From 6am this morning until roughly 4pm this evening I had vertigo.
It was so awful and now I have very bad nausea from all the "spins".
The on call neurologist really wasn't sure what to do. So I told them to see what was in my file from previous flares and she found an oral tapered dose of steroids. Sounded right to me. But since I'm not feeling the vertigo anymore, I'm wondering if I could bypass the steroids until Monday when my neuro is available.
Has any one had any experience with… read more
My understanding is that it's not necessarily a relapse - could just be a flair. A flair can come and go but my neuro said if after 2 days it's still there then I need to see her as it's a possible relapse. Flairs mimic your symptoms but they pass quickly again
Try the Epley Manuever. It worked for me more than once. My doctor helped me with it the first time and I've done it myself since then. Look it up on the internet.
You can also take otc meclizine (dramamine) for vertigo. My Dr. wrote me a Rx when my vertigo was really bad, but the medication is the same. I always keep some on hand now, vertigo seems to be one of my go to flair symptoms.
If it doesn't last 24 hours or greater, it could be a pseudo relapse. I only had unexplained vertigo once for no where near as long as you and before dx, but it's my understanding that it can be an MS symptom, not necessarily an inner ear thing.
I've read that vertigo can be caused by lesions in the brain stem and cerebellum, which help the brain maintain the body's balance. Last time I had vertigo was 7 or 8 years ago. Lasted about 2 weeks. I was bed ridden. I usually forego steroids unless I feel desperate. I most recently had steroid infusions 2 years ago. Some say steroids help with short term exacerbations but can lead to more long term damage. My ms specialist at Stnfd advises me to use steroids conservatively. If the symptoms from your current relapse aren't actively bothering you, you might want to hold off for now. I'd definitely talk to the neuro about it.