A Really Long Update

On November 30, 2018December 1, 2018 By WendyIn Bipolar, Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease14 Comments

I’ve been saying that I’m “working on a post” for a while now, but I haven’t. I’m not sure why. I haven’t been too busy. I think I’ve just been avoiding talking about things.

My bipolar episode has lasted much longer than I ever anticipated. I’ve been stable for over 20 years and suddenly I had this awful episode that left me feeling like I didn’t deserve the life I’ve built for myself. I knew if things didn’t change soon, I wouldn’t be able to carry on. After trying to get my medication working and failing, we decided to go back old school, I’m on Lithium again. This is the first drug I was put on when I was first diagnosed. It worked for a very long time, but it damaged my thyroid and we decided to try something else. Fortunately, at the time, I responded well to the alternative medication. Since the damage to my thyroid as already happened, there is really no reason for me not to take it, and fortunately, it works really fast. After being on it for about a week I could tell a huge difference. I’m still having that low hum that makes me feel like I’m going to explode at any moment. But I don’t explode, I might get angry, but I don’t have the rage I was experiencing. I just increased my dose, so I’m hopeful that anger hum will diminish soon.

That is the good news. I’m leaving out all the rage episodes, the night I was actively seeking for a treatment center to commit myself because I was very afraid I was going to harm myself or someone else, the anger I felt toward my psychiatrist because I can’t hear a word she says and I have to have my husband in there to help me. At this last appointment I was so distraught by everything I couldn’t really talk at all, he had to tell her everything. Before we left I asked where I should go if I were in crisis, she asked if I felt suicidal, I told her how I had been feeling, she simply told me which facility I should go to, but I didn’t feel like she took me seriously. Perhaps I’m being overly sensitive and she understands that hubby will be here to monitor me and see me through this trying time. It’s very hard to get to know a doctor when you are in the throws of a (disphoric mania) mixed stated bipolar episode. Yes, I did say, mixed state. I’ve only talked about the rage here, but I’ve been bouncing around from extreme anger, severe depression, and wanting to jump my husband’s bones….all in the same day. Sound a little crazy? Yep, I felt that way too. Thankfully, it’s calming down and I’m feeling more like myself.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for my health. The vertigo, migraines, and hypoglycemia have had me pretty sick, most of the time. Last Saturday we went out to breakfast with my father-in-law, shortly after getting our food the world started to spin. I lowered my head, took my meds, and told them to continue. I was sure it was going to be a quick attack and I’d be okay in just a little bit. I might not be able to eat, but I could take it with me. I was wrong. The spinning got worse and I was afraid I was going to vomit right therein the middle of the restaurant. I got Stuart to get me a throw up bag from my purse and I clutched it tight. I told him it was BAD, REALLY BAD, and I needed to go home. I motioned for him to get the food to go. Hey, I wanted my pancake! I really didn’t think about how hard it would be for me to walk out. I couldn’t focus and I felt like my body was moving in ways that my brain really wasn’t telling it to. The sensation of being moved from forces that no one else sees is very disturbing. I used to think I had gotten to the point that I was okay with all of this, but I really,really hate it. I knew my feet weren’t going straight, I kept trying to compensate, that seemed to make it worse. I clutched on to Stuart for dear life. It was absolutely mortifying. The only thing that would have made it worse,is if I had thrown up too. I will say,my brain seems to deal with the episodes better than it used to, I rarely throw up anymore. Of course, I did get a Phenergan in me at the very first sign of the attack, and as soon as we got outside Iused my vape pen that’s 4:1 CBD:THC just a little and it calmed my stomach right down. I also never feel the psychoactive effects with this ratio. Itis still illegal to use medicinals in public, under normal circumstances I’d never do it, but we were away from other people, and since people use those cigarette vape pens, no one knows what I’m doing. But as I said, normally, I’d never use that in public. I thought about using an infused candy or tincture, but they simply don’t start working fast enough to help stop vomiting. But I digress…. This was the first time my father-in-law has seen this, that was hard, but I’m relieved he does understand some of what I go through before he moves in with us. He also handled it with grace and was very helpful to Stuart. Not that I really noticed at the time.

I’ve had a lot of challenged with my balance this past month. Kinda regretting buy a car, but even if I can’t drive it, it’s nice to have a convertible in the family. I am very disappointed that I can’t drive though, having that feeling of independence was nice. I was still having vertigo occasionally, but it didn’t last long, it was mild in intensity, and I always had signals that twas about to happen, so I wasn’t afraid to drive. That all changed. I accept it, but it makes me sad.

I found a new ENT and I really like his so far. He admitted that I’ve had all the treatments that he could recommend, yep, I’ve had it all really. He did say he could give me steroids to try to help with this flare, but since I had Avascular Necrosis that they think was caused by steroid use, I don’t use them if at all possible. He understood. He suggested trying Benedryl everyday because it’s a vestibular suppressant. I never knew that. I tried it for over a week and didn’t get the results we’d hoped for. So I asked if I could take diazepam for a week or two to try to calm itdown and he said yes. Also, the Audiologist there called and said she isn’t as experienced working with my brand of cochlear implants so they are having the Advanced Bionics specialist come in to do the adjustment to my CI’s (mapping). I was so very impressed with that.

I’m also working on getting a new migraine specialist, I really don’t like the guy I’ve been seeing. So cross your fingers I like the new lady.

I’ve done something that I’m afraid I may have a very hard time pulling off. We had planned to be in our house by now and we planned to host Christmas there. Well….I decided we still needed to do it, but man is it going to be a lot of work. I’ve invited the whole family, and one friend. That’s 6 adults and 2 children..

