Again, it's been a very long time since my last post. I have battled dizzy spells for years now. Some are so bad that I am incapacitated for up to 24 hrs. Others have me down for as few as three hours. My daily symptoms are tinnitus and pressure that fluctuates in severity. My dizzy spells are spontaneous so I never know when one is going to present. I get a couple meniere's dizzy spells a month. These start with spinning then intense sweating followed by vomiting and diarrhea. I know I am "recovering" when I then get chilled, so chilled that I am shaking. I usually get in bed at that time, cover up and fall asleep. I take Meclizine HCI when I have an attack. My favorite brand, now that it's over-the-counter, is "Wal-Dram II Less Drowsy Formula" (Walgreens). I also take Triamterene/HCTZ (diuretic) and valium each night. The valium was added to help reduce pressure. About 4 months ago, in addition to my meniere's attacks, I started having dizziness that was different from my meniere's spinning attacks. These were mild "off balance" attacks. This dizziness wasn't spinning. If I sat still and didn't move my head, just focused fixed on an object, I could pull through it within 3 to 30 minutes. Problem was, rarely was I doing nothing and sometimes I couldn't just sit and focus.
This mild "off balance" problem continued and worsened until it became daily. When I walked, I felt others must think I was drunk. I couldn't put one foot in front of the other, when I was having these attacks, without staggering. Falls were often, if I was not holding on to something. My list of "things I cannot do" was growing longer than my list of things I could do. Tears were often.
I went back to my neuro-otolaryngologist. I was constantly "fearing" my next dizzy spell so Valium was increased from night only to night plus with dizzy spells. I didn't notice any improvement. My MD recommended an Intratympanic Steroid injection in my ear. The ear drum would be numbed (45 minutes) with a liquid drop then the shot is given through the ear drum into and through the middle ear into the inner ear. The excess numbing agent was vacuumed out then 8cc's of steroid was injected. I was laying on my back with my head tilted to the side. The shot did NOT hurt!!! The excess fluid was vacuumed out of my ear. I layed like this for an additional 45 minutes after the injection, for the steroid to absorb and not drain out. During this time, if I needed to swallow, I instead collected my saliva in a tissue, lots of tissues.
I almost immediately felt a little bit of pressure relief but that was substituted with a "fullness" feeling due to the liquid being put in my middle and inner ear. When I got up I felt okay. I was able to walk, experienced no dizziness but did have some blood dripping from my ear. The nurse put cotton in my ear. That was normal.
Following the shot, I had no restrictions other than no swimming or water in the ear for 4 to 5 days. Here is where my excitement begins and the reason I wanted to blog about this. The first day plus the following two days, I had a few very, very mild dizzy spells but without spinning. I was able to keep on doing whatever I was doing! I had some popping in the ear (which is normal). The ear also hurt when I sneezed or blew my nose. When I say hurt, it was just uncomfortable, due to the shot (I want to mention everything to give others a complete story in case you are facing these issues).
Day 3, after the shot, I had NO dizziness and no pressure. Days 4 and 5 (today) have also been excellent...no dizziness and no pressure. I still have tinnitus and it fluctuates during the day from about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 to about a 5. It is always higher in the morning when I wake up.
I fly often and flying bothers my ear. I sometimes would experience spinning dizziness when the airplane would roll in a turn. I also get a headache flying over 2 hours. I mention this because I flew 3 1/2 hours two days ago and 3 hours yesterday. I felt like I was going to get a headache but never did and after landing, the sensation cleared, without medication.
Apparently, my largest issue is the inflammation in my inner and middle ear. The steroid seems to be reducing that inflammation and allowing me to have normal days again. I feel blessed. The steroid will not last forever and will not FIX whatever problem I have in my inner and middle ear. I will enjoy relief while the steroid is working and it's unknown how long it will take for the fluid to build up again. I am hoping for months of "normal". I can get another steroid shot when my symptoms worsen, IF they do.
Other options: I considered the Meniett Device (a low-pressure pulse generator) and discussed it with my MD. He wanted me to try the steroid shot first, thinking I would get better relief. I went with his recommendation. My MD also discussed the Intratympanic Gentamicin injection, IF the steroid injection did not help me. That, of course, has permanent "deadening" affects which are scary but will definitely be considered as an option before invasive surgery. For now, I'm not even thinking about options since the steroid injection has worked (so far) for me.
I also continue to follow my low sodium diet (800 to 1300 mg per day) and I have eliminated caffeine and alcohol.
If you are reading this, my heart is with you and I wish you the best of luck in finding your "normal" again.
I've attached two links about the steroid injection. One is a you tube link showing the injection. Mine was different in that I was on my back with my head tilted (more than the girl's in the video, the whole time).
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