Dizzy Broad

 Vertigo (I wish that I could make that font type into a shaky one) 

In this blog I will be talking about Vertigo some more and how it has effected me! 

I always heard the term Dizzy Broad growing up but never thought I would become one. Of course it didn't have the same meaning then per say but that is what I feel like when I have my Vertigo episodes, "A dizzy broad". So anyway, on with the story....

Some may think when they hear the word vertigo, oh yeah, I've been dizzy before for no apparent reason, I know what it feels like. But to me, vertigo is more than just dizziness. Because for me, vertigo has a ton of other symptoms that go along with it. 

Some of the ones that I have experienced during an attack have included the following:

*Most common vertigo symptoms can include:

• Spinning sensation (this would be the main one and the one that causes all of the other symptoms) 
• Feeling dizzy
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Stomach pains
• Leg cramps
• Fever (I'm not sure if I have had a fever before but sometimes I feel feverish when I have them) 
• Hot flashes but to the tenth power. (To the point of feeling like I am going to combust which causes anxiety).
• Sweating
• Cold chills (after the hot sensations go away then the chills come on)
• Ringing sound in the ears
• Abnormal eye movements (called Nystagmus) 
• Loss of hearing (even more than the normal loss that is there already)
• Difficulty balancing while moving about
• Changes in blood pressure and heart rate (I don't know if I have this issue or not)
• Inability to concentrate
• Anxiety (which has caused a full blown anxiety attack that I have not had very many in my life time
• Racing thoughts
• Fear (that I am letting people down along with own self) 
• Sound sensitivity (any sound, even a whisper) 
• Smell Sensitivity (any smell good or bad)
• Light Sensitivity (any amount of light)
• Mobility Loss (from being off balanced-have to have help moving from one place to the other) 
• Dehydrated (Loss of fluids which causes low magnesium, potassium and sodium) 

I'm sure I could be missing a few symptoms that I have experienced but these are the main ones above. 

Out of the almost three years that I have had Meniere's Disease, I have had two really bad attacks. The last one was a couple months prior to them finally starting to cease and from the remedies that I listed in my last blog that have seemed to help. 

I won't list each and every attack that I ever had. I started documenting them over a year later of them starting but believe me when I say I had my share of them. 

But I did want to share the details of the last really bad one below. The very first severe one I ever had; landed me in the ER. It was a good thing that I was already there, so I didn't have to be wheeled very far. lol. My potassium levels were low at that time and also my sodium. 

But with the last severe one I had and hopefully it will be the last one ever, I should have just signed in again to be seen but I was stubborn as usual and waited a few days which I had no other choice to be seen. So I will start with the beginning of that attack and then the end results of that one which pushed me to try a last resort remedy for this.

I always second guess myself and what could be wrong, I always assume that I will waste everyone's time by being seen because it will turn out that I don't have anything wrong. But I probably just need to start trusting my gut, literally. 

anyway, my journal entry for what led up to the worse one, so far is as follows:

Sunday, April 30, 2023: (I had worked all night the following night and was to return to work this night) 

I slept all day for work. Started with a vertigo attack while I was trying to get ready for work. Along with the spinning sensation I experienced the following: vomiting, spinning, dizziness, diarrhea, hot flashes, sweating, more vomiting, more diarrhea, also to add, I had not eaten anything yet since breakfast this morning and this was around 5:30 to 6:00 when it began. I can not remember now how many times I puked and had loose bowels but it was quite a bit and too much for someone who had been hours without eating. I am sorry for the TMI but it will be a lot for this episode and is always a lot in fact, each time I have one, So, it finally got to the point that I vomited uncontrollably that I was puking bile. At that point I was so weak and felt like I was dying but I refused to go and be seen which now I wish that I had. 