But this is the first Christmas that Stuart’s step-mother will not be home. I feel it’s important for his father to be surrounded by all of his family for a Christmas celebration. We are having it on the 22^nd so Dad can spend Christmas day with his wife. We have been thinking about joining them, but it’s a busy time at the home, and her daughter and her significant other will be there. So, I think it will be good to go have dinner with her between Christmas and Thanksgiving.

I’ve been trying to make cookies, the kind you decorate all pretty with royal icing. I decided they were WAY too sweet with the icing, since it is just a sugar cookie, so I’ve been trying to make the icing less sweet. Problem is, as I have been working on a new recipe I have to keep tasting it. This stuff is super sweet…cloyingly sweet. So twice now, I’ve had a hypoglycemic crash. Feeling dizzy, light headed, sick to my stomach….ok so none of that is new….cold sweats, shakes, stomach cramps….I even threw up. Yep, blood sugar drop. Now I’m not even sure I ever want to decorate cookies. My back always hurts when I do it anyway.

Oh…other challenges this week. I had my physical on Monday. All my numbers were good! Even my triglycerides, they have only been normal one other time in my life. Shockers! However, I was having a slight pain in my kidney area and asked if she’d check my urine. I’m so glad I did! By the next day I was in severe pain, still am if I’m honest, and the nurse called and said that I have a UTI. HAHAHA I found that amusing because I really had no idea when I asked for the test. My back has been hurting so I thought it was just that, it was obvious the next day that is wasn’t. So now I’m taking antibiotics…eww. Can you imagine how much worse it would have gotten if I had needed to go back to the doctor for a test? Phew! that was lucky.

I also got a pneumonia vaccine, I had to have one when I got my cochlear implants, and I was supposed to get a booster in a few years, I’m about a year late, but I got it done. (it is supposed to reduce the chance of meningitis) 1% of the people who get this vaccine have a reaction to it. Yes, I am that special! The injection site swelled up and turned read. It measured about 3” in diameter, and it was so painful. If I moved my arm a very sharp pain would shoot through, not as if the muscle was sore, a very sharp pain. I couldn’t lie on that side for over 3 days. Finally it is feeling almost back to normal. Golly, that was an experience.

There I think I’ve caught you up on all things Wendy for now.

I hope you are having a joyful holiday season. Try not to overdo, as you can see I probably am…..big dummy. 😊

Mindfulness Monday – Dizzy

On January 29, 2018 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Mindfulness, Quotes4 Comments

“Looking up gives light,
although at first it makes you dizzy.”

~ Rumi

“I am trying so hard to live in the moment and
enjoy it while it’s happening,
because it feels like a moving freight train that I just got on,
and I’m trying not to look back and get dizzy!

~ Laura Bell Bundy

“To be alive is to be dizzy
and not to know exactly where to go.”

~ Ander Monson

*image by W. Holcombe, please do not use without permission.

It takes how long?

On November 8, 2017November 7, 2017 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Headaches, Meniere's Disease17 Comments

When you have a chronic illness chances are it’s an invisible illness, others have no idea what you have to do to get through the day. With my illnesses some days I look sick, some days I can’t get out of the chair and you can tell, I’m sick. Other days I can get it all together and don’t look sick at all. It’s those days that confuse people.

I’ve learned that it takes me longer to do things than it does the average human. There are many days that I can’t accomplish anything, but let’s not talk about those days. I want to talk to you about the days I am able to do a few things. The days I appear normal.

Yesterday I started to do the dishes. The dishwasher needed to be emptied, and there were dirties that needed to go in. For a normal person this would just take a few minutes. I started to unload the dishwasher, I got the top unloaded and put away, then I had to rest. I came back after a bit and started on the bottom, I put away the silverware, and needed a rest. After about 30 minutes I went back and finished up putting away the rest of the dishes, and started loading up the dishwasher. While loading it up I took 2 breaks. Therefore, at the end of this it took me over 3 hours to unload and load the dishwasher. At this point all I could do was make myself a cup of tea. This was the end of my ability to do chores for the day. No one would think that doing the dishes took 3 hours out of my day. I must say that I’m okay with this. I’m grateful I can do the dishes at all. I only wish I could do them every day.

Last week I had an hour to take a bath before a TV show came on that I wanted to see, I thought that would be plenty of time. Boy was I wrong. I need to have help getting in and out of the tub because of my balance, that takes a little bit of time, but not much. I started to take a bath as normal, a little rushed because I wanted to make sure and get out in time, but just a normal bath, then I got dizzy. Very dizzy. Try getting a soaking wet 135 lb woman out of the tub when she’s very dizzy, it’s just not that easy, but it’s something that happens a lot around here. (the reason I am dirty a lot of the time 😉 Getting me in the tub, taking a bath, and getting me out of the tub, took over 2 hours. Luckily I did have the DVR set for my show. I know that getting dizzy in the tub is a fairly regular occurrence so I should never put a time limit on it. But how many people do you know that can’t get a bath done in an hour?

