What is Vertigo?

I don’t know if it was a vertigo or not, but I was in science class listening to the teacher like a normal student would, and all of a sudden, I felt as if the table came over me and of course as an instinct, I tried to grab it and hold on to it and it stopped, and everything just went back to normal. The teacher kept talking, the students kept listening and I felt confused and strange because I didn’t know what had just happened. That was the first time I felt that strange heavy, wave of dizziness. It happened two or three times that year. I feel it might happen again because my back and neck hurt and I've been having some headaches. If I close my eyes and open them again, I feel the world spinning. I don’t know if it's stress or I'm starting to have vertigo problems.

I had an attack of vertigo six days ago. I was just sitting on a chair, then suddenly it came upon me, my head was spinning very fast, I stood up, then I fell to the floor and couldn't get back up. Then I started to vomiting very violently, and it lasted for about 15-20 minutes.

Anyway, my partner call out the doctor, he done some test on me and diagnose me with vertigo prescribed me cinnarizine. However, there haven't been any more vertigo attacks. But had this imbalance problem like am walking on a train or a boat it feels quite weird. But anyway I will be seeing the doctor again soon, and hopefully we can get to the bottom of it Good luck everyone!

@anon355953: I doubt you'll read this, but being denied assistance the first time you apply is nothing new. I suggest you re-apply with the help of an attorney. Most people are denied for SSI or SSDI the first go around until they get a lawyer. They do not charge you initially and if they feel you have a good chance they will take your case.

I'm only making this suggestion because I happen to know someone who suffers from an inner ear disorder and I know how much he has to suffer. Wish you the best.

Interesting comments. Here's mine.

My dizziness began in March 1978 at age 20 and there has not been a single day since that I've not been dizzy. I blame it on a high fever when I was 16-17 due to the flu (could be wrong who knows). The walls were 'bouncing up and down' for months afterwards. I was light headed, off balance and it felt like being in a dream world.

It did get a little better over time with antivert and valium, but I had to stop driving and pretty much everything else in 2000. I gained 90 pounds (did weigh 180) from having to sit and not move for over five years. From 2000 until now, I've done nothing but live at home with my parents,helping them and vice versa. I've tried for food stamps, SSI and medicaid and got nothing!

For 15-20 years, I had migraines that I found were caused by high chocolate intake. In my mid 50's, the migraines left and were "replaced" with the on-set of a split-vision problem. Because of this I suspect my diet is the root cause of my present problems which appear to occur on three different levels:

Type 1: A mild reaction, manifesting itself in a small cluster of small black dots.

Type 2: A more severe reactive causing a bright cluster of small crescents generally starting on the right side of my range of vision and shifting slowly to the left side before disappearing entirely. I have experienced Type 1 growing into a Type 2.

Type 3: The most severe. I get crescents clusters accompanied by a vertigo feeling, generally on the vertical plane, when there is no movement. Their duration is two to three minutes to 10 or 15 minutes.

Honey is my number one suspected trigger food. In an effort to to shift my diet from foods that produce acid residues six months ago, I consciously increased foods that produce alkaline residues. My green tea, lemon and honey intake increased, with honey going to three or four tablespoons a day. After three or four months, the vision/vertigo issue arose. The most severe episode occurred while I was driving alone on a 3 lane highway in 75 mph traffic. It lasted an eternity.

Visits to two eye doctors were of no value to me. They opted not to accept my allergic theory and nothing positive happened.

My conscious effort to reduce my honey intake has resulted in only two or three Type 2 attacks in the last four weeks. Chocolate and peanuts may be lesser triggers on my list to be checked out later.

To all those suffering from this: I really feel for you, since I have been suffering with this since 2004. I have read the comments and am almost sure now this is what I have, and a doctor told me that's probably it as well.

I am going to have more tests to be sure it's not that a vein in my head broke, which is what I thought it was, or my heart, since I have had the racing heart part that comes and goes as well, which made me think it was heart related. But every time I get a cardio scan, they say the heart is fine. I remember going to the hospital once because it was racing about 140 or 150 something beats a minute. This is very scary stuff in itself when you're not even doing any exercise.

I think the horror of it all is the worst, since it's like your very soul is being pushed or pulled in odd ways, and all you're trying to do is stay straight up, and not go with the flow. Some may think being Superman and flying is fun, well, maybe so if you're in control, but if you're just tumbling about in all odd positions, it's not fun at all, and it feels like this as well. Sometimes the dizziness is so horrible, but the worst is not so much the dizziness, but the odd ways it makes me feel. It feels like I'm falling or my soul or consciousness is being pulled. I really hate the heaviness of the limbs, too. Other times, it's like I'm a machine and I'm so well oiled that everything is just too loose and wants to swing in any old direction so easily, but from the inside out, so to speak.

