I’m So Dizzy, My Head is Spinning..

 

That has been my theme song for the past three weeks. And it happened suddenly, too. One morning I woke up to a spinning room. I moved my head and it felt like one of those pictures you see where something is moving very quickly and you can see the trail of blurriness as it moves. That would describe the sensation I was feeling. It was the strangest thing. And it was not fun. I felt on the edge most of the day. 

Now, I don’t really want to go on about my aches and pains, but I thought this might be interesting to some of you out there. Like it or not, my friends and I are now beginning to swap health concern stories…( I’m becoming my mother!!!!! ;)  Such an ‘old person’ thing to do, I know. Just you wait. You young ones will one day be doing the same thing!

After I sat up and waited for a few moments, the dizziness mostly subsided and I got on with my day,being careful not to turn my head too quickly.  The moment I laid my head down on my pillow that evening and turned my head, it was back in full force. I remembered back 20 years when I experienced  vertigo for a short time after my baby #4 was born. But that had never bothered me since.

A week or so ago, I mentioned this to my friend, who promptly showed me an article her m-i-l had recently sent her about a condition called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) ... yeah, I’ve never heard of such a thing either.

Basically calcium crystals (didn’t even know I had them!) , which are usually secure in the inner ear, get dislodged for some reason and this wreaks havoc with your balance--thus, major dizziness whenever the head moves As I read the article over at home, I tilted my head back to look at the ceiling and WHOA, the sensation returned in full force! EXACTLY as the article described.

Now, I haven’t been diagnosed by any doctor re: this but I’m pretty sure that’s what I have. I’ve read that sometimes it goes away on its own, often one has to do special head and body movements to get rid of it (under the care of a physician or physiotherapist is best) and sometimes inner ear surgery is necessary. I’ve also been told that there are drugs to deal with chronic vertigo.

On Sunday, I woke up to dizziness that would not go away,  but Dave and I had planned to spend some time in the Shuswap (a touristy area about an hour away), walking some snow-covered trails along the river and then having a nice lunch out there.  I almost declined, but I love drives and didn’t want to stay home, either, so we decided to head out and see how it would go. Holding onto his arm to keep me steady, it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. Oh, the walk was so calming and picture perfect, and the lunch at the Quaaout lodge was wonderful. 

That night I went to bed, not feeling too badly. And I woke up Monday with just a little dizziness.As the day wore on,  I could move move my head from side to side with no ill effects, and could walk without teetering and tottering. It was wonderful! And it lasted all day. I woke up today feeling great; even went for a brisk walk with my friend. I felt that I had a new lease on life.

Feeling a little heavyheaded right now, but nothing like it was Sunday. I’m hoping this crazy condition dissipates on its own.

All this is my  perfect excuse for my extremely poor results in the 100 day activity challenge so far. February was a  washout. It IS a good excuse, don’t you think?