I’ve been having short transient dizzy spells for a couple of weeks, then 2 nights ago had severe attack after sitting on the floor with head down working on a project.
While sitting, I felt funny then tried to stand up, couldn’t walk right, felt drunk and for about 15 minutes struggled to not pass out. Scared husband who called for ambulance afraid I was having a stroke. In ambulance, paramedic did EKG and mentioned bundle branch. Hospital EKG showed nothing abnormal. Hospital diagnosis was vertigo. I am not convinced this wasn’t heart related. I guess I should bring it up to cardiologist. Not sure where bundle branch comment came from and why ER doc didn’t say anything about it.
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About ten years ago I had a bout of viral labrinthitis. Called emergency doctor who came and gave me an injection to stop constant vomitting and pills to help (Stemetil). Cleared up after about three or four days but ever since maybe twice a year I will have a day or two of it though not as bad (no vomitting). The first couple of days I was on all fours crawling round with a bowl!
Then you have obviously never had viral labrinthitis! It is like sea sickness only worse. Any movement and your balance goes. I was on all fours as I couldn't stand up. I had to have an injection to stop it as I was seriously de-hydrated after five hours of constant vomitting.
I've had Shagala - a diarhiea and vommitting brought in by one of the disabled children. Highly infectious we had children in hospital whilst we nurse carers were all sent home.
I take sea sick legs if I think I might have motion sickness.
Vertigo is not always spinning it can be a feeling of light headedness, swaying and feeling unbalanced. "Vertigo is a symptom that causes a person to feel like they or their surroundings are moving, even when they are not. It can feel like spinning, swaying, or dizziness, and can be so severe that it makes it hard to stand or walk. Vertigo can also cause nausea, vomiting, perspiration, and difficulty walking"
If you've had vertigo you would know. Room spins, can't stand and feel like throwing up thats what I had with vertigo. Could only lie face down, eyes closed to stop room spinning otherwise felt I would pass out.
l have had vertigo several times and it isn’t a very pleasant experience. It stems from an imbalance in the inner ear. Crystals in the ear drum become dislodged, by movement, which causes the dizziness. I have had vertigo just turning over in bed. Did they give you medication? It should clear up on its own eventually. I think lots of us get it on here. If the hospital checked you out you will be ok. It does feel like something serious, but it’s not, and is quite a common condition.
I have now talked with 2 people who have had this same thing. My brother in law who is in persistent Afib. And a friend today has it and told me to fill the prescription the ER doc gave me. She said I will need it on hand for when it happens again. That’s 2 people who get it pretty regularly now. I can’t believe I never heard of vertigo with such crazy effects. Dizzy is one thing but feeling like the drunkest I could ever be was so weird and unexpected. I hope I don’t have to live in fear of this now. I have a busy work schedule with some travel and oftentimes alone, I can’t imagine having a severe spell in certain situations.
I lived in fear of my heart for several years, now this? I hope it was just a one time thing.
I don’t think it should stop you from living a normal life. Keep your medication with you. I don’t get it very often now. Perhaps every couple of years. A cold can set it off. Try not to let it worry you, it will go away. 🥰
Vertigo is I would describe it as the world spinning.
I'm forgetting I have had it twice through once an hour prior knocked my head when I drove I had to go around a roundabout and coming out of it (full circle as I missed turning off). I slowed turned right - I could see the road, parked at hers. Waited in car, had to hold onto an upright, got inside and asked for a drink of water warm.
Another time I had been bending over. Sunny day and could have been dehydrated.
But I had a friend who was on depressants had vertigo alot. She moved away so I don't know how she is doing.
Hi Cheri I've been reading your post with interest.Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions.I have AFib SVT which is well managed and am waiting on a ablation.I am 53 and have good fitness.Recently I have had a weird experience whilst driving the road ahead seemed to move along with everything around me it felt weird like i was losing consciousness but was awake no sick feeling.During the rest of the day when I looked up or moved quickly i felt a bit dizzy and sensitive to light.Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.Kind Regards Andrew
As my Chemist said when crystals move in the inner ear they can cause havoc or an ear infection.
My world was on the move from left to right or was it right to left.
A bump sideways and the roundabout did it. Getting up awkwardly in moving my head and perhaps dehydrated bending over in the hot sun.
As I have AF persistently vertigo has onlyy been since I have had it but I don't know whether it has anything to do with it.
I couldn't have kept on driving. If I remember the 1/2 frame ahead whilst driving stayed still.
No like you describe it. I guess.