It's all but unbearable, and yes I'm glad to be alive, but it's still a living hell in itself. A person was not meant to feel like they were jello, or that their soul was being pulled in odd positions. As I said, I have seen the doctors a few times with it and the always seem to say they don't know or I'm O.K. I did not know this could be vertigo until recently when one doctor told me. But the symptoms add up to everything said here in the comments. It's either that or they missed some vein clogged a bit somewhere or a busted vein in my head.

When I know for sure, I'll at least feel a bit better mentally. The feeling I get like I'm dying which comes from this vertigo happens all too often and that is all but unbearable as well. The horrors this kind of thing causes in the mind is unbelievable, to say the least..

I'm not sure where to go from here. About two months ago, I was taking prednisone for red spots all over my body which my dermatologist said was either eczema or a reaction to something. I also had a UTI at the same time.

A couple of days before I was finished my prednisone, I started getting dizzy and had nausea and a high pulse rate (125), so I was told to stop taking the prednisone. Ever since then, the dizziness never went away. At first I thought the dizziness was due to the high pulse rate. I did have one week where I had vertigo.

I have been to the cardiologist, neurologist and all the tests and MRI for my brain were fine. I also went to the American Institute of Balance and the audiologist said he thought it was Migraine anxiety disorder -- MARD.

The dizziness has created anxiety and panic attacks so I take Xanax. I have also recently started to get more headaches than I used to. The neurologist did prescribe Meclizine but that does not seem to help. The Xanax seems to help more.

Could I be going through Perimenopause to cause this or I also was thinking that I should see an orthopedic doctor because I do have some disc issues and signs of atrophy from an MRI I had last year. Or should I go to an ENT doctor?

I also have a tooth that needs to be removed due to periodontal disease. Could a gum infection cause me to be dizzy all the time? I am dizzy all day, every day and I am really desperate to seek all these options. What suggestion do you have as far as what approach I should take at this point?

I have been having vertigo for over four months now and it has seriously affected my studies. I feel as if my head would fall off my body any minute. I have no clue how I will manage studying when all the time I feel I am floating. It makes me wonder if it will ever go away. My MRI was normal. The docs just keep telling me it will go away on its own. I don't think meditation works. Next I am thinking about reiki or homeopathic remedies.

Is it normal that vertigo attacks me almost every day? I was diagnosed with subjective vertigo in December 2011. I had an inner ear (left) infection which caused my vertigo.

I never fall, and I never vomit, but when I am having a vertigo attack, I feel like I am being pushed down. My feet feel tight, but I've learned to live with it. I've learned to conquer it. Sometimes when it is attacking me, I feel like I will pass out, but I will tell myself that if I didn't pass out before, I will not pass out now. It lessens my anxiousness.

I can feel my vertigo when I am walking, especially when the road is not flat. I feel like I am floating.

Sometimes even when I am sleeping, my vertigo will attack and I will just wake up feeling like I am about to die, my legs are heavy and sometimes my right leg feels numb, and I start thinking I will be paralyzed, but this is just anxiety because of the feeling of vertigo. I think the best remedy for this is to fight it. I do not take medicines for vertigo anymore, because even if I took it, I would still have attacks. So I just learn to fight my vertigo. I don't let it affect my daily life.

Even though I am having an attack, I still try to walk. I can even stand on one foot without falling. I realized that bright lights can also trigger my vertigo so I wear shades when I'm going out as much as possible. Just a tip. I don't exercise, but I will. I think it could help too. I will avoid coffee and salty foods. I've read that it can also trigger the vertigo attack.

I hope this helps. I've been suffering from vertigo for more than a year now almost every day, but I just have to deal with it. I don't rely on anti-vertigo meds.

Wow, so it's not just me. I was getting vertigo like clockwork one time a year and god, was it terrible. I went to the emergency room the first time and that's when I got diagnosed. I carry Dramamine with me everywhere.

When it's about to come, I can feel it, and if I get enough Dramamine in me, it's not nearly as bad, but if not, I'm messed up. I get violent vomiting and worse diarrhea.

I've been suffering since 2006. I have hearing loss, tinnitus, often get double vision and migraines and I walk along walls. Looking in any direction sets it off. Motion sickness pills help with the nausea. Yes, my CT scan normal.

