Natalia wrote on May 15th, 2009, 1:00am:Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Last year, before I went to my GP, i read a lot about PPV and was hoping that's what it was. My GP did do the tests turning the head etc but still wasn't sure. He did the eppley last year in the hope that it'd help, and the spells diminished but didn't go away completely. he did say to sleep elevated that night and I did.
The problem is he wasn't entirely sure what was causing it as it didn't seem as predictable, it can happen even if I'm standing and looking straight, just out of the blue. And makes me feel a bit unsteady in general sometimes.....
I'm not sure if this is connected with the severe dizziness i had 8 years ago. I've decided to ask RLR because my GP unfortunately has no idea.
Seriously, your GP did an epley without knowing which ear was affected?? Hmm really, maybe you should see an ear/nose/throat guy. o.O When I had BPPV it would sometimes strike out of the blue as well, when just standing normally... as I understand it, you have particles loose in your inner ear canals (the canals are responsible for your balance), and when they float around as you tilt your head or what have you, they brush hairs that trigger the vertigo. Sometimes the particle may get stuck somewhere and you'll be fine, then it will break loose and drift, causing a spell that seems to hit out of nowhere.
If the epley helped, but didn't completely stop the vertigo spells, its possible you had multiple particles and most of them were moved somewhere they couldn't affect you by the maneuver... but you may have had one left over. It's usually not to worry about as they eventually settle or your inner ear gets desensitized to them a bit... I think that's what's happened with mine since I still get a little vertigo sometimes when I roll over from my right side to my left. My original attack was so bad I had to take motion sickness countermeasures.
Also, the BPPV can be cured and go away entirely and still come back... because there's nothing stopping you getting more particles! If I remember correctly they can break off of a small bone in your inner ear, and nobody is sure why they do.
If you still have vertigo attacks bad enough to interfere with your life or put you in indirect danger (by falling down), try finding an ear/nose/throat specialist, they know the most about BPPV and fixing it... but if you're okay, just wait for it to pass... it's another one of those things that is annoying and potentially frightening, but not dangerous.