20171028_182659 — I don’t look sick. Taken at a wedding, July 2017

Then there are days when I seem to be able to go non-stop. Recently I had a weekend like that. We went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago. On the day of the wedding, I had my hair done, then I rested a little bit, then we had the wedding at 3pm. The wedding didn’t actually get under way until about 4pm. Luckily, I was just sitting talking with people. After the wedding, we had the reception to attend. On the walk over, I had a mini vertigo attack, because of my vertigo we didn’t intend to stay long and we had planned to have dinner with my sister and her husband. Then I started seeing people I have known for over 40 years, and adrenaline took over, about 2 hours later, we were finally leaving (know that all I did was sit and talk with people). We went back to our hotel, changed and were off to dinner. We were finally back to our hotel around 9pm. I was going full out, all day long. Boy was I beyond tired. Not only was I exhausted from the simple physical exertion of it all, and the mini vertigo attack I had at the church, I was completely off kilter from trying so hard to hear all day. (I did find out that my lip reading skills have improved dramatically.) Of course, I couldn’t sleep due to painsomnia (insomnia due to pain). There was only 1 station on the TV that would show captions (yeah, what was up with that?) so I was stuck for hours, watching something dumb, I can’t even remember what it was. This trip was very enjoyable, I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but boy did it take a lot out of me. It took a week or more to recover fully. For a “normal” person they could have made the trip in one day. It’s about a 3 hour ride (I can’t drive). We could have gone down for the wedding and come back that night, if I were a “normal” person. Instead we went down Friday night, so I would be well rested for Saturday, and we stayed until Sunday so I could recover as much as possible before the ride home. I had a lot of support for this trip or I never would have been able to make it. My neurologist (headache specialist) sent me home with a series of shots to be given over the weekend to help with migraines and cluster headaches, both of which have increased dramatically recently. The specialist I’ve been seeing for my back called in extra meds for me for the weekend. If these two doctors had not increased my treatment for the weekend, I would never have been able to go and enjoy myself. I will be forever grateful. While there my sister took me to have my hair done, she made sure I could understood everything, even though I couldn’t hear in the salon. She then came back to our hotel and ironed hubby’s shirt. Without this help, I don’t know if I could have made it.

To summarize: We don’t always look at bad as we feel, we often need to rest more often than what is considered “normal”, sometimes we have to have a lot of support to do things that “normal” people do without thought….and that’s okay. We normally appreciate things much more than “normal” people. We care deeply. We can still live a full life, it’s just different than a “normal’s” life. and that’s more than okay.

Stop apologizing

On July 16, 2016 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Hearing Impaired, Meniere's Disease1 Comment

I don’t often reblog a post from so when I do you know the person said something I think is important. What Denise, from Hearing Elmo talks about is important. We have to stop apologizing for our “normal”. Please check out her site for many more important topics, Denise is an amazing advocate.

The other day my iPhone died before I was getting ready for bed. I was a little shocked, because I rarely have it just “die” on me. The new ones have batteries that last much longer – even if you are a frequent user of the device like I am. I stood there with dead […]

via My iPhone Lasts Longer Than I do — Hearing Elmo

Update 5.10.2016

On May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease, Migraines11 Comments

bird on handicap sign.jpg

It’s been a while since I’ve written a simple update about me. Other than the migraine scenario.

What’s going on right this second? My head hurts! Yes I’m still fighting migraines. I’m also having vertigo again, every day for the past week. Yesterday I had it all day long! It would go absolutely crazy, then it would slow to just barely moving, then it would go crazy again. This went on for 12 hours. I’m starting a regimen of steroids. I don’t like being on steroids because they think that may be what caused the Avascular Necrosis in my hip, but I’m desperate. My headache speicalist and my ear doctor both agree that steroids is the best thing to stop this cycle. So here we go again.

I finished my Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy. It was a great experience. I hope it did a lot of good. I say hope because I wasn’t having much vertigo when I was going through therapy. I was amazed at how well I progressed through the exercises. On the last day, I had a vertigo attack start right there in the exercise room. All I could do was hold on to Stuart and my therapist and squeak out, “I want to go home.” A wonderful way to close out an otherwise great experience. Since that last appointment I haven’t been able to do any of the exercises without falling. I’m sad and pissed.

I’ve decided not to do the gentimicin injections. There are so many risk. When I’m at my worst I will think I don’t care about the risk, I’m willing to try anything, but I just went through a month of very little vertigo. If I have the gentimicin injections I may never have good days. I might not be able to learn how to balance without my ears. And it does nothing to stop the vertigo caused by migraines. What if most of my vertigo is migraine related? I would still have vertigo and have to fight having no balance system in my ears.

My new ear doctor is thinking about trying steroid injections in my ears to see if it helps. (one ear at a time) But we will wait until I’m really bad again. (If things keep up like this past week, we’ll be talking about this fairly soon.) Steroid injections don’t carry the risk that gentimicin does. It wears off, so if it works it often has to be repeated every 3 months. Since they think my Menerie’s is autoimmune, this is a good diagnostic tool, and if it makes me feel better, great. Therefore, this is a good thing to try before deciding on gentimicin. My new doctor is not a fan of gentimicin, but did not say he wouldn’t rule it out as a very last resort.

I’m sad right now. Things aren’t going well. Too many times I feel I’m saying, “I’m having a bad day.” There have been days I’ve been so angry I felt like I didn’t know myself. For the first time in a long time, I feel handicapped. I hope all of this is part of my health not doing well, added stress and maybe menopause. Not my bipolar medication taking a nose dive. We’ll have to wait and see.

I have a couple of questions for those of you who have seen a naturopath or holistic doctor; Did seeing one help you? How did you chose which one to go to? I’ve been thinking about seeing one to try to get my over all health better, but I have no idea how to figure out who to pick.

As always thank you for supporting and caring about me.

What’s this thing called “Vertigo” anyway?

On April 22, 2016April 19, 2016 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease, vertigo8 Comments

vertigo caught in motion — me during a vertigo attack – photo by w. holcombe

There are different definitions for the word “vertigo” (noun – ver·ti·go \ˈvər-ti-ˌgō\)

Webster’s Dictionary defines vertigo as:
a feeling of dizziness caused especially by being in a very high place

1a : a sensation of motion in which the individual or the individual’s surroundings seem to whirl dizzily
1b : a dizzy confused state of mind

On American Family Physician’s site I found a great article, Dizziness: A Diagnostic Approach. It describes all kinds of Dizziness, the different causes and treatments.