I went to bed with a headache last Thursday evening. Prior to that, I have suffered depression and hearing issues (sink or fan too loud). I woke up Friday morning and could not take my head off the pillow from the extreme dizziness and when I tried to get up, I had no balance.

I had my son get the phone and I called my mother-in-law to help get my son to school. The dizziness got worse that day, so bad that I would throw up after stumbling to the bathroom and back. I would also blackout. I am home now, unable to drive and the dizzy spells are being controlled by over the counter medications. I did go to the E.R. with help from my husband and the CT scan showed everything normal.

In late February, I woke up feeling dizzy. It went away but returned several hours later and decided to stay. I am currently an RN in Texas. I have been unable to get the doctor to release me to drive or go back to work. My CT scan was negative and my hearing test came out normal.

This week I get to have the ENG/VAT test done. I hope and pray we will have answers after that. My supervisor has me on medical leave without pay and our savings account is exhausted. My husband has been such a blessing. I never thought as an RN I would have to search for a job. I am only 42 and have been going crazy not being able to work. Funny they will not release me to work and will not fill out disability paperwork for me to get assistance.

I finally just told my doctor I need something for the depression and anxiety. I simply cannot handle the bills growing and no relief in sight. If my husband did not work we would not have food on the table.

Luckily several friends have killed wild game and given us some, which is a blessing. I know I am blessed beyond belief. I just want to work. Caring for others is my life. I was called to nursing and feel I will return in some aspect of it someday. May God bless each of you and heal us all.

It is interesting to see so many comments about vertigo, but no effective solution offered. Being a medic and an ex-vertigo sufferer, we have successfully treated over 1200 patients. we have cured problems in hundreds of patients who were suffering for many years.

The most common cause of vertigo lies in the inner ear(crystals in the semicircular canals). These crystals causes illusion of movements when the move, with certain positions and these crystals need to move out of this area to stop vertigo. Simple exercises can move these particles and essentially cure in over 95 percent of the patients usually with in days, without any medication.

I only looked at what vertigo is because U2 wrote a song called Vertigo. Best of luck people who need the info!

I fell off a bike and for more than five minutes, I had blurred vision. After that I was normal. I have scratches on my hand and legs. Is it normal to have such a feeling after falling?

I am a ninth grade student, and I feel as if I have vertigo. My vision is always going dark when I stand up from sitting, even if I am sitting for a few seconds. My head feels light, and sometimes I fall over. Usually my vision just goes black and I hold my head until it stops.

I don't know what to do, because now I also have shortness of breath. Walking up stairs in my school is the worst. I try to take deep breaths but it doesn't help, or even if I walk slowly. Once I went to my class during school, and a kid asked me a question and it seemed as if I was hyperventilating when I answered. It was so embarrassing, and I just could not speak that well because I was so out of breath. Another time during school, I had to get my violin from a class that I was keeping it in, and I could hardly breathe and my head was pounding furiously when I got back to orchestra with my violin in hand.

I run cross country and track, and my doctor just said I don't drink enough water, and that's why this is happening. I got a note from my doctor to carry a water bottle around school with me, and I drink a full bottle of water during lunch. Does that help? No. I realized that when I talk and walk I don't get it either, which I don't understand. Someone please help!

I don't know if I have vertigo or not, but recently, every so often, I feel sick, dizzy and lightheaded like I am swaying? It's not that I am not well. I feel fine then the next minute, I feel like I'm swaying when I am sitting still, or my legs are going to give out from under me, and I have a terrible thumping migraine. It's like I can feel my brain move! How do you live with it? It's stressing me out!

I have been diagnosed with severe migraines which give me vertigo. I was told to lay off caffeine. Aside from caffeine, I have noticed that MSG, potassium sorbate - basically any artificial food enhancer/preservative that ends in an -ate or -ite - will cause the onset of a migraine and vertigo for me.

It is very very difficult to watch what you eat and stay away from these additives. They are everywhere and alternatives are pricier. For those of you looking for help, please try to eliminate anything in your diet that does not require refrigeration and/or goes bad relatively quickly. Even if this is not a cure, you would still be eating healthier.

Best of luck.

I was dealing with motion sickness for about three months. I just about stayed in a chair all the time. I know that this was time when Jesus wanted to talk to me and he has. My life has changed for the better. I am doing much better and know that he is going to completely heal me.

I will be praying for all of you that you will also get a miracle. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, and above all that we could ever imagine. Find someone who has the some problem as yours and start praying for them. You will get your healing as you pray for others.

