Does anyone suffer spells of dizziness?

I sometimes get a weird kind of dizziness. It feels like the inside of my head is being gently squeezed or rolled around. I also have Tinnitus (whooshing and or high pitch noises) which can add to the discomfort. On occassions the noises in my head can be loud and suddenly change like the flick of a switch to a low sound. At this point the front of my head seems to tighten which startles me. The dizziness only happens on occassions but I'm really getting fed up with it.

[nana23]

hi iain25,

i suffer with dizziness quite a lot. i get a pounding headache and then my ears go funny, like i'm under water. it used to happen several times a day for a couple of days and then go away but over the last month/6 weeks it has been non stop and a few times i have nearly passed out. gp has now given me prochorazepine maleate to take 3 times a day and (touch wood) these have reduced the amount of dizzy spells and the severity xx

[tedjohnson]

Dear Iain 25 Yes I also get dizziness and have had tinitus for several years Not sure

whether the dizziness is part of the Ataxia but at times it effects my eye sight

I have to take blood pressure tablets and they both warn of dizziness and sight problems as a side effect WHO KNOWS ??! Keep smiling!!! Tedjohnson

[Fifa Volunteer]

Hello Iain

I cannot look from side to side or up without experiencing a funny experience. It feels like dizzyness but goes as quickly as it comes. I think it is loss of balance more than anything else. All I know is it makes me feel lousy.

Take care

Regards

Fifa

[silkwood]

Hi Iain

Don't get head aches or problems with my ears but I can't turn my head or focus very well.That's when I am likely to fall over. I am used to the room spinning round so it is a sort of dizziness.It's a bit like getting off a roundabout.\The specialists went down that route first before the diagnosis of CA.Is it not coz our eyes don't focus properly and that leads to what we call diziness.That's what you told me and it makes sense.That is why the optician can find nothing wrong with my sight but they won't give me varifocals as I can't adjust from shortr distances to long suddenly.

Marie

[marshmallowpixie]

Hi Iain

I get dizzy fairly often, especially when i stand up from sitting, my sight goes funny and i also get hot and "tingly". I also get the tightness in my head that you describe. I have in the past had blackouts/episodes where ive lost control altogether, although (touch wood) not for a while.

Doctors are not sure what causes it but have recently had heart tests, whether its that or another ataxia related joy i dont know.

Maybe just one of those things!

[Hidden]

Thanks for your replys. I'm confused about the whole problem because my sight (eyes) seem to be fine and like yourself Marie the optician doesn't see any problem.

The way you describe the underwater feeling Nana is simmilar to what I experience too but I don't get many headaches (although I used to).

I have had my blood pressure checked Ted and again this seems to be okay as well although at times it does affect my sight when I feel this weird kind of dizziness.

The feeling I get does make me feel lousy Carol but unlike you explain, (ie it comes and goes quickly) it stays with me for a good while (hours or days or longer).

Also when I lie down in bed I always get an intense dizzy feeling that only lasts for a few seconds and goes away. A doctor at the hospital explained that it sounds like an inner ear problem that causes it. He also said that although the cerebellum is not directly linked to the inner ear there is a connection or message sent from the cerebellum to this part of the brain which causes the dizziness? I'm so confused! Is it all related? I don't have a clue but it frustrates me.

What I'd like to ask now is vestibular (inner ear) ataxia related in any way to cerabellar ataxia?

[Hidden]

Interesting reply Marshmalloepixie. I usually find myself to be very unstable whenever I get up either during the night or first thing in the morning. When I was young after a road accident I had a mild form of epilepsie where I would stare into space. I was on a medicine called phenitone? for a few years. I have been clear of this for many years now but I have to declair any kind of dizziness ocurrence to the DVLA which I have already done. Thank you.

[marshmallowpixie]

Its been suggested many times about epilepsy but never really confirmed or thrown out. When i was young i was put on ritalin

[Razzy]

Hi Ian25

I suffer severe dizziness constantly and they said it was vertigo, its like being extremely drunk with the whole room spinning round me, I have also started with Migraine headaches in the past 2/3 years, I tried to explain the feeling I get when I last saw DR at the Ataxia clinic, right down to getting pins and needles in the roots of my hair, it is a weird sensation, but MRI, and the electro nerve conductive test showed no reason for this and my ears were found to be fine. When it gets really bad it feels as though my head is to heavy for my neck to support it,and when I walk it is like being in an elivator that starts and stops all the time

[moonstonebright]

Hi, i do suffer with dizziness quite often and thought it might be Labarynthitis but I think it happens too often for it to be this so it's possible Fibromyalgia related? I don't have Tinnitus though thank goodness!

[Hidden]

Its possible that I may have a form of Labarynthitis according info I just looked up on this. I'll talk to my doctor about this before jumping to any conclusions though. Thanks moonstonebright.

[moonstonebright]

no problem Iain25. If it is that it's a virus so i'm not sure there is anything they can give you to help. Good luck, I hope you feel better soon.

[joybells]

I also get dizziness a lot, on a bad day,it is extreme vertigo and can't move my head and neck at all but, even when i think i'm having a normal day, if i do too much physical movement, or even just a little walking around the house, it seems to bring on light to medium dizziness amd that brings on the balance problems more and have to sit and rest or lie down flat again. I had many many tests, to include mri of ear,for labarynthitis at the very beginning of my symptoms and everything came back completely normal and nothing wrong, so this might be a waste of your time ( especially our time, when good, is precious) as it appears to be just another one of many symptoms, connected to this unfortunate illness.

joybells

[Hidden]

I can relate to you're symptoms Joybells but only once have I experienced vertigo and that was a couple of years ago. I think my problem lies within the inner ear but its not vertigo (I don't thibnk?).

[lindilu]

I feel as if there is a fog cloud in my head most of the time with occasional dizziness which neurologist puts down to MSA blood pressure changes.

[jurgen]

H "Ian"i,

you should have tagged your question.

Love

[Hidden]

Don't know of any links to tag the question to, Jurgen. Thats why I asked the question on the forum.

[neta]

I know you submitted this a while ago. But isn't dizziness the name of the game?

[Hidden in reply to neta]

Not sure what you mean by, 'the name of the game' Neta? Not quite sure that having dizziness is expected in all ataxias, if thats what you mean?

[neta in reply to Hidden]

I thought dizziness was the first and most consistent feeling in ataxia of any kind.

That's what I meant. Yes, I know there are other symptoms but dizziness leads to many other disasters such as walking with difficulty, falling, on and on. No?