It's Back

After my previous optimistic post about feeling pretty decent these past 2 months the vertigo has decided to increase once again. The past three days have been more difficult than recent weeks. I woke up on Wednesday with a pressured/heavy head and fuzzyish vision back to being slow and motion sensitive. The floor is once again lifting me up and down with every step I take and the surrounding environment is swaying in and out of focus, oh the joy.

Once this heavy head sensation increases all my balance and visual symptoms worsen. This pressure has been absolutely constant throughout my journey until recently. Headaches and head fullness have been much better lately hence the improved past 2 months but it's back and so here I am feeling rotten. There is  just no consistency with this thing. There is nothing to do except endure it and wait for the milder moments.

Swimmyhead

The darkness

I was not planning to blog today only a certain experience I just had has urged me to do so. During the entire 7.5 years of living with vertigo standing or walking in darkeness (dark room,dim room ) have been exceptionally demanding and taxing on my vestibular system. I mean the visual movement/swaying and the sense of being pushed and pulled really intensifies as soon as I am standing or walking in the dark. My sense of space becomes confused and steadiness becomes a major problem. It has been this way for all this time. Every night I turn the light off before bed and then take a short few steps to the bed immediately becoming extremely unbalanced and disorientated. It's the same heightened vertigo sensation that happens even in a slightly lit room or outside on a dark evening walk. Darkness dramatically increases my symptoms.

I remember many years ago during my vestibular rehabilitation period I would tax my self further by turning all the lights of in a room (nearly pitch black) and focus only on the bright red light glowing from my tv set standby light. I would do this in darkness most nights in hope that my brain and senses would somehow recalibrate. With intent I would stare at this small light trying to maintain my twitching jerking gaze upon it all the while feeling like the room was lifting me up and down and the room appearing to sway left and right. I would also try to stand on one leg in the dark and gaze at the light holding this one legged position as long as possible thinking this extra balance demand would in time at least improve this darkness issue. If you have had or do have vertigo you will appreciate just how hard it is to stand on one leg for a period of time (seconds) in daylight never mind doing it in the dark.

I say all this because I just turned my lights off and for some reason realised how much steadier the world is.I have just stood in the same position all those years ago and there is movement but nothing like before. Hell I just stood on one leg and held position for 20 sec quite the feat since I used to fall within 1-5 sec/I guess I have come along way. It is easy to forget this when I still have those bad days and weeks but the majority of my time these past 2 months especially have been steadier.

Since starting this blog I have posted  a couple of times about a random week or two here and there feeling better only to take a complete nosedive back into vertigo ridden hell. I have never had more than a 2 week period where symptoms stayed less intense. These random better weeks only started happening 6 years into my journey.

However since Dec 1st I have had my longest period of less intense symptoms that I have ever had ( just over 2 months). I did have a really bad week a few weeks ago but snapped out of it only to continue this more manageable intensity of daily symptoms. How do I know it's better lately well I find myself not thinking about dizziness every time I walk from one room to the next and I don't find myself suffering in a overwhelming state of constant head fullness and vision fuzziness at all times and the blasted moving floor is not playing as many tricks on me. I don't know how long this will continue and I still have all the same symptoms daily but I hope my symptoms continue on this less intense steadier path. I sure appreciate the lift in weight.

I hope this gives you long term sufferers out there some much needed hope. You and me will get there eventually.

Swimmyhead

Dizzy Poll

I have been asked to encourage us dizzy people to complete a Dizziness poll created by fellow twitter follower stadsbader - dizzyme You can complete the poll via this link m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1547866628796275&id=1432266323689640 …. The results will be used for a doctor seminar this coming March.

The Winter Dizzies

Hi Everyone

Well after a full December of less intense dizziness and vertigo I am sadly back to feeling heavy headed and out of it. To go a whole month with my symptoms much less intense is a first but hopefully not the last time. The main symptom that basically vanished was my full pressured like head. You know that heavy, full, swaying sensation. It feels like a balloon expanded under your skull. That went away as did any noticeable headaches for the whole month and because of this my balance and sense of well being and clarity was much better and the visual and internal movement appeared and felt much less. I no longer felt like I was being pushed and pulled because of every shift of weight I made or because of every movement my eyes tracked. The sensations were steady and under control instead of all encompassing and erratic.