I have found in my life that many times God is the only one that can help. He has been so wonderful to me and has answered many prayers. Will be praying and claim your miracle every day that things are going to be better.

I just wanted to suggest considering environmental factors as a possible cause for some of the cases.

For me, I'm pretty certain (but don't have proof) that the central a/c and heating system is inducing strong vibrations in the floor of my apartment. The apartment below me is also contributing vibrations from its ac/heating system.

This is Texas and we've been having straight weeks of 100-plus degree temps.

It never occurred to me that the apartment floors wouldn't be built rigid enough to handle such vibrations. Too naive, on my part. Anyway, so I think it's the cause of the motion sickness and the crazy-fast spinning episodes.

And the reason I suspect my apartment is largely because when I'm not in it (i.e., even just walking to the ground floor), I don't have the pressure build-up feeling at my temples. Also, I did go back to my parents' house for a week, and I felt a lot better and had no episodes. Then I came back to my apartment and all the motion sickness returned.

What's weird is that after rearranging some of my furniture and bringing some 24-packs of water bottles to put in various places, the vibration seems somewhat tolerable. But I still intend to move the hell out as soon as possible.

Well, I hope that's a little helpful. At least to figure out the cause.

People! They didn't list one the main reasons for this problem! If you have heart problems, that can cause dizziness too! For instance, if your blood pressure gets too low. if you take beta blockers, it can induce dizziness. Nicotine can be a cause for it too!

I’m 23 years old and have been dealing with vertigo for over 15 years. It comes and goes, but the last two years have been by far the worst for me. I get it every day, morning and night and even while I sleep. I noticed it became worse after I graduated college and finished up athletics as a division one athlete in track and cross country (I have no idea how I made it this far with all the spinning). It's miserable. I used to feel it strongly during our cross country season and would tell my coaches that I could hardly walk, much less try and run. They made me push through the suffering of spinning while I was running around a track. I would sometimes fall off to the side of the track or not know where the heck I was. I ended up pulling myself out of most races that were just not going to happen. My teammates looked at me as a person who was a quitter and making excuses to get out of races, when in fact, my heart bled for the sport and I would give anything to run in their shoes, free of dizziness.

It gets so bad that I feel like my brain is hitting one side of my head while everything in the outer world spins millions of miles per hour. All the colors I see become mixed and I shut my eyes in hopes that the spinning will be reduced, but nothing happens. I have taken meclizine and dramamine and found that a combination of two meclizine and two dramamine tablets taken simultaneously gives some relief.

I have had MRI scans with and without contrast, CT scans, blood tests, Epley Maneuver, the test where they stick water in your ears and it induces vertigo, hearing tests and tried topamax for migraine induced vertigo. All the tests found nothing and topamax only made my symptoms more severe.

In addition to vertigo, I alo get night sweats, fatigue, hair loss, mood swings and shortness of breath after walking small distances (worse in the morning like getting up to pee). Before I start my period, my symptoms are very severe. I can't do anything but lie in bed and hold my vomit in.

This is miserable and I have done extensive research on vertigo in hopes of finding a solution for me and for everyone that suffers from something that I call a "silent disease.” It is ignored by everyone even health professionals because we are able to live and try to function as best as we can. I feel like I am dying slowly and at times am ready to throw in the towel. But I feel God gave this to me for a reason. I have to find a solution or die trying.

To all of you who suffer vertigo, vitamin B supplements offer some relief for some time as does the herb gingko. However, I have had short term success with these supplements. I am a very healthy individual in terms of diet and exercise (I was a prenational cross country competitor and a 4:35, 1500 meter runner). As you can tell, I take care of my body and have not met or heard of anyone with my particular case (elite athlete, female, 23 years old, subjective and objective vertigo combined, plus my other symptoms which resemble those of pre-menopausal women). Please help! I will continue to do research (after all, I am currently sick in bed with vertigo and can't do anything else).

I at this moment am having an episode and was sent home from work. I began getting these horrible vertigo spells about 5 years ago, usually when waking up in the morning. my head was spinning out of control. the dizziness comes to a point where I'm vomiting violently and I just can't understand why doctors have yet to find out what's wrong with me. They give me meclazine and it doesn't really help but they did mention that this tends to happen to a large majority of professional people. God I wish this would go away. It comes and goes every three months or so.

Greetings, I pray that you are all having a wonderful day! I thank God for the post. I have been dealing with vertigo for two years now. It has been sad,and depressing. I will continue to pray for myself and everyone who is dealing with vertigo. Again, thank you for sharing.

