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Fri 22 Dec, 2006 11:55 am
Well, when Mrs edgarblythe consented to be called Mrs edgarblythe, she already had a daughter, a beautiful child I shall call, Jean. Early on, Jean was subject to dizzy spells. After exhausting the know-how of the regular physician, we took her to a specialist. He put tubes in her ears. While this didn't entirely drive the problem away, she did seem to get better. We hoped she would grow out of it. But, now she is grown, thirty three years of age, the dizzy spells recur, and there has been some kind of corruption the doctor cleaned out of her ears. He has thus far checked for a brain tumor. Next week, the test will be for MS. Whatever, I hope he can at last get to the bottom of it.
Jean has always been an exceptionally hard working girl. Today, she has a fine son and she works in a doctor's office. She goes to school to become a registered nurse. I have always been proud of her.
Me too.
Don't hesitate to get a second opinion, too. I can vouch for the fact that there are great ENT's and mediocre ENT's and some downright lousy ENT's. (Ear, nose and throat specialists.) There are a few things that don't sound right to me from what you've said (among other things, balance issues are centered on the inner ear and tubes deal with the middle ear), but I'm not a professional.
We relied on a specialist for the tubes, when she was perhaps five years old- would have to check with the wife to be certain of her age. We were too ignorant to question him.
Maybe it was that she had severe ear infections and they were severe enough that they put pressure on the inner ear and caused the dizziness?
Anyway, don't be shy about questioning (or encouraging Jean to question) now.
"Corruption" that was cleaned out of her ears sounds like maybe a burst eardrum (not nearly as bad as it sounds). That would be about a severe ear infection, too, if so.
At any rate, best wishes to her.
OK, yes, this says that a middle ear infection can cause dizziness:
http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/earache.cfm
Edgar--
You, your wife and your beloved, talented daughter are in my thoughts.
In an ideal world Medical Matters would not be inconveniently dangling and intruding on the holiday season. I hope that in spite of the adults being a bit preoccupied that your grandson has one wing-ding of a holiday season and that you all have good news in January.
Hold your dominion.
I hope that everything turns out well. I agree with Soz that there are a lot of mediocre and even lousy ENTs out there. She needs to do some research, and get herself a good ENT, especially one with lots of experience with labyrinth disorders.
BTW, I have suffered from dizzy spells for years. My ENT told me to lay off the caffeine, which really helped. You would be very surprised at the different products (sodas, cold pills, diet pills, as well as coffee) that contain caffeine.
edgar, I do hope Jean will be fine. Somehow, I sense that she will. Thank God that she has excellent parents and people who care for her.
Best of luck to your daughter, edgar.
Now that Jean is fully grown, and is in control of her own body, I offer suggestions, but I trust her to make good decisions. She has had ample opportunity to watch the habits of doctors (she's worked for more than one) and her medical knowledge is far superior to mine. The reason for this thread, I'm open to advice from people who know more than I do, and I thank you all who have responded.
The only advice I can offer is to keep seeking additional opinions (see the thread about Evan).
In the U.S., THE medical center than people seek out when nobody else can figure out what is wrong is the Mayo Clinic outside of Minneapolis.
Please have her get that second opinion Edgar. My fiancee had dizzy spells a few days before she passed away. The doctor thought it was her low blood pressure. It was an aneurism.
Hoping for the best for Jean.
I'm just throwing this out there, but does she have a heart murmur?
edgar :
sure hope everything turns out allright for your daughter !
you might want to have a look at the mayo clinic page re. vertigo .
mrs h has had to see an ear specialist to essentially have her balance "re-established" .
she recently had a spell again (after having been prescribed "celebrex" for her arthritis pain ; turned out she is two of 100 people who are allergic to celebrex . it was quite a scary experience ! i thought she'd had a stroke . luckily it was no more than an adverse reaction to the drug , but it took was about a week before she could be upright without feeling like being on a rollercoaster !).
btw i find the mayo clinic website quite useful for checking medications and sickness symptoms .
all the best !
hbg
...VERTIGO...
wishing Jean you and all your family the very best Edgar
S
Jean has switched doctors recently, for the better, I think. This doctor is intent on doing some thorough testing, rather than making snap judgements. After he has given a final analysis, I will urge her to get another opinion.
Edgar - You may want to ask your daughter to ask her doctor to check for Menier's disease if he hasn't already:
http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/balance/meniere.cfm
I had a friend who experienced what your daughter described and he was diagnosed with Menier's. Luckily for him, although it was chronic, it was not constant, but episodic. He noticed an increase in attacks when he was stressed or tired- and although it affected his hearing - never to a disabling degree. So he's been able to adopt some lifestyle changes that help ward off and/or alleviate the worst symptoms, and allow him to remain functional when he does have an episode.
Good luck to her- I wish her the best. And if I don't talk to you again - Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thanks, Aidan, and Merry Christmas to you.
All the very best for your daughter, Edgar - and for you and your wife as well!!!
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