How do you describe? Part II

OK, a couple of days have passed and I have my wits about me. Two weeks ago lying under my truck sanding some electrical connections I had to tilt my head severely back and to the right to be able to examine the contacts I was cleaning through my bifocals. The minute that I did that I had instant dizziness and nausea. I got out from under the truck, staggered around for a few minutes while the dizziness passed and then sat for a couple of hours until the sick stomach sensation passed, then completed the job.

Friday morning I got up from a sound sleep to go to the bathroom and had the episode I described in the earlier blog. Friday night I did not experience any dizziness except when I rolled from one side to the other. I often start out on my left side then roll to my right when I really want to go to sleep. Moving 180 degrees caused a momentary spat of dizziness that passed about as quickly as it came. It was disturbing.

This morning I walked with the dogs for 40 minutes, no problem. I had thoughts of going to an Urgent Care Clinic run by the Doctor's Clinic Terry and I go to. Before doing so I remembered my brother-in-law Chap has had vertigo problems for many years. So I called him and visited about his condition. Seems like he often gets up in the night, aims for an open door and misses. He does nothing for the condition. He also told of a next door neighbor, just 50, who had a bout of severe vertigo that disabled her from work for a period of time. She is fine now. The reason I was checking was because I recall that when I had a severe episode of vertigo years ago that put me in the hospital the Neurosurgeon that came in to examine me for a possible stroke told me that a simple head tilting exercise would help keep vertigo in check and that other than that there was not much they could do other than surgery and that is a last resort because there is a hearing loss associated with that procedure.

So I did some internet checking and came across some information that detailed exactly what I had done, tilting the head back severely and experiencing some dizziness. Like the old story about the Dr. who was told by a patient that it hurts when he raises his arm told the patient, then don't do that. That was essentially the advice from the article. Be careful of head position if you are susceptible to this form of vertigo called BPPV. The treatment prescribed is a set of exercises and it usually goes away in several weeks, the exercises may speed the cessation of symptoms.

So, I decided not to go to the clinic and waste some money on what I already knew. I feel fine. I did some of those exercises this noon and determine it is my right ear as that is the side I get dizzy on when I do these exercises. In addition, that is the position I had my head cocked when the problem first came on. So on to other things. If it does persist for several weeks or more I will have it checked out. For now, I've other more important things to do.