I don't know if i have this vertigo or not, but the other night when i just laid down to go to sleep and as soon as i hit the pillow, i started to hear this really high pitched ringing noise in my ears and my vision went blurry and very black then it started to get bright and the light was off. I went to the doctor about it and they say it was tinnitus or something but i hear the high pitched noises every day. Sometimes i wonder about doctors.

i don't know if i have vertigo or not, but i think i have the symptoms. I've been feeling dizzy for several years now; the room doesn't spin, but my head feels like its compressing, and i hear this ringing in my years. sometimes its a severe pain, other times its just a high pitched sound. afterward i feel nauseated. I've blacked out several times, but I've never completely passed out. somebody or something has always been there to catch me, or rather just be there for me to fall into.

I'm 26 and i just had my third episode of vertigo. I get it, on average, once a year.

My first two episodes it took me like a week to recover from both, but i didn't recover fully; i still felt a little dizzy.

But this episode which i had in January and it's now March, i am still not recovered from. i went to the ENT but he seemed just to guess on the type of vertigo i have. He said that my vertigo was an "equivalent to a migraine," whatever that is.

I had the VNG test and am just waiting on the results of my MRI but reading all these comments makes me not care about my results because the bottom line, i guess, is that vertigo patients just have to deal with it.

This last episode has taken a lot for me to recover from. I've been in bed so much, I've cried, and even told my boyfriend to leave me because i didn't want to feel like a handful, but I'm the most lucky girl to have him.

But for all of you who have a vertigo problem, don't lose faith. And like I've been doing, i have been praying for all of us who are going through this. Don't forget that God is good and if we get close to him and have faith, I think we will be OK.

I have a strong headache and feeling dizzy and don't know what is wrong i don't have pain with my ear but it always itching is that vertigo it happens when I'm work most of the time,the first time i start to feeling dizzy i was at home sitting and doing nothing, just watching tv. please help.

My vertigo is not ear-related. It's neurological. I have had it for three years straight. It's like I am always being bounced around and it transfers to my car. Walking is almost impossible sometimes.

I live alone and have to deal with every day living while being unable to even walk like a normal person. I am getting depressed. I do have extremely loud tinnitus, also, even though otherwise there is nothing wrong with my ears. I do have a brain tumor, but it's not on the nerves for either tinnitus or vertigo.

I am ready to give up. I don't have the usual vertigo - I don't get light-headed and I can read in the car all day long, and I don't have a problem with heights. I even have it all night long - I feel like my bed is bouncing all night. Floors feel sort of spongy.

I have just found this forum!! after all these years its wonderful to know that I'm not a freak! I've had vertigo on and off for over 20, and over the last two years, I haven't been able to work. I'm waiting to have a mri scan. but can't lie down because the room starts spinning. Life is a nightmare.

I was diagnosed with vertigo after a severe motorcycle accident that included brain and liver injuries, also I had to be resuscitated once. now my employer, the City of Duluth, has sent me to their doctor, because they have a belief that I could sue them if I am injured on the job. I think that the Americans with Disabilities Act should protect me.

I started getting vertigo about two years ago. I started feeling dizzy all the time and it really frightened me. I started having anxiety and panic attacks because of it. My doctor kept telling me it's nothing. Your just anxious. I kept thinking to myself I'm not dizzy because I'm anxious. I'm anxious because I'm dizzy.

I saw a psychologist for about six months and he really helped me through some of the roughest parts of my vertigo. I found remaining calm when they come is crucial and deep breathing really helps. My episodes are at their worst just before my period and when i look down. It really affects my balance and makes me feel slightly nauseated. I also get the ringing in the ears sometimes and ear pain.

Wish it would go away all together but it certainly is manageable. Guess I just got used to it!

I have been diagnosed with Vertigo. I have a severe attack every three months. The Meclazine doesn't seem to help me any. I cannot function for two or three days after an attack. I cannot sleep on my right side or I get really dizzy and nauseated. I have to sleep in a recliner for two nights and not lower my head for any reason during that time.

The ENT specialist does the "Epi" procedure and it really helps. I pray every attack I have, that it will be my last!

If I lie down flat on the ground and I get up the room spins so badly. If i am on a pillow, the room does not spin. has anyone have this happen to them? please share your story with me.

I'm not sure,if this vertigo or not but every time i sleep,i feel as thought i am falling. and i always wake up jerking back up. and also i tire quickly and things move when i am not moving. Help?