Ablation well I can never have one and listening to others and the scarring I wouldn't entertain it. No reverse to scarring. My night heart rate is normally low at 47avge bpm.
Meds keep my H/Rate Day controlled and another controls my BP.
Migraines are awful. My mum had them from a teenager, all her life. Your headaches could be from your ears or sinuses. They are all connected - ear, nose and throat - combined department at the hospital. Cheerful info. for you. 😂😂😂 All the symptoms you are having should lessen in a few days. Hope you soon feel better. Try and relax as much as you are able, good deep breathing and telling yourself it will go. Let us know how you are. Take care.
I have had this. It started during an afib attack and wore off a few hours later when attack ended. But when I got up to go to the loo during the night I had exactly the symptoms you describe. I had to hang onto furniture to get to the loo and back to bed and my legs felt very wobbly. I went to A&E the next day as the vertigo and unsteadiness continued and I was worried it was a stroke.They gave me some meds iv then a prescription for the same stuff orally. I had a cat scan which showed nothing and the doc I saw said probably inner ear, The dizziness on changing position especially turning in bed lasted a few weeks gradually wearing off. The unsteadiness walking luckily only lasted about 24 hrs. My GP said the meds they gave are pretty useless (my judgement too) and said I should have been given a prescription for a series of sessions with the physio. There are exercises which you can do to reset the crystals in the ear.
Exactly the same as me terrible experience, went to bed fine turned over in bed went drunk couldn't stand up fell back on bed , wife called ambulance was in A and E 9 hours tests and head scan , same ear related
It’s so frightening. I felt like l was on a boat on the sea in a storm. The doctor said it’s like being drunk without the pleasure of!! I get it every so often, but very wary and slow when getting out of bed. Just another burden. 😄
I once had the same as you, felt dizzy, poured with sweat and struggled to keep conscious. I was convinced I was having a heart attack, dialled 999 and when ambulance came a paramedic took my pulse from my wrist, it was my normal 60ish. I was feeling just a little better by this time but when they did an ECG my pulse was 160bpm. Goodness knows what it had been when I felt so ill. The paramedics had never seen a discrepancy like this before and it was a topic for a lot of conversation. I was taken to hospital and there a heart consultant when I asked him about it said he had seen it before.
I was admitted to a hospital ward, can't remember any more than that. At one time I did have quite a few episodes necessitating me staying in hospital, fortunately I've not had anything like that for many years now. My third ablation and changing my diet now manages to keep my pulse down to 60-90bpm.
I would now never trust a pulse rate taken at my wrist, as back then my heart was going too fast to record correctly there.
I hope your event will be a one off experience like mine was.
I hope it is a one off too. I don’t want to live in fear of having another attack of this. I had heard of vertigo but just thought it was dizziness. This was like I was falling down drunk, but had no alcohol. Weirdest thing. I’m glad you haven’t had it in years now. I pray I never get it again but now worried it could happen out of nowhere again and where it might happen. I travel some for work and am oftentimes alone out in the field in all types of weather. I was thankful this happened when I was home and my husband was there.
I think it was odd that the paramedic asked if anyone had mentioned a bundle branch before. This was after he did the ekg. No one has ever mentioned that to me.
I had vertigo for several years which varied to a mild feeling of unwell to full blown whirlies. The docs ran some tests and said it was my right inner ear and gave me a rx for sea sickness.
I saw a massage therapist who told me the muscles that anchored near my inner ear were very tight and that that could distort my inner ear just enough to cause the vertigo. She got them to release and sent me home with some exercises to keep them relaxed.
It did the trick. Lots of road and mountain biking positioned me to have to hold my head up while I was bent over peddling. That was the cause of the upper back, neck muscle tightness. I cut back my biking and it went away completley. The MDs missed it completley.
Yes I had very mild vertigo but for seconds rather than minutes this time.
2 days after COVID jab but I had diagnosed UTI as well. When Dr gave me course of AMOZIL-CLAV it disappeared. My friendly Chemist lady said "You could have had an inner ear infectio and that's why it cleared up with antibiotics.
But that Thursday and Friday I had 2 flips of heart on Thurs and 1 on Friday day 2 and 3 after COVID Jab. I never get pain, palpations no flutters with my persistent AF. Rapid under control.
As a precautio around my COVID jab I took 1 x Amozil-Clav before and 1 after 8 hours apart. Just as well my Chemist said. She commented there was a risk if I did not keep up with them too.
Oh dear life is full of risks medically and physically with not forgetting pschological risk too.
