I Love Passing Tests

I've been dizzy. It's one of the reasons I took off Thursday. Thursday was also Veterans Day, which was the reason the pizza delivery man thought I was taking off.

"No," I said, "I'm really dizzy."

"Like when you lie down or get up?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"I've had that too lately."

Now, I'm not sure what the Pizza Man meant by that. I'm also never sure what Gary means by that when he says the same thing.

Could be: "We are all frail. I know your fears, my sister, and I stand by your side in the human condition."
Could be: "If we both have this it isn't serious."
Could be: "You aren't sick. You are Normal."

I think the last one is what Gary means when he tells me, "I'm dizzy all the time! Everybody gets dizzy when they roll over in bed!"

This is why I found my yearly check-up at my primary neurologist so satisfying today.

I went in and said, "I'm dizzy."

He asked me to describe "dizzy," and he asked, "What makes you dizzy?"

"Lying down in bed, getting out of bed, lying with a hard pillow under my neck, looking up ..."

"Hop up on the table, please."

He had me recline on my elbow, he took my skull, tilted it up and over to a specific spot. My brain spun immediately.

"Whoa! I'm so dizz -"

"Look up here! At my hand."

Which I did, assuming that he was fixing my eye on a point so I wouldn't vomit, but of course he wasn't, he was checking if my eyes were twitching, which I assume they were, because that seems to be the test for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

Then he had me lie down, tilted my head at some specific angle: whoosh! Brain slosh, look up at my hand, same deal.

Then I sat down in a chair, he tilted, slosh, twitch. Mental note: Never tilt my head at those angles.

He asked if I'd had this dizziness before, and I said sure, back two years ago when I started the drug. "I assumed it was the drug, but the clinical trial doctor said it was ... some position thing - oh!"

That's the difference between being told you have benign positional vertigo and having someone prove it to you by positioning your head. That's the difference between having a doctor say "benign" as in "Your vertigo is benign, stop complaining," and "I'm not even doing an MRI for this, it's so benign."

I came out of that appointment feeling like I am SUPPOSED to have BPPV. That something would be wrong if I DIDN'T have it. That it can be completely controlled as long as I don't let that doctor ever touch my skull again. (There are other treatments, but this is the one I'm going for. It goes away on its own, eventually.)

He's such a good doctor. I'm delighted with him. He makes me feel so textbook. Like the Normal version of Sick.

Comments

[~~Silk]

Is that the inner ear thingy? If so, there's supposed to be some head movements therapists can do that "settles" the whatchamacallits causing the problem.

(Daughter and I have dizzy sometimes, but it's low blood pressure.)

[Becs]

Congratulations! After all this dithering about The New Normal, you have found it! Huzzah!

[Mare]

Isn't it amazing that having a knowledgeable professional tell you what exactly is going on, suddenly helps you feel better about it? It's like, Yes, this is my abnormality and I'm sooooo cool with it...
You need you some crystal alignment therapy, Baby!

[TheQueen]

~~Silk - Yes - I mentioned to the doctor I had heard an NPR report on ear crystals and how doctors can jiggle them out. He said some doctors specialize in that. I don't think I'm bad enough to need that, but I could have used it 2 years ago at the start of the trial.
Becs - And only 9 years after 9/11.
Mare - I love that I am so good at it! And yep, crystals need to be re-aligned. Only it isn't like they jiggle and the crystals fall right out, they jiggle, you stay on your side for a few hours, more jiggling. stay oput a few hours ... easier since this time is mild that I just be careful what angle I put my head into.

[Hattie]

It's funny. I had quite a lot of dizziness a while ago but it rather suddenly went away. And a persistent ringing in my ear has become much less loud and annoying.

[TheQueen]

Hattie - the doctor did say the ear debris (I prefer crystals) could impair hearing. Maybe the debris moved from your inner canal to another part where it muffles what you hear.