or quite like being really drunk except without the fun. I was scared mostly because of the possible deafness that can result in some cases, but that seems alright. I'm now scared that I might not fully recover and always be dizzy like in some rare cases.

I'm sort of used to being dizzy now and just trying to get on with life. Being relaxed helps. It could take up to 8 weeks to develop compensatory balance and (hopefully) get back to normal.

Anyway, it being ear-related and utterly bizarre, I thought it might be of interest here.

Cheers

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I had it when I was at university. I had to crawl from my digs to the porter's lodge for help (no mobile phones back then). It took me an age. I was simply unable to stand up (or stay up on my hands and knees for more than a few seconds). Once I had established I was not incredibly drunk, a doctor was called who had me into hospital super quick! They were extremely worried about hearing damage. Fortunately, I was spared that time and did the damage myself playing in bands instead....

Reg

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Google less; read more!

I really sympathize. I had my first attack of labyrinthitis about two and a half years ago and it was a genuinely awful experience. I'm still getting over it to a certain extent (can't get me on a boat yet!) but partly I think that's because of the way it was treated. The two drugs they gave me were Stemetil (Proclorperazine) and Stugeron (Cinarazine?). Both of these worked reasonably well, but I very much got into the habit of taking them whenever I felt a tiny bit off, simply because I was scared of what might happen if I left it. I'd encourage you to talk to your doctor about how much you can take these drugs (if you haven't already), as it has had a big affect on how long it is taking me to recover. My brain just isn't used to coping with balance as well as it used to.

I'm assured this is temporary, but I'd encourage you to pester your doctor about getting a referral to a specialist if you're still experiencing it.

One thing that terrified me was that it would come back or never leave, so I've done quite a lot of research into this. While most people who experience this have it for a couple of days and never mention it because it's relatively mild, people like us typically experience it for several weeks before we notice an improvement. It feels like such a long time that you can't imagine it going — but it does, I promise!

Do what works for you (getting completely flat seems to work) and if in doubt pester your doctor and don't stop until they send you to a specialist. At least then you know things are moving forward, and that's hugely reassuring.

As for the hearing loss thing, I've come across very, very few people who have reported this at all. That's definitely connected to Meniere's Disease, which is different and has quite a specific diagnosis.

Reading back on this, it reads like a tale of doom and gloom. But I was hoping to say "Look, I had it and I'm fine!" It will get better, it's just a total drag when it's there. Try not to despair, do what works, and wait it out...

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Reading back on this, it reads like a tale of doom and gloom.

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No that's really helpful, I appreciate it. Luckily, I can get the web on my phone now, so even though it was hard to focus on the text, I read that it's better to stop taking the pills early on and try to cope with the dizziness.

The strange thing is, when I'm in my flat, it becomes much more normal. Maybe I'm so used to that space that my brain can rely on knowledge rather than my senses (or something). It's weird how much all the senses are intertwined. I've never had a debilitating illness, the shock of it has made me want to get really fit and healthy, but I can't yet.

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My brain just isn't used to coping with balance as well as it used to.

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Have you tried Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy? I've been trying a few things like tracking my finger whilst moving my head. Something called epley's maneuver might help you too. Those vibroplates things have been said to help some people too; I'm a bit suspicious of those but I tend to try anything. I'll even consider buying stilts if I can't get back to normal in a year: surely if I can balance on stilts, my own feets'll be easy!

Thanks for the replies.

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Once I had established I was not incredibly drunk, a doctor was called who had me into hospital super quick!

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People think I'm drunk now when I'm walking down the street, I can tell. One problem with this illness is that no one believes you're ill. I look too healthy, especially with a summer tan. But I can't even look steadily at anthing beyond about 3 meters away, and I'm long sighted! Crossing the road is really tedious.

I've always hated being dizzy, but some people seem to like merry-go-rounds, etc. I wonder, now I'm so accustomed to it, if I get really drunk in a few months or a year (which I've no desire to do right now) will I be less affected by the dizziness?

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Quote RegressiveRock:

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Once I had established I was not incredibly drunk, a doctor was called who had me into hospital super quick!