I have a loop recorder. I went through a period where I had bouts of vertigo and recorded a few of them on my loop recorder and my cardiologist couldn’t see any change around those events. It’s more likely something in the ear as others have said.
I have BPPV (benign positional paroxysmal vertigo) nasty thing to have!! As someone has already described, it’s when crystals get dislodged and float about in your canal in the middle ear, so when you move they ‘go crazy’ and it disrupts your balance big time and makes you feel very nauseous. I have had treatment (Epley manoeuvre) for it many times, which is quick and corrects the balance. I have to be very careful not to bend down or look up, even turning over in bed causes slight dizziness. I have medication at hand, (given to me from GP) to help stop the spinning feeling and to help settle down. I hope you can get a diagnosis and some treatment/medication for it so that if it happens again you’ll be more confident that it is BPPV and nothing more than that! Good luck 😊😊
This might help, I get the prescription version of meclizine for my vertigo. But you can get it over the counter as Less Drowsy Dramamine. Check the ingredient list for either Meclizine or Antivert, it is the same thing. You can verify this with a quick google search. It should also help with nausea. In the UK, I believe it is sold as bonine. I have been taking it for the past 4 years, and it works for me when mine gets bad. The tablets can be cut in half if it makes you too drowsy, it comes in 25mg over the counter and that dosage makes me sleepy. But I would rather take a sleep than be miserable.
You should also check your blood pressure to make sure it stays in a normal range. If not, you should contact your doctor and let know what is going on. Actually, you should talk to them either way. Just be careful and avoid doing anything that could be dangerous until you get things figured out.
Thank you kliving. My doctor gave me a script for anti vert but have not gotten it filled. A friend told me yesterday I need to always keep it on hand. My head feels fine today but ears are ringing. They rang during the big episode too. I’ll tell my chiropractor on next visit too. She is good about fixing almost everything when weird things pop up.
Ok, just some additional info then. I would recommend keeping some with you until you get it worked out as well. I usually have a few in my truck in case I need while I am out. The ringing in the ears (tinnitus) with vertigo "could" be something called Ménière's disease. But you would really need to get a doctor to check that out. I also recommend keeping track of blood pressure, as it could be related to both issues. The antivert should help with the dizziness for either reason, but it would be good to know why it is happening. The best thing you can do if you are to get caught unaware is to find a place to sit down (laying down is just as good, if possible) until the worst passes. Mine can last an hour or a few days sometimes. Make a plan to work around and try to be flexible. Be safe!
Could be labrynthitis. I get it off and on, your doctor can diagnose it in a few minutes by getting you to touch various parts of your body in certain ways - that indicates if stroke is likely. The tablets you get work very quickly, they usually have you back in 3 days or so to see how you are - you should feel much better, if not they'd have you checked. But it's very, very scary when it happens,and alas it does recur. My doctor tells me always to have a supply of the pills, especially for going on holiday - air travel particularly.
As Blueflags says, it sounds as if you may have BPPV and this can be corrected with the Epley manoeuvre, a series of head movements while lying on a bed with your head hanging over the edge. Your GP can do this at the surgery or you can do it yourself at home, preferably with a friend on hand to help.
Ask your GP to send you an instruction leaflet if you want to do it yourself.
It happened to me two years ago. I did the manoeuvre twice and it has not happened again.
Thank you Engineer 46, I have been doing this maneuver and have not had another bad episode. Some ringing in ears this morning but that I can manage and doesn’t scare me.
I’ve suffered from persistent Vertigo as well as persistent AF for most of my 55 years. For the last 15 years or so my Vertigo is controlled to a degree by migraine medication Topirimate. Cardiologist insists it’s not heart related but I’m not convinced.
I have had vertigo/dizziness on and off for years. I take Dramamine (in US) for it. I also had PT to get the crystals back into place, which I thought was malarkey! Recently I had a bout with vertigo that I think was caused by taking melatonin for sleep issues. I took it for two nights noticed the vertigo. Stopped taking melatonin and it stopped dead cold! My son also takes melatonin, and he said he had a similar problem. Sometimes interactions between meds or the meds themselves can cause this problem also. Good luck, because it is an awful, scary problem!
If you do the Eply maneuver on yourself (Google for instructions), at one point your eyes will start to twitch....that let's you know you're doing the correct ear, so change position of your head if you don't get that effect. If the eye twitching doesn't occur on either side, I believe one could rule out ear crystals as the culprit. Maybe best to start with that rather than adding even more medications....
