It happened again

The vertigo came back again last Wed night just as I had settled into bed and was about to drift off to sleep. I remember thinking 'Sh it' as the familiar sensation of spinning started up again. I managed to get out of bed and took some leftover medication from last week which was supposed to help the spinning and giddiness to stop and prayed that it would be over by the time I woke up the next morning.

The spinning didn't stop when I got up, but the pain didn't seem so bad, so I got ready and went to work. Big mistake. I took a taxi in, thinking it wouldn't be safe to drive, but the taxi ride made me feel so ill and made my head ache 1,00 times more that I threw up. Went to the doctor and he gave me more medication (but couldn't pinpoint why I was getting another attack, he said sometimes these things just happen) and I went back home again and went to sleep. Luckily when I woke up later in the afternoon, the painkiller had taken effect and the pain had disappeared. The spinning still remained everytime I tilted my head to the left, though. I slept off and on throughout the day and night and by the next day on Fri, was much better, although the spinning hadn't stopped, albeit with less intensity.

My boss recommended me to a GP, who had recently diagnosed her friend, who had also suffered from vertigo attacks, as suffering from food allergies. She said this GP was highly experienced and was so good that she charged specialist fees. Furthermore, she only worked half day and saw patients by referral. (Aside: It must be good to be a doctor. I should have chosen that profession, but oh well, guess it was not meant to be, seeing that I consistently failed Biology in secondary school.) I managed to get an appointment on Friday afternoon, and I liked her. She was really nice and listened to everything I had to say, and did not brush aside my medical history (as my previous doctor did). Her diagnosis: it came down to two factors - either it was my thalassemia that was triggering these attacks, or some damage that was done to the ear when I went diving last year. She then recommended that I see a ear, nose and throat specialist. Luckily the ENT specialist had an available appointment that same afternoon.

The ENT guy turned out to be a rather tall and thin middle-aged man who spoke in a high-pitched voice and sat with his cross-legged, with his legs clamped shut like a girl. Notwithstanding that, he was quite nice and reassuring. He checked my ears (and in the process, I got my right ear cleaned by a heavy-duty sucking machine) and found nothing wrong, although there seemed to be excess fluid in there. He explained that I had positional vertigo, which meant the spinning was triggered by the position of my head. Then followed a rather chim explanation of the inner ear drum and how there are crystals in the ear which act as receptors which balance the body. All I know is that he fixed the vertigo by turning my head and getting me to turn my body to the other side. I was also given more medication (which turned out to be a diuretic, sending me running to the loo every morning about 6-7 times) to get rid of the excess fluid in my ear, and another appointment was fixed for this Sat where we will do a follow-up and maybe check my hearing.

I hope we've found the cause of all these attacks. Twice in two weeks is not fun at all. And I don't like being in bed all day. The only upside to all this is that I've lost 2 kg and can wear some tops again. hurhur.