"Vertigo, noun, a sensation of whirling and loss of balance, associated particularly with looking down from a great height, or caused by disease affecting the inner ear or the vestibular nerve; giddiness"
What this should read, is "The overwhelming feeling of impending doom and being completely out of control of your mind and body physically and mentally whilst trying to not throw up"
Anyone who has ever experienced vertigo will know this feeling oh too well. A simple task such as rolling over in bed, standing up from the sofa, or even bending down to pick up a pen at work becomes a chore, and one you have to complete very carefully on a bad day.
The anxiety and sheer panic that joins the party is breathtaking, this is the part that no one tells you about, hence this blog! Your heart races, you feel nauseous, your trying to stop your world swaying while telling yourself to "calm down" while you try to figure out which way is up! This will obviously differ with each type and cause of vertigo but inner ear problems or deafness mean that these are harder to avoid and therefore harder to get rid of. You can kiss goodbye to roller coasters, 3D movies, extreme sports and most public transport. I appreciate everyone's experience is different but I can only comment on my own.
Of course with time, this all becomes a little easier to manage, my advice would be to know your triggers and avoid at all costs. Again, I can't speak for everyone but mine include getting up in the morning (no I am not 90 years old despite what my 10 minute "get out of bed routine" looks like!), rolling over in bed, watching anything with any fast movement and the big one, lifts. But hey, at least my step count is up! To put this in to perspective, a recent lift ride of just 3 floors on holiday this year set me back a whole day of feeling 'bleugh', kind of the only word that makes sense for this icky feeling. Typically this can last a few seconds, or an hour or two but sometimes this is an all day event and won't ease until you sleep and "start afresh".
A recent visit to my doctor taught me that giving up caffeine could help. After the initial outrage, I tried it, it turns out he was right. It is also advised to avoid aged cheeses, processes meats, alcohol and chocolate (yeah right!). Meditation can help, as well as sleeping on 2 pillows and stress should be avoided at all costs as not all vertigo attacks happen from a physical movement..not always possible in life I know.
My best advice is to take time for you, stop if you need to stop (I should listen to myself!), get enough sleep and relax. Remember you are not alone, 15% of the population suffer with this regularly in the UK alone and that number is ever growing.
So when your world feels blurry, take step back, reset, and give yourself a pat on the pack for getting through a hard day.
