Ooo err... me balance has gone all squiffy.

[Wowbagger]

A few minutes ago I took Mrs. Wow a cup of tea. I lay on the bed and the room began to spin around. When I tried to get up I almost fell over.

My alcohol intake last night (1 pint Doom bar at about 5 p.m., 1 pint Old Speckled Hen at about 9 p.m) I think is insignificant but... I felt a bit like this one day when we were in Devon in April. The day before, we had eaten a very oniony pastie. Last night I had a take-away curry with onion bhaji and jalfrezi.

Not a scientific sample, but I'm beginning to wonder about onions.

[TimO]

Low blood pressure?

[Wowbagger]

Just checked that. 136 over 87 with a pulse rate of 56. That's pretty normal for me. Of course, that's half an hour after the event...

[perpetual dan]

From my experience I'd have expected an allergic reaction to supper to hit that night, not this morning. Maybe it was a delayed reaction to all the excitement of yesterday's ride? 

[cometworm]

Vestibular neuropathy?

[Regulator]

The Rohypnol goes in Mrs W's tea - not yours! 



 

[hellymedic]

I are thinking of problems either in the inner ear or the brain stem.

The inner ear is likely to be something that sorts itself out. I am a bit worried that the blood circulation to your brainstem has had a temporary disturbance and think you should get medical attention soon.

Get well soon!

PS I think the onions are a red herring, to mix a metaphor..

[Jaded]

Not enough beer?

[rower40]

Are you Ok again now? (i.e. was the dizziness just temporary?)

I've had inner-ear problems now and again (4 occurrences in 20 years) which have left me immobile in bed for a week each time.  Sometimes as a symptom of flu or a cold.  Full "room-spinning-round" for days on end.  Not nice.  Stemetil prescribed, but it didn't seem to do much good.

GWS.

[Gruff]

A few minutes ago I took Mrs. Wow a cup of tea. I lay on the bed and the room began to spin around. When I tried to get up I almost fell over.

I've had a couple of bouts of similar symptoms. Mine was/is a vestibular thing, I'm sure.

Both instances cleared up on their own, but were really very unpleasant while they lasted. When it hit my vision would spin violently, my balance would vanish and I'd generally fall over, and be left feeling pretty nauseous.

I could help avoid triggering attacks by being slow and deliberate when laying down prone (for bed etc) and when getting up. I also had to be very careful to avoid certain head angles, particularly leant very far back.

Have a look here for more info, possible causes etc:

The Dizzy Lounge Inner Ear And Vestibular Disorders Support

What's very clear from this is that taking tea in bed to Mrs Wow is medically very dangerous for you, she'll have to bring you cups of tea from now on instead. Forever.

[rafletcher]

I are thinking of problems either in the inner ear or the brain stem.

The inner ear is likely to be something that sorts itself out. I am a bit worried that the blood circulation to your brainstem has had a temporary disturbance and think you should get medical attention soon.

Indeed. Our neighbours daugher in law has just become, in an instant, profoundly deaf. Cue lumbar puncture to check cerebral-spinal fluid for viral infection.

[pcolbeck]

Happened to my Mum. Blood clot that lodged in her ear and killed of the nerves to do with balance. She was lucky it stopped there not in her brain. She is deaf in one ear now but has regained her balance, the brain eventually compensates and uses just the signals from the good inner ear.

[rusky]

You both really know how to ease a guys nerves!

[The Seldom Killer]

If it makes you feel any better than the upthreaded doom mongering. I've just had something for a week where I've been feeling run down with occaisional bouts of dizziness. I put mine down to congestion of the inner ear which did clear up after a week. Not enough to keep me off work, but enough to make be grumpy and whinging. I understand that the correct diagnosis is Man-flu.

[Wowbagger]

I had a bit more dizziness yesterday but this morning I've gone deaf in my left ear. It was OK when I woke up but has become progresively worse. Doc's appointment made for tomorrow, 5.10.

I don't know how you judge what percentage of hearing has gone, but it seems like a lot. I can't hear cars coming up behind me when I'm cycling.

[TimO]

Whenever I get some water in an ear, and can't hear, my hearing seems to compensate for it after a while.  When it does clear later on, suddenly everything is very loud on that side.  If you can't hear anything at all that suggests it's a significant loss.

If you've now had some hearing issues, as well as the dizzyness, that does suggest (to my utterly non-existent medical knowledge) that it's something to do with your ears, so possibly you aren't about to suffer from a blood clot or stroke, which is sort of good news.

I hope you get better soon Wow, it would be a bugger to loose you on Saturday's ride (on reflection, that sounds awfully selfish, but I think you get the idea!)

[Jaded]

Best wishes with this, Peter.

[Wowbagger]

I feel perfectly OK. It doesn't actually hurt.

It's the left ear, that I thought I damaged when I had a tyre explode in Feb last year. I went for a hearing test and was told that my left ear was actually better than my right. However, I'm getting quite a lot of tinnitus-type noises in it at the moment. It may be of no significance, but my mother was pretty deaf for most of the last 20 year or so of her life. For the previous 20 years, she wasn't deaf, but used to ask others not to mumble!

[Wowbagger]

Best wishes with this, Peter.

Pardon?

[Jaded]

Sorry, wrong ear!

[toekneep]

Sounds a bit like an ear infection that is affecting your balance maybe.

I said it sounds like ..... oh never mind.

[Blodwyn Pig]

It could just be the weight of that beard toppling you over

[Sergeant Pluck]

Does sounds more like Meniere's or other inner ear disorder (which I don't know a lot about) rather any cardiovascular cause. Has Jan witnessed any of these episodes - do your eyes dart about a bit when it happens?



Enough of the diagnosis-by-internet though, and best wishes for a swift diagnosis and resolution.

[onb]

A friend of mine had labrynthitis which had similar symptoms to those described.

[Wowbagger]

Well, I was a bit unbalanced again this morning, but at least my hearing had returned to pretty much normal. There was a loud ringing in my left ear first thing, but as the day has gone one things have improved.

The Doc gave me a working over. Blood pressure normal (he didn't say exactly what the figures were), my eyes could follow his finger about, I felt slightly woozy has he tipped my head back and forth, and he prescribed prochlorperazine, 1 5mg tablet 3 times a day for 10 days. Oh, and less salt and no booze while I'm on the tablets. I start the tablets tomorrow so tonight had a pint of London Pride.

It's old age and the fluid in my balancing organs turning to KY.