posted
I have been on Ceftin for 2 months - doxy 1 month before that. Diagnosed in Feb.,2005.
I am so discouraged today. I actually felt like driving to the mall yesterday - 50 miles one way - alone. I was doing great and having a good time when suddenly I had a vertigo attack and thought I was going to fall in the store.
I did my best to get back to my car which was on the other end of the mall. I drove home but have been so depressed since. Today I have a horrific headache and my balance is the pits.
Do many of you have this symptom (vertigo, dizziness, balance dysfunction). It is my main problem and very difficult to live with.
Dr. C says it is a symptom of lyme and I was just wondering if those of you who have had it get better with treatment or does it never go away completely?
I have to know if there is an end to this symptom or will I always have to live like this?
Nal
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6801
posted
I just wanted to say that I definately get this symptom a lot! Its so frustrating cause you never know when it's going to hit or how to truly get through it. there are times that I feel like I am just leaning to one side. Other times I get very dizzy, nauseous and just feel like I have chronic motion sickness.
My LLMD told me it does improve with treatment but I guess sometimes it does take a long time. Hang in there and just know you are not alone.
posted
Thanks so much Nancy. It does help to know that this too shall end and that it is a part of the horrific disease.
Posts: 74 | From MS | Registered: Feb 2005
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Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
Two possibilities for you:
1. Have you been tested for babesia? Vertigo is a common sympton.
2. It could be related to low blood pressure or orthostatic hypotension. You may want to talk to your LLMD, or even your general pracitioner about getting tested.
Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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Jellybelly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7142
posted
I have had balance problems for years, but nothing I would call vertigo until I started ABX. I had a horrible attack while on Cipro, there was no way I could have driven anywhere. It took every oucne of determination I had to get down the stairs to my husband who was in the garage for help. It woke me from a dead sleep.
Cipro is known to accumulate in the inner ear. I don't know about other ABX in this regard. I have had tinnitis in both ears for years also. After my brief experience with the Cipro and the vertigo, the tinnitis in my right ear is greatly diminished and the left is is somewhat better.
My personal feeling is that the buggers are in the inner ear and they cause the vertigo. Hit them with ABX and you get a herx in your ear causing the vertigo.
I have had this symptom off and on for 33 years and just recently started antibiotics. I know that it can be caused by some abx so I have been apprehensive about abx treatment but I had to do something. My symptoms were getting so bad.
Jellybelly, did you stop the Cipro after the vertigo attack or continue with it?
My LLMD does not test for co-infections but treats for them anyway. I had tested positive for Erlichia before seeing him. I haven't gotten to the abx that treat babs yet. Working my way thru the protocol.
Jellybelly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7142
posted
I'm scared to death of Cipro now. That's how bad the vertigo was. The room was spinning so fast, I couldn't see anything. It is amazing to me what the body is capable of doing do due to chemistry.
I have read that Cipro is an option for some of the coinfections. I hope there are other better options. If I have to take Cipro again, I will take tiny weeny, itty bitty, miniscual amounts and build up very slowly.
posted
YUCK! i've had vertigo ONCE for only a short time. My mother had it for years and I'm sure it was Lyme related.
I would think your vertigo will improve, but you'll have to go through some rough times with it. Let's just pray it won't take long for the critters to clear out in this regard!
posted
Hi Mark - I used to have vertigo so bad I could barely lift my head....I coudlnt go out to eat , or be in ANY environment where there was stimulation.
I now can go just about anywhere.....
I still have bouts of it but MUCH milder and I mostly feel back to my normal self.
lymeinhell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4622
posted
Does this happen when you go into other large open spaces??? Like the floor drops out on you? Or is it the room moved type (real vertigo)?
Try wearing your sunglasses when you go into places like this. Sometimes this is caused by the eye, not the ear.
I have major bigtime tinnitus - do you also?
The whammies have passed, and the demylienated nerve in my eye has healed. Of course, the tinnitus hasn't.
2mg of Valium twice a day does wonders for this symptom. I've been off abx for 6 months now, feel great, but still continue on the valium dose for 'meniere's syndrome' - aka lyme nerve damage.
------------------ Julie G. ___________ lymeinhell
Posts: 2258 | From a better place than I was 11 yrs ago | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I chose my screen name for a reason. I have days where I walk into door jams because my balance is off and I misjudged. And I mean really smack the suckers! It's almost comical, but it is really disconcerting at the same time. I also sometimes have the feeling like my head is much farther above the ground than it actually is (the ground seems really far away). I take Cipro for a coinfection on top of my other abx. My LLMD has me taking this at bedtime and I always wake up feeling somewhat stumbly. Some days I stumble around the house while I'm trying to get ready. Other days I'm okay. I struggled with mild dizziness before I started treatment, but it has come in more pronounced waves now that I'm on abx. I think it's a herx symptom. Not out of the tunnel yet, but wanted to again stress that you are not alone. In fact, I was relieved to find your post because I thought I was alone! Go figure!
Posts: 8 | From Chicago Suburbs | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Stumble Bee....I've whacked probably thousands of door jams in all my years with Lyme! I still do it, but usually only graze them now!
Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Vertigo was my first symptom , along with sudden deafness, of Lyme and my most persistent one. I never had Cipro. I had to be hospitalized several times over the past 5 years, mostly because of severe vertigo. I have lost all hearing in my left ear and about 50% in my right. I now wear 2 hearing aids, BUT the good news is I have been symptom free of Lyme for the past year!!! So hang in there.
Posts: 121 | From Sarasota, FL | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
My vertigo has gotten better with treatment. i never had the terrible kind that lasted for hours, though. Just a few minutes. But it's still a relief to have it gone. When it comes back that's one of the signs I use to go back on treatment.
Lymeinhell, you're the first person I saw describe the same feeling I get - like the floor drops out from under me for a second. It comes and goes, but it's really a curious feeling. Do you know why that happens?? I used to think it was like a momentary absence seizure, but that's just a guess. Ellen
Posts: 819 | From New York, NY | Registered: Oct 2001
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
I'm pretty sure cipro is a bartonella drug. You will also be able to take levaquin or rifampin instead of cipro. You'll like rifampin--it will make you feel like a ghoul in the new movie House of Wax. All melty and overheated, yet unable to move around much. But it does a knockout job. Biaxin is supposed to help with bartonella, too, if you take it in combination with a stronger abx.
It's obvious there are a lot of different causes for vertigo. For me, it was the #1 babesia symptom. When I started the mega-babs regimen of mepron, ketek, and artemisinin, the dizzyiness melted away. It still returns once a month for a minor relapse. I get these glittery dizzy flashes across the front of my head and feel like I'm standing under a waterfall, with rivulets of sweat pouring down. The the abx clobber it, and it goes away in 24 hours. Lyme was always more of an inflammatory fever.
If you do try mepron, please be cautious with driving, as your depth perception will be affected.
Ceftin by itself is not a targeted regimen, but a ramp up. Your doctor may be waiting to see how you respond, to know what to add on next.
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