A wake up call...
A week later I awoke in the early morning, and proceeded to get up, but couldn't . This time vertigo slammed me back onto the bed, gasping and crying with the shock of it. My loved one was beside me. I nudged him and told him my problem. By now I needed to go to the bathroom really badly, and was going to vomit. There was no doubt of that. He realised there was something serious amiss, and supported my staggering body while I made the tortuous journey to the toilet.
On about the fourth day my ever loving one supported me to the physician's office, and held me comfortingly as I staggered unbecomingly to the reception desk. I explained the problem, and sat wearily down. I felt like the incarnation of misery. My doctor took my information, asked questions and did tests to preclude the possibility of stroke. He said he was sure it was an inner ear problem. He explained that sometimes crystals form in the inner ear, and take some time to dissolve. He said it should resolve in about two weeks, so that was hopeful. His summation finished by advising me to try some special physio exercises, and gave me a sheet of them.
Several days went by. Misery indeed. Suddenly again I had a huge flare up of vertigo and nausea. I feebly thought of going to the hospital emergency department. Then I realised with a feeling of total hopelessness that I would probably just hear an echo of what my doctor had told me in the first place. When would this end? And then the other scary question, would it end!
But the next day upon awakening a pleasant shock was in store for me. I could get up and walk instantly, quite steadily.
I experimented a little more. Yes! I was on the road to recovery!
But, I still had not much information about the illness that had sidelined me for ten days. So here goes, for anyone else that suffers from inner ear problems:
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is probably one of the first things a physician would think of, when someone describes the symptoms that I had. The vertigo is extremely terrifying, because there is a spinning sensation which cannot be relieved, even when lying down. I believe this is what causes the nausea.
Symptoms
- Patient often wakes up with extreme vertigo
- It gets worse with any movement
- Sometimes quite significant nausea
- Staggering and feeling of being unbalanced
- Exhaustion from the stress
- Head or whiplash injury
- Ear aging
- Stress
- Unknown causes
My inspiration for posting this week came about when a friend who’d promised to meet with me explained he was so ill it was impossible even to lift his head. He was taken to emergency, and after checking him thoroughly the doctor told him he had BPPV.
Well, misery loves company, so it made me think of my own time of suffering this! I especially wanted him to know it would disappear as quickly as it started.
For anyone out here who might be going through this same incredible discomfort, I’m hoping this will be of help to you too! If you feel a connection, or can offer your own advice, please think about leaving a comment below!
Hoyas are tricky with getting them to bloom the first time. They’re actually succulents, so you have to leave them to get dryish, and then they are stressed, so they will bloom! After the first time they seem to continue with blooming more and more profusely.
Don’t pamper them. They hate that. And don’t take off the spent blooming stalks, because that’s where they bloom from forever after!
Hoyas grow naturally in tropical areas. That’s why they have to live in my sunroom. You can grow them in your home, as long as you give them plenty of filtered light. Their gorgeous waxy flowers combined with beautiful perfume make them worthwhile to grow.