Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Vertigo

Hey Sinta, i'll agree with Rita here. Look for infection.
I fell over in the middle of the nite when my legs sort of wobbled then disappeared. Had to just lie down (after i got up). Was fine in the morning and ever since so did not visit the quack.
All i could put it down to was some chicken that stayed at room temperature for too long the meal before and maybe a minor infection.
Love your signature mate.
Keep on shining.

Ted

aloha Sinta,
Are you on Vioxx ?
I had nearly constant dizziness and nausea...stoneder than I've ever been before ( quite unpleasant)
when taking vioxx and it kept getting worse as long as I was taking it...toxic stuff.
This lasted four/ five days after stopping the vioxx too...it was an allergic reaction...new meds ?
good luck.
aloha Ben

Hi Ben,

Nope, I am not on Vioxx or any kind of NSAID's - I don't need NSAID's anymore since I can maintain my AS with diet.

Been thinking maybe it's because the crazy boss who drives me nuts .

Best to you,

Sinta

Hi Ted,

My mom also think the same and I hope it's all that matter instead of some damage cause of AS that involving neck/shoulder.

Try to keep on shining - it's been raining all day long and too many dark clouds hanging on the sky.

Thanks,

Sinta

Hey all,

I have been suffering with vertigo on and off for two years. I have had AS for 6 years. I have a definte pattern to it. Strange but mom with AS and my cousin with Ulcerative Colitis have the same exact pattern and vertigo problem.

It goes like this...

First I flare in my lower back, middle back and neck for about week. That disappears and then my IBS flares very badly with a lot of gas, diarreha, constipation and indigestion. That goes on for about a week. Then all of the sudden I get a very weird heart beat, then immediately I get vertigo feel like I am going to back out and my left arm and left chest hurts. The pain radiates under my left armpit. I then get another weird heart beat and the vertigo stops. Then the left side of neck goes completely stiff and I can't move it for about 5 to ten minutes. Then about a half hour later, I get a strange headache that feels like it is on the outside of my skull, like muscle tension. This headache is only on one half of my head usually in the back. These episodes last anywhere from 5 minutes to two hours. Sometimes I will have only one, and other times they happen over and over again. My skin also looks horrible while the vertigo flare happens. If someone is looking at me at the right moment, they can see all of the color vanish from my face. I had one three weeks ago (I stopped enbrel because of a nasty cold) and I was in mid sentence. The person I was speaking to that I was going to pass out. She said that she had never seen the color drain from someone's face so fast.

One I started on Enbrel, these vertigo flares calmed down a lot. I have been to three cardiologists, a GI doc and a neurologist. I have had a stress test, electrocardigram, wore a holter monitor for a month, have had an MRI of my brain, a sleep brain wave study, a colonoscopy and a small bowel series. They said that all they could see was a little bit of a rapid heart beat at certain times. My blood work is normal. The diarreha was termed by the GI doc as " functional diarreha." The neurologist told me that I was having panic attacks. The first cardiologist said that it was because I was out of shape (I was training for a marathon at the time!) and the last two cardiologist had no clue. My rhuemie through all of this believes that this is very real, but she does not know what this happens to me.

These flares can happen while seated, while standing, while moving, while talking, while sleeping. For me and my family we feel that they are heart related and related to AS and the HLA-B27 family of diseases.

Hey Paul,

I too have Vestibular function loss from IV antibiotics I was on in 97. Also experience oscillopsia most noticeable while in a moving vehicle. You mentioned you are getting new hair cells or growing new cells? The antibiotics killed the hair cells in my ears and they will not come back. However the brain is adapting slowly over the years to gain some balance function back. Although at night in the dark I will fall over at the slightest breeze!! ahaha

Bob



Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...Behold the beauty of Orca Art

Hi Sinta

The boss driving you nuts could well be it.
I have suffered with bouts of vertigo for many many years. Could be As related, I don't know but I am actually pretty sure that, for me, it is stress related. I am quite sure that it comes about when I have been under stress and it generally seems to show up after the stressfull time. Of course, I get stressed over almost everything - therefore I suffer the vertigo problem a lot. I have just pretty much trained myself to cope with it because I know that the only thing that has worked for me has been tranquillizers. I will never return to taking those and if you are prescribed them, my advice would be to seek other options.

Of course, you should get completely checked out and I am probably totally wrong but I just thought I'd give you my 10 cents worth.

Hope you get feeling better Sinta

Maggie

Hi Michelle

I was very interested to read your post. I also, as I said, suffer from vertigo and I also have a very rapid heart beat. For about 14 years now I have had occaissional palpitations but recently it has become VERY frequent. I did wear a holter monitor 14 years ago and they said nothing was wrong. Now it has greatly worsened and I am due to get the monitor again on Nov. 20th. I find it is very hard to get docs to take this seriously, they say " you probably drink too much coffee " etc. I have been really worried that this could all be AS related.
I hope I can find out something for sure this time.
It's good to know I'm not alone anyway.

Thanks
Maggie

Maggie, considering the aortic possibilities with AS, it's mindblowing that any doctor would try to blame anything heart related on "too much coffee". In my case, if I was having heart involvement, that could very well be the case, but still.

Good luck with the monitor.

Many hugs,

Kat

Hi,

Coffee, well I stopped completely for weeks and still got the vertigo, drunken stuff etc.

I reckon it's imflammation related because it calms down on NSAIDs and Steroids, and gets worse after using my arms shoulders or after falls etc. I get pain and discomfort in the lower neck and left collar bone shoulder. This has got worse and improved now 4 times in the past few months, nothing placebo or coincidental about that.

I also wore a holter, no problems. I get similar experiences when the acupuncturist sticks a needle into my neck down near the shoulder line, when they do the turn tests for transient blood loss etc.

My issue do these Dr.s know what they are dealing with? If not refer on to someone who does! It's just a matter of time before a fall or accident!

Good luck with it, but keep going, suggest the anti-imflammatory approach next, several others have suggested it as well, including Kerri.

David