As I mentioned in my last post, I had an MRI and MRA done. The MRA came back completely normal, and my vertebral arteries are fine (phew!).
However, on the MRI of the spine, there was a significant discovery: severe foraminal stenosis on the right side at the C4-C5 vertebra. Now I had no idea what that meant, but my physiotherapist (who is great by the way) explained it to me. Essentially, there are nerves that come out of the spinal vertebrae through little holes on the side called foramena. When the vertebrae become unstable, the body starts growing some bone back to try to stabilize them (which also leads to osteophytes, also called bone spurs, which I have a few of on my C4 and C5 vertebrae).
So this excess of bone starts to grow into the foramen (this is the stenosis, which basically just means ‘narrowing’), causing it to get blocked and impinging on the nerve that comes out through that hole. The nerve gets pinched and this causes various symptoms, including tingling, weakness and pain (all of which I’ve had in my right arm and shoulder for about the past year). Here’s a picture that may help:
After the first round of vestibular rehabilitation exercises that I got a little while ago, it was time for me to go back to the VRT clinic so they could check up on how the exercises were going. I saw a different therapist this time, who was just as friendly and helpful as my regular therapist.
I told her about some positional discomfort I have when lying down on my stomach, and she asked if we could try a few more tests with the goggles with the infrared camera. I never mind more tests, since I’m always hopeful it will provide more answers.
So we went through the head-shake tests again (where the therapist shakes your head and then asks you to look to the right and then to the left), and then I watched the videotaped results again.
Much to my surprise, the nystagmus (abnormal eye movements indicating a loss of vestibular function) was present on both sides — meaning that while my right ear is worse, my left ear’s vestibular system is likely also damaged.
When I described my visit to the neurotologist recently, I mentioned that he prescribed me 12.5 milligrams of meclizine three times per day. This initially seemed like quite a bit to me — but after doing some research, I guess it’s pretty much the lowest dosage possible.
Meclizine, which is often sold under the brand names Bonine and Antivert, is both an antihistamine and an antiemetic (it prevents vertigo). Mine came in 25 mg tablets that I can break in half and tastes like some gross artificial berry that doesn’t actually exist in nature (yes, I had to chew it just to see what it tasted like).
While I was hesitant about taking it at first, I took some yesterday, last night and today, and I find it actually helps substantially. I almost feel 100% while taking it (there’s still a slight twinge of something there once in a while, but it comes and goes).
I don’t ever remember being able to sleep well. Even when I was a little kid, I had trouble sleeping, and would often wake up in the night, unable to fall back to sleep. But lately, my sleeplessness has reached a whole new level.
I’m not sure what’s causing the sleeplessness, but it usually goes something like this. I lie in bed, almost asleep — until I get a strong sensation of movement that startles me completely out of my state of almost-sleep.
It’s strong enough that I actually lie in bed, muscles tensed, wondering if I did actually move — even though I know that I really didn’t. This is coupled with a second feeling, where I am actually sleeping, and then wake up because I’ve rolled over — and then get the sensation that I just keep going.
I’m due to start vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) very soon, and I’m very hopeful that it’s going to allow me to feel better. I know I probably should have started it after my initial episode of severe vertigo three years ago, but I didn’t really know about it then. I just hope it’s not too late to start it now.
I’m also a big fan of gaming on the Nintendo Wii, and I’m excited for the Wii Fit to come out in North America on May 21st — in case you haven’t seen or heard of the Wii Fit, here’s a short video explaining what it is and what it can do:
I thought a good way to start out here would be to describe my first experience with severe vertigo. It happened 3 years ago, when I was studying in graduate school.
I was under a great deal of stress, in my job, my relationship and at school — with the added pressure that I now was graduating and needed to find a permanent job. When I think back on it now, it was an incredibly difficult period in my life.
At the time, I was drinking what I would say is an above average amount of alcohol to deal with the stress, smoking too much, not to mention eating poorly and not getting any exercise. My lifestyle had really hit rock bottom, and I was rewarded with an upper respiratory infection that lasted over a month.
I’ve decided to start this website after my second round of having to deal with vertigo — something which unfortunately happened to me yesterday morning. Vertigo, disequilibrium, dizziness and anxiety are stresses I’ve been dealing with for just over 3 years now, and I wanted to find a way to vent those stresses.
Vertigo, a specific type of dizziness, is a major symptom of a balance disorder. It is the sensation of spinning or swaying while the body is stationary with respect to the earth or surroundings. There are two types of vertigo: subjective and objective. Subjective vertigo is when a person feels a false sensation of movement. Objective vertigo is when the surroundings will appear to move past a person’s field of vision.
