Sorry for the long absence. If you follow my Facebook page you may know that I have been unwell recently, suffering vertigo and dizziness for several weeks now. It became so bad at one point that I had to stop driving – which made life pretty tricky given that two of my children go to school thirty minutes away by car and we live in the middle of nowhere! Thank goodness for very kind neighbours, family and friends.
I had an MRI scan (claustrophobia anyone?) which thankfully has come back clear so now I am waiting for vestibular function tests to assess whether there is an inner ear problem which is affecting my balance. For something relatively minor (inner ear) it has had a profound impact on my life, causing the room to spin, me to stagger around and to have trouble driving and trouble with sensory overload (lots of traffic, lights or noise sends me reeling) and has left me feeling quite nauseous much of the time.
And it has just gone on and on.
The last few days of last week have been slightly better so I am hoping that my brain is starting to adapt a little to the constant sense of motion or, even better, that the inner ear problem is improving.
So, not the most cheery post ever! I am coping but much of my time is spent resting, I am homeschooling a bit because only one of my children goes to a school which we can walk to and I am keeping a smile on my face.
I would love to hear how you all are, I have missed writing here and spending time on Twitter and Facebook but being on the computer makes the dizziness worse. So please leave a little comment letting me know how you are and I look forward to being able to update you with more positive news next time I hope!
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
Fingers crossed you can get it treated. Take care x
Oh Ella how horrid for you. I had a few spells of dizzyness last year and I know it’s frightening aswell as feeling shitty. I remember holding on to the bed headboard for dear life feeling like I was going to fall off. Anyway – I don;t need to describe it to you…
I’m trying to juggle working, housekeeping and mothering and not doing a very good job on any front. I seem to be in crisis-control mode most of the time. Need some serious time-management consideration.
Blogging is my saviour and my downfall as I’m online when I should be getting other stuff done – New Year’s Resolution #1
Winter is always harder because you want to spend more time in bed and there’s still the same amount of stuff to do. And it’s cold. Or expensive if you keep the heat on all day.
Have I cheered you up yet? Seriously, I miss you in the blogosphere and wish you a speedy recovery and a swift return. Lots of love, Rachel xxx
We are all well lovely and missing you. I hope you really are starting to feel better and that you won’t have any need for the tests when they come round. xx
Thank goodness the MRI scan came back okay, been thinking about you but what a pain still not having any resolution or answer to the problem. I hope they give you one soon so that you can, hopefully, get treated in the best way. Take care. Xx
Sorry to read this Ella, I had been wondering where you were. I hope things improve quickly for you and you are back to normal life again soon x
(((Hugs)))
So sorry to read this Ella…I suffered vertigo for a few months several years ago and it was quite frightening, but it did wear off, and I hope it will for you soon xx
Hi Ella,
This sounds horrible for you. I hope it improves soon and we see a bit more of you. It’s all good up the mountain with us.
BM x
Hi Ella, good to hear from you. We’re all good here, preparing for Christmas at school, I have a very excited class of 6 year olds this year
W had this when he was younger, it did eventually go by itself but only after many weeks. Fingers crossed you’re on the mend x
We have been so busy the last few weeks, I don’t seemed to have had time to draw breath and now Christmas is only a few weeks away and already I feel very unprepared! I am hosting the whole family this year and so far I’m not quite sure how that is going to work
I hope you find a treatment that will make you feel better very soon.
Oh you poor thing, sounds like you’re having a rotten time of it. I know the feeling with the MRI scans, they are a bit compressing aren’t they?! Get well soon and here’s hoping the computer screen makes its peace with your dizziness soon so you can get back in the saddle on here x
Hello lovely lady, I am so pleased to see you writing here again, I hope this is the start of a new chapter for you x
Gosh Ella, that sounds awful. I hope they find out what it is very soon and are able to offer you a solution.
Schooling the kids at home sounds like a sensible solution for now, I wish you better very soon.
Mich x
Oh gosh Ella, just catching up with your news. Sorry you’ve had to deal with all that, not being able drive bit must be making life very difficult for you. I hope you get a diagnosis soon x
I missed you. All well here, hope to read more from you soon xxx
I missed you. All well here, hope to read more from you soon. Really hope the vertigo burgers off and quickly.
J x
Ouch! I had labyrinthitis in 2008 and the spinning and vertigo and loss of balance and spatial awareness was terrifying at times, so I really feel for you. I still get dizzy and nauseous when ill or overtired to this day. Inner ear problems really do suck.
