Vertigo when getting out of bed

[GingerFish]

I have suffered from vertigo and drop attacks for years but have only recently started getting vertigo when trying to get out of bed. I usually just get it throughout the day or when turning to the left side in bed but lately its started from getting up out of bed. It takes me multiple tries and even when I do get up, I almost instantly have to go back and sit down again for a min. The room feels like it is literally spinning and that my legs will give way. I have to cling to the walls as well. I just had it about 15 mins ago and touch wood, the worst of it has passed though I feel very shaky, sick and still feel a bit of swaying when moving my head or bending. Do you guys have any experience of vertigo while trying to get out of bed? I had ate about an hour beforehand when I got up to go to the toilet and had a banana and felt fine then, it was just when I tried to get up fully after trying to go back to sleep that it started.

[glassgirlw]

I go through phases of that. It’ll last for a few days and then disappear. I do suffer from BPPV which is more the “positional” vertigo that you describe - turning your head one way, sitting up, etc. If you haven’t been to the doc it may be worth a visit, as there is medication they can prescribe as well as exercises you can do to help the episodes pass.

[GingerFish]

I go through phases of that. It’ll last for a few days and then disappear. I do suffer from BPPV which is more the “positional” vertigo that you describe - turning your head one way, sitting up, etc. If you haven’t been to the doc it may be worth a visit, as there is medication they can prescribe as well as exercises you can do to help the episodes pass.

Hi thanks for your reply. The vertigo was so strong. I couldn't stand up if my life depended on it. It probably only last a min or so but it felt like a life time and I felt sick to my stomach and haven't felt right since. I called my GP and she agrees it sounds like BPPV and has given me some exercises to do at home. My neurologist has mentioned BPPV in the past but thought my vertigo and drop attacks were related to vestibular migraine instead but maybe it's both? I felt it this morning as soon as I lifted my head to get out of bed and each time I tried to get up, I'd be clinging to the wall and would have to lie down again. I felt like the room and myself were flipping and turning upside down. Absolutely horrible

[Pamplemousse]

Hi thanks for your reply. The vertigo was so strong. I couldn't stand up if my life depended on it. It probably only last a min or so but it felt like a life time and I felt sick to my stomach and haven't felt right since. I called my GP and she agrees it sounds like BPPV and has given me some exercises to do at home. My neurologist has mentioned BPPV in the past but thought my vertigo and drop attacks were related to vestibular migraine instead but maybe it's both? I felt it this morning as soon as I lifted my head to get out of bed and each time I tried to get up, I'd be clinging to the wall and would have to lie down again. I felt like the room and myself were flipping and turning upside down. Absolutely horrible

Oh, yes - the first time it happened to me I sat up quickly and my body immediately - and violently - threw me back on the bed in the opposite direction. And I could not stand up! My wife called our then-GP out, he examined me and he said "inner ear infection". He then drew me a little diagram of the balls that run around in the canals in your ears to determine your position. The violent dizziness and all the other nasties are because your brain is now trying to reconcile two differing sets of data to determine your position and therefore your balance - your eyes might be saying "I am standing up" but your ears are shouting "NO YOU'RE NOT!!"

It's horrible, but it'll pass.

[glassgirlw]

Yep my attacks are exactly the same. Couldn’t sit up much less stand up. First attack was at work and I thought I was having a stroke - they drove me straight to the ER.

BPPV attacks are absolutely awful. Luckily they don’t last long (the attacks themselves anyway, I have had them come back more than once in a day though). Just have to lay and wait them out. That being said the Meclizine they gave me last time really does make a world of difference. And I know it affects everyone a little different but it didn’t even make me sleepy. I know some people report it knocks them out - but it didn’t for me.

[bin tenn]

Yes, I've also experienced vertigo of this severity a few times. For the most part I experience very mild BPPV, but once in a long while I get very intense episodes. I know it can be a scary and uncomfortable feeling, especially when you have to grab the wall in order to stay standing.

I recently (some weeks ago) experienced it intensely for the first time since 2014. I did a telehealth visit with my doc. They were rather certain it's what they called "binaural vertigo, bilateral" - basically BPPV.

They prescribed a medication to take as needed, called Meclizine (generic Antivert), which is prescribed for motion sickness and vertigo. I haven't had to take it yet, because the intense episodes lasted less than 24 hours after I talked to the doc. But it's nice to have in case it happens like that again.

[Allochka]

Hi,
I have diagnosed BPPV (confirmed by neuro after doing positioning tests and clean MRI). It feels exactly like this - vertigo when sitting up in bed trying to get up (also when lying down or rolling in bed). When I sit up everything starts spinning, I have to close eyes and breathe through it.
First time it happened I had to crawl (could stand up) to bathroom to throw up. And yes, with BPPV you also can feel not OK even between attacks.
You can visit a neuro and ask for Eppley maneuver - it could help to reposition those debris in your ears which cause vertigo when you move. Btw, it never helped me. Attacks justgo away in a month or so and reappear after a year approx. Getting used to it :-)

[Allochka]

I mean I couldn’t stand up and had to crawl during the very first attack :-)