Dizziness is common in Parkinson's. A recent study broke down the causes like this: "57 (38%) of the dizzy patients had orthostatic hypotension [OH]; 12 patients (8%) had a classical but previously unrecognized benign paroxysmal positional vertigo [BPPV]. A further four patients (3%) had a more atypical presentation of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo." This leaves about half the dizzy Parkinson's patients with unknown cause. bit.ly/2GnpphJ
You can actually do the checks for OH and BPPV at home if you are so inclined. Checking for orthostatic hypotension requires a good blood-pressure cuff and measuring blood pressure both lying down and standing. Orthostatic hypotension is defined as a drop of 20 points of the systolic blood pressure reading. Systolic is the higher of the two blood pressure numbers.
Test for BPPV involves doing something called the "Dix–Hallpike maneuver". This is a short sequence of motions as shown in these YouTube videos. bit.ly/2GnpGBh
Orthostatic hypotension is frequently caused by dopamine agonists (DAs) but can also be caused by Parkinson's itself and some other Parkinson's medications. If a dopamine agonist is suspected it must be tapered if it has been used for any length of time. Orthostatic hypotension is not true dizziness but rather "lightheadedness".
The remedy for BPPV is the Epley maneuver as shown in these YouTube videos bit.ly/2GnpGBh Afterwards the patient is supposed keep the head upright for the next 48 hours, however, this study showed it did not make much difference. bit.ly/2DIfBgp
Here is a site with a good list of the various vestibular disorders any of which can cause dizziness: bit.ly/19SEKyv
For general symptomatic relief of true dizziness meclizine helps a bit. Scopolamine patches are highly effective but they require a prescription.
If you have experienced dizziness, tinnitus or hearing loss in connection with PD this is a good place to tell your story.
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park_bear
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I had BPPV the same year I was diagnosed. It was awful and it took 6 months before I found someone to give me Epley which removed it instantly. Has not reoccurred. Diagnosed accurately by my neuro but not his problem (nor my GP's) ... I got lucky with the locum neuro.
Standing/walking on two feet stably seems less automatic than before. Mostly appears to be due to my slow PD reactions. Exercise and muscle strengthening definitely helps!
I have also experienced increased tinnitus (ringing in ears) and my hearing tested way worse than expected. I am suspecting these things are all undocumented features of Parkinson's. I found this bit of research saying that hearing loss is associated with increased risk of Parkinson's but I think it is the other way around: "The incidence of Parkinson's disease in the hearing loss group was 1.77-fold higher than that in the non-hearing-loss group (3.11 vs. 1.76 per 1000 person-years). After controlling for confounding factors, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of Parkinson's disease was 1.53 (95% CI 1.17, 1.99) for the hearing loss group compared with the non-hearing-loss group."
A student essay is titled "Role of alpha synuclein in noise induced hearing loss". Much is academic form, but there is a section about hearing loss ans alpha-synuclein. Search the essay for synuclein and you'll find the relevant section. Be forewarned, the essay does not provide a magic elixir formula but may provide some insights.
Role of alpha synuclein in noise induced hearing loss.
I've tried posting a link several times but it doesn't work. Try looking this up on YouTube yourself under this name. You've got the right video if it's four minutes and 43 seconds and there's a guy a light blue shirt sitting at a desk.
People with Tinnitus try the "Reddit Tinnitus Cure" | Blissful Thinking
Thanks for trying. Tinnitus does not bother me all that much. I tried the procedure in the video and it did not make any difference difference for me. Apparently half the people are helped which is pretty good for such a simple idea.
A little story: I have always had low blood pressure. Had hip replacement and stopped breathing afterwards, which got me to intensive care, where two days later they had me situp.......got dizzy and passed out! Another day and they sent me home.....no problems since. So dizzyness/orthostatic hypotention/parkinson can be aggravated by anesthetics.
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