Vertigo feeling nervous

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profbee
profbee Member Posts: 858
edited September 2016 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Hi, gang! I'm a lucky one. I had a complete pathological response a few years back. I was super active on these boards, but haven't been for a while...not that I don't think of you all every day.

So, right now....allergies stink. I'm on Claritin and some nose spray...yadda yadda yadda. I can feel that there is fluid in my ear. (No sign of infection). I went to my primary care. I'm having vertigo...not dizzy...the room SPINS.

They did a little test where I laid back and yep...spins. Then the PA called in two more people to see my eye movement. Vertical Nystagma. MRI ordered.

Everything I'm seeing online seems to indicate that if your world is spinning vertically that's not great. LIke brain lesions not great. Anybody else have a different outcome? I've got an MRI scheduled for the end of the day tomorrow...so you know I won't hear anything until next week most likely. ugh.

Just when you're feeling like BC is in your past...it sneaks in here with a scare. I'm trying to not be an alarmist about this, but I knew just where to turn when I started to worry....to you, my sisters.

Lots of love to all of you...especially those in a spot not this rosy.


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  • NeverForsaken
    NeverForsaken Member Posts: 175
    edited June 2015

    Sorry you're having to go through all of this scary stuff again, Profbee...I know exactly how you feel. I thought I had brain mets too, especially being HER2 Pos. My symptoms were and still are: A heavy feeling in my head, and a feeling like I am being pulled to the left when I stand or walk, a spinning sensation upon lying down or rising from bed, forgetfulness and an inability to concentrate.

    BC is always looming over our heads, but once in a while the clouds clear away, and it is bright and sunny once again, and we feel like our old normal...Then BOOM! Thunder rolls in to remind us that we have a new normal now.

    So, I had an MRI last August, and they found a BENIGN lesion...we did a follow-up MRI at the end of November, and the lesion was stable. Both my MO and Primary believe my balance issue to be related to allergies. I also had a nearly non-stop runny nose all throughout chemo and Herceptin (even while having Herceptin only) in fact, my runny nose just stopped last month One year past chemo, and five months post Herceptin only!

    So far nobody seems to know what the lesion is from. It could be normal aging, something I've had since birth, or a calcification. I see my MO for the first time in six months next week (June 8) the day before my 50th B-day. My treatment ended as of the first of this year, and I am a little nervous...but I have faith in God who has written out my whole life story.

    Blessings & Love to you, Profbee

    Lisa

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited June 2015

    Do you have MRI results yet? I hope there is some benign explanation for your symptoms.

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  • thrifty1
    thrifty1 Member Posts: 67
    edited June 2015

    profbee...I am having same issues as you. Heavy feeling in head and dizzy. This has been going on for about a month now, but finally put a call into dr this morning. He is ordering a brain MRI. I can't help but think the worst, praying just inner ear issues. Hope you have good results with your test too...any word yet?

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  • cbm
    cbm Member Posts: 475
    edited June 2015

    Hi, profbee. I developed severe vertigo while in chemo in 2008, and ended up in my ENT doctor's office. They sent me to the American Balance Institute's local office, and after a bunch of nauseating tests I was diagnosed with BPPV. You can look it up on the Google, of course, but it stands for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and it happens when the ball bearings in your ear canal slip out of their pathways and don't get absorbed fast enough, and your brain continues to think they are where they are supposed to be. Eye movements do contribute to the diagnosis, but the tests for this are sufficiently sophisticated that my ENT won't comment without them, and won't just look at my eyes. And I use the present tense because this condition comes back from time to time. It is not uncommon in women who have difficulty absorbing Vitamin D. Which also happens to relate to breast cancer, according to my oncologist.

    The treatment is also illustrated in different places online, but involves maneuvering the body to roll the little ball bearings back into place. Yes, it really is that mechanical.

    I hope for the best for you; my own experience was terrifying (the first time) but please know that there may be other possible reasons for what you are experiencing.

    Warmly,

    Cathy

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  • profbee
    profbee Member Posts: 858
    edited June 2015

    Hi, everyone! PHEW! MRI ALL CLEAR!!!!!! Thanks so much, my dear community! I'm sure it's inner ear issues related to allergies. But boy did they scare me. So, yay. I don't have to return to great new Tahari suit I just bought. (First thing I thought of in the neurotic throws of hoping I am not having a recurrence! The things I think of!) ENT appt for next Monday. I'll let you know what they say. Thanks all!

