Hi guys!
Now before i start, im not saying this is going to work for everyone because that wouldn't be fair or true & im not a medical professional, just a 20 year old girl who had almost lost hope & couldn't find out an answer for what was going on with me & thought i'd share my story in the hope that it might even be able to help 1 or 2 people out there! I'll tell you my story...
The beginning...
In December last year i began getting a funny feeling i was walking, it felt as though i was walking on a boat almost. I didnt think too much of it to start with but as it continued i decided to go the dr. The dr said i might have excessive wax build up in my ears, we cleared that up, the problem still remained. January/February rolled around & i still had this weird sensation, it began to affect me in the car, when the car would stop i would feel as though the car was still moving & if i got out of the car i would feel as though i was still moving fast in the car (very hard to explain). I began to lose interest in going out anywhere or travelling which resulted in me becoming very sad & i was at home 99% of the time. Over the next month we made a few trips to the hospital, a young dr we saw twice said both times that she thought i had an ear infection, the keyword being there she "THOUGHT", she prescribed me neurofen & a travel sickness tablet called Pro Calm (like Stemetil) for the dizziness. She basically said to just continue to take these. They did a CT scan of my sinuses which was clear.
The nightmare begins...
In early February i woke up one morning & rolled onto my left side, lifted my head up stretching/turning my neck, i then got a scary sensation, it was almost like dizziness but not spinning dizziness, it felt as though my eyes were bouncing when i tried to focus on something, i freaked out & my mum took me up to emergency. At the hospital they ran blood tests, which i'd had many before, all clear, they did neurological tests, all clear, the dr put it down to vertigo & told me to take a tablet called Serc. We went home & i took the tablets which like the previous Stemetil/Pro Calm, did not help.
I only took the Serc about 4 times, but continued to then take the Pro Calm when i wasnt taking the Serc.
The trips to the hospital & dr became weekly, we got no answers every time & were sent home each time. One night we even called the ambulance as i couldn't get up to walk with out feeling like i was going to fall over, i never did fall over but my mum & grandmother helped me walk around the house most days, the ambulance officers said there was nothing they could do for me & to just take MORE of the Pro Calm tablets, as in, up my dose. So i took 2.
During this time i went to see a counsellor as i was developing severe anxiety, to the point where i couldn't have my mum out of my sight in fear something would happen to me while she wasnt there. The counsellor asked me if i was taking anything, i told him i'd been taking the Pro Calm tablets for a few months, following the recommended dose. As soon as i told him he said "I'm taking you up to the hospital" i continued to ask him why as i was sitting in this room feeling like i was crazy. He contiuned to tell me & mum that he had worked with kids who have purposely overdosed on these tablets to get high, which was not my case but he explained it had built a level up my in system & when it gets to that point it can cause severe anxiety/mania episodes.
We got the hospital with the counsellor & they took me straight in. When we got there i met the dr who was probably one of the rudest most un helpful drs i'd met. He basically said to me "there's nothing wrong with you & i have more important patients to deal with, have some valium" I said i'm not taking valium & how do you explain my symptoms, he said he went to consult with an ENT dr & he thought i had something called BPPV (benign positional vertgio) & to see an ENT. We went home frustrated as usual.
Over the next couple of days i was still unbalanced & strange dizziness. One night i couldn't handle it & decided to take a pro calm tablet, a bad decision on my part but i didn't know what else to do. That night i woke up in the middle of the night in an extreme panic/mania episode, i begged my mum to take me to the hospital (for the 1766475th time). We got the hospital & i was a complete mess, now keep in mind i am a very shy reserved person, i would never make a scene in any situation ESPECIALLY in the middle of the night in a packed hospital. But this time, i could not sit still i felt like i was going to die, my mum held my hand trying to keep still, numerous times i kept running to the nurse & all i could say was PLEASE HELP ME PLEASE, they did not, we waited 6 hours in emergency waiting room. By the time we got to see the dr the tablet had worn off a bit & i was more calm. Same story again, they said you do not need to be in the hospital, go & see this ENT. Like many people on here with anxiety issues related to their health i started to thing i had something majorly wrong like a brain tumor or something scary!
So..we booked an appointment with an ENT specialist. We had to wait 6 weeks. Which was 6 weeks of constant symptoms, constant crying all day, barely sleeping at night. It got the point where i could hardly lay down without feeling dizzy & lightheaded. Looking back on it now i can't believe i got through it.
The day of the ENT appointment comes. The dr checked my ears, did the BPPV test twice & said it was negative & my ears are fine. He then commented on how my neck didnt look right, he said i think you have a neck injury. He basically told me just to rest. 4-6 weeks went by & i didnt see any improvement as he had not given me a solution to fix it. When the 2nd appointment came around he said "oh you can get physio if you want" 0534 thanks! During the appointment he asked if i had any accidents i can remember that could have affected my neck. I thought back & remembered that in October last year i fell off a treadmill at a very high speed, then in December i got hit in the upper back with a metal horse float door. He confirmed i would have gotten whiplash from one or both of these resulting in the injury.
Physio...
So went to see physio #1...She confirmed my neck problem but all she did was massage my shoulders as my neck was so tender & sore to touch. I saw her for 4 weeks with minimal improvement. I did some research & found another physio in town, we went to see her & she did some work with massage & different stretch excercises, i did see SLIGHT slight improvement but still not enough for me to feel confident or happy or go out much still. By the 4th week with this physio she got a point where basically she didnt know what to do, I got an x ray of my neck which SHE said looked "normal" except for a straightening of my neck. She then continued to say well i think you have an inner ear problem as well, i said i'd been checked by an ENT twice & he confirmed i didnt. After that appointment i decided to take things into my own hands...
