I woke up at 2 am on Saturday with a violent sensation of the room spinning. It happened several more times that night, and has recurred every night since then, but less severely. When I first get out of bed I feel like I’m on a boat in rough seas. During the day, it’s much milder but I feel really tired and a bit nauseous.
I have an appointment with my GP for next Thursday, but in the meantime, does anyone have any advice? A few of my friends say it could be labyrinthitis, which they’ve had themselves, but according to what I read on the internet, you would also get hearing loss with labyrinthitis.

I woke up at 2 am on Saturday with a violent sensation of the room spinning. It happened several more times that night

I think we’ve all been there. 😕

Seriously though, my brother used to get Vertigo, couldn’t get out of bed some days. Doctor had to come out in the end, & prescribed something. He rarely gets it these days.

It’s not fair having the room spinning when I haven’t even been boozing 🙂

Have you been on a boat recently? My mother had the same symptoms as you when she came back from a cruise. I know she had to have some medication and suffered for a few months with it.

Vestibular neuronitis perhaps?
“Many people diagnosed with labyrinthitis only experience the balance symptoms without hearing loss. This is actually known as vestibular neuronitis rather than labyrinthitis.”

My Dad had it quite badly a while back, all the symptoms you list…it was temporarily relieved after taking a flight to go on holiday.

Long term he now has a hearing aid, he hasn’t complained about it for some time so it must have addressed some imbalance or something. I’m not good at doctor speak.

I had what doctors claimed was viral labyrinthitis a few years ago and didn’t have any hearing loss. I think I’ve had it a few times many years apart and worry that’s one of my ‘run down’ symptoms. Horrible feeling put me in a panic last time I had it. The time before that I was `biking a pretty remote munro. I fell off the bike into the heather three times and it eased as I stayed still for a while. At that time I didn’t know what it was and was confused to have another attack while sitting on the train home.

My wife gets it, hilarious when she goes flying across the room taking the coffee table with her.
She’s not even a blonde.

I had labyrinthitis without hearing loss many years ago. The highlight was clinging to the railings outside Tesco with the sensation of being in the crows nest of a ship during a typhoon.

Unpleasant, but it went.

low blood pressure can also give you vertigo like symptoms.
remember reading a riders biography (Sean Yates I think) where
he had attacks whilst sitting having breakfast ….

but according to what I read on the internet, you would also get hearing loss with labyrinthitis.

There’s your problem there.

I can’t possibly give you a diagnosis over the internet but with any illness you don’t get every symptom.

inner ear infection, quite possibly. Get yourself to the doctor – don’t drive 🙂 I had to walk to my docs, must have been quite a sight!!

Had it pretty bad a couple of years ago. Took about 3 months to go completely. You’re lucky it eases over the day, mine was constant, had to go to hospital and take pills before I stopped throwing up and falling about all over the place.

Some of what is above is not true or unhelpful. Lots of people get told they have an inner ear infection or labyrinthitis, when really there is no evidence to prove it.
All sorts of causes – diagnosis easier if you have had it more than once.

Commonest cause is BPPV but really you need a proper history taken and examination.

Key questions:
Have you had hearing loss and/or tinnitus?
Is it worse when you lie on one particular side?
Have you been to the dentist/hairdresser/had your head leant over backwards for a prolonged period recently?
Have you been on a boat at sea recently?
Are you on any new medication?
Any other neurological features?

But then you need someone to look in your ears, check coordination, do a Dix-Hallpike test etc etc etc

So see a Doc.

I had something like that a few months ago. It was a bit mad. The floor appeared to be bouncing as I walked.
It went away after a few days.

We had friends round and one of them mentioned something similar, said it felt like they were drunk when they got up in the morning. I think she’d just stood up from the sofa and triggered it which is what got us talking about it.

I remembered seeing something and we Google’d it, following the instructions we rolled her about on the floor and she went a bit light headed… As far as I know it fixed the problem 🙂

Sorry… Can’t find it now, I think it was like the Epley Manoeuvre but it was a version where you roll the whole body rather than just head movements.

I think in her case it had started after going on a rollercoaster 🙂

Sorry… Can’t find it now, I think it was like the Epley Manoeuvre but it was a version where you roll the whole body rather than just head movements.

That’s it! I remember doing that too.

Epley’s is a first line treatment for BPPV.

Brandt-Daroff exercises second line if it doesn’t work.

Both worth a try, Both can make you feel worse initially.

I’d google Dix-Hallpike and see if you are +ve on that test first. Don’t bother with Epley’s if you are not. Definitely see your GP if you have anything in addition to postition provoked rotational vertigo symptoms. Definitely don’t drive if you can get them when seated and turning your head.

Usual internet Ts&Cs apply

I’ve had it a few times and my wife had a fairly major attack in May – she kept getting mini-attacks until July/August.
She went to see my mate who’s and ENT consultant who did some tests which were a little inconclusive.
Many people think they’ve got labyrinthitis when they haven’t. There’s a test for it: Hold your arms out in front of you, close your eyes and march on the spot for 30 seconds. If you’re still in the same place and haven’t turned around you don’t have labyrinthitis.
Tricky to diagnose apparently – quite likely a viral infection which will take a number of weeks to go away.
See you’re GP who will not really be able to help but may prescribe something.
Interestingly we senpt two weeks on a boat with the ^ consultant mate and his family and my wife was fine after the first day. I think it may have helped.

SB

That’s Unterbergers or Fukuda’s test. Lots of us interested in Vertigo do it, but it doesn’t have as clear a positive or negative predictive value for Labyrinthine or Cerebellar causes of vertigo as you might think. And people with no vertigo at all may rotate…

http://www.audiology.org/sites/default/files/journal/JAAA_20_05_03.pdf

Fair do’s. 🙂

Thanks everyone for replying. I’m waiting to see my GP next Thurs ( just thought I’d ask if anyone had any advice in the meantime). It was the NHS website I was looking at.
I have got tinnitus in one ear (the one where you hear a whooshing sound in time with your pulse), but have had that on and off for years.
I’m also recovering from fairly major surgery to my spine 4 weeks ago and have been lying down more than usual, in between going out for walks (on the surgeon’s orders) – I wonder if that could be responsible?

typical the way things happen – just seen someone with a strongly +ve Dix-Hallpike but equivocal Unterbergers, and done an Epleys with them…

Good luck at the docs.

I had a bad bout of labyrinthitis last year, lasted for a period of 6 weeks, then I slowly got back on my feet, took a few months to feel totally right.

No hearing loss, but made for a fabulous diet as it brought on motion sickness in me whenever i moved my head. The only time I felt ok, was when I was in a moving car (I wasn’t allowed to drive myself for obvious reasons)

Hitchcock film, Kim Novak and James Stewart were in it, sorry