How Vertigo has effected me....

So I've talked about my Meniere's journey and I mentioned that out of all of the symptoms of Meniere's Disease that for me vertigo has been the far worst symptom that I have had to deal with. 

I have had the debilitating symptoms of vertigo too many times to count. It started out mild to increasing to more severe. I still remember my first severe attack. I realized after being seen in the ER for it that my potassium levels were low. Which was no surprise especially due to the amount of vomiting that I had encountered during this episode. 

The attacks beforehand had nothing on this one, although before this one I thought they were getting bad until that one had come along. And there were a bunch more to follow before the last very bad attack that I have had to date yet which also landed me into the ER again, and once again my potassium was really low again and my sodium levels were on the low end as well. They didn't test my magnesium level but the Dr. told me that was probably low as well. Plus I think I could have been dealing with a stomach virus as well. 

So anyway I wanted to talk more about how I felt on a daily basis while dealing with the beginning of my disease. It was definitely challenging and something that I had to get accustomed to. The first very noticeable signs of it began right after I tested positive for Covid in January of 2021

. I had a lot of head congestion but hardly any mucus with it. And my ears felt really stuffy. And then my hearing loss occurred. Then the last symptom I had was vertigo. 

Thinking back, and after some reading and research of this disease I had some prior signs that I didn't give much thought to. I would have occasional slight dizziness spells which I chalked up to as being my blood pressure, and I would have ear stuffiness last for a while after having a cold which always made me wonder why it was still lingering and sometimes I would have some ringing in my ear which I also thought was something that everyone had from time to time and also I don't know why I ignored the fact that I had noticed that I could not hear as well in one ear like I could the other, I just didn't give it much thought or worry about it. And I would only notice it when I was talking on the phone. But, I had these symptoms for probably several years. The only symptom that I did not have prior was the vertigo attacks. 

There is also what's called drop attacks that Meniere's sufferers or others can have. And so far since I have been diagnosed, I have not had one but I think I had two separate ones before being diagnosed. One when I was a teen and the other when I was a young adult. But with those you can be walking and minding your business and all of a sudden drop to the floor, still alert and conscious. But those who experience them say that it feels like someone has shoved them to the ground. 

The two occasions that I think I may have experienced one but I am not positive. I feel like I did because when they both happened leaving me wondering what happened and no other explanation. The first time I was walking across the yard and all of a sudden went down, my dog came running to my rescue. I ended up spraining my ankle really bad from that fall. But I never could figure out what made me fall. My parents thought I had stepped off of our sidewalk wrong but I never felt my ankle twist or felt like I had stepped wrong but it felt like I just went flying to the ground.  And it left me confused as to what or how it happened. And I don't remember any more details to that incident since it was years ago but the second incident happened when I was an adult. I was coming down our long flight of stairs inside our house and when I got to the next to last step, I knew I had one more step to go so it's not like I thought I was at the last step, and misjudged but, all of a sudden it felt just like someone shoved me but without feeling the complete touch of a persons actual hand push me. I landed on my fairly new vacuum cleaner and broke a wheel off of it, which was in the hallway near the end of the stairway. But the thing is, it was far enough away from being in the way when I fell. So I not only fell on it but went flying into it. Which I found really odd as well. That story still haunts me because as soon as it happened I thought that my husband had snuck behind me and pushed me and I was trying to figure out why he would do such a thing but I had turned to look and didn't see him but then when he heard me crash he ran out of the bedroom to see if I was okay. I still remember just going and sitting in the living room for awhile trying to piece together what had happened and trying to make sense of it. Because I was still very convinced that a ghost or someone had pushed me but of course I never did see anyone. I stayed convinced until I read about drop attacks and other people explaining that it feels like you've been pushed to the ground by some force. I am not sure how drop attacks and Meniere's connect but I hope that I don't experience anymore of those or any at all. 

So back to my story....The first few weeks before being diagnosed, were a struggle because for one, I was not feeling well from having Covid and then all of these symptoms being added to that made for a very bad few weeks of misery. I also experienced dizziness but only in small episodes. Mainly though when I would first get up to walk around. And then there was the ear stuffiness that would not go away so that was a very annoying feeling. And then along came that constant noise in my ear that was staying 24/7 and sounded like the ocean at first and then eventually turned to other sounds. With the last being like night crickets which sounds weird but it was actually more soothing than some of the other noises I experienced. And the ringing episodes would happen mainly whenever I had been around a loud speaker or loud music. And then when my hearing went out, and some times it would go almost all the way out in that ear except for really loud noises, then that is when I became really concerned and knew it was time to go get some answers. 

As I spoke about it in my other blog post, I finally got the answers I was looking for but never imagined getting the answer that I would. But I feel like even though this disease raided my body within a few weeks that I have dealt with it fairly well. It is a wonder that I have not gone completely coo-coo but with God's help, He has kept me sane. 

This disease is not an easy one to live or deal with. It's very different than Celiac Disease which I was diagnosed with two years prior, with celiac you can control your health and heal and feel better with a diet change. And with Meniere's it a daily struggle to feel good. 

