Why am I dizzy? Is it BPPV?

If you have had BPPV you will never forget what it feels like. But it is hard to explain to someone else. Many people report spinning: “Like falling off a building”, like “a roller coaster ride but worse”, like “my head was spinning”.

To be honest, as someone who has had BPPV myself, it was really scary for the first few minutes. The irony that I had BPPV was not lost on me. However, until I confirmed for myself that I did have BPPV I was a little worried that maybe I was having a stroke or an aneurysm or something of the like.

Right after I woke up I rolled to the left to get out of bed and it literally felt like the bed got up and smacked me in the side of the held. What had actually happened, of course, was that I had fallen back down onto the bed, but it sure didn’t’ feel like that. Following the initial shock I just held onto the sheets, hoping it would end. I am not sure what I said but I had called my wife in to take a look at me. From her standpoint all she could see was a man half out of bed holding on to the comforter for dear life. After what seemed like ages, but was perhaps 30 seconds, things slowed down, the ride ended and I could see straight again.

Afterwards I felt quite nauseous but didn’t need to throw up. I was, however, a bit afraid to move. Nevertheless, my curiosity got the better of me and lied back down on the bed and I rolled to the left again. Not surprisingly the ride started all over again. This time my wife was ready to look in my eyes and sure enough I had nystagmus, which confirmed the diagnosis of BPPV. In hind sight, perhaps I should have waited longer to conduct my experiment as following the second episode I spent the rest of the morning near the toilet bowl.

Once I had fully recovered and was brave enough to perform my own Epley maneuver I got ahold of the treatment device, put it on, and went through the maneuvers. Of course you do get dizzy during the treatment maneuver but ideally it will be the last time you will spinning. The maneuver went by with tolerable vertigo but towards the end I felt something odd. From a medical standpoint there is a second phase of nystagmus, when you roll up onto your opposite shoulder, just as the particles drop out of the posterior semi-circular canal and back into the utricle of the vestibular apparatus. Perhaps I imagined it, but I am sure I could feel a drop, or a change, or something that was different all of a sudden. I was relieved but not really back to normal. I tried to make myself dizzy again but couldn’t – success – sort of. I was left feeling off balance, wondering if it had really worked or if something else was going on. This feeling lasted a good two weeks. I was never spinning again since that first day (as I treated myself immediately) but I was surprised how long it took to get back to normal and for the off balance feeling to go away. That was about 6 months ago – no more episodes – yet.

Everyone describes their own symptoms differently – feel free to comment on yours below.

Someone recently asked, “Do any medications cause vertigo?”

The answer depends on what you mean exactly. Many medications can cause dizziness. This can be the light headedness associated with blood pressure medications to the woozy feeling from narcotics to the sleepy feeling of sedatives. However, vertigo (spinning dizziness) is not often caused by medication unless damage is being done to the organ of balance in the inner ear.

In some cases damage can be temporary or it can be permanent. Some medications selectively target the balance portion of the inner ear and some target the hearing portion. The effects can either be permanent or may go away when the drug is stopped.

So yes – some medications can cause vertigo.

Of all drugs aminoglycoside antibiotics are the most vestibulotoxic (ex gentamicin) and are irreversible. Gentamicin in particular effects only the balance portion of the inner ear and causes vertigo.

Loop diuretics such as furosemide (Lasix) cause reversible ototoxicity, but often affect hearing.

Antineoplastic drugs such as cisplatin cause irreversible ototoxicity (typically they affect hearing only)

Salicylates such as asprin can cause reversible ototoxicity.

Quinine, which was historically used to treat malaria, can cause both vertigo and hearing loss.

Of course these comments are to be taken in a general context and any drug related concerns should be discussed with your own doctor.

Can I do the maneuver more than once a day? The short answer is “Yes” you can.

However, usually in active BPPV you get dizzy during the maneuver. Many people find this repeated vertigo too much to do again and again. Usually BPPV causes nausea but not vomiting, unless of course you induce the vertigo over and over by repeating the maneuver.

This is the reason I suggest you only do it once or twice a day.

Further, it is not know if multiple maneuvers within a single day is actually more effective than a single maneuver as there is something called fatigue. Fatigue is when, despite the BPPV still being there, you are no longer able to make yourself more dizzy. Perhaps this is something like riding a roller coaster again and again. Eventually it won’t make you sick anymore in the same day. The Nystagmus (eye motion seen by your doctor when you are dizzy) also fatigues so it is difficult to tell much when you have repeated the maneuvers several times. As such some doctors will perform the maneuver up to 3 times in hopes of it being more effective, but there is no evidence for the same day, others will do it only once in a day. There is evidence that a second maneuver ( at a later date) will increase the success rate of the treatment from about 80% to 90%. This is one of the reasons using a self treatment device is useful. You can repeat the maneuver at home and increase your success.

We usually recommend 1-2 times per day for 1 week (or less if there is no more vertigo during the maneuver). If there is still vertigo after 1 week then do the other side. If there is still vertigo after appropriately treating both sides then consult with your physician again about the cause of the dizziness.

We often are asked if there is anything a person can do to prevent BPPV from coming back. To date there is no evidence that doing a maneuver will prevent all recurrences. A recent study in 2008 (Daily exercise does not prevent recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Otology and Neurotology) demonstrated this fact but lacked, in my opinion, sufficient numbers of patients to end the debate. It certainly would intuitively seem to make sense that a prophylactic maneuver would prevent, at least some, recurrences.

There are, however, factors which make dizziness worse. Age, head trauma and inner ear infections are risk factors for BPPV. Stress, depression, caffeine and alcohol make the experience of dizziness worse also. Any inner ear condition like Menieres disease has also been associated with an increased risk of BPPV.

So, what can be done? Reduce stress where possible and avoid medications or drugs to reduce possible side effects. Prophylactic maneuvers have thus far not demonstrated efficacy but they don’t hurt either. I’d be interested to hear if anyone is having any luck at prevention themselves.

As usual – discuss all medical issues with your own physician.

A person with BPPV who was treated in Greece asked: “After the treatment maneuver I felt much better. However, I now feel,…off balance? Why? How long with this last? Should I keep trying the Epley treatment?”

This is a common question and has an interesting, if theoretical, answer. It seems that some people can tell when they have BPPV just by the way they feel, even if they don’t experience vertigo at that moment. They just feel off, like something isn’t right. It is almost as if they can feel the particles sitting in the posterior semi-circular canal. This feeling goes away after they get used to the particles being in the canal. These people still experience spinning vertigo when they lay down or move in such a way as to stimulate BPPV. Interestingly, when they undergo treatment for BPPV with the maneuver and the particles are suddenly gone they again feel odd. Some describe a sense of being off balance, or even lightheadedness. It seems as if they miss the particles after having become used to them. Again this feeling goes away after about 1-2 weeks and you return to normal. There is no need to continue repeating the treatment maneuver at this point unless you are still experiencing spinning vertigo.

This whole sequence of events can be prevented by rapidly undergoing treatment before your brain has had a chance to become accustomed to the presence of the particles in the ear canals.

As always it is important to consult your own physician about your specific symptoms, especially if they change or do not fit with your usual experience or expectations.