AlexCyclistRoch

On wednesday, I had a severe attack of BPPV (benign positional vertigo) while at work; felt dizzy, accompanied by severe spells of nausea. Was barely able to drive home early. Puked 7-8 times that day. Saw the doctor, was given a med for the worst of the effects, and started doing the Epley maneuver. Now, 48 hours later, I can drive again, and have probably recovered about 80%. Hoping that during the weekend I recover completely, and get back to work for the new week.

What I'm wondering is this: How long should I stay off the bike?

justtrying

First of all I hope you feel better real soon. That is a question that I would ask your doctor and if you are uncomfortable with his/her advice I would get a second opinion. Good Luck.

Classtime 

I had vertigo after a couple back to back heart surgeries. Scary sh&$. It slowly went away. I was fine if I stayed upright but bending over was touchy. I'd mimic your riding position and see how it goes. Doctors usually say " Take it easy" not worth asking.

canklecat

Could it be related to the dialysis? I remember it was very common even for our relatively healthier and stronger clients on dialysis to experience occasional bouts of dizziness, nausea and fatigue. Electrolytes get out of whack, too much fluid removed, etc.

Occasionally I experience similar symptoms but in my case it's due to pressure on the spine from a permanently damaged C2 vertebrae. I keep forgetting the name of the syndrome but it can cause my BP to spike with dizziness, crushing headaches, etc. Got it today, in fact, after enjoying a really good 40 mile group ride last night with friends. I was planning to take it easy today anyway since the temp is in the 90s and the feels-like is over 100. I need to re-acclimate to Texas summer heat gradually.

I know this suggestion comes up occasionally, but have you considered a recumbent to see if a different riding position helps? And if worse comes to worst, you won't have as far to fall! I may eventually try a recumbent myself if my neck pain and related symptoms worsen.

Carbonfiberboy 

My wife has BPPV. She rides no problem. Do the Epley every day until when you do it, you don't feel dizzy. She goes months between needing to do the maneuver.

BPPV is caused by "stones," probