Vertigo Attacks - Some Causes and Coping with the Spinning

A vertigo attack can be a terrifying experience. It can be debilitating and prevent you from functioning. If you've ever had a vertigo attack you know what it is. I have heard many people say that they think they've experienced a vertigo attack. In my opinion they probably haven't. I've been dizzy before and I've had vertigo and once I had vertigo I knew exactly what it was.

During a vertigo attack it appears as though things are spinning around you. I recall during my vertigo attacks it has appeared as though everything in my field of vision is rotating around the center of my view as if I was in a tunnel in an amusement park with the walls and lights rotating around a pathway.

Vertigo attacks can last from a few minutes up to hours and the experience can cause nausea and vomiting as well as leave a lingering fatigue for hours or even days after the episode.

Vertigo can be caused by many things. My vertigo has been caused by Meniere's Disease. Meniere's is an inner ear disorder which can cause periodic episodes of vertigo among other things. BPPV or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is probably the most common cause of vertigo. It is caused by crystal that form in the inner ear coil that helps us track balance. When those crystals dislocate they can cause a short lived vertigo event.

During a vertigo event, what usually happens is the brain is telling the eye to move in response to bad information it receives from the balance nerve. These eye movements would be helpful at keeping balance if that information from the inner ear were accurate, but since it's false information it produces the appearance that everything is spinning which reinforces the bad balance information.

I hope you never experience vertigo, but some suggestions if you do are as follows:

Try to remain calm and still. It helped me to try to focus on one fixed place near the center of my field of view.

It also has helped me somewhat to shield out bright lights or at least a large part of your field of view.

Try to look at things close to you as opposed to far off.

Consult with your doctor for prescription products that may help, although some people make use of over the counter seasickness medicine as a temporary relief.

Be careful when trying to move about during a vertigo attack, hold to walls or use the assistance of someone else helping you balance.

Unfortunately the only thing that you can really do is try to get to a calm place to lay down and try to ride out the attack. It helps to have a large trash can handy for nausea. I suggest a large can because during a severe attack it can be difficult to stay over a smaller trash can.

Finally, try to remain calm. It will pass and likely when it passes you will need to sleep for a while.