The Student Room Group

Yet another recovery - This time, unexplained Vertigo

Sometimes it feels I can't be healthy. The moment I feel healthier I get something else.



The week I finished a half marathon run, which is amazing considering my knee is a mess (torn ACL and other minor issues that still exist), I got struck with an unexplained vertigo.



I was just sitting in front of the PC and started feeling that everything is spinning around (feeling, not seeing). I put my glasses off and wanted to get up to take a migraine pill or at least a headache pill... I just couldn't get up, everything was in a complete mess. I could only look straight at the screen, every time I moved my eyes or head I felt like I was driven somewhere. I texted my housemate through whatsappweb I need an urgent medical help. Usually when someone says something like that we assume a burn or a cut. In my case the guy assumed it was something with my leg. I asked him to slowly turn my chair and look at my pupils... he was shocked I asked to look at my pupils and didn't understand what I meant. We did a quick stroke test and ruled that out. I tried to stand up but couldn't, so he called an ambulance.

Despite throwing up twice to the way to the hospital the trip was amusing because I'm an army medic in reserves I kept commenting on what they say, like high pulse, I said it is because I'm nervious because I don't know what is wrong with me. One of the medics said that I'm her first patient who is taking things with humor despite vividly feeling so bad, she was at her second week of work...



The hospital was awful, I hate hospitals. I was lucky I was in the bed all the time straight from arrival so I didn't need to move, but having to hold a pee for 8 hours is a new record for me. Did a CT, MRI and blood test, everything was perfect but I was feeling sick and the world was literally spinning in all the directions at once. I was put under IV with some Dimenhydrinate.



They 'held' me in captivity for 3 days. Did bunch of tests with no real result, most of the time I was sleeping because there was nothing to do after the visiting hours. The last day was better and I managed to walk around the room. While in the hospital I always had company, either family or friends or co-workers. If I was not sleeping, I was surrounded by people so the time did pass quick.
I wasn’t eating much, mostly matza bread (Passover, so no normal bread) and some fruits. I did try the vaggie burger thingy they offered but it was disgusting. First thing I asked to eat at home was a salad. Hospital food is so unbalanced and depressing I think people are getting sick just from eating that food.



After all the tests, the conclusion the doctors came to is that the nerve responsible for the balance (the one in the ear) was ‘burned’ and died, and the brain have to find an alternative path for the neurosignals. It makes sense and explains a lot of my recent problems, frequent headaches (I was sure it is stress related and weather related), some sort of vision loss (which I was sure it is just a prescription change), getting tired more quickly, and finally the vertigo. They also say it might be a post covid thing. When the nerve gets infected and dies without noticing and causing such symptoms.
Anyways, they scheduled some more tests in a month. Meanwhile I’m on sort of recovery. Still have episodes of nausea and headaches which I need to track down.



2 days at home, only today, was able to sit and write on the PC.
Living on the third floor in a house makes it harder to function socially because the social floor (living room and main kitchen) is the first floor. I was offered to move to the first floor, but the third floor is the girls floor so it is more convenient (I guess it is the right word to use) to stay there. I do walk down the stairs but with help and supervision because I may injure my leg again if I step wrong and I am still not fully in control of how do I step.
Vision was always my issue (that’s the reason I went for optometry), so not being able to use my progressive glasses makes it a bit harder to function with devices and still having a bad visual acuity with any glasses makes it annoying, so I end up wearing contacts all the day. It is sad and funny because my vision improved to the point of not really needing glasses even for the computer (before the pandemic) and ever since it got gradually worse, still not to the point it was in the university when I needed glasses for everything but still was in denial. Now I feel the same, but for a different reason. I can read without glasses, but having astigmatism make the letters squeezed and misaligned a bit, having nausea with it makes it unbearable over time. So I just prefer wearing contacts.

Spending nearly 20 minutes to get from the third flood to the first to watch a movie with the housemates makes me feel bad for having them help me and taking care of me. Luckily I do recover fast. The doctors say it might take a few months to come back to full activity.

I'm making the thread mostly to track the progress. It makes me feel better than writing a diary....

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Oh no, I had vertigo post-covid (nowhere near as severe as yours though, and it was for different reasons) and it really sucks. I hope you make a swift recovery!
Reply 2
Original post by scar-the-queen
Oh no, I had vertigo post-covid (nowhere near as severe as yours though, and it was for different reasons) and it really sucks. I hope you make a swift recovery!

The strange thing is that mine came way long after covid....

Thanks a lot!!!
Original post by Kathy89
The strange thing is that mine came way long after covid....

Mine started 2 months after having covid..when did you have covid?
Reply 4
Original post by scar-the-queen
Mine started 2 months after having covid..when did you have covid?