I've been going through vertigo. Basically my whole life and I'm only fourteen. I hate it so much it's a terrible feeling. I've gone through my whole life with questions about what was going on. Until last fall (09) when I went to the emergency. i had the worst phase of dizziness, nausea, faintness I have ever experienced. I was so faint I just could not sit upright, lie down on my back or stand, and walking was out of the question period. I fainted when I talked, ate, or moved. I just lay wherever I dropped.

I was careful not to move my head which made it even worse. I was so scared I couldn't take it. Everything was in a jumble, I could barely see (i already have like the worst eyesight ever) so this made it even worse. I felt like if I put anything in my mouth even water I would vomit, which of course had to happen.

It started that night, and when I realized getting ready for school was impossible, that was it. It just got worse and worse. So I went to the emergency room and they put me on IV fluid, since I couldn't drink water anyway. They asked me what kind of dizziness I was feeling and did I have nausea, headaches, ear pain? Or whatever. What surprised them was that I get vertigo even in my sleep. So I feel like I'm not safe from it anywhere at anytime. So the gave me a CAT scan and ran some other tests. They found nothing wrong, and the doctor didn't see why I had what she called vertigo, so she sent me to an ear and nose specialist and was trying to decide whether to send me to a neurologist.

They found nothing also with my hearing. In fact, i found out I have one of the best hearing possible. However, I did get pains in my ear and ringing. The doctor gave me meclizine and told me the vertigo would last for a few weeks or maybe a couple months. I thought how odd since this has been going on like all my life. Just like I thought there was no couple months, the vertigo comes and goes as it pleases disturbing my life throughout the year sometimes at two-week periods sometimes a month or two. The meclizine pills I have help sometimes. Sometimes they don't.

If I feel really dizzy, it doesn't help at all, so I've probably taken more than I should in hopes that it would have a stronger effect and help, more, but I can't really recall if that helped or not. But now I'm just tired of this it is interfering with my life. When I get vertigo I feel like I'm going to vomit, especially when I eat (and then I do). I learned from this (this is probably terrible) but whenever the vertigo is in this phase, I just don't eat period. Or I eat very very little. I'm pretty sure I developed stomach ulcers from doing this. Ulcers are painful – especially when I'm trying to sleep – but not as bad as vertigo in my sleep (at least in my case).

Even at school it makes me not be able to think straight. I can't focus because I'm super dizzy. Well, I get confused which is very very frustrating. One time last school year in 8th grade I took my EOC's for a high school course, and I knew it probably wouldn't go too well because the vertigo came back a couple days earlier. I thought about staying home and missing it. But it was too important and anything is better than a zero and makeup exam in a strange environment. So I went and took the test and hid my tears of frustration. And got a grade of 85. I was so upset. I know I could have done better if not for the vertigo.

This semester in high school I'm taking a "plus" class of the class I took last year and I'm choosing to retake my eoc's and hopefully I won't get vertigo this time. But my original grade is going on record thing for when I apply for college. And it is terrible to get A's and B's soon to be all A's and an 85 (a C) is not going to help me. I'm scared that because of vertigo I won't get into a good school.

Another thing it does is screw up my soccer (football) season. The doctor at the emergency room told me not to do things that made me dizzier, or faint. She told me no athletics, and she said I shouldn't play soccer so I had to miss the whole rest of the season, very upsetting. I stopped listening when the vertigo didn't stop in time for spring season. It also made me have to stop singing in my church choir since the noise made my ears ring, making me even dizzier and holding my breath and singing out made me light headed and nearly black out or black out.

The same thing happened with playing the clarinet in my school band. I had to stop everything. Well, that's pretty much how vertigo has been affecting my life and what it feels like. Some people don't understand how much it stinks. I hate when people think people over exaggerate it and that it's not serious when it clearly is. My gym teacher ignored my doctors note and made me do athletics or get zeroes. I didn't mind trying to participate but I didn't want to run or do anything that would make my dizzy and faint. But he didn't care and I pretty much fainted during his class and he sort of stopped making me do the kind of agility stuff.

Anyway, I do wonder if it's normal to have had vertigo all your life and get it all year long on and off along with it's side effects. I also wonder if it's crazy to get it during your sleep and in your dreams in your sleep and feel it in real life. I guess yeah it stinks. A lot. And I wish it would just go away. I'm just happy I don't have it continually everyday. And there are things/illnesses a lot worse than it. I'm grateful for that but can someone come up with a permanent cure, please! I hate vertigo.

I'm 13 and whenever I sit down for an extended about of time I usually end up falling over from dizziness and blurred vision. My stomach then becomes uneasy for 1-2 hours and then it'll go away until I lie down or sit down again.

