Vertigo

I wish this were a blog post about the classic Hitchcock movie with the cool poster.

I woke up yesterday with the room spinning. I thought, "Hm, that's weird. Maybe I'm still groggy." I got out of bed and proceeded to quickly fall back down on it. "What the heck is happening?"

Oh, vertigo.

The best way to describe it is like having "the spins" after drinking too much. Only without the drinking part.

Unfortunately, the web has a ton to say about the possible causes of vertigo, including Meniere disease (hearing loss), acoustic neuroma (tumor and hearing loss), cerebellar hemorrhage (brain bleeding), Multiple Sclerosis, etc.

But there are also the less serious inner-ear-infection-induced vertigo, migraine-induced vertigo, and Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). Although not verified by a doctor, I'm pretty sure I have the last variety.

So news to me, there are tiny calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) that hang out in the inner ear and usually dissolve naturally. But when just one of these crystals decides to take a field trip into the semi-circular canals, it pushes on tiny hairs lining the canal. The hairs act as sensors, giving the brain information about balance. Vertigo happens when the rolling crystal stimulates the hairs.

Treatment?

This:

Apparently this particle repositioning technique (which I tried yesterday) gets rid of the vertigo on the first try about 85% of the time. I am in remaining 15% because I still have it today -- although not as bad. I guess the little crystal has a little further to travel, so I'll try it again tonight. If BPPV isn't the culprit, well...... then it's back to the drawing board.

Meantime, If you'd like to join me in the vertigo experience for a second, just stare at this painting entitled "Blaze" by one of my favorite artists, Bridget Riley. (You can thank me later.)

Phreedom from Phleghm?

Had pneumonia. Got better (or so I thought). Then, sore throat, aches, sniffles... you know the rest. Was really trying this time to treat this homeopathically and not have to opt for drugs. Here's what I've tried so far:

raw garlic
raw honey
almonds
orange juice
cherry/pomegranate juice
ginger granola
homemade chicken soup
echinacea tea
pu-erh tea
salt-water gargle
Neti pot
vitamin D supplements
"lung heatlh" supplements
multi-vitamin supplements
water by the gallon
16-20 hrs. of sleep

Today, I woke up without a voice and more gunk in my lungs than the previous days. So much for putting in an appearance at work.

There's only so many herbs and supplements a girl can ingest before opting for pharmaceuticals. Robbie's doctor told him to take Mucinex for his cold and cough, but I've resisted trying it, mainly because of the unpleasant side effects. "Be careful because it'll really dry you out." "It made me bounce off the walls, but it did the trick."

Not being a big fan of guzzling large amounts of water to begin with, the thought of tripling my current already-increased h2o intake makes me want to reevaluate how bad my cough really is and if I can get away with not taking it. I also cannot imagine having the jitters on top of being sick. That just sounds awful.

Soooo.... here we are. I had fantastic take-out tonight from Mom's Siam... spicy green curry chicken and vegetable soup with tons of garlic. My sinuses feel better. Still coughing though. I guess if the symptoms persist tomorrow, I will break down and try the dang Mucinex. I do get a kick out of those phleghmy-looking cartoon thingys in the commercials. At the same time, they are kind of gross. I'm sure there's a green curry joke in there somewhere, but I'm not on top of my game presently, so you're on your own.

*cough* *cough*