vertigo treatment!

A few Fridays ago I woke up with a violent case of vertigo. I've only had one episode before when Ivar was about six months old, so I was really surprised. For six hours I felt terrible. The pictures weren't attached to the walls, the walls weren't attached to the room, things moved far away and zoomed up close. It was awful.

I stayed on the couch most of the day and had a moment in motherhood I'll never forget when Rory left me for an hour to take a sales call. Elsie jumped on the couch while sympathetically reminding me, "Mama sick. Me sick too. I snuggle with mama!" And then would jump on my body, snuggle and get up to jump again and I would commend myself for being such a hero.

By mid afternoon I was able to eat toast and keep it down. And by the evening I was able to sleep, but only on my left hand side. If I lay flat on my back or on my right side the whole world went helter skelter again. 

It was like this for six days. I could only lay on my left side. Any rolling over would bring on an episode. I was better when standing or sitting, but I could never throw my head too far back, or lean it on the headrest of the car. And most of the time if I moved my head there was a delay for the picture to catch up with my eyes. Like I was watching slow motion, except I knew I was moving normal.

It was gross. I went to a chiropractor, I prayed, and I was just about to go to an ear, nose and throat doctor when a friend at our small group told us about a procedure his chiropractor does for him when he has a vertigo spell. When everyone left we googled it. It required me getting on the kitchen table and Rory doing some big movements with my head and when we watched it done on youtube Rory politely declined. It was going to end poorly, probably with sickness.

But then Rory found a video that seemed compelling and the exercise she recommended was worth a shot. It was less jerky. So with the help of youtube, Rory coached me through a series of motions. The series took about two minutes and the first round was really uncomfortable because I had to hold a pose through the uncontrollable spinning. We waited 30 minutes and then did it again. And that time I heard something and felt immediate relief. We waiting another 30 minutes and did the exercises two more rounds with no spinning and that night I slept on my right side!

It was pretty miraculous for me. I was really weary from a week of messed up vision. And I was beginning to wonder if this was going to be my new normal. I am so grateful it is not.

But this video will be! I've had a few more dizzy moments since, and each time I do my half somersault move. It's amazing.

The likelihood that you will ever have a spell of vertigo is pretty slim. I've since learned that my Grandpa Harrington suffered terribly from this, which is fascinating to me. That it might be genetic? I have no idea. But I am writing all of this for two reasons: 1) so that I have quick access to this video whenever or wherever I need it. 2) in case you ever hear of someone who needs relief. This little video is worth a shot. It worked for me and I'm so, so glad it did!