Tuesday, March 3, 2009

No More Dizzy Blonde!

This dizzy blonde doesn't want to be dizzy anymore! Ever since I was a little girl, I have had problems with vertigo. I would get this debilitating disease every three months as a child. I remember having the same dream before waking up so dizzy I would throw up. I couldn't get out of bed. The whole world was spinning and all I could do was lay in bed until it passed. This would go on for three days. Doctors always said I would outgrow it and, for a while, I did. In college and my twenties I barely got this horrible ailment, but when I did, the vertigo seemed to hit me when I was worn down. Now as I've gotten older, had three kids and then a complete hysterectomy, the dizziness has hit me more often. Well I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. No more guessing, or home remedies. I am not going to assume it's allergy-related or anything else anymore. I am finally getting help. And, boy am I happy! Today I went to an ENT doctor who specializes in vertigo and spent an hour and a half in his office- answering questions, taking tests, getting solutions. I go back Thursday for some more extensive testing and I am a little nervous, but oh, so happy. You know why? I'm finally going to get some answers. I have something, and have had it all my life, that is real. People who battle with dizziness or vertigo have a disadvantage, I think, because the disease can be so hard to diagnose. Do you know what the doc thinks it might be? Some form of vertigo migraine. This makes so much sense to me, because when I am hit with this (like a bomb), I am in bed for days. Don't come near me, don't move around me, no lights on or food. And I have always been so encapsulated by the dizzy/nausea part of my illness, that I have made light of the headache that accompanies it. I do have a headache when I get this. Now, we don't know for sure and I am still learning about all of this, but if this is what I do have, then I can take a little pill at the onset to stop it. Praise God! I am free at last! (At least I'm getting there).

3 comments:

Holli said...

Hooray for you! My mother-in-law has severe vertigo and so I've been very educated about what can and can't set her off. (She can't even have a cieling fan on around her!) But, I'm pleased that you're getting help. Whenever you have an illness, it's sometimes hard to advocate for yourself and find answers.

Keep us posted on the results!

The Voice said...

Please keep us posted. My mom has vertigo, too and it does seem to come once she announces she feels a migraine coming on. It is a relief to have a label on something ailing us. I was in my forties when I realized I had alopecia and wasn't just the freak in the family. No one had ever given me a label so I didn't really know what cure to pray for.

Debra Harris-Johnson said...

It does feel great to take control of what is going on with our bodies. I saw "The Changeling" with Angelina Jolie and it addressed the issues with men taking power over our mental health. It is an amazing story of the strngth we women can muster when our kids and health is at stake. Keep us posted.