Oh Ella! Double whammy – can’t drive and feel ill but can’t even use computer to cheer you up! Rubbish! It is not minor, I have a friend who all but gave up because of the awful sensation and sickness it caused, and it was to do with her inner ear, and medication did help her to sort it out. I do hope you get it sorted soon and are back on top form with us
Wow. I cannot even begin to imagine how that must have effected your day to day. I hope your husband was home for once…?
Hope that they find a quick solution…..and glad certain things have already been ruled out. Great you blogged again Ella.
I had a full-blown panic attack in the middle of my MRI. That wasn’t too much fun
Wishing you a speedy recovery and looking forward to you blogging regularly again when you are up to it X
Just catching up on some blog reading and it was lovely to see that you had updated after so long. I’m sorry you have been suffering from this, my brother had something similar in his twenties, got up one morning and lost his balance knocking himself out! He did eventually get better but still suffers when he gets upper respiratory infections. I hope you start feeling better soon.
I just wanted to say I missed you and the Friday Club too and also that I wish you well in coming to terms or hopefully recovering from your health issues.
Has anybody mentioned Menieres Disease to you as the symptons you have sound very much like what my late Mum had and I hope that helps you ask questions of the medics and maybe get things under control quickly with the right medication.
Have you had migraines in the past too as there can be a link .
I am not doctor but just trying to help a bit I hope.
Take care as with my Mum, not getting a diagnosis quickly ended up resulting in a nervous breakdown so make sure you take very good care of you and don’t put yourself under pressure blogging or otherwise.
Have probably said too much, I have a habit of doing that, sorry.
Ella, what you have sounds absolutely horrid and I can’t imagine how you are coping! Well done for sounding so cheerful about it all. I have been on a winter sun holiday and now I’m back I am really missing the sunshine so I’m busy planning my summer holiday to keep me cheerful
Hi, I had wondered where you had gone! I’m not on fb or twitter *that* much, but get on there to catch up now and then. I had something similar once, not as severe as yours, but it made me feel quite yuck. The only thing I could liken it to was like being drunk without having drunk anything – dizziness, fuzzy head, nauseous, inability to focus or concentrate. It was Not Good. Thankfully mine passed relatively rapidly and I put it down to a viral infection which can have a range of various symptoms. I am pleased to hear the MRI was clear, and I hope you continue to recover, because it’s not nice at all !! All the best, Kg. x
Sounds like you are having a tough time honey. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Big hugs and hope they sort it soon xx
Hi Ella, really sorry to hear your news but great that the MRI was clear. I am able to really empathise with the pain and inconvenience of inner ear troubles and really hope you can get it sorted soon. I notice people have mentioned labarynthitis (sp? sorry!) and menieres to you. My menieres was mis-diagnosed as labarynthitis for a couple of years (my fault really, I kept ringing up the doc and saying I had it again and could I send my hubbie up for some medicine!) until I had a menieres attack (vertigo) at my mum’s (a nurse) who put 2 and 2 together because of the frequency and hearing loss. Do you have any hearing difficulties, particularly when the vertigo is at its worst? I ask because that would lead the diagnosis down the menieres path. There isn’t any cure for menieres but people find things which work for them. Mine is water. If I feel an attack coming on (I’m lucky, I get a massive build up of pressure in my head for up to a week before so I know to expect one and can make non-driving contingency plans) I drink a ridiculous amount of water and seem to have staved off so many attacks now. My consultant says that there is no scientific evidence why this should work but hey! if it works for me I should carry on. It’s funny really because in the beginning I was given diuretics which would have had the opposite effect! Also, if it is menieres, the frequency of attacks eventually dies down and I only have about one a year now. So stick in there! I don’t know if this helps but best of luck in getting to the bottom of this and getting over it.
Oooops, forgot to fill in my name. I’m anonymous!
Hi Ella, I’ve only just read this and am so sorry to read about what you have been experiencing. I had something similar when I was at university and I remember the terrible feeling of the room spinning. Big hugs to you xx
Hi Ella, how are things going? Thinking of you and wishing you a good week. xxx
Oh my, Ella! So sorry to hear that you have been having a rough time. Sounds horrid! I hate that dizzy feeling and I can imagine that if you have it constantly it must just be horrible horrible horrible.
Hope they have found out what it is and that you are indeed on the road to recovery!
Maggy