I've been told this may be because I have low blood pressure but this, I found, was untrue. I now test my blood pressure regularly and it's always high. The only reasonable explanation I've come to is vertigo. I also experience a loud ringing in my ears for several minutes at a time.

Anyone who ever feels vertigo on a daily basis should have an MRI of their brain to rule out any tumors of the inner ear as I had one and it caused vertigo. Chances are slim but they exist.

I too suffer from vertigo and the symptoms bigmetal suffers from are exactly like mine. I also get uneasy feelings in elevators and being on escalators, whether it be feeling nauseated dizzy or my legs feel like they want to give way and collapse.

I hate going through any of these episodes as I work as a cleaner and have to be near floor to ceiling glass windows to carry out my work but it gets hard when the vertigo decides to want to have a bad day, whether you like it or not!

I felt vertigo some time back. I was doing my workouts as I do every morning, when suddenly i realized that i was getting exhausted. I tried to rest but the exhaustion increased instead of decreasing. Had some water but it did not help.

Finally I realized my vision was blurred. I could not even sit, but had to actually lie down on the ground, and after 10-15 minutes it was gone, but I still fear it as it can come at any time and I really feel helpless then.

I get this when I take creatine. I get it really bad.

I can't imagine how you guys feel having it almost all the time. You guys who can't find the right medication should try and talk to your doctor or physician about medical marijuana. This really would work.

I'm not saying to become a stoner or something, but i really think pills nowadays are the worst medication. I don't know, but it's something to think about. That's just my opinion.

I'm tired of vertigo. I want to move somewhere so it will go away for good! Lord help! i hate it happening several times a day. It's gotten worse this year (summer 2010). Why? I wake up with it, go to bed with it and go to work with it, pathetic driving with it. I am taking motion sickness pills. -- Kat

I'm and 20 I experienced something like this but I'm not sure if is vertigo or something else. Just tonight i was in the middle of talk with a friend and it felt like the world tilted to the right and it was like my brain was being pulled around. this happens often, along with everyday headaches and nausea. It's scary and this time my vision is off, i remain slightly dizzy and confused.

It also feels like pressure in the back of my head. I'm 20 and this doesn't feel right to me. Please help.

Thank you. - tan tan

I'm only 14 and I get this really bad. It usually starts at night when I'm trying to sleep, but sometimes it will start when I'm just sitting down around my house. It starts by making me feel like I'm shaking back at forth, then it goes up and down. After that I'm just doing somersaults, (well it feels like it) and I can't seem to make it go away. Also I start getting mild/bad headaches and I feel like I'm going to vomit but I never do.

I have been experiencing vertigo practically my entire life, really since i was two, but that's been 15 years. For 15 years no doctor has ever been able to tell me what is wrong.

I have had every test you could possibly think of. I've been tested for hearing, vision, had numerous ct scans, MRIs. i have had all sorts of tests and all doctors say is that i have severe migraines with vertigo and give me a new pill to try and send me on my way.

This vertigo is extremely painful. I cannot walk at all by myself, i have to have full protection all the time just to get to the bathroom. I wake up and i feel a spinning sensation that makes me vomit up to 15 times a day. It's absolutely excruciating.

I was just recently admitted to the hospital, only to do the exact same routine over and over again: lumbar puncture to test my cerebrospinal fluid and the pressure to make sure it isn't a pseudotumor, and once again I'm back to square one. I'm tired of this.

I had my first vertigo attack 12 years ago. Then it came back suddenly in 2008 and kept coming every three months. It disappeared for over a year until this past Sunday.

It's been three days now and I'm in bed as I type this. My right ear feels weird, head is heavy, nausea and vomiting, can't eat. Dramamine helps with nausea but I ran out. Had MRI of brain, saw a specialist (ENT) and still no answers as to the cause. A virus that attacks my ears I suspect. Hope it's over soon.

I wake up from a sleep and the room is already spinning a million miles an hour, i don't know what to do but vomit. I try not to fall back asleep but i do anyway and it happens to me again.

Another time and I'm off to the ER getting iv, valium, and other meds. This is not the first time. First doctor said it was morning sickness - right. Then they said it was vertigo, now they say i have migraines while i sleep. what is it really?

I get it every few months and it drives me crazy. sometimes i wake up with it and yesterday i was just sitting in the chair and it started. the room just starts spinning and i feel sick. It usually lasts about three days. i hate it. it ruined my holiday the last time because i had to stay put for three days.