A year and a half ago. Still have some random pain in random parts of my body though, happens much less frequently than before but still. It is strange but the doctors say it is very likely being related to covid, especially after having being vaccinated, they say that people who've been vaccinated and caught covid can develop a huge variety of side effects over years, but everything is better than not breathing
Original post by Kathy89
A year and a half ago. Still have some random pain in random parts of my body though, happens much less frequently than before but still. It is strange but the doctors say it is very likely being related to covid, especially after having being vaccinated, they say that people who've been vaccinated and caught covid can develop a huge variety of side effects over years, but everything is better than not breathing


Oh, I see. I really hope you recover soon! All the best!
Reply 6
Original post by scar-the-queen
Oh, I see. I really hope you recover soon! All the best!

Thanks!!!:biggrin:
Nice to hear that!

Wish you well!
Reply 8
Original post by ABBAForever2015
Nice to hear that!

Wish you well!


Thanks!!!
Reply 9
It's been a nice two days.
Saturday I spent most of the time watching movies and chilling. Managed to get down to the main floor to eat dinner. Even helped a bit with cooking. It is still hard for me to even cut the veggies, I get nausea when trying to look down for too long, but it is still improving.

Today was a busy day. I felt so good I even could work a bit although I am off sick. Spent most of the day talking on the phone. It was pretty easy to work on the computer and on the phone I have even forgot I'm sick. Felt bad only after getting down the stairs for lunch. Now I'm not taking the risk and just asked my housemates to bring me some food... The rest is pretty fine. I'm moving slowly, party intentially, partly just because my body doesn't allow to move fast. I'm thinking slower than usually too. Maybe even hearing less. The doctors said it could happen, so I'm not worried much.
Reply 10
After a nice two days came awful two days.
I was so weak I could barely eat. My mom and brother came to visit, they were nice and very helpful but my mom was too worried and wanted me to go back to the hospital, I'd probably suggest the same thing to someone at my situation, but I hated so much the time there and see no point in returning now. Most of what I ate the past two is liquid because I was too weak to chew.
I spoke on the phone with some friends and colleagues, hear a Harry Potter audio-book.
Today I have some sort of weird sound in one ear but the hearing is fine (at least I don't notice any change). My vision and balance goes funny if I stand up, so I sit most of the time. Going to use the toilet is very hard but I can manage by myself, although it may sound funny but the first day at the hospital I had to ask for assistance to stand up and sit down without missing the sit...
If I move I feel like my GPS is broken, it takes time to figure out where am I exactly despite not really having a nausea. I can slowly walk across the floor but I don't trust myself on the stairs.
I guess I did too much on the days I felt well.
Today I feel OK but still resting.
Another good thing, three days without using visual aids... just because they aren't really helping. I can easily touch my nose and ears so it is no brain damage, but I can't really touch a nose of someone infront of me, it is like not in the right place where my finger is... it takes time to bring things to focus.
Because now I have a random nystagmus (when the eye is moving unintentionally), glasses are not helping much, still everything is not in place but less blurry. I can't grab things without looking at them because the brain says it is not exactly there, it is like the brain has to always analyze where my hand is compared to where the object is. However, things that don't require 3D perception much, like using the keyboard or writing blindly on a paper (someone I can still do since the uni, still not lost that ability) I can do them without any effort. Like right now, I can barely see the screen but I can type.

The most annoying part is asking someone to at least supervise me when I do something. I'm also afraid of injuring my knee even more when I step wrongly on my leg. Which is the main reason I avoid using the stairs actually.
Reply 11
It's been a nice weekend.
Spent it at my parent's house, mostly watching TV. Started watching "The Mandalorian". Luckily I understand English, because I couldn't read the subtitles, not sure whether it's a prescription issue or brain issue. I could hear fine but it is like I'm just getting used to the constant strange sound, if I think about it I can hear it, but normally I don't pay attention to it.
I can slowly walk around the house. However, I feel the problems with gravity in the elevator, especially on the way up.

Now I'm working a bit from home. Mostly reading material about some new products. I can read large print without any problems, smaller print I feel the letters move. Same when trying to look at the line on the floor (the gap between the floor plates).

I eat much less than usual, which probably will effect my weight, but I can't force myself to eat more without feeling nauseas. I will try to snack more fruits and vegies while doing other stuff.
Reply 12
A scary thing happened now (about an hour ago).
I decided to take a shower after a hot day when I even went outside (just sitting outside the house). One of the guys was home so I asked him to stay in the girls' floor just in case I needed help. Today is a memorial day, so the rest of the household were out watching the memorial ceremony.
Anyways, I was standing in the shower washing my hair, some water touched my face in an uncomfortable way so I shook my head too fast... Everething went black, I immediately sat down, for a moment I wanted to call for help but felt better. It took me a few minutes to calm down. I finished showering sitting. I slowly crawl up the wall, I was scared of fainting but also I was either too embarrassed or just felt bad for needing assistance, so I didn't call for help. I just exited the shower wearing my towel all smiley saying that I'm clean and ready to watch a movie (which he still downloading and not even telling me which movie it is). I still didn't tell him that something did happen in the shower. Now I'm trying to figure out why am I ashamed of asking for help or telling that something happened. Sometimes even I don't understand myself...
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Kathy89
A scary thing happened now (about an hour ago).
I decided to take a shower after a hot day when I even went outside (just sitting outside the house). One of the guys was home so I asked him to stay in the girls' floor just in case I needed help. Today is a memorial day, so the rest of the household were out watching the memorial ceremony.
Anyways, I was standing in the shower washing my hair, some water touched my face in an uncomfortable way so I shook my head too fast... Everething went black, I immediately sat down, for a moment I wanted to call for help but felt better. It took me a f minutes to calm down. I finished showering sitting. I slowly crawl up the wall, I was scared of fainting but also I was either too embarrassed or just felt bad for needing assistance, so I didn't call for help. I just exited the shower wearing my towel all smiley saying that I'm clean and ready to watch a movie (which he still downloading and not even telling me which movie it is). I still didn't tell him that something did happen in the shower. Now I'm trying to figure out why am I ashamed of asking for help or telling that something happened. Sometimes even I don't understand myself...

