Before I continue writing about my parents, I just wanna share this revelation!!!!!! I've lived in Sodankylä for a little over 6 years, but only this year I've started developing ear problems (ear pressure). In the beginning I was worried that it could be caused by something serious after I had been browsing online (especially because it occurred after my BPPV symptoms), but nowadays I suspect that the cause is pollen problem.
You see, the first time I felt that the ear pressure was related to sinusitis was because during my BPPV attack, I had trouble breathing (my nose felt blocked). I got back up, browsed online, felt that the area around my eyes were tender if I pressed them and found out that it could be sinusitis. Then I remembered that R2 had bought himself a nose spray to help him with his runny nose a few weeks before. So I used the nose spray and in an instant I felt relief!
Afterwards I started feeling ear pressure for weeks...it was torture! At some point my ears became so sensitive that they couldn't handle any loud noises and I even felt some distortion in my hearing ability (which was more pronounced when I was listening to songs in my youtube song list using a headset). During our holiday to Kuusamo, though, the ear pressure was gone right away, but when we got back home, it started again. On and off. Last week it happened again and it got bad enough that I decided to use R2's nose spray again to test it out. Within half an hour the ear pressure was gone!!!
Then I started browsing online again for a more natural type of relief, because I don't want to keep putting chemicals into my body by using the nose spray (and lots of sites warn me that it can be addictive) and I found a saline nose spray and Neti pot. I went to the pharmacy and tried out the saline nose spray first, 'coz I wasn't sure about how effective it would be.
Today I went to the supermarket to buy some grocery and then I went to clean our veranda which was COVERED by a thin layer of yellowish pollen. It was seriously like a blanket covering everything and right after that, my ear pressure started again. It was like someone was playing "drums" inside my ears and it wasn't the best kind of feeling EVER. I hurriedly used the saline nose spray three times within half an hour and voila! Now the ear pressure is 95% gone!!!!
I think I'm gonna go and get the Neti pot soon because in the long run it's cheaper to use than the saline nose spray. Phew!!! I'm sure glad that it isn't anything more serious, you know?
Just as I had been feeling almost perfectly well for the past 1,5 weeks, I had another BPPV extreme episode on Friday in the middle of work. It was very strange 'coz I wasn't feeling any dizziness at all before it all happened. I had been working for about 4,5 hours and then at the beginning of my lunch break, when I was about to warm up my food in the microwave, I felt the room spinning around me and I was so scared of falling down, so I had to hold on to the edge of the kitchen cabinets until the strong wave passed away. But right away nausea took in and I had to throw up in the toilet.
I tried sitting down and then I started eating my food VERY VERY slowly 'coz I still felt nauseous and dizzy. Couldn't even finish my food and then I went to the toilet to throw up again. Great! I tried sitting down some more and it always felt better to close my eyes. Dizzy, dizzy, dizzy, nauseous...I had left the anti motion sickness arm-bands at home 'coz I hadn't felt dizzy at all for 1,5 weeks. Too early to think I've been cured! Doh!!!
I told my coworkers about it and then tried to be at the cashier after my break was over, but being there only made it worse 'coz I had to move around a lot and the nausea kept on going, so I asked the supervisor to be sent home (I threw up once more before going home). I didn't even dare ride my bike home. Though I was sure I could walk back home, it would be such a slow progress, so I called hubby to come and pick me up. Spent hours on the sofa, fell asleep for a while, browsed the internet for a while to try to find out what could have triggered that episode that came out of nowhere (as long as I stayed still it was fine and sitting down was no problem 'coz many sites suggests even sleeping in a half-sitting position).
Saturday went to MIL's though I still felt like a "drunk" person (never been drunk before so dunno how it actually feels like, but many have described such a sensation). I felt like being on small waves or a swing, going back and forth or sideways the whole time. At one time I felt nauseous again, so I took an anti-motion sickness pill, which only made me MORE tired (nausea gone, though). Went back home and browsed around for more information and found out why I was so tired (even after the anti-motion sickness pill's effect had worn off). Found the answer from here:
"Fatigue. This is common with inner ear problems as the brain is putting all of its energy into keeping you balanced - where as in normal people balance is an automatic process.
No wonder!!! Slept 13 hours last night and right now I'm feeling better, though I still feel imbalanced and tired (I can feel my eyes being overworked by trying to adjust to the wrong signals sent by my body due to the problems in my inner ear). I've been trying to do Epley maneuver once a day, so hope that also helps.
Last Friday was a rough day for me. Felt like I was having an extreme case of sea-sickness (I do have bad sea-sickness so I'll probably never go on a voyage trip). My head felt like floating over the waves. I could walk and move around freely, but if I moved my head quickly or if I moved it to certain positions, the dizziness started (or the room started spinning around) and I'd feel nauseated. I threw up five times that day.
On Saturday I was scheduled for work, so I called in to say that I couldn't come. Had an appointment at the health centre, but there were emergency cases that day, so I had to wait for almost 3 hours before I could finally meet up with the doc. The doc asked me questions and then ran some tests on me (mostly I had to do things like move my arms or legs certain ways).
The dizziness (the feeling that the room was spinning around) had actually started a few days prior to the crazy Friday. I went to bed and turned around on my stomach and it started. Just once, though. The next day I was brushing my teeth and again it happened and I had to hold on to the sink in order to keep my balance, but nothing else happened (didn't feel any sea-sickness-like symptoms other than that) so I went to work like usual and it went fine. Until Friday happened.
The doc then gave me my diagnosis and printed it out for me. It's called "Hyvänlaatuinen asentohuimaus" in Finnish or "Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" or BPPV in short. Basically speaking it's really a benign form of vertigo, induced by certain movements. I wouldn't need any medication other than some anti-motion sickness medication in case I got too nauseated.
The doc said that it wasn't dangerous, but bothersome, because on average it'll go away by itself in TEN weeks. TEN?!?!?!?! I sure hope it'll go away faster because at work, I need to be able to move my head around freely and fast, especially during rush hours. In the meantime, though, I've asked R2 to buy me some anti-motion sickness medication in case I need it at work 'coz I'll only start work tomorrow after this diagnosis and I still feel that every now and then I get dizzy/nauseated.
I don't really know what caused this, but I think it may have something to do with genetics, as well. My Mom started suffering from vertigo after she got older (over 50), though it isn't a frequent incident. I also read that lack of sleep and stress can induce it. And head trauma may also make you more prone to it. I fell down head first when I was young, so maybe the combination of different factors make me more prone to experience something like this at an earlier age.
One thing I'm now wondering about is...how can I exercise before I get over this? I want and need the exercise, but I can't really do vigorous exercises that'd move my head around too much hmmmhhhh...we shall see about that then. I've already done the exercise written on the link above to help speed up the process of healing, so we'll see about that, too.
