Vertigo ?

[zeehag]

isnt always seasickness. there are other reasons for vertigo--most common is actually dehydration.
after dehydration is inner ear problems. but simplest to fix is dehydration. is also , surp[risingly, most often overlooked as folks and mds look for something more complex. "it CANT be dehydration" yet it is.

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by zeehag

isnt always seasickness. there are other reasons for vertigo--most common is actually dehydration.
after dehydration is inner ear problems. but simplest to fix is dehydration. is also , surp[risingly, most often overlooked as folks and mds look for something more complex. "it CANT be dehydration" yet it is.

That's what I'm thinking! I've been in so much worse and have not yet been sea sick. I have felt queasy on a boat before but dealt with it by popping up to the top deck for a few minutes and it disappeared. This felt very different. I did begin to feel better after drinking lots of fluids as well as the decongestant, and sleeping as I did. I believe it was combo. Inner ear and dehydration. Like I said, I felt fine otherwise and participated in all events with the only modification being look up slowly. LOL

[zeehag]

glad you are better, gurl--i was worried about it when i had it =--thunk i would have to abort my trip. was not fun.

if you tend to forget to drink liquids, do drink a lot when you have tongue discomfort--is a first sign of dehydration. and flat, sunken eyeballs with blurry vision..

[smj]

When I got vertigo 3 years ago the first thing they treated me for was heat stroke. After 3 months of constant dizziness, no sleep and losing 30 pounds I went to a vestibular therapist and found out I have visual vestibular disorder. The therapist told me one of the biggest causes of vertigo is stress.

[sec906]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

Dear Gadagirl,

You have the classic symptoms of acute viral labyrinthitis complicated by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Patients with this type of vertigo (the sensation of movement when there is none) can pinpoint the date and time of day when the dreaded spins start. They are usually continuous for up to 1 week and then slowly abate. It is frequently complicated by the positional vertigo.

The Epley maneouver helps move the debris out of the troublesome area of the inner ear. You can google it and I suggest doing it yourself (no need to see a doctor for that) twice a day until your symptoms subside.

I had fairly severe BPPV which hit me suddenly just about a year ago and forced me to cancel out of a sailing trip. Fortunately, there was a physical therapist in the ER experienced with the Epley maneuver. She treated me over two days and I haven't had an episode since.

Researching BPPV on the internet at the time I found this interesting hat called the "DizzyFix" which takes you through the maneuver as you move a ball through a tube hanging from the hat. I never tried it, but it seems like it would work: DizzyFIX Vertigo Treatment | Clearwater Clinical
-SEC

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by zeehag

isnt always seasickness. there are other reasons for vertigo--most common is actually dehydration.
after dehydration is inner ear problems. but simplest to fix is dehydration. is also , surp[risingly, most often overlooked as folks and mds look for something more complex. "it CANT be dehydration" yet it is.

Do we have someone here who is a diagnostician -- and who can do so online? Of course not. So we've all thrown out possibilities based on our experiences. I have had both labrynthitis and positional vertigo, and it sounded just like positional vertigo to me. I know from personal experience that it's important to see an ENT if it flares up again so the person can learn how to do those all important positional exercises. My first bout lasted three months because I didn't know that. My second bout lasted three days because I did.

Something else about both labrynthitis and pv -- they are often accompanied by dehydration because the person tends to both eat and drink less, either from nausea or just plain difficulty moving around to get something to eat and drink. We don't think about lack of food contributing to dehydration, but we get valuable salts and such from food, and not eating enough can contribute to an electrolyte imbalance.

I think my doctor did a really good job of educating me about this, and I'm just passing it on as food for thought.

[zeehag]

rakuflames-- i HAVE done fone diagnostix/triage as a part of my employment and career.
i worked emergency room many years and intensive care areas including heart cath lab and every intensive care area cedars sinai has--about 15 of em. loved it. i also worked in the field as a volunteer where dehydration and heat prostration are common--sports car racing tracks. was a gas. my intensive care/emergency career was in excess of 30 yrs.

heat stroke is caused by dehydration. need to drink a lot more in hot climates and hot weather than in cold or cool. will take a looong time to recover without the extra fluids.
dehydration in and of itself will cause electrolyte imbalance.
dehydration causes nausea and vomiting as it worsens, and the nausea and vomiting worsen as the dehydration progresses. is why we give half strength gatorade to folks suffering dehydration in the field before medics arrive as well as in emergency room.. i would start an iv before the medics arrived at track so the individual had more than one source of fluid intake. we had md and rn in each ambulance. was fun.
troubleshooting human body is a complex challenge and there is a lot of satisfaction in the good results.