Why I had an easier month I do not know neither do I understand why I woke up roughly six days ago with a heavy head and weighted and all of the usual symptoms heightened. So it is back to feeling like a robot and taking more care and thought when turning from one room to the next.Small things like cleaning my teeth are once again a brain shaker. My visual perspective of height and depth is just plain wrong ( I know this since my kitchen now appears to be back on an angle the walls are breathing and I swear the ground is closer today). Also that zombie like vacant stare at an object but can't quite connect visually with it sensation is in full force. That being said I remember days even worse.

Anyhow I am pleased I had that month it is certainly a positive in my journey thus far. It's now the new year and hopefully by the end of 2015 there will be significant improvement as this is the year I finally commence treatment with a specialist neuro-otologist.

I best leave you guys now as this typing is sending me of my rocker (head is buzzing with swaying fullness)

Happy new year guys maybe this will be the year you and I get better.

Swimmyhead

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas eve and I am feeling festive. Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. I am home with my family and have just enjoyed a delicious Indian takeaway. I can't say we have ever had an Indian takeaway on Christmas eve before but god it was nice. Presents are wrapped and ready under the tree and I am about to watch the Griswold's Christmas vacation. I watch it every Christmas eve. It's funny, it feels like only last week I was watching it. The years are speeding up I am sure of it.

I should mention my dizziness shouldn't I since it's the reason for this blog. This will be my 8th dizzy Christmas (I can't believe it) but I am happy to report that for the last 3 and a half weeks the intensity of my daily vertigo has been less intense and more manageable. Of course I still have vertigo and all the other symptoms that come along with it all day everyday but at a more steady and manageable level. I think it is probably the longest period of time that my vertigo has remained consistently less severe. Normally it's up and down (mainly up) throughout the day but at present it is keeping at one consistent level. I am happy about this.

So Merry Christmas fellow Swimmyhead's maybe Santa will bring us each a new vestibular system.

Swimmyhead

Painful week but less dizzy

It's been 4 days post wisdom tooth extraction and I am still in pain. my right cheek swelling is slowly subsiding but the throbbing and intense pulsing pain continues usually worsening by late evening. To be honest I did not think about developing pain after the tooth surgery. I figured having a wisdom tooth removed would be the same as having any tooth removed (pretty painless). I had one back tooth removed years ago and it caused absolutely no bother but this wisdom tooth extraction is something else. Dental pain and vertigo how lucky am I?
That being said I must admit this week has been pretty good regarding the intensity of my vertigo. I am pretty damn steady. the vertigo is not overwhelming and disorientating. I am really glad about this because if I felt like I normally do dizzy wise and had to feel this face pain at the same time I would be feeling very sorry for myself indeed.

I keep joking to family that it was my wisdom tooth all along that caused my vertigo because I feel so much better since it has been removed. Of course this is not the case. I guess I am just having one of those weeks but hell wouldn't that be something, lol.

As I am typing this my best friend has just called to tell me his wife has just given birth to a baby girl which is fabulous news. They have to young boys so a baby sister is a wonderful addition. Great news.

Swimmyhead

Bloated chipmunk

This past Monday I had my lower right wisdom tooth removed. I had been dreading it especially since this past weekend I was a disorientated wreck. Fortunately though I woke up Monday morning feeling much more stable and balanced ( A stroke of luck) so when it came to lying down in the dentists chair I was feeling ok-ish. The dentist first explained to me what to expect . She told me about the swelling that will occur and how there will be  cracking sounds and stitches. I was fine about this as I am not squeamish. What did concern me was when she explained that I have a facial nerve that sits quite close to my wisdom tooth and that this nerve maybe banged and prodded during the procedure which may result in pro longed numbness of the tongue, lips and gums. I asked what she meant by pro longed? her reply was days, weeks sometimes years. Still I had no choice so I signed the consent form and the procedure began.

The extraction took about 30 minutes and was pretty painless. Lots of drilling and cracking but the only thing that was uncomfortable was the amount of pressure I felt on my jaw but what could I do. They numbed the area then whipped it out and stitched me up and I was good to go.

A few hours later the anesthetic started to wear off and pain started to appear. On one hand I was bloody thankful to feel the pain knowing that I was not going to have a permanent numb tongue and lips on the the other hand it was bloody awful pain so pain killers were swiftly thrown down my gullet. So it's been two days now and my face is still really painful and throbbing , my right cheek resembles a bloated chipmunk and eating is a real pain in the ass. It's actually more painful today. I am hoping the swelling and agony will start to improve come tomorrow.

On the bright side I am feeling less dizzier these past 2 days but as always cannot enjoy the steadiness due to the fact that my face feels like I  have been hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer but I am happy that the wisdom tooth has been removed. One less tooth to give me problems in the future,

Swimmyhead