Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Has anybody else suffer from ocassional dizzyness. It feels like the whole world is spinning and I am not. My eyes cross.

Not from RLS, but from other things.

Tell us more about it...

Sounds like inner ear problems to me.

I've suffered from chronic vertigo for over 30 years. I injured my inner ear scuba diving in college, but it wasn't diagnosed for years after that. I took Valium for over 10 years to control it, but stopped that a few years ago. I still get occasional attacks if I'm not careful.

Much more common is a condition called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) which is caused by crystals in the inner ear coming loose from where they belong and getting up into the semicircular canals. They can treat that by putting your head through a series of movements to put the crystals back where they belong. It's not a pleasant procedure, but it does work for most people.

Another common cause of vertigo is Meniere's disease, but that also causes tinnitus and hearing loss, so you'd probably notice those things along with the vertigo.

And sometimes it's just inflamed because of a cold or sore throat, and people get vertigo for a few day, and then it goes away forever. Let's hope that's al it is for you!

I'd second the guess of BPPV if you get occasional abrupt attacks of vertigo, especially if it happens when you do certain motions with your head (e.g. tip back, rotate suddenly, that sort of thing).

If so, try the Epley maneuver Susan mentioned. Half an hour with a physical therapist who knows how to do it right, and most people with BPPV can be cured. Sure worked for me.

I've off and on had vertigo; here lately every day, but only when I lay down. It's surely BPPV. My physical therapist, for my knee, unfortunately can't help it (not allowed to do something the doctor hasn't ordered), so I need to go to the doctor to get the referral. I keep putting it off and having a roller coaster ride when I go to sleep each night

just wondered. Had every test known to man and was told it was benign vertigo. It occurs at random. I could just be sitting and it hits or walking. I doesn't matter what I am doing. It just gets frustrating on top of everything else.

Has a physical therapist tried to help?

Bodies are weird....

I would feel light headed at times, but not dizzy... dizzy. Don't know if its a side effect of all the meds, or if it comes from my neck. I have discs narrowing at my spinal cord and am waiting for an MRI to confirm the exact damage before treatment for sore neck, shoulder etc.

Mommarty, have you been to an ENT about this? They can do all kinds of very nauseating tests to rule out more serious causes of vertigo. And then, if it is BPPV, they can refer you to a physical therapist who performs the Eppley maneuver.

You don't scuba dive do you? Or have you been in an airplane lately and had a quick change in pressure? That can cause damage like what I had...