As you read in my other blog post about my Meniere's journey that I was feeling so much better after I had been diagnosed with Celiac and started on my Gluten Free diet. And then not long into that journey is when Meniere's hit and each day has been a struggle up to recently, if you have read about that yet. 

But there were many days that I wanted to just give in, especially any day that involved a vertigo attack. It was a long journey to find the right thing to help myself out. I felt like I would never feel normal again. And don't get me wrong, I still experience some issues here and there but I can say that they are not as bad or as many or as often as they were. 

Some days I would feel really off balanced, and I am sure there were some people who took notice to it. I would get up and kind of stumble around a little trying to get from point A to point B. And then there were days that I felt like I could not hear anything that anyone was saying to me. Along with the tinnitus in my ear being so loud that it drowned out any other noise, especially voices. And then some days where I just felt like complete poo just because. That was my new life though and somehow I had to push through. 

The things I tried to help me were medications, vitamins, supplements, trying not to stress more than could be helped, I even went to a physical therapist but to no avail did any of those seem to help much if at all. That is when I decided to give a chiropractor a try. So I talk about that in another blog post of my Meniere's journey. 

The beginning of my hearing loss and tinnitus was something to really try to get accustomed to, it was hard at first to be somewhere with a PA System or to be around loud music or anything that was loud because I also had issues that caused already loud sounds to be even more louder. I had to excuse myself a few times because it felt like I was going to go crazy being around it. I even had to wear ear plugs if I knew I would be around anything loud. Which that did help a lot but it made me anxious to be in public places because of it. Now I can tolerate most anything I used to not be able to. It may be because I finally became accustomed to it and now also the fact that my Meniere's symptoms have subsided a lot. Quite a few of my attacks happened from loud noises or loud heavy beat music. 

The ear stuffiness and ringing in the ears only happened occasionally so that left only the hearing loss and the way I felt from day to day and of course the vertigo to deal with. And of course not knowing when the next vertigo attack would hit, I would be anxious going anywhere. I found myself avoiding going into the grocery store or any other public place because I had at least two attacks start in the grocery store. One was from a loud noise and the other one seemed to be random, I turned my head a certain way and there it was. 

So imagine all of the stress of these symptoms along with not feeling well most days and then trying to figure out how to help yourself. I remember the ENT Dr. telling me that I needed to keep all of my levels balanced out but doing that was a challenge obviously and easier done than said. It's not like I could check them on a daily like I can check my blood pressure or blood sugar. But I found out that one key to keeping them on a safe level is staying hydrated. And making sure I do that daily is also another struggle of mine but I have tried to be more disciplined about it and I feel it has made a difference. I've never been good at drinking plenty of fluids but I do try harder now a days. 

So there are some people who deal with vertigo but from other things other than Meniere's disease. And there are maneuvers that can help when they get attacks but with Meniere's its a little different. Usually the attacks are caused when you have too much fluid on your inner ear. And since the inner ear can not be reached through the ear opening then to be able to draw the fluid off of the ear, you have to take a fluid pill. So along with that and staying away from a high salt intake and caffeine as well, then those are key components to keeping the Meniere's at bay. And the traditional maneuvers that others can use to help theirs don't work for Meniere's like they do for other forms of vertigo.  But with me, my caffeine intake is not real high most days. And my salt intake is not at all high, it never is when it's checked. In fact my sodium levels are normally on the low end of a normal level and have been too low before from the attacks. So in my case I find that adding a little extra salt to my diet helps me balance my levels out more. So I don't avoid using salt like they recommend for that reason. I also try to stick with the pink Himalayan salt. 

I can say that since I feel like I have my Meniere's in control more than it was, that I have my life back. I don't fear going out in public as much as I did and I can do more things than I was able to do. I thought that I would never be able to ride amusement park rides ever again and in fact when my family and I had visited a local park this past Summer, I was afraid to get on much because of the fear of having an vertigo attack. And I talk more about what my vertigo attacks were like in one of my other blog posts. So I will spare the details here. 

But since I have been a lot better, I was able to enjoy some amusement park rides at the Fair this year with my one granddaughter. I felt really blessed to be able to do that with her. And the thing is I didn't give it much thought beforehand. I just purchased us both an armband and told myself I would ride whatever rides she wanted to until I couldn't and that is just what we did. I didn't get any bad feelings or no attacks while on them. We rode rides until almost closing and we had so much fun. There was one particular ride that was her favorite. Which I rode once and because of having weak and previously injured knees, it was really difficult for me to get on and off of, so I let her ride solo for the other several times she wanted to ride that ride. 

Well, that about sums it up and I will add to the story if reason to but for now, if you or anyone you know suffers from this debilitating disease please seek some help in how to handle it. This disease is on the list of approved disabilities and there are many who have had to go on disability for it but although it can still be hard to get approved even though it is a disability. I am hoping that I never have to go that route but I know that it is available to me if I ever need it, but for now I will take each day one at a time. 

If you have not had a chance to read my first blog posts about my Meniere's journey, please do so. I can say that from 2021 when I first developed it until earlier this year, I didn't think that I would ever be the same person or be able to enjoy some of the things I used to but because of God. He has seen me through it and will continue to. And yes, I still have in the back of my mind that I could have a setback. But I will hold on to the fact that it can get better after all.