In it they describe vertigo as : (A) False sense of motion, possibly spinning sensation.

I could go on and give you different definitions, many would be a bit different from others, but the main thing they have in common, one feels as if they are in motion.

Vertigo is not just dizziness, it is a type of dizziness, just as lightheadedness, and disequilibrium are but it is more than what most people consider dizziness.

Vertigo is the sense of motion. Most often it includes seeing a spinning sensation, it also include other feelings of motion including, a sense of falling, rising or being jerked in one direction. These are not encountered as often as rotational vertigo. (Understanding Vertigo and What to do if you have it. – The Washington Post – 2014)

I thought I’d take this opportunity to tell you, as best I can, how vertigo feels to me.

I have rotational vertigo (seeing my surrounding spin around), and motion vertigo (I often feel like I’m moving when I’m not. I will feel like I’m suddenly free-falling, or being jerked around.)

The best way I know to describe rotational vertigo is to give you an example most people understand. Remember when you were a kid and you used to spin around and around until you fell down seeing the world spin around you, (if you don’t remember this, or have a loved one with vertigo, I encourage you to do it now to have a sample of what we see). Now that you have that image, imagine seeing that but it doesn’t stop. When you just spin around the spinning sensation stops in a few seconds, for me it can last a few minutes to a few days. The average is about 4 hours. When I have this type of vertigo attack I often get very sick. Imagine motion sickness times 1000. I will throw up for hours, it can get so violent that I will lose control of every bodily function. It is horrific.

I used to have other motion vertigo every once in a while, now it comes much more often. I often feel like I’m in motion when I’m not. I’ll feel like I’m on a boat, I’ll even feel like I’m walking around while I’m sitting still. In the past year I’ve started having vertigo that makes me feel like I’m being thrown around the room (the first time this happened I thought I was dying, after an Ambulance ride and spending over 9 hours in the Emergency Room I was told this is a different form of vertigo. (freaky) I’ve also started having feelings as if I’m free-falling, I can only imagine it’s how one would feel if they stepped into an open elevator shaft. This is one of the most frightening things in I’ve encountered.

Rotational Vertigo is not always at the same speed. Sometimes I see my surroundings spinning by in just a blur, during these attacks I always get sick. This will include hours of vomiting and sometimes I will lose all control of my bodily functions. It’s horrific. Other times my surrounds will spin by at a much slower rate. After having rotational vertigo for so long many of my attacks are not as horrific. I don’t panic now. I will stay as calm as possible and just watch the world spin by, mostly I’m really bored. This is the time when my mindfulness practice really comes in handy.

I’ve learned if I focus on something about 12 – 18 inches from me I often don’t see things go by quite as fast. If the spinning isn’t too fast I will watch TV reading the captions. For some reason if I concentrate on the captions the vertigo slows down. This does not happen if I try to read anything else, that just makes me sicker.

I used to throw up no matter what. I may have mentioned this before, maybe not, but I’ve had 2 doctors tell me that if medicinal marijuana were legal they’s prescribe it for me. So I’ve tried it to see how it helps. I can honestly say that I believe it has stopped me from going to the ER many times for dehydration. It stops me from throwing up. That is amazing to me. I very rarely throw up now. It can also calm down an attack if I use it fast enough. (if you’d like to know more about how I use this to help, feel free to ask, I will say that I never feel high, I use very little, just enough to help me.)

Now, do you understand more about what Vertigo is and what my vertigo feels like?

If you suffer from vertigo, do you have similar experiences or is your experience different?

The Crud

On March 6, 2016March 6, 2016 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Cochlear Implant, Meniere's Disease27 Comments

sick cartoon

The chronically ill get sick, just like everyone else.

I have the crud. A sniffling, sneezing, aching, coughing, stuffy-head, fever, so I can’t rest cold, and unfortunately NyQuil doen’t help.

When you have Meniere’s disease you can get really sick when there is too much fluid in your head. I haven’t talked to anyone who has Meniere’s Disease who doesn’t have more symptoms when they have a stuffy head. No one knows what causes the symptoms of Meniere’s one main theory is that they result from increased pressure of an abnormally large amount of endolymph (fluid) in the inner ear. Doctor’s usually put us on a low sodium diet and often diuretics to reduce the fluid in our ears. When anyone has a cold they have a lot of fluid building up in their head; their nose gets all stuffy, and their ears can feel full: put that in a person with Meniere’s and you have one wonky person. Right now, I’m one of those people.

Nothing I can take can make all that fluid go away. Yes, I can take a few things to help “dry things up”. but I’m sure all of you have had a cold, and you know that no matter what you take you will feel a bit stuffy and all full in the head.

My symptoms are exacerbated.