Re Joyelane's comment. I've never heard about "eye-twitching" when doing the Epley Manoeuvre and it didn't occur when I did it. You may however experience vertigo while performing the manoeuvre. I don't believe that absence of "eye-twitching" rules out BPPV.
Here is a link to an NHS leaflet on BPPV and the Epley Manoeuvre:
My symptoms of vertigo were dizziness (room swimming around) when:
1. Sitting up in bed first thing in the morning. Once the dizziness stopped (about 20 seconds) I could stand up and carry on as normal.
2. Looking down with head bent forward or looking up with head bent backward. Again, once my head was back in a normal position, after a short pause I could carry on.
When I had the big episode I was sitting on the floor with my head down working for a prolonged amount of time. I won’t be doing that anymore. Even looking down at my phone is causing mild dizziness. I am having to hold my neck up.
I delt with myself several years ago and it is not pleaseant. Someone suggested that video and it helped 100%. youtu.be/mQR6b7CAiqk?si=HTQ.... Here is a video from a Dr. that explains it and what to do to help it. All the best!
It sounds like vertigo from the ears. I have LBBB (one of the two bundle branch blocks). It can cause low heart rate and feelings of spaciness, and I have had slight dizziness.
If you can take an ECG when you feel this way, see if it shows a "wide" set of peaks (see mine, below). When I get symptoms, without actual AF or multiple ectopics, I tend to see the bundle block effect (i.e. wider peaks) despite being in normal (NSR) rhythm. Clearly the LBBB is affecting my heart's output and causing symptoms.
It's odd that the doctor didn't see this in the hospital, but these blocks do switch on and off, for sure, at least mine does. I posted a thread about this only the other day and it's clear that, although it's not a common condition, a few others suffer similarly.
Steve
Apple Watch ECG showing bundle block with wide QRS.
Thank you for this. The ekg in the ambulance must have prompted the paramedic to mention this. They did another ekg in ER that doctor said showed normal. So, you can show NSR but still have a bundle branch block it sounds like? My husband checked my finger heart and oxygen monitor before ambulance arrived and heart rate was normal but jumped up once to 116 then right back down into 60’s and 70’s.
It seems it does come and go, or at least vary in intensity. There are two sets of conduction channels, like wires, that feed each side of the heart's bottom chambers and give the signal to contract and pump blood around the body (left ventricle) and lungs (right ventricle). These receive their own signal from a "bundle" of cells at the top of the ventricles, just below the atrium, which is the heart's second pacemaker, called the atria-ventricular (AV) node. They are called "bundle branches" - left and right. For a range of reasons, the conduction can be slowed or blocked. This should mean that the side they feed fails to contract.
But the heart is clever, thankfully, and the affected side still contracts by picking up the signal that the other side has already started to do so, and follows suit, but a touch later than it should. This causes a wide "R" peak on an ECG. There are actually two peaks on everyone's ECG, but since both sides contract simultaneously, it looks like one peak. In bundle block, the slowed chamber isn't slowed enough to show two separate peaks, just enough to make the peak look wide or even notched at the top.
This is likely what the ambulance personnel saw. Since it mostly causes no symptoms, it seems it's often ignored. I was told once that it's of no consequence, but it has started to cause symptoms - or seems to (as others here find). Why most don't matter, but some do, has never been explained to me. Information on the internet isn't wonderfully clear, either.
I have had Afib several years ago but had a cardioversion and reverted to NSR since, thank goodness. Have had a few spells of severe vertigo since: one lasted 3 days, the one today just a few minutes. I was told, by an audiologist, that it was ear crystals moving around. Horrible when it happens though. Just try to relax and lie down. I don't think it's related to Afib, necessarily. But best to check it out.
Oh, so sorry you’ve had this experience. My first bout of vertigo was about 10 years. It was as you described, so much more than just dizzy. But world spinning uncontrollably. Went the emergency room, they were concerned it might be a stroke. But quickly became evident it was vertigo. Drugs helped. Have had bouts since then, but they’re so much milder. Usually sidelines me for a day. A nurse once told me that the first bout is always the worst. She said she gets it too. Never thought about it being heart related. Not sure what the connection might be?
Maybe just the ear crystals but found it odd that the paramedic mentioned the bundle branch block. It was of no relevance to the ER doctor who said it was crystals in the ear.
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Had a funny turn on the train - possibly AF?
Diagnosed with stable angina 
Heart raced after 1 month and a half but EKG still normal and looks good? 
1st time poster
