On a scale of annoying paper cut on a thumb to CALL THE AMBULANCE, I THINK I'M DYING, the last week or so has been somewhere in the category of Been Here Before and It Sucks, Until It Doesn't. I feel like my stupid health issue is minor, in comparison to others' recent disclosures, nonetheless I feel the least I should do is name the beast. In the way back machine, after receiving 5 or more smiling tooth reminder postcards to make dental check-ups for myself and my sons, I finally did it. My appointment was on Friday the 13th, in the afternoon, and I anticipated no problems, took my 4 amoxicillin capsules one hour prior, then proceeded to drive to my mother's out of habit, not the right direction for the dentist. By the time I realized this, I knew I'd be late and couldn't find my cell phone to let the dentist know.
Arrived 10 minutes late and was chided by the dentist's wife, who is also the receptionist and book keeper. They are from Russia. He is happy-go-lucky, she is not. She pointed out that my sons and I had not been in for over a year and that one son was no longer on our dental insurance, as if I didn't know these things. Since there were 2 other people in the waiting room, I walked up to the desk and explained I had been helping my mother on and off to either stay alive or not die alone and had lost track of time. Her response was, "We leave our parents in Russia. Sometimes we visit." I had no idea how to respond to that; fortunately a perky dental hygienist in cobalt blue called my name. It's at this point, things went awry. She was new and to her credit, she read my folder, noted my drug reactions, need for pre-medication, plus ongoing diagnosis (which I try to ignore) of fibromyalgia and long time Meniere's disease. I warned her that if she tilted the chair back too far, it would trigger the inner ear symptoms. She told me to tell her when to stop, so I did. But then, she said, "Can I just tilt you back a little more?", tilting me back without waiting for my answer, which came out too late, and too loud, "NO!!"
The good news is I've been doing a good job of brushing and flossing. The bad news is ever since that day, I've had varying episodes of falling, vertigo, and intense nausea. I don't feel like cooking, much less eating, no driving and this feeling of malaise or melancholy. I've read every write-up on here about this, even old Webster 1913. Four ENTs over 30 years ago proclaimed that I had benign positional vertigo. I believe several of the tests they did at the time would now classify as torture. I distinctly remember one doctor saying very cheerily, " This is temporary; be thankful it wasn't an acoustic neuroma." So long story short, my bpv turned into atypical Meniere's in one ear, then the other, as in bilateral, "Nothing we can do, be thankful you don't have tinnitus or what usually happens, total loss of hearing." Another cheery ENT.
I've realized doctors basically want things they can fix, either with medication, change in your diet, physical therapy or surgery. I have tried it all, even things like acupuncture, healing touch, a support group where you basically hear stories like your own but worse, and meditation. Once I was so fed up with weeks of vertigo and nausea, I jumped on the trampoline with my grandkids. Go figure, that helped that one time. So, how am I dealing with the side effect of vulnerability thrown in? I am trying to be a little easier on myself, which truthfully is draining. I'm not good at cutting myself some slack. I am also counting my blessings, of which I sometimes forget. On bad days, I watch movies or the Olympics, thankful I don't have tinnitus or total loss of hearing. Hey, doctor's orders.
Wikipedia has a fairly decent description of Meniere's Disease, if you're interested in more detail.