I am extremely frustrated and don't want to vent to my family so I am doing it here. Gotta be cheerful and optimistic around the family. I am afraid this constant dizziness and vertigo will be permanent and I will end up sitting on my constantly growing rear end and watching soap operas for the rest of my life. I have always kept the one acre lot we live on in tip top shape and have done nothing this year.
As part of the 'therapy' for my ongoing inner ear problems I was instructed to walk two miles a day "rain or shine". Before all this started I could make it in forty minutes. Takes me fifty minutes now. Yesterday while going up a slight incline the ground suddenly tilted down to the left and I staggered to the right and nearly took out a neighbor's mailbox, while on foot. The 4x4 it was mounted on must have been weak anyway and I made it weaker. I will fix it for her when I get a little better. Yep you read that right I collided with a mailbox while walking and nearly took it down. If it hadn't been there I would have been face down in the side ditch. I hung on to that mailbox for a while and the ground suddenly snapped back level and I made it back to the house.
We couldn't take our fall vacation this year because I am not allowed to drive. Wife, daughter, and granddaughter wouldn't let me get on the roof and clean out the gutters. They had to be cleaned out because the screens over them were piled up with leaves and a crew is coming to paint the house next week. So the daughter called a teacher friend in the neighborhood that she used to work with and he came and cleaned them. It was embarrassing to me. Cannot help son it law clear a thicket because they won't let me run a chainsaw. I am allowed to drive my little Kioti and the Bad Boy. Granddaughter took me to Lowes and wouldn't let me get out of arms reach because she was afraid I would fall. Can't walk thru the house without bouncing off walls and door facings.
I am frustrated!!
RSKY
RSKY, I can 100% relate to your condition. No fun!!! I went through exactly the same ordeal less than a month ago. And I'm pleased to learn the cause
and the solution, which I'll detail for you at the end of this comment.
The cause is due to Cartlidge in the inner ear canal not moving up and down as it should. Generally, that's caused by the canal becoming 'sticky, and slowing or preventing the tiny pieces of cartilage to move as it should. This causes the sensation of falling, either to the left or to the right, or both.
A simple 10-minute exercise twice per day cured the problem for me.
I first read about the cure outlined by John Hopkins University. I then went to a Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist that diagnosed my dizzy spells (vertigo) and recommended me to visit a sports rehab center. In the meantime, the ENT specialist recommended me picking up a bottle of Meclizine, a cheap OTC drug, to take as needed while I finished the rehab exercise cycle, if wanted and/or needed.
The rehab routine was twice a week for 6 weeks for a 30-minute exercise. I'm happy to say, after less than
2 weeks I was able to cancel the balance of the Rehab Center's routine period. It has now been 4 weeks since my last occasional self-administered therapy with zero recurrences.
Here is the
John Hopkins University procedure, which was also used by the Rhab Center:
Start by sitting on a bed
Turn your head 45 degrees to the right.
Quickly lie back, keeping your head turned. Your shoulders now will be on the pillow, and your head should be reclined. Wait 30 seconds.
Turn your head 90 degrees to the left, without raising it. Your head will now be looking 45 degrees to the left. Wait 30 seconds.
Turn your head and body another 90 degrees to the left, into the bed. Wait another 30 seconds.
Sit up on the left side.
Reverse the above exercise by beginning with your head turned to the left.
.......................................
After 2 or 3 days of the above complete routine, I found that I could achieve the same results by tilting my head to the extreme left and holding it there for 10 or 15 seconds. Repeat for the right side.
The Rehab Center did add to the above procedure some tests which entailed watching my eye movement when following an object moving back and forth at arm's length. I'm not at all convinced that that portion of the routine actually contributed to my recovery but suspect it contributed to the Rehab Center's fee.
Again, I truly sympathize with your condition. There's nothing more depressing than to discover that you're completely disabled. But there's light at the end of the tunnel. Best Wishes.