My tinnitus is going crazy, as I’ve said to Stuart: “Really? You Can’t Hear That??” The noise will be so loud at times I could swear my body is vibrating with it. Other times, the pitch is so high I will suddenly buckle over from the pain.
The fullness in my ears feels like there is wet cotton in there and it just keeps absorbing more and more fluid, soon it will be dripping out my ears I’m sure. (this won’t happen unless I get a bad ear infection, it just feels like it.)
I feel much more dizzy and lightheaded than normal.
My hearing is just wrong. I have cochlear implants, I don’t hear like other people. “Cochlear implants (CI’s) bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. Signals generated by the implant are sent by way of the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes the signals as sound.” NIH Publication No. 11-4798 You wouldn’t think that I would have the same problems as other people with Meniere’s concerning hearing fluctuation and sound sensitivity, but I do. It is much worse when I have the cold, but it happens pretty much every evening, I’ll suddenly have my hearing so all funky; I can’t understand Stuart and often things sound so loud that I have to remove my CI’s. Thankfully, I can take them off and just hear nothing, except the tinnitus that doesn’t go way, but hearing nothing can cause other problems. When I take off my CI’s and stop hearing anything, I can get dizzier, and feel really confused. I don’t mean I’m confused because I can’t hear, I have severe brain fog. If I’m reading, I often can’t comprehend what I just read. I think this is because I notice the tinnitus so much more and it is bombarding my system. When I’m not sick, sometimes taking my CI’s off is often a pleasant sensation, to just relax in total quiet (as long as my tinnitus is being good and staying low). I do this every day when I meditate.
My oscillopcia is worse. (Oscillopsica is a visual disturbance in which objects in the visual field appear to oscillate. The severity of the effect may range from a mild blurring to rapid and periodic jumping.) It can be incapacitating, luckily mine just causes me to see things weird sometimes. I often see things as if there is this funky shadow surrounding them, like they are slightly vibrating but I can’t really see the vibration I can only see the after image after. It’s hard to explain. On a good day, I don’t have this, or barely have it. Today, I’ve had to stop writing this post many times because I am having a hard time focusing. (note, not everyone with Meniere’s has oscillopcia)
I think everyone has a headache when they have a cold, I don’t know if mine is worse than it used be before I got Meniere’s or not, that was a long time ago. I know it’s worse than my persistent daily headache. I’m at a 6 or 7 on the 0 – 10 scale all the time right now.

So far I haven’t had a full blown vertigo attack. I keep feeling like it’s coming, but it hasn’t. I’ve been having so many good days recently maybe this cold won’t set it off. I do constantly feel like I’m on a boat and a bit car sick, but the full rotational vertigo has not come around.

Having a cold and Meniere’s at the same time can be challenging.

If you have Meniere’s and you feel cruddy because you have the crud, you aren’t alone. Know that it gets better.

If you don’t have Meniere’s, now you know a bit about what people with Meniere’s go through when we have a cold. Some people have more symptoms than I listed, some people have less, but normally people with Meniere’s have their symptoms increase when they have a cold.

Today I have the crud….it just is.

My first Experience with Vestibular Therapy

On February 3, 2016 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease, Vestibular Illness2 Comments

balancing by wendy — “Balancing” gesture drawing by wendy holcombe

Your vestibular system is the ear part of how you balance. You balance with your ears, eyes, and your body/feet. My vestibular system doesn’t work so good, so vestibular therapy is going to teach me how to balance more with my eyes and feet.

When going into vestibular rehabilitation physical therapy last Thursday I had no idea what to expect, and to tell the truth I don’t have any idea what to expect at my next appointment, but I know it won’t be easy.

Ryan is my therapist (I may see another therapist at some point, there are 2 vestibular therapist there, but I would prefer to keep seeing Ryan, because I can hear him pretty well, and he is understanding about how to talk to me so it is easier for me to understand him), I’m impressed with him so far…very impressed. I’ve never had anyone be so aware of my condition and so understanding. No one.

He did a number of tests on me, said some things we need to work on…like the fact that my ankles don’t bend far enough. Ankle flexibility and strength seem to be very important. Of course that makes perfect sense when a huge part of your balance comes from your feet.

I told him my experience of having BPPV for 11 days this past summer but by the time I got in to see the doctor it stopped the day before, the doctor didn’t want mess with it then for fear of starting it again, so they didn’t actually do the test. I explained that since then I’ve had trouble turning over in bed, and at other times, but I’ve been tested twice since then and it was negative. He tested me…it was positive…it was slight, but it was there, he also listened to me about when the symptoms started, he didn’t just look at my eyes and when it didn’t start jumping around immediately say, you don’t have BPPV. He really listened and payed attention. He then did the Epley Maneuver on me and I feel so much better. (I want to note here that the Epley Maneuver does not treat every type of BPPV.) I will probably need to be treated again, but not being jarred awake by spins when I turn over is wonderful. I get a tiny bit now and then, but it doesn’t wake me up. Happy Dance!

There was a point in the test where he had me stand and close my eyes..I was VERY nervous….meaning inside I was freaking out, he asked me to take a step and I…well I just couldn’t! He encouraged me and told he he had me and I wouldn’t fall (in my mind I thought, “yeah, this little guy is going to catch this big old woman…in his dreams!”. Out loud I broke into tears and said, “I don’t do the dark.” I should have explained, I’m not really that afraid of falling, yeah I might get hurt, but that isn’t nearly as scary to me as the vertigo, and the dark can trigger vertigo…I don’t do dark.

My anxiety is so high. That is so not a good thing. Anxiety can cause vertigo. Vertigo causes anxiety. There’s a bit of a Catch 22 there isn’t it? I have noticed I do not like it when someone says that I’m anxious. (Yep, he said that) I get defensive. I want to scream, “If you had this would you not react like I am?” I feel like being anxious is a negative thing, therefore they are telling me that I’m not dealing with this as well as I could. I know I’m much more anxious than I used to be, panic mode, almost constant fear…it’s hard, really hard. (No, I have not been keeping up my mindfulness practice, and yes I started meditating again this week.)

It was a fairly long intake appointment, all the testing, background questions….he was surprised I hadn’t had this kind of therapy before. That’s because, most of the people he sees have not been living with a vestibular disorder for this many years before getting vestibular therapy for the first time. *scrunchy face*

He warned me that this isn’t going to be easy, that I will probably be nauseous a lot, but if I can hang in there it can really help.

My homework…when I got there he noticed that I don’t move my head much when I walk, so my homework has been to look around. Open my visual range, turning my head. Of course, always using my walker.

