"It's a daily occurrence.........It's been a daunting experience!" - Mrs O.A. Kehinde

 

 

 

It all started in 2001, I was standing at the Balogun bus stop in Lagos, Nigeria waiting for a bus. I noticed something really weird! Each time a car or motorbike went by, the sounds they made were abnormal.

Each time a car drove past, it sounded like it was zooming past a little too fast. It was unusual. Shortly after, I started experiencing slight loss of hearing in my right ear and a buzzing sound from both ears.

As if that was not strange enough, I also started experiencing a sense of lightheadededness, sudden dizzy spells and a feeling that things were moving around me. I could not focus on certain objects well particularly patterns such as stripes, dots, holes and zebra crossing patterns on the roadside.

I went to see a doctor and he confirmed it to be vertigo. He referred me to an ear,nose and throat specialist. After several hearings, tests and x-rays, I was placed on stemetil, a medication meant to alleviate the dizzy feeling/spells that comes with a vertigo occurrence.

 

It, fortunately for me, seized over time and I was able to live with it. But that became the beginning of my travail with the condition.

It has eventually gotten worse over the years. It first started in 2001 but by the year 2010 it reoccured and what used to occur in between long intervals now became a constant thing and eventually a daily experience. It became tricky and I could not function normally or be as active as I used to be. Suddenly things would start to move, I would feel nauseaus and sometimes vomit, and often times feel faint and lightheaded.

Then it became scary and during a summer vacation to England, I sought medical opinion frm an ENT specialist at bupa and after series of hearing tests as well as vestibular assessment, I was informed that the vestibular balance system in my right ear was completely down. That explained the dizzy spells, lightheadedness, feeling like one would fall down as well as a sense of imbalance.

I had to retire from work and could no longer do the things I used to do.

Getting up to walk around became a big issue. It literally was very scary. I would sit or lie down for hours out of fear of getting dizzy spells or feeling faint. The nausea that I often experienced was and still is awful. It dampened my appetite and the whole experience meant constant hospital admissions and need for hydration as eating became a big issue due to constant nausea.

Everything became scary to undertake or do. Fear, anxiety and depression became huge emotions I went through daily. Some days I would hold out well with great courage. I would attempt to live life normally when the spells are not so rampant. On other days, I would be frustrated by the effect of the balance issues that left one fatigued and lightheaded.

I soon got to understand what my own individual triggers are such as sudden head movements, getting up suddenly from lying or sitting positions, bending my head down and hot environment. I also learnt that a low sodium diet could help. However sometimes despite watching and avoiding my triggers, I still get the vertigo spells and other times I forget and do the things I should not do, yet I do not get the spells. Very strange and intresting. But I was told that it can be an idiopathic condition where things that happen sometimes can not be explained.

On one medical trip to the united states of America, I went for neurological assessments, did brain and neck MRI scans and thankfully they were normal and no tumour found. I was advised to try vestibular exercises and therapy as I did not to take the want surgical option.
 It has been a rollercoaster period in my life living with positional vertigo and labyrinth dysfunction.

It's a daily occurrence and getting up in the mornings can be very tricky and scary as it takes a while for the body to adjust to loss of balance systems and the brain often sends one into a dizzy state of imbalance that brings nausea and a state of disorientation.

Some days I do well and can manage to get through the day. Other days it's just terrible and I have to lie down through out the day.

Moving through a crowd, noisy places, shopping malls can be a distressing issue because of my inability to walk and balance well. What that means is that I hardly go out or attend social functions anymore. I can't take a bath in the mornings wen the feeling of imbalance is usually strong and wait till a later part of the day when I feel better and am able to move around a bit. Even at that, I bathe in a shower very quickly or sit down to bathe.

Sometimes the whole condition siezes for some days and I'm free to do as I wish, other times it comes on and is distressing virtually everyday for days and even weeks.

 

However, the episodes now have longer sieze periods in between the spells. Now that I know and understand the condition, I am able to cope better. Although it is still very scary when it comes on and can be very frustrating and depressing. One is not able to be as active as one used to be.

In my own case, hormonal fluctuations caused by an underactive thyroid as well as early menopause is said to probably be affecting the condition more.

Going out, moving about even at home can be a great issue sometimes and I've practically had to psyche myself to face and undertake doing things that I now find daunting and scary to do to avoid getting a vertigo spell or bringing on that state of imbalance that can last for hours or days sometimes.

 In terms of treatment, I'm considering undertaking vestibular therapy and exercises to retrain the brain to stop sending one into vertigo spells due to loss of vestibular function in my right ear.

It has been a long journey living with a vestibular disorder. It is very scary and frustrating. It has also helped me get closer to God.

There's very little the doctors can do beyond offering medications that one may react to, find ineffective or get addicted to, vestibular therapy and at the heights surgery, which comes with its own risks. All of which may or may not work. Even the doctors have said they are not God and can only try. Some medical personnel I've met in the course of seeking solution to vertigo, believe it wil eventually stop over time but can not say when.

It's been a daunting experience, leaving my job, having to depend on others to do things for me due to my inability to move around moreso as I no longer can drive and I find myself in solitude most times as everyone around me is on the go living their lives. I've had to cope with panic attacks, anxiety and depression. 

 

 I have also learnt to help myself and push through the episodes. I lie down when it becomes unbearable and wait it out. It has not been easy but I'm gateful for life and the fact that though terrible, my condition is not life threatening.

I wish people around me could feel what I feel and go through on a daily basis then they can understand. Most times people at the heights of insensitivity think I am putting on an act and Seeking attention. This is because my condition is not something that is seen and you sometimes do not look ill. Vertigo is real and can be terrible.

For me I've had to rest my hobbies such as reading and writing as that triggers vertigo spells most times. Even talkin can aggravate it as bright lights, noise, moving around on trains, cars, and even flying! All these has impacted on my lifestyle greatly in terms of turning one into some sort of recluse.Living a static, immobile life so to speak.

 

I look forward to that time when an end to this experience is total and definite.

-Mrs O.A. Kehinde