Ask the Doctor: Does migraine respond to maneuvers?

I have been experiencing vertigo for about twenty years- the first of which was during finals week in grad school. I used to get an episode once a year but now it’s more like every 3 months lasting about 2-3 hours and having a foggy head and slight nausea for 2 days after. The half somersault maneuver you posted on YouTube used to help tremendously. Lately it’s been so bad I’m not even able to engage in the exercise. My neurologist thinks perhaps I have vestibular migraines. My question is- would the exercise like the Epley maneuver help with dizziness caused by a vestibular migraine as well? Or does that maneuver help with only other kinds of vertigo causes?

Maneuvers like the half somersault or the Epley maneuver are only good for one thing:  BPPV in the posterior canal of the inner ear.   The half somersault is helpful in some of the other canals too, but there are specific maneuvers tailored for those canals that work very well.   There are lots of other causes of vertigo, so it you don’t respond to maneuvers, it’s a good idea to consider these other types of dizziness. 

Migraine does not respond to maneuvers.  It’s a completely different kind of vertigo.  BPPV makes you dizzy when you lie down, sit up from reclining, tip your head up, or roll over in bed.  It’s always brief, just a few seconds to a minute.  Migraine, on the other hand, can cause a low grade feeling of spinning for an hour or two.  Usually the room does not spin violently during a migraine, but there may be an internal spinning sensation.  Most people also have migraine headaches (throbbing pain on one side of the head) around the time that the vertigo is happening. 

If you actually can see the room spin during your spells and this lasts for 20 min to a few hours, you should be checked for Meniere’s disease.   Any hearing loss or ringing in the ears during the spell also signals this or other more serious forms of vertigo. There are many other causes of prolonged vertigo, so seeing an otologist and having your hearing and balance function tested can help narrow down the cause.