I had a pretty big vertigo attack that started on the way home, and I felt horrible the whole next day. I even fell down, I’ve only fallen once since my hip replacement until now. (Really I kind of slid down the wall, I felt myself getting really bad, so instead of trying to race to a chair or something, I leaned on the wall and just slid down. I’ve found that to be pretty safe.)

I’m trying to do my homework and look around, but it’s hard, moving my head really makes me sick.

I go back on Thursday, yep tomorrow, we’ll see how it goes.

He wanted to see me twice a week, but we asked if I could go once a week with homework. Hubby has to take me everywhere and I’m trying to reduce the amount of appointments. His work hours can be flexible, but it’s much better if he works somewhat normal hours, and I don’t want to exhaust my poor husband, being a caregiver is hard. Ryan said that he would give me plenty of homework!

My Visit to John Hopkins

On December 14, 2015 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease, Vestibular Illness16 Comments

A couple of months ago I applied to be seen at the vestibular clinic at John Hopkins Hospital. My records were sent, and an appointment was set up for December 27th, then it was moved up to December 11th. I must say, that was just fine with me.

I was scheduled to have a hearing test, and an Electonystagmography (ENG) test before seeing the doctor, but the doctor had to leave at 2pm (before my original appointment time) so he wouldn’t see the test before he left, so we asked if I could take the test at home. You see, I had to stop any medication that might help with vertigo attacks before the Electonystagmography (ENG) test, if I didn’t have to stop these medications while out-of-town, I sure didn’t want to. They said no problem, and I sure was glad. I spent all of Thursday with vertigo, it was slow but it was there, I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I hadn’t been able to take my meds. I also had an attack right before my appointment on Friday. I had very little balance when I saw the doctor and my vision still wasn’t clear. So he saw me when I was not doing well. I think that’s a good thing. How many times have you been to the doctor and all of your symptoms just magically disappear right when you get there? That is so frustrating.

When we walked into the Outpatient Clinic it was like walking into an airport. You checked into the front desk, we both got arm bands to prove we belonged there. There were all kinds of signs and lines and directions, it was a bit to take in all at once. Stuart said we were told where the elevators were (no I couldn’t hear much in there) and off we went. When we got where we were supposed to be, I was very impressed that the check in and out areas were looped. If you don’t have hearing aids of CI’s you won’t understand that. If your hearing aid or CI has a telecoil setting, then the hearing loop provides a magnetic, wireless signal that is picked up by the hearing aid or CI when it is set to ‘T’ (Telecoil) setting, and the person using that setting can hear the voice right in their ear, no background noise or anything…it is really cool. So, we checked in and were told to go to the little waiting room in the back….that’s when it started to look like just a normal hospital setting. The little waiting room, wasn’t all that little, but it wasn’t all that big either. We were early, because I HATE to be late. My first appointment was to get a hearing test…(snicker). But soon a very soft spoken woman came out and said the doctor wanted to see me first, at least that is what Stuart told me she said, I had no idea. She took my vitals, she asked for my weight and height…I got it mixed up as to which one she asked for first, because I couldn’t hear her and I was guessing. Soon the doctor came in…..

We talked a bit about my history and he gave me some tests while in his office. A bit of touching my finger to my nose and then to his hand, turning my hand over and over….ect. Some I could do okay, some I had trouble with. Then he said he was sorry but needed to shake my head a bit. I did not do well with that one. I had to look at his nose while he shook my head. One time when he shook my head Stuart said he saw my eyes jerk, he said it was “kinda freaky”. The doctor asked me to stand up and I staggered a bit, he said never mind, sit down, be careful. I guess that answered that test.

He then said he wanted me to have the hearing test and come back in to see him. So I went out. I still thought it was kind of funny getting a hearing test because I’m deaf. I can hear a tiny bit in my right ear, but it is so little you may as well say, I can’t hear anything. Soon the doctor comes to the waiting room and said, the Audiologist said that since I have cochlear implants she couldn’t give me a hearing test. Yes, I kind of giggled inside. Stuart told them over on the phone that I had CI’s and a hearing test was kind of unnecessary, but they said it was ordered. Then the doctor said they could do the ENG test that I was originally scheduled for now, so he could see it. Well, I had just taken meds to help me, since I was really sick after the test he performed. I told him, that and how it said I wasn’t supposed to take any meds for like that for 48 hours before the test, and I’d already taken it twice that day. He agreed the test might not be accurate under those circumstances. Oops, kinda wish I hadn’t taken my meds, but then again, I really don’t want to be so far from home when I have that test done. I just know I’m going to be sick.

The ENG will show how much vestibular function I have left in each ear. That’s pretty important right now…..because here’s what he thinks and the plan……

He said, it is obvious I have damaged vestibular function, it is just a question of how much, and how much in each ear. He said he believes that, yes I have Meniere’s Disease, and Vestibular Migraines, and he said I have balance issues caused from getting my Cochlear Implants. I noticed before, my vertigo got worse after getting my CI’s, but no one ever said that they could have caused some of it.

He said we have to treat these in different ways. One is to get my migraines under control. He likes that I’m seeing a Neurologist that specializes in headaches, so I’ll continue to see her and try to get the migraines more under control. If we can’t do this, I may be taking another trip to John Hopkins to the Headache Clinic for evaluation. The next thing he said was, I need to have vestibular rehabilitation to train my body and brain to balance without my ears. He also said, we need to kill my balance system in my ears. We plan on doing this with gentamicin shots in both ears. How much I need to have depends on the results of the test, one ear may already be dead, who knows…we just don’t know how damaged they are yet.

I will be seeing a new otolaryngolgist here in Charlotte on Wednesday, the 16th, and we will discuss all of this, and set up getting the test that the doctor at John Hopkins wants. They will confer with each other on a treatment plan. I guess, It will also be good getting a 3rd opinion. The one from my doctor at Duke, the one from John Hopkins, and now let’s see what this doctor thinks. This doctor knows I have been to John Hopkins and they will be conferring with each other.

