Vertigo and dizziness come from many different causes, and it is important to figure out exactly which one is the source. When people come to me with a dizziness problem, one of the key things to narrow down the diagnosis is to have them describe their first spell. Here are a couple of examples:
Beth recalled having three bouts of vertigo over the last several years. The first one was very similar to the other two. She was in bed, and in the early morning she woke up with vertigo immediately after rolling over to her right side. The room was spinning violently but only for about 15 seconds. When she tried to get out of bed, it happened again. All the spells were short. That morning after she was up and about, she felt better, but when shampooing her hair in the shower, she had another brief bout. She had to be careful when lying down on her right side for a couple of weeks, but it all gradually went away.
Continue reading “Making the diagnosis: The first spell”