Finally after I didn't think I could puke anymore that is when I started dry heaving and then I had these shaking and jerking movements afterwards. Also, I had taken my medicine for nausea and dizziness but of course with the vomiting it was not staying in my system. So after about an hour of all of this and really not thinking I could endure much more and would curl up and just die from it all, After I first thought to myself that I couldn't take much more, I took another nausea pill and during all of this time I begged God to take this all away from me. I then covered up my head with the covers and just curled up to try to get as comfortable as I could and when I came to, I realized that I had been asleep or knocked out one and it was 3 hours later. I am not even sure how to explain that last part other than God did answer my prayer and took the misery away from me for the rest of that evening. He may have had to knock me out for it to happen, but it happened. Amen...

It could not have possibly been that last nausea pill that I took even though it was one that made me a little drowsy than the other because it hadn't had time to even start working yet by the time I buried my head under the covers. Also, I had slept pretty well all day prior to this happening so its not like I was exhausted either or needed any more sleep at that time. So I am just going to say even though I was unconscious for three hours, it is perfectly fine with me and I needed it. And thank God for being with me during that trying time. 

So now Monday came and went without anymore episodes and I am not sure how I felt that day because I did not journal it but it must have been an okay day with no issues. But then Tuesday rolled around... ughh

Tuesday, May 2, 2023: I went to work and was there for one whole hour and bam...a vertigo attack started. I immediately took my meds like I always do and of course they didn't really help. I took off to the bathroom, but with this attack I had already had some bouts of diarrhea prior and then had more during it and I didn't have a lot of nausea or vomiting like normal; but was puking bile again. So here I was again hovered over a toilet begging God to just take this away from me and even crying out in distress and guess what? He didn't take it away right then but he told me to stop being so hard headed and stubborn and just sign in to be seen. So that is what I did and I am glad that I listened because I was very dehydrated and my potassium level was 2.9. A normal level is supposed to be 3.5 to 5.0. Some of my other labs were higher than they should have been. I could have also had a stomach virus as well with all of the diarrhea I experienced. But all I know is that I felt like total poo! 

So, I do believe in God and am a firm believer in prayer. Do I believe that God answers all prayers, well in a way yes, He does. It's either with a yes, no or wait. I don't put a lot of trust in religious tv shows but I have been an occasional viewer of the 700 club. I don't even watch it that often but the few times that I have watched it, there has been a part where they are calling out prayer requests and those who are suffering with certain conditions, etc... so on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 a day after I was seen for the worse week of vertigo attacks that I had ever experienced, they prayed for someone who suffered from dizziness and vertigo and then again on Monday, May 29, 2023 they prayed for someone who suffered from Tinnitus. And then again on Monday, June 5, 2023 they prayed for someone who suffered with a stuffy ear all of the time. And lastly, on Tuesday, September 20, 2023 (my birthday) another prayer for Vertigo. So each of these times I just happened to be watching and I claimed all of these healings in Jesus name. 

The outcome since then has been my Tinnitus has been almost obsolete now. I barely even notice it anymore. And I wished that I had journaled when I started noticing that it was barely noticeable anymore but to be honest I didn't notice until one day when I paid attention and realized I wasn't suffering with it anymore. And with my Tinnitus, I mostly have the constant noise in my ear which I referred to as white noise. The ringing is a every now and again thing for me; which I have noticed at times that I would have it at various times throughout my life. 

Also to add to this, with this condition it can drive some one crazy and unfortunately cause one to be suicidal.

I copied the following from an article from CNBC. I had heard about this and he did this the same month that I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease. It is sad that he went as far as doing this but as a sufferer I can understand not wanting to live with this the rest of your life. But he had also had post long term effects from Covid19. Also, I think that I had read somewhere before as well that he had the Covid virus either near or the same month I did, which was January of that year. 

Here is the article (copied) Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO Kent Taylor died on Thursday, the restaurant chain. He was 65.

Taylor died by suicide after a battle with post-Covid-19 related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, the family said in a company-issued statement. Tinnitus is typically described as a ringing in the ear.

“After a battle with post-Covid related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, Kent Taylor took his own life this week,” the family said. “Kent battled and fought hard like the former track champion that he was, but the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable.”

Taylor’s family said that Taylor recently committed to fund a clinical study to help members of the military who suffer with tinnitus.

