The Weather and Dizziness…

As if having a Chronic Vestibular Disorder isn’t enough for a person to deal with, add in weather changes, I get worse. Why is that? I’ve noticed (in our Facebook Support Groups feed all the time), there are many people also affected by weather changes. I think the weather connection is considered with Meniere’s but not necessarily for someone with a lesion on the Vestibular Nerve. Is it the high or low pressure systems working their way through that increases my dizziness? Is it the allergens that come blowing into West Texas from who knows where? Maybe it’s plugged up Eustachian Tubes putting pressure on the nerve? I take allergy pills (to make myself believe that something will actually work) with ‘hit or miss’ results. Today is one of those days. It’s cloudy, cold, and rainy outside. Yesterday? It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day. It’s been this way for a number of weeks and I’m over it but doubt it’s through with me. It’s also the beginning of holiday season, sigh…

Oddly enough, or maybe not so odd, the weather also affects my Fibromyalgia symptoms. Why? Is there research to back this up? I doubt it.  I do know my body and certainly know when I’m in pain. So it’s been weeks of dizziness and pain and allergies and… I’m glued to my heating pad, slowly baking my skin into jerky. I’m walking around with my arms ready to catch me before I fall and haven’t left my home in many weeks, many. Have I become an Agoraphobic? I might be but I don’t need or want yet one more diagnosis. Mike does (rarely) force me to get out. We fight awhile and I either do or don’t go. He’d say, “I have to use a cattle prod to get her out”! It is the sad look in Mike’s eyes that makes me go…

I wish there was a magic pill (don’t we all?  I take too many meds now anyway…) to just stop the dizziness but there’s not. So what are some of the things I do when the weather isn’t cooperating?

• I ‘try’ to stay current with weather patterns but the Meteorologists in my area are ridiculously inaccurate. They say it’s raining and the sun is out! Seriously. If I know a system is blowing through, I take a decongestants. Some can’t take these medications though.
• I recently bought a humidifier, the kind you can add essential oils to. I use Lavender a lot! I use Eucalyptus to clear up breathing passages.
• I sit in a hot shower. I’ve drained our 50 gallon hot water heater before attempting to feel ‘normal’. What is normal anyway?
• I drink extra water. I know I don’t drink enough on a regular basis and it helps with sinus drainage. I find when my sinuses are pressured, my ear ‘stops up’ and my symptoms increase.
• I try to get extra sleep. I’m lucky I don’t get dizzy when laying down, I know many of you do. So for me, if I’m sleeping, I’m not up and dizzy… Is this what’s called, ‘being in a hamster wheel’?

We recently ‘celebrated’ our Thanksgiving holiday and it was very (VERY!) laid back compared to years past. The cold, or whatever we had, made the rounds to everyone but Olivia, our 6-month-old granddaughter. It’s really quite amazing to watch a healthy immune system in action. We’ve pinned it down to the grandsons who began it. What kind of grandma blames the children? Me, I guess. They both shook it off very quickly but didn’t cover their mouths enough…or wash their hands enough…I didn’t sanitize after them well enough…I also noted,  as the cold passed through my family, the adults have all had a worse time. There’s been no fevers in anyone, that’s why I say it’s a cold and not the flu. Something else I noted, the adults in this family are the whiners! Especially me!

There really isn’t anything that I know of that will eliminate dizziness that worsens when weather systems come through. I do know, I am not the only one dealing with this same issue. If you’ve discovered that ‘magic pill’, let me know what it is…please!

*Update: I take a ridiculous amount of time writing these blog post and since beginning it and stating my fear of falling… I fell. I forgot just how bad it hurts and oh my, the bruising on my hip, elbow, and wrist! I was ‘simply’ vacumning and ‘simply’ bent down to pick up a Lego piece. I obviously bent past my point of no return! The worst part, knowing I was wiping out and actually going to the floor. I’m just thankful my hip didn’t break as I have Osteoporosis also. Sigh…

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