There is no need to feel ashamed. Unfortunately, this illness has become a temporary part of your life and sometimes you need to put yourself first. If you need help, you need help. There is nothing wrong about it and you are not burdening others around you. I had similar thoughts when I was ill and needed assistance. It’s understandable, but there is honestly nothing to be ashamed about. I’m hoping you’re feeling better now.
Reply 14
Original post by scar-the-queen
There is no need to feel ashamed. Unfortunately, this illness has become a temporary part of your life and sometimes you need to put yourself first. If you need help, you need help. There is nothing wrong about it and you are not burdening others around you. I had similar thoughts when I was ill and needed assistance. It’s understandable, but there is honestly nothing to be ashamed about. I’m hoping you’re feeling better now.

Thanks so much for your reply.

The strange part about it is that I'm less embarrassed being naked around that guy than having to be taken care of. I don't even know why I feel that way, I'm not an ego person, and usually much more careful, especially since the knee injury.
With housemates I prefer attention for mutual amusement or mutual benefit of some sort than having to taken care of... I mean, it is not the attention I feel good with... with partners it is different, I can easily accept that kind of attention.
It is like my emotions contradict with my rational thinking.
Original post by Kathy89
Thanks so much for your reply.

The strange part about it is that I'm less embarrassed being naked around that guy than having to be taken care of. I don't even know why I feel that way, I'm not an ego person, and usually much more careful, especially since the knee injury.
With housemates I prefer attention for mutual amusement or mutual benefit of some sort than having to taken care of... I mean, it is not the attention I feel good with... with partners it is different, I can easily accept that kind of attention.
It is like my emotions contradict with my rational thinking.


Obviously I’m not you so I can’t fully explain your thoughts, but I felt that way because I thought that I was burdening those around me. That might be the case for you. If it is, it is never wrong to put yourself first. You’re ill and you need someone to take care of you. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Reply 16
Original post by scar-the-queen
Obviously I’m not you so I can’t fully explain your thoughts, but I felt that way because I thought that I was burdening those around me. That might be the case for you. If it is, it is never wrong to put yourself first. You’re ill and you need someone to take care of you. There’s nothing wrong with that.


I know that, but it is harder to do it.
When I injured my leg (a car hit me), I was in depression. Prior to the accident I was free with my body. I was a semi-pro basketball player (university team and before local youth team). I wasn't a fast player nor a technical or a strong one, but I moved smoothly, like a dance. I felt unlimited with my body. Moving from that to being incapable of walking without assistance made me feel handicapped and totally worthless. Took me a while to mentally recover and accept my new limits. Now it happens again, but this time it is not permanent so I sort of taking it too easy denying my limits on a subconscious way. I mean I ask to watch for me just in case...
Another thing I don't like about myself, but this is the way I am, is that I hate how people care retrospectively, I mean if I tell what happened the guy would pay more attention to me and want to help more, even when not needed just because that one time I didn't ask for help. If I were in his place I'd do the same.... but I hate that attention. On the other hand, I do want him to know, at least just for honesty and trust.
Original post by Kathy89
I know that, but it is harder to do it.
When I injured my leg (a car hit me), I was in depression. Prior to the accident I was free with my body. I was a semi-pro basketball player (university team and before local youth team). I wasn't a fast player nor a technical or a strong one, but I moved smoothly, like a dance. I felt unlimited with my body. Moving from that to being incapable of walking without assistance made me feel handicapped and totally worthless. Took me a while to mentally recover and accept my new limits. Now it happens again, but this time it is not permanent so I sort of taking it too easy denying my limits on a subconscious way. I mean I ask to watch for me just in case...
Another thing I don't like about myself, but this is the way I am, is that I hate how people care retrospectively, I mean if I tell what happened the guy would pay more attention to me and want to help more, even when not needed just because that one time I didn't ask for help. If I were in his place I'd do the same.... but I hate that attention. On the other hand, I do want him to know, at least just for honesty and trust.


I understand what you mean. Things will get better with time, this is only temporary. I really hope things get better for you soon.
Reply 18
Original post by scar-the-queen
I understand what you mean. Things will get better with time, this is only temporary. I really hope things get better for you soon.


*hugs* Thanks
Original post by Kathy89
*hugs* Thanks


:hugs:

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