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People think I'm drunk now when I'm walking down the street, I can tell. One problem with this illness is that no one believes you're ill. I look too healthy, especially with a summer tan. But I can't even look steadily at anthing beyond about 3 meters away, and I'm long sighted! Crossing the road is really tedious.

I've always hated being dizzy, but some people seem to like merry-go-rounds, etc. I wonder, now I'm so accustomed to it, if I get really drunk in a few months or a year (which I've no desire to do right now) will I be less affected by the dizziness?

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It is an awful thing mate, I was involved in the Indy band scene in the 80s up at university so you can imagine the skip full of paranoia as I crawled up Merton Street to try to get help. (That particular world was a pharmacopeia). What is more I was quite obviously near vomiting all the time I was trying to get to help, so the only people I saw (an elderly couple staying at the hotel at the top of the road and a couple of students not from my college) just gave me a wide birth. I was in such a state personally I could not get it together to explain my situation or do much more than say the odd, weak "Help!"

It is a shattering experience. I am sorry to hear that your recovery is slow right now. I'm afraid mine took just a few days, but I was caught early by a doctor that understood that I had a serious inner ear infection and whom, I gather, (I was really out of it) called in every day to ensure that my care was being dealt with appropriately. To this day, I have not a clue who he was. I cannot visualise his (I am not even 100% sure about that - it may be gender stereotyping) face because I was so incredibly unable to focus on anything before it span away from me.

As they say in Episode IV (being geeky) "Stay on target!"

Reg

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Google less; read more!

Cheers. I was so scared of deafness that I'm reasonably cheerful about the illness now, which is supposed to help too. (I'd rather have my hearing than perfect balance anyway.) The more I challenge the balance system the quicker my recovery, because it's got to adjust to the damage. It may be that in your case, the infection didn't permanently damage your inner-ear. In that case, you would've recovered as soon as the virus/cause cleared up.

P.S. If anyone else gets this, make sure it's viral Labyrinthitis and not a (much rarer) bacterial infection which needs immediate antibiotics (and is more likely to cause deafness if untreated). Vertigo attacks can also be caused by a painless migraine or triggered by an allergy. (I can't be sure what caused mine because I felt absolutely fine except for those things caused by vertigo and vomiting. I had drank quite a bit a few days earlier, so I'm not sure if that did it.)

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Have you tried Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy? I've been trying a few things like tracking my finger whilst moving my head. Something called epley's maneuver might help you too. Those vibroplates things have been said to help some people too; I'm a bit suspicious of those but I tend to try anything. I'll even consider buying stilts if I can't get back to normal in a year: surely if I can balance on stilts, my own feets'll be easy!

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Yes, I have. The first physio that treated me was nice, but didn't quite assess the problem properly, and so the problem just remained the same. Luckily, my mum is also a physio and decided to assess me herself. It seems the movements that set people off vary subtly from person to person, so it's important to find out exactly what it is that affects you. For example, in my case, my first physio thought that it was turning my head, so we worked on that. When my mum assessed me, we discovered that it was actually turning the whole top half of my body (yeah, weird, huh?) that set me off. When I started doing my exercises with that in mind (turning my shoulders instead of just my head), the problem started to improve.

This is all irrelevant in your case, I'm sure. But I guess my point is get a referral to a specialist if you can, or you might just be barking up the wrong tree! In your case it's probably too early to start VRT now, but bear it in mind for the future.

Quote Nell McLeod:

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I guess my point is get a referral to a specialist if you can, or you might just be barking up the wrong tree! In your case it's probably too early to start VRT now, but bear it in mind for the future.

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Thanks. I understand why I'm okay in my flat: it's seeing farther distances that makes it difficult (even from the corner of my eye) and the stronger impact of feet on the pavement (rather than carpet) doesn't help. I've been walking about trying to focus on car number plates in the distance, which still wobble up and down. Apparently, those who recover fastest are the least stressed out, the most active, who try to get positive control of symptoms (I suppose rather than being lost in thoughts and not trying). Maybe not 'accepting' the jittering helps the brain register that something needs fixing.

(I used to have an uncanny radar for spotting beautiful girls in the vicinity, but I can't always even tell if figures are human now ).