Coping With Vertigo

I am a smoker of 10 years, who has recently quit, although I relapse occasionally. I’ve never smoked a pack a day, keeping it around 5 cigarettes a day, and now I’m down to an occasional 2 or 3 if any. I have had recurrent throat and/or sinus infections for the last 3 years and onset within a week of finishing the last antibiotic of a prescription. I have some hearing loss in my left ear, but that has been going on for the last 10 years of working on a headset at a fast food restaurant; the loud mufflers, shouting customers and diesel engines have vastly reduced my hearing in that ear and least that’s what I thought. I have no tonsils, having had (and still have) chronic strep infections. I have also had some ear pain associated with many of my upper body infections, which has been ignored by most of my physicians.

Almost one year ago to the date, I began to experience episodes of being lightheaded, then that developed into full blown vertigo I was seen at my primary care physician’s assistant and prescribed antivert for the dizziness/vertigo, which, if it works, it is not terribly noticeable. The episodes were sporatic, every couple of weeks or once a month - at least until Christmas Day.

From Christmas Day until present, the episodes are weekly; my teenagers had to make Christmas dinner and New Year’s Day dinner. My trips to the primary care physician resulted in a half time prescription or simply nothing at all. Prescriptions were made out to last 10 days, usually amoxicillin 500 mg I felt like doggie doo doo even after the antibiotics, and finally spoke up and let the nurse know that I thought I should have a longer prescription; I was told I was cured and that’s that. The vertigo attacks began to last days instead of just 24 hours and I lost over $1000 in lost wages. I had completely blown my last semester of school, ending up with one D and the rest incompletes. (I was an honor student prior to that!)

My throat was constantly sore, my ears, especially my left ear felt a sporadic stabbing pain. I was congested and having night sweats, then bouts of chills. I ended up in the ER believing I was having a stroke from a debilitating and severe, sudden onset headache. To placate me they performed a CT scan and low and behold, my sphenoid sinuses were inflamed and had a massive infection (filled!). Again, the ear pain was ignored but at least I was started on 21 days of keflex - which had to be changed to Sulfamethox since it didn’t work - and I’ve only had one episode of vertigo since starting on the “Bactrim” and it was very mild.

I feel alive for the first time. I don’t think I’ve totally kicked this thing, and I’m going to my third doctor - an allergist/sinusitis specialist about 150 miles away - but hopefully I am making some progress. I still fear turning over in bed and at times even waking up itself, but hopefully this too will fade.

Through all of this I have learned that sinus and other anterior infections should be treated with longer doses of antibiotics; the medical profession is so scared to “overprescribe” antibiotics that they would rather let someone suffer than perform simple blood tests or mucus tests, waiting until it’s so bad that you have to have MRIs and CT scans. I have been disappointed to say the least, of the lack of concern health care providers give to sufferers of vertigo, instead simply diagnosing the actual vertigo without attempting to find out what the root cause is. It’s much easier to just say it’s Meneire’s disease or just continue to prescribe antivert and takes much more diligence to DO THEIR JOB!

I don’t have to explain to those cursed with vertigo how debilitating this condition is. You can’t function; a simple trip to the bathroom can cause extreme pain and nausea. Physicians should be more empathetic toward this “symptom” (I use symptom because there is always an underlying cause) and I hope every sufferer out there doesn’t give up hope that their misery will end; keep pushing your health care provider!