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I remember with another attack that I had, that I started with some chest pain and rapid heartrate and considered calling the ambulance to pick me up because I was afraid that along with the attack I was also possibly having a heart attack. But the pain subsided and then after a few days I came to the conclusion that I had an anxiety attack. That is one thing that I have only experienced on a few occasions. I don't even know why it decided to join in on that particular day that I was having a vertigo attack but it did. But it sure didn't make things better that's for sure. 

As far as the stuffiness in my ears, that is the one out of four symptoms that I have dealt with the least so far. I mainly had that symptom in the beginning of my disease and it will still bother me at times but not on a daily basis like the Tinnitus was. 

And then as far as the hearing loss, I deal with it to the best of my ability and adjust to it. And, in the beginning it was a big adjustment for me. It almost made me feel isolated from the world because trying to adjust to loud sounds and then not being able to hear low sounds and people talking, it was exhausting. I feel like it is not as much as a struggle as it was with the tinnitus but it was definitely an adjustment. It helps when all of my other symptoms are at rest or calmed down to be able to hear better though. So I can say that my hearing has had improvements. And it's hard to explain to others but even though I have low frequency hearing loss it causes high frequency hearing to be amplified times ten. So really loud noises are super loud to me and really low noises, most of the time I can not hear at all with my one ear. 

And for some Meniere's sufferers they unfortunately have this happen in both ears but it mostly develops in just one. But could you imagine having it in both ears? Wow! 

And then lastly as far as my Vertigo attacks since that last severe one that I had, I had two more moderately mild (not as severe) attacks before going to my first Chiropractor appointment on May, 19th. I had an attack the night before at work but it went away within a couple of hours. 

Since my first chiropractor visit, I had some episodes where I consider myself feeling a little off, meaning that I may feel a little off balanced or like I could start with an attack but don't or just not feeling right. But with some of my attacks, they gave me no warning at all and then some beforehand I kind of felt like I might end up having one. But I am proud to say that I only suffered one more attack after the chiropractor visit to date. Which is now five whole months without one. And that attack was a very mild one at that. 

I posted about it in one of my lasts blogs before this one but its worth repeating and yet again on how God answers prayer. Maybe not like we want him to but sometimes even when we don't even ask like in this situation below 

So on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 I was asleep that night and woke up feeling dizzy and had a little spinning so I immediately took my medicine and got up to go to the bathroom because with most of all of my past and recent attacks I almost always immediately start getting very nauseous, vomit and have diarrhea. So I go ahead and just camp out in the bathroom for that reason. 

Also when these attacks hit it can be challenging for me to make it safely to the next room. The spinning causes you to be off balanced causing issues with walking. But when I am alone of course I do the best I can. So far I have not fallen due to any of these issues but I have come close to doing so a few times. So anyway, I went on to the bathroom and had a couple of rounds of diarrhea and vomiting and felt like I was done so i headed back to the bed. By this point the medicine hadn't really had time to kick in but my plans were to go lie back down and wait for it too and hopefully not have to get back up. So I arrived back to my bed, and prayed but didn't ask for Him to take this away. This time I simply thanked Him for letting me be at home during this attack instead of work or anywhere else. And that was all I prayed and within minutes I started feeling the symptoms leaving my body and I didn't want to get too excited just yet but I would say within ten minutes, I felt like nothing had even happened prior and I was able to go back to sleep and so far I have not had any attacks since then. I am Blessed. 

I have had these weird 2-3 second episodes that when I turned my head to the left while lying down that it would act like it was going to go into a spin but then I would just freeze and stare at something and it would subside but that went on for a few weeks and finally stopped. But I'll take that over a full attack any day.

I'm well aware that I could have more later on but I pray and hope that I don't because I have had my share in the almost three years that I have suffered with them. I have said many times that vertigo for me is the worse symptom of the Meniere's disease to have. But I have learned that when I start having severe attacks that it may be because my levels are out of whack. So, I will have to learn not to be stubborn and have those taken care of right away to hopefully ward off anymore attacks. 

So that summons up my dealings with vertigo. So for anyone else that deals with vertigo for what ever reason causes yours, I truly sympathize with you. 

God Bless!