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  • Luvmydobies
    Luvmydobies Member Posts: 766
    edited June 2015

    So glad the MRI was clean! I've been watching this thread but couldn't respond earlier. My iPhone was acting up and I wasn't close to a computer. Did they give you anything for the vertigo until you see the ENT? Vertigo is scary!

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  • suems
    suems Member Posts: 133
    edited June 2015

    I too feel like I am living in a rollercoaster. My mind jumped to all sorts of conclusions, right up to brain mets. My family doctor has diagnosed BPPV, since I have no headache or nausea - just the awful feeling that the room is spinning every time I move my head.

    She also said I may have "rocks in the head" - sounds more dramatic than the ball-bearing description, and suggested an Osteopath.I'm a chronic skeptic, but has anyone here tried an osteopath for vertigo?

    She gave me some Antinaus (Prochlorperazine Maleate 5mg) tablets and told me to take 1 or 2 every 6 hours.The first one did nothing, so I took 2 the next morning. Woke up 5 hours later still spinning. Luckily she had warned me it may make me a little sleepy, but DAMN that was a a quick knockout - I won't be doing that again!

    I will be seeing my oncologist in the next couple of weeks, so she has written him a note to follow-up. I'm feeling a bit better today, so hopefully it was just an inner ear virus or something that is fading away.

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  • Stephmoen
    Stephmoen Member Posts: 563
    edited June 2015

    yay happy it's clear I was following this thread hoping for good news

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  • thrifty1
    thrifty1 Member Posts: 67
    edited June 2015

    Profbee....yay!! I'm so relieved and happy to see positive results on your MRI...not as much as you I'm sure, but this is very reassuring to me. Friday cannot come soon enough!! I will keep you all posted on my results as well :);)



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  • NeverForsaken
    NeverForsaken Member Posts: 175
    edited June 2015


    Yay! (doing the happy dance for you, Profbee!!)

    I went to my MO yesterday and he is sending me for physical therapy starting this Thursday for evaluation on the balance/dizzy problem. I go to my GP tomorrow and will ask what he thinks...Strange nobody has sent me to an ENT speacialist all these many months.

    I truly think it is something like you ladies have described...rocks in my head, lol! (don't tell my husband that one).

    I will check back on here for updates on you all.

    Oh, by the way I tried some of that motion sickness med...Metazoan I think it's called...I'm glad I wasn't driving after taking it...put me out fast! I will not be taking that again either. 

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  • suems
    suems Member Posts: 133
    edited June 2015

    Update: The right side of my head feels twice as heavy as the left, and I keep listing to the right. I feel I can't walk in a straight line without turning right - Not good in a messy house!

    I will contact my doc and see if this is an ear infection, maybe antibiotics needed?

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  • heartnsoul76
    heartnsoul76 Member Posts: 1,648
    edited June 2015

    Hi all!

    I was having vertigo about 30 times per day and, combined with other SEs like increased neuropathy, I decided to quit Tamoxifen. I had been on it for 3 years, 10 months. About a week or so later, my vertigo decreased to about 5 times per day and 5 months later I noticed I wasn't having it any more at all.

    I doubt if dizziness is listed as a SE of Tamoxifen, but I think it was for me (although my MO said it was just a coincidence).

    I hope everyone's dizziness resolves soon.

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  • profbee
    profbee Member Posts: 858
    edited September 2016

    Wondering how Sue is doing. Mine was those "rocks in my head!" There are some crystals in your ears that go the wrong way in your tubes. i went to an audiologist. This may sound crazy but basically she moved my head all around, and voila! FIXED. Docs said this didn't do it...but I slept with ear buds in and felt dizzy. Using the big foam earphones, I was fine. So, no earbuds for me!! Love to you all!

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  • NeverForsaken
    NeverForsaken Member Posts: 175
    edited September 2016

    I hope this gets resolved for you, profbee. I am still dealing with it myself. My head feels so heavy most of the time, and my sinuses are a mess still..and its more than a year since I last commented on here.


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