There are a few questions I forgot to ask. I know many of you are thinking….”You should have written them down.” I did, really, I did. But I wrote it on the paperwork they gave me, and I gave it to them…I didn’t have it after that….duh. So I’m going to ask the new doctor. It’s only a couple of things. Nothing that would really change the plan I think. I just want to know if they think my Meniere’s could be autoimmune, since it reacts so well when I am on steroids; and I’d like to know if they can answer why when I breathe in through my mouth, or drink anything cold or hot I feel it in my right ear. That’s just weird.

I know I forgot to ask him these things because he was telling me things that had been thinking for a long time. I actually asked for this treatment from my doctor. But he wouldn’t do it. He said it was too destructive and I could be so disabled I wouldn’t be able to do anything….ect. The doctor at John Hopkins looked at me and said, “more disabled than you are now?” He then asked if I had been given vestibular rehabilitation, and we told him no, that I asked for it, but my doctor had said that things fluctuated so much he didn’t think it would help. He frowned, and said, he thought I could benefit a lot from vestibular rehab….so as I said before, we plan to do that first. I went into the appointment with no expectations. Actually, I expected them to tell me there was nothing they could do. I had no real hope. I told the doctor this, he said….No, don’t give up hope. I explained, if I came in there thinking he was going to fix me and then he couldn’t do anything I would have fallen apart, if I came in there with no expectations, I would be thrilled if he could do anything. He liked that. We talked a bit more, and he insured me he would consult with my doctor here and answer any questions, and if I came back up there he would be happy to see me. Then when I left he shook my hand and told me that it was a true honor to meet me. That shocked me. I told him it was so very good to meet him and thanked him profusely. and went on my way.

A little about the trip itself…….The trip up to John Hopkins was pretty uneventful. We stopped by Duke to pick up films that I’ve had done….you know, MRI’s, and such. When we went through Washington, I saw the White House, the Jefferson Memorial and the National Monument in the distance. I’ve been to Washington before and have seen those things up close, but it is still kind of magical to me. I don’t know why. Driving into Baltimore, it seemed so BIG. The GPS told us to go straight when we should have gone to the right to get to our hotel and we ended up in a very sad part of town. The buildings were mostly boarded up, yet there were a few businesses here and there. I can’t imagine how they would ever do any business. One place we passed there were a lot of nice cars parked on the road, and one burnt out car right in the middle of them. Soon we made it back to our hotel. It was just a very sad detour.

On Wednesday night…well I guess it was Thursday morning…Stuart shook me awake at 5am. I thought, we don’t have to be anywhere, why is he waking me up. I read his lips… FIRE! I was awake then!! He pointed to the alarm. The Fire Alarm was going off. I jumped up and put on enough to get out of the hotel…it was very hard for me to go down 3 flights of stairs!! We were all out on the street and almost immediately there were 2 fire trucks on the scene. No fire. I never found out what happened. I could not climb back up those stairs, and it took a while for them to turn the elevator back on so we had a bit of a wait. That was fine with me. I was very impressed that the fire department got there so fast. The scariest part for me, if Stuart had not been in the room I never would have known there was a fire alarm going off. I would have slept right through it.

Well, we had an adventure! I told Stuart when we got back to the room, that with all this stress, I still hadn’t had a vertigo attack…that was amazing….so, we were moving to Baltimore. But I spoke too soon. Of course, I woke up with one the next day….and it lasted all day….but I spoke about that earlier in this post.

I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to do anything while we were there. The one day I felt good, we wasted because 2 of my shirts didn’t get packed so I didn’t have enough clothes. Curses. The next day if I had felt well, we were going to do something. We planned to go to the Aquarium, it wasn’t far from where we were staying. However, of all the sites in Baltimore that there are to see…..after all it is home to one of my favorite poets, Edgar Allen Poe…I really wanted to see Charm City Cakes. Yes, I wanted to go see a Bakery! I didn’t even care if I went inside, I just wanted to see the building. It is the bakery from the show Ace of Cakes….that isn’t on any more.

Duff Goldman started it..still owns it, has a second one in LA now. He is often on the Food Network. They do spectacular work, and I was just a huge fan of that show, and I just love Duff. I could just eat him up. I love the story behind his life, and I love his personality. I regret that we didn’t at least drive by Charm City Cakes. Yes, I am a goof. I was sick, had a migraine, couldn’t focus worth a toot, had about 8 hours on the road ahead of me…and I regret that I didn’t stop by and see a bakery. But hey, what is life without the little things?

Migraines kept me away…let’s talk about it

On November 25, 2015 By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Disability, Headaches, Migraines17 Comments

It’s very hard for me to start writing again after I have been away for so long. Especially after I wrote 2 posts that I am very proud of right before I had to go away. Why did I go away? Because my symptoms have been worse than usual. Specifically my migraines.

Me with Migraine and Minor Vertigo...by w holcombe — Me with Migraine and Minor Vertigo by w holcombe

I won’t go into a lot of detail about what happened to me specifically. Let’s just say, my migraines have been off the charts. Lights hurt, Sounds hurt, Smells hurt….yes – Smells Hurt! I’ve spent many days in the dark, without my cochlear implants on, filled with medication to make it so I wouldn’t throw up (it didn’t always work), and some days I had to wear a mask to help keep out any smells that were coming in (and we keep our house as scent free as possible). I’ve also had a lot of Migraine Associated Vertigo (MAV), or Vestibular Migraine, during this time. (you can read more about MAV on the Vestibular Disorders Association Site…just click here.) I have chronic migraines. Having chronic migraines means you have at least 15 migraines a month for at least 3 months a year. (normally, you have migraines more days than you don’t)

A lot of people think migraines are “just a headache”, they aren’t. So I’d like to take a little time to talk about migraines.

