MS and Vertigo: When the Earth Moves, but Not in a Good Way
This past fortnight I’ve been hit with some episodes of vertigo that made me think of the earthquakes I experienced when living in Alaska and on the American West Coast. It’s as if the earth beneath me is rolling like a wave, or I’m standing on an underinflated air mattress.
The sensation only lasts for a few moments to a few minutes, but when it happens, I have to wonder if I’m going to be able to stay upright, even if I’m using a forearm crutch.
While I don’t feel nauseated when these episodes hit, I can see how someone might. For me, it’s like the world is moving in a way I’m not used to, and I am trying to move through it the way it used to be.
I perceive my vertigo as something of a physical manifestation of what I’ve seen visually represented in film — like the ripples in the air in The Matrix — or something I’ve seen myself, like the view up into the sun from the bottom of a pool on a bright day.
It’s as if my body is experiencing things that previously only my eyes have seen.
While these recent episodes of vertigo have slowed me down a bit, they’ve been nothing like what I experienced before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Early on, I had a bout of world-spinning vertigo that had me in bed for a week and crawling to the toilet with my eyes closed to vomit. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced it to that extent again.
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Source: Life with MS - Category: Neurology Authors: Trevis Gleason Tags: multiple sclerosis Living with MS MS Blog HIstory multiple sclerosis clinical trials Multiple Sclerosis Thesaurus trevis gleason Source Type: blogs