I've had it on and off for five years, and I've learned that you can hold off an attack by eating foods with potassium in them like bananas or almonds. My problem was caused by an ear infection and i have to take a stemetil tablet occasionally but i haven't had an attack for at least six months as i've learned to manage them.

Meniere's disease is what I have. I would like to know if there is a Meclizine patch available.

How do you deal with vertigo? I still must clean my house and shop for food. It takes forever to walk anywhere and to help with my balance, I walk with a shopping cart. I must still dust and mop. I am searching for tools to help me when I clean house. Please tell me how you have adjusted.

I get vertigo every six months or so. I will only get it on my right side though. When I am swimming on my right side, I start to feel the room spin and get nauseated. When I am lying in bed on my right side, I get the same feeling.

It may just be related to a sinus/ear infection but I don't go to the doctor for every little issue. Anyone else have a similar problem where it's caused by only one side of their head?

I had this feeling of dizziness for more than a year. It comes and goes just few minutes and every time it attacks i felt like banging my head. I am unable to stand but now found remedy for this illness.

1. When you wake up in the morning before you eat or drink anything, do the exercise. Jog at least one minute, do the inhale-exhale for 16 counts, move your arms and shoulder left to right and vice versa and rotate your abdomen as much as you can. It helps.

Once I was sleeping I tried to wake up but then I couldn't! It was like I was possessed by some evil spirit or something, and then after a couple moments of shaking violently, and then once I looked down a balcony and I felt like I was falling.

I told my mother and she's like 'That's how your systems go, even I am scared when I look down, and since we live at the twenty-eighth floor that is perfectly logical, blah blah.' I think I have vertigo, I'm not so sure.

I usually get it every two months. I wake up and I suddenly turned very dizzy and things are moving and I can't balance myself. Then I feel like vomiting, but usually it would get better if I just sit down and rest.

I was awakened with major dizzy spell then I vomited like a dozen times. I went to the ER and given valium/ativa, IV fluids, and patch. I was doing OK for at least 8 hours then the symptoms re-started. It is a very stressful and unpleasant experience. The only relief is to sit still and not moving my head, now i'm so afraid to even lay down. i've been crying for hours now because I am missing work a lot and i'm not enjoying the regular usual stuff :(

I get vertigo every 5 or 6 months and though sometimes it's not severe but i feel dizzy and threatened. When i take benedryl or beta cerc i can't function because it makes me sleepy and lazy. I've had physical therapy and it cures the vertigo but it recurs! Should i stop the medicine and try to let it pass, or do i have to do the vestibular rehabilitation every time? Is it related to depression?

ive just been told i have vertigo. I've had it for 2 weeks now i can't focus. my eyes won't let me. i feel sick with it and the head aches and dizzinees are there all the time. i can't seem to get rid of it. i don't understand it. When i got up this morning i could not see the writing on the t.v. its getting worse and worse. could someone please explain it to me?

i am feeling dizzy and the house is spinning around me. My head feels heavy and when I walk i feel like I am stepping in a hole.

my big brother who is 16 was just "diagnosed" with vertigo and the only symptoms he has is vomiting. his balance is regular and so is his vision. i'm starting to disagree that it is vertigo that sickens him.

I've been suffering from symptoms like vertigo since last 5 days and it occurs only when I lie down or I try to stand up from laid down position. No matter how many times I lay down, similar situation occurs. The dizziness feeling is for few seconds (10-20 seconds max) during which I am unable to stand on my own. This is very annoying and I don't know what to do to avoid this.

I have too many episodes of vertigo and it is not a happy situation to be in...it can hit you at anytime...just this morning I woke up and felt fine...I laid back down for an hour and tried to get back up and almost collapsed...I wish there was a quick cure of this because it is a crazy condition to have...

Vertigo runs in my family, everyone has it...we just learn to live with it. Its very uncomfortable however, and hits suddenly. I mostly experience this when i am relaxed on the couch, on the computer or watching tv. All of a sudden i will feel like someone pushes me back slightly and i will hear a strange noise, then all of a sudden it feels like the vision is thrown forwards and the room starts spinning. Best thing to do is stay still, don't blink, and take deep systematic breaths. If you move too quick or startle yourself you could get sick and throw up...just a matter of dealing and living with it i guess...

i have very mild vertigo when i look down over a railing or balcony. just looking down can make me feel like i'm moving or even falling. even looking over the balcony on my landing from the second floor can give me that strange feeling! after i get over the initial feeling of vertigo, i can usually look down without feeling very fearful.