I had a bout of vertigo a year and half ago. I too thought I was having a stroke. Took an ambulance to the ER. Once in the ER I couldn't walk and every time I raised my head I would throw up. The doc tried the Epley on me, but I almost puked on him, lol.

So, they gave me some Meclizine and sent me home. Three days later I was fit as a fiddle. The US should develop a vertigo weapon to use in war, the other side wouldn't be able to stand up.

Only as a small kid. The doctor had my mother feed me raw vegetables for a week. The vertigo went away.

I suffered from vertigo for years. Consulted PCPs and a neurologist. (The latter was a total waste of money and was about as impressive as a witch doctor.)

Anyway, in the interim, I developed idiopathic neuropathy. One specialist I consulted asked for a list of the vitamins I took. Keep in mind I was an amateur bodybuilder since high school and took a lot of vitamins.

He got irritated and told me to stop taking vitamins. Turns out I was getting calcium in a multipurpose vitamin and also was taking a separate calcium supplement.

Vertigo can be caused by excess calcium which deposits in your inner ear and throws your brain's balance out of whack.

I can't say for sure that was my problem but it's sure coincidental. I stopped the vitamins and my vertigo stopped, as well.

Sometimes when our weather changes (this is Oklahoma; it really changes) I can get a bit woozy for a spell, but it doesn't last and it's nothing like before.

If the individual has nystagmus, I would highly expect Candida to be the cause. Candida releases about 57 different compounds, with a wide range of effects. Nystagmus indicates a problem with cranial nerves 3, 4, and/or 6. Balance is involved with CN 7. Most likely a chemical or compound is involved, due to more than one CN being effective.

quote:

Epley maneuver

Had not heard of that, so googlized it, in case anyone wants a good tutorial..

Link Epley Maneuver John Hopkins

I've had vertigo attacks twice. The first one was fluid in my inner ear, quickly handled with a couple doses of OTC Flonase. The other turned out, after some drama, to be a bilateral pulmonary embolism. If I hadn't gone to a clinic when I did, it could easily have caused a stroke. But the outward symptoms of both episodes were exactly the same. So it pays to err on the side of caution and have a doc take a look at it.

Lots of potential causes, and an ENT doctor is a good place to start.

One potential cause is Meniere's Syndrome, which involves the same symptoms relating to the inner ear (vertigo, nausea, a feeling of "fullness" in the ear). See: Mayo Clinic

One of the observations about Meniere's is the role of "triggers," in the form of specific foods, that can bring on an episode of vertigo and nausea.

One agent/chemical that is often found in our diets is the artificial sweetener aspartame. So a practical way of helping yourself is to cut out diet sodas and the food products that contain aspartame and see if that helps reduce the symptoms. Easy to do.

Although this isn't "science," I have proven to myself that aspartame is a trigger for me by eliminating it from my diet and watching the symptoms go away, and then (in the name of science!) drinking a couple of diet cokes and watching them come back.

I had it for over a year. Brief episodes of vertigo followed by months of constant dizziness. Had a neurologist rule out a brain tumor and the like. I have been going twice per week for vestibular rehab which has helped a good bit.Meclizine helps but it sedates you and dries you out. Meniers disease is easily ruled out by a competent ENT.

I woke up one night years ago to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water, but as soon as I stood up, the entire room started spinning and I grabbed onto anything within my reach before I fell down. (Felt like I was going to be thrown down). It scared the crap out of me. It calmed down in a few minutes and I was able to call in sick and get an appointment with my Dr. By the time I got into the Dr. It had completely gone away. Dr. Said it was a temporary imbalance of fluids in the ear and said no flying for two weeks. (We were both active pilots at the time). He didn’t need to tell me that. I knew that flying was the last thing I wanted to do at that time. I only missed one day of work. It has recurred several times since then, all much milder, but none of the episodes were any fun at all. My last episode was January 30 of 2025. This is what I wrote in my medical journal. “Mild case of Vertigo. Walls and ceiling did not spin, but my balance was off and I slept a lot during the day”.

Just now after taking a 1 pound bag of peanut M&M's and reading the speed of light thread

Wait , is this , am I ,
. . . .
I am not cleaning that up

In my 20s I had a recurring ear infection that was treated by my chiropractor of all things.

A couple years ago I had a serious enough bout to go to the ER like the OP. Turned out this time it was a mass on my left cerebellum which is a part of the brain responsible for balance.

Fast forward a few steroids, several CAT and a PET scan, a biopsy, and several different anti-anxiety meds later and it went away on its own. No one involved had ever seen anything like it.
I was hoping it meant I had become an X-man, but no such luck.

Did Epley on myself about 10 years ago. No problems since.

I did modify the process slightly. Between any two positions, I did an intermediate position half way to the next one. I also held each position twice as long as specified. It took a bit of time but was well worth it.