Finding answers...
I was googling one day, coincidentally around the same time i saw the ENT & found a website called upcspine.com - I read Greg's story on there & something resonated with me but back then i decided to just wait & see what happened with the ENT.
During the time with the 2nd physio i re-read that website, everyday. & decided to email the creator, Greg. He was kind enough to chat to me for about a week. I explained my symptoms to him which i will list here...
Symptoms
- Rocking/Unbalanced sensation when walking
- Visual dizziness as in i felt like my eyes wouldnt stay still on an object, this happened when in supermarkets walking down aisles & looking up at things as well
- Occasional high pitch noise in ears
- Could not lay down flat on my back or stomach or left side
- Could not turn my neck right or left or up or down properly
- During the high anxiety time i would get head zaps
- Lightheadedness feeling like i was going to faint but never did
- At one point i couldnt wear barefeet around as i felt unbalanced then too
- My eyes felt tired
- Heavy head
- Occasional headaches
- Occasional severe pain in my neck
- Extreme tension in my upper back/shoulders/neck, if i walked around to long my neck felt so strained
I attatched the pictures of my x ray to greg who listed what he could see & what could be the potential cause. He then told me to book an appointment with Joe Ierano, an upper cervical chiropractor who specialises in Atlas Orthogonal.
The best decision i've made...
I made an appointment with Joe a week from my phone call. He's based in Sydney & i live about 3 hours from there. Me & my mum drove up the night before the appointment, the 3 hour drive took us about 4-5 hours as we had to stop so many times so i could get out the car & walk around to try & walk off the weird symptoms.
The next day we saw Joe. I handed him my x rays as we filled out the forms. As soon as we entered his room he started explaining my problem & i felt, for the first time, understood & safe. He said my neck is one of the worst he's seen in someone my age. I proceeded to tell him the accidents i'd had, he went back a bit further & i explained when i was 3 i walked behind my brother on a swing & broke my collar bone. He thinks this is where my neck problem began. at THREE years old, i'm now 20. We then discussed the other injuries during my life & when i came to list them i relised there were a lot...
- Broken collarbone at 3 years old
- Car accident when i was 11 or 12
- Multiple horse riding falls when from when i was 7-18 years old
- Shoulder tendon injury from lifting heavy boxes for 3 years
- Treadmill accident
- Horse float accident
There are probably more but these are the ones i can think of that would have impacted on the damage to my neck. Whilst viewing my x ray Dr Joe showed me the damage in my neck that all the other drs & physio's didn't point out. My atlas (first verterbrae in your neck) was jammed up in my skull, i didnt just have loss of cervical lordosis (straightening of the neck) but my neck was almost kyphosis, which means the natural curve was now bending the OPPOSITE way. My atlas was out 10 degrees but had no rotation (thank god). When you looked at me my head was tilting the the right, which made my eyes not level therefore resulting in the weird vision symptoms. Keep in mind the Atlas is right where your brainstem is, which controls your nervous system, which basically controls your whole body, so if that's out it can interfere with all sorts of things.
During my first appointment Dr Joe couldn't even touch my upper neck with the slightest preassure without me bursting in to tears. But i trust him. We started off with the first atlas adjustment, if you don't know this technique it does NOT involve any twist or cracking or manipulating of the neck. You can google the procedure in more detail but basically the atlas adjustment is specifically calculated to your needs so they use a mathematical calculation based on your x rays which they put into the tool which adjusts your atlas GENTLY & correctly with a percussive soundwave. (many youtube videos show)
I was told i may get dizzy after the first adjustment as he wasnt sure how my body would react to the atlas getting moved back in to place from where it had been out for years. I was very anxious but lay down & in a few seconds the adjustment was done & i burst in to tears of joy (I also didn't get dizzy). Now i'm definitely not here to say "oh atlas orthogonal fixed me in just 1 visit!" because it didnt & it hasn't, yet. SOME people do have a miracle adjustment if they dont have a severe injury like me as my muscles & everything were all a mess from holding the wrong position for so many years! BUT i will say i felt different, i felt like i finally knew what was going to help me & i was on the road to recovery. After my first adjustment we did some other work on my back & muscles using other instruments & tools, also non invasive. I will say after just ONE adjustment i got into the car on the way home & those weird sensations i was getting in the car were reduced by 90%, im being completely honest.
Where i'm at now..
I've been seeing the dr for just over a week (ONE WEEK) & feel like a different person. Yes i have still gotten symptoms from time to time but no where near as severe. After the 2nd visit i was laying on my back comfortably, i can now lay face down comfortably & on my left side with no problems. I am sleeping 1000 x better, i can lay in bed after i wake up & feel fine, i feel so much better when waking up. The unbalanced symptoms have been almost non existent the past 2 days. I tend to get a little bit of the visual symptoms when im tired & my muscles start to get tired again but thats A LOT better than it was even just 1 week ago. At the moment i'm seeing the dr everyday but it will then space out to weekly then 2 weekly then monthly etc.. once my muscles & everything start to work properly again. Keep in mind its been around 17 years of damage that we are undoing so its not going to be instant but in just ONE week i already am starting to feel amazing.
My story is probably one of many which is negligence of the medical industry, no one was doing anything for me until i saw Dr Joe & that is just wrong.
Again, i'm not saying this is the answer to EVERYONE'S dizzy/balanced problems because yes your inner ear & other things can cause that, but if you have been to several drs & have been checked for things like BPPV & other issues, have been clear & you're getting no where i recommend going to an Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractor because your head might not be on straight.
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