Headache migraines are moderate to severely painful, get worse with physical activity, are throbbing and often worse on one side, cause a sensitivity to light, sound, smell and last 4-48 hours (or more) without treatment. If you have any of these symptoms, please talk to your doctor. You do not have to have all of these symptoms to be classified with migraines, you can have a few. There are also different types of migraines. You might want to learn a bit about the different types of migraines…there is a list..here…with definitions and all that kind of stuff.

All the information I am sharing below comes from The American Migraine Foundation you can find out much more information there.

Migraine is an inherited neurological disorder.
One in 4 households has a member with a migraine disorder.
Migraine is 3 times more common in women than men, and will affect 30% of women over a lifetime.
The World Health Organization places migraine as one of the 20 most disabling medical illnesses on the planet. Chronic migraines are even more disabling. Yet it is almost impossible to get disability due to migraines. If you have another condition and you can add migraines to it, they might listen to you, but when I filed, they were hesitant to even mention my migraines, even though they are extremely disabling.
Those with migraine are more likely to have depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, other pain conditions, and fatigue.
There is no cure for migraine. Treatments are aimed at reducing headache frequency and stopping individual headaches when they occur. And constantly trying to find the right medications with the fewest side effects to help with this goal.
Prophylactic treatments (to reduce headache frequency) may include avoidance of migraine triggers, medications, physical therapies and behavioral therapies. This is great if you can figure out your triggers. Also, if your trigger is weather related, how are you going to avoid that? I can’t stop the weather from changing.
Abortive treatments (taken when a patient has a headache) include over-the-counter pain relievers and prescription medications. This is great, but you can’t take too many of these because they will cause medication overuse headaches (rebound headaches). See more information below. I am constantly aware of this and often afraid to take medication even though I’m in severe pain because I don’t want to go through withdrawal symptoms.
Prophylactic medications reduce headache frequency by 1/2 in only about 40% of patients who take these medications. And the 60% just suffer??
Medication side effects often limit the use of migraine medications. Oh yes. I know this very well. Severe itching, causing severe stomach pain, heart palpitations, constipation, diarrhea, tingling in my extremities, a change in what things taste like (the last two I put up with until the medication stopped working), Rocesea, low blood pressure…..It’s kind of scary sometimes isn’t it?

I only just touched on the surface of migraines. There are many different types of migraines. I haven’t even talked about all the symptoms I have.

I would like to talk a little bit more about the treatments.

Many of us cannot get the amount of medication we need each month because our insurance will only cover a certain amount. Insurance companies will often only allow only 9 pills of triptans per month, this is an abortive medication. Sometimes I have to take 2 when I have a migraine. That would only cover 4.5 migraines. If it covered 9 migraines that wouldn’t be as bad, but if you need to take 2 for a migraine, you are in big trouble. This medication works best if you take it as soon as you feel a migraine coming on. Everyone I know always waits until they absolutely have to take it because they don’t want to waste those pills. This is so sad. Ideally we don’t have to take more than 9 abortive medications in a month, but that is in an ideal world. Of course, taking to many will cause medication overuse headaches….discussed below.

It’s best if you have a preventative medication, this will reduce or eliminate most of your migraines, if it works. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a preventative medication that works for me. I have had some work for a while, then they stop. We are constantly trying new things. Until then, I’m afraid to take my medication, until I know my migraine is to the point I can’t deal with it on my own. And that is often too late for the drug to work properly. It’s a Catch 22.

We also have to worry about Medication Overuse Headaches, formerly known as Rebound headaches. Defined by the Mayo Clinic “Rebound headaches (medication-overuse headaches) are caused by regular, long-term use of medication to treat headaches, such as migraine. Pain relievers offer relief for occasional headaches. But if you take them more than a couple of days a week, they may trigger rebound headaches.

It appears that any medication taken for pain relief can cause rebound headaches, but only if you already have a headache disorder. Pain relievers taken regularly for another condition, such as arthritis, have not been shown to cause rebound headaches in people who never had a headache disorder.”

For extensive information on Rebound Headaches, The Migraine Trust has a great article titled Medication Overuse, it if very informative. If you have headaches of any kind, and find yourself reaching for medication more than 10 days a month, I encourage you to read this article. This can also include the use of caffeine.

Another issues migrainers face is that we are often labeled drug seekers. I can’t even take narcotics. I have had a migraine that has been so bad I couldn’t see and was throwing up, but would not go to the ER, because I know how so many friends have been treated so poorly there. They have put them aside and just tell them they aren’t going to give them any drugs. I don’t want narcotics. There are specific migraine medications that I want. Luckily, my doctor has taught my husband how to give me those shots so I have them at home. I’m in the minority, I’m a very lucky patient. I am able to see a neurologist who specializes in headaches. There are very few of these doctors. Most people with migraines have to go to a neurologist who see people with many types of neurological conditions, my doctor is very specialized. All she does is headaches. It’s great. She is working very hard to get my headaches under control.

There is a great infographic that gives wonderful information on Migraines here, and another on Chronic Migraines here.

That’s all I have to tell this time around. I have a lot more I’d like to share….not about migraines, at least not right away *smiles*, I hope I can come back very soon.

If I don’t get back before tomorrow…oh who am I kidding, I’m not going to get back before tomorrow….

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! And I want you all to know how very Thankful I am for you. You are pretty darn special to me.

Picnic with Ants

Tag: dizzy

A Really Long Update

Mindfulness Monday – Dizzy