Please can anyone help - Vertigo/Dizziness

[Ddcoo]

I would be so grateful if anyone who has had this would give me some information.

Last Friday after being unsteady on my feet when getting out of bed in the night for the loo, I woke up and could not even stand up, my head was that dizzy that I had to hold onto the walls to get to the bathroom.
I was lucky enough to get an appointment at the doctors and my man took me, although it was awful trying to stand up. The doctor gave me Cinnarizine which is for motion sickness and disturbed balance and said that I had probably had a sinus infection and it has disrupted the inner ear.

I took the tablets for 4 days and was feeling a lot better, so I stopped taking them, then yesterday tea time the awful dizziness started again and I had to go to bed. This morning it was even worse than last week and I couldn't even go to the surgery but I was lucky enough to get a home visit from the doctor, he checked eyes, BP etc and said that I must go back on the tablets, but I am so scared that it won't go away as it soon came back after stopping the tablets. He said if I still feel bad next Tuesday and am to call the surgery again, so I am very grateful for the doctors help.

PLEASE has anyone had a bad bout of vertigo? How long did it take to improve and can you suggest anything that I can do. I know I am a wuz but feel so bad at the moment.

[Mr.Jitters]

Sorry to hear that you've been having a rough time with this. Good luck, I hope this course of pills sorts it out for you.

I have menieres disease so I get vertigo quite often which is controlled really well, but sinus infections and allergies seem to mess the whole thing up for me and can floor me for days. I do neti, or "sinus irrigation" with warm salt water twice a day when I have sinus/inner ear problems, and it seems to clear things up much more quickly than letting nature take its course, but it still seems to take around a week to get back to normal. Pinching my nose and popping my ears by breathing out a few times a day seems to help clear things up, too. Thought my doctor was insane when he suggested it, though :)

[Ddcoo]

Thank you so much Mr Jitters, the ear popping suggestion I will do, because my ears are always a bit "deaf" and popping them makes the sounds clearer. I do use salt irrigation when I get bad sinus and it helps to clear the tubes, but problem is at the moment that the constant dizziness is keeping me in bed but as soon as I get my sea legs back I will do it.

You have also put my mind at rest saying that it takes about a week to clear up. If you take tablets for your vertigo, how long after taking them do you stop them. I was also advised by the doctor to reduce the dose slowly when I feel better.

Thanks again for your very helpful post.
Has anyone else got any useful advice?

[Mr.Jitters]

With cinnarizine I usually take it for a week after symptoms disappear, and half the dose for another week. Hasn't failed me yet. Best of luck :)

[Ddcoo]

Again, thank you Mr Jitters for the information about coming off the tablets - I'm talking to a real expert here eh? I have written down what you advise. Trouble is once the doctor has gone you think of questions to ask, but thanks to you I have an answer. This is only the 2nd time in my life I have had vertigo and I am panicking a bit over it = thinking it won't go away which is silly I know, but I bet you have got used to dealing with it now, although it is never a pleasant experience. Now I look back on what I did by stopping the tablets completely after 4 days, no wonder my symptoms reappeared with avengeance. Thank you again:)