[Boracay]

Drinking too much water can also cause problems.

From the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine:-

Potentially fatal exercise-associated hyponatraemia (EAH) occurs in trekkers on the Kokoda Trail as well as in endurance athletics.

The main strategy is drinking only in response to thirst and not excessively consuming fluids for fear of dehydration, as previously believed, according to an Early View paper in Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

“Although it is vital to differentiate between dehydration and EAH, these presentations are often similar. With both conditions, trekkers experience headache, nausea, and lethargy.
“If EAH is erroneously diagnosed as dehydration and treated with fluid resuscitation, the consequences are potentially fatal.

“Knowledge of EAH remains poor among recreational athletes and hiking companies where the ‘just add water’ approach to hydration remains prominent.”

If left untreated EAH might progress to pulmonary oedema, cerebral oedema and even death.
“Exercise-associated hyponatraemia is arguably the most important medical condition in endurance athletics,” the researchers said.

The Media Release referred to can be found here.

[Rakuflames]

Here are sites on the two causes of dizziness I am talking about. I understand your expertise, but even the person it happened to says it sounds like positional vertigo.

Since it is not possible to diagnose on line, what's wrong with explaining that there is more than one cause? This is a call that only a physician, and a physician who could physically evaluate the "spinning one," could make.

There are all sorts of other causes. Someone else mentioned Meniere's Disease (for which they now have surgery; a friend just had it) and a number of other causes, but *to me* it sounded like positional vertigo, and I think it's worth noting that there's more than one cause.

Having had dehydration, in m body it was an entirely different kind of dizziness.

I don't see why any of us have to "decide" what this person had.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) Symptoms, Causes, Treatments by eMedicineHealth.com

Labyrinthitis and Vestibular Neuritis-Topic Overview

[High Heels]

Hey Gadagirl - I had never had positional vertigo ever in my life...never have experienced sea sickness...have had dizziness due to a bacterial infection but never vertigo. Came back from a funeral where two of my relatives had bouts of vertigo with in a week of each other, one was still suffering with it. I drank out of a glass that had only been washed with hot water, soap and a sponge that I suspect she had been drinking out of because whammo! with in four days after being exposed and getting home I went to get out of bed first thing in the morning and literally went smashing head first into the wall!!!

It was miserable and lasted for a week and a half but then disappeared as fast as it came on...I did not have a fever or feel sick in any other way...scary and not fun. I was just glad I had known of my other sick relatives or I would have been really freaked that my neurological system was a mess.

Hope it doesn't come back for you or me. I was really worried that sailing in the future would create issues after I had experienced it but so far, so good - no lingering effects...

[atoll]

isocynate poisoning caused by the break down of foambacked headliners common on many yachts...........

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by atoll

isocynate poisoning caused by the break down of foambacked headliners common on many yachts...........

Carbon monoxide from engine or cabin heater...

[High Heels]

Not to tease hairs here but it is my understanding that carbon monoxide poisoning and isocynate poisoning cause 'dizziness' while vertigo is quite a different experience and symptom...am I wrong here? Just trying to clarify because if someone is out far from medical help it might be helpful to be that specific...

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

Carbon monoxide from engine or cabin heater...

yes that as well but i was referring to the polyeurathane foam commonly used in cushions,matteresses and head liners on yachts.

see this Can Your Mattress Kill You? - Softpedia

[atoll]

Originally Posted by High Heels

Not to tease hairs here but it is my understanding that carbon monoxide poisoning and isocynate poisoning cause 'dizziness' while vertigo is quite a different experience and symptom...am I wrong here? Just trying to clarify because if someone is out far from medical help it might be helpful to be that specific...

if you look at the link isocyanate poisoning can manifest itself in many different ways,depending on the individual and the exposure.

Can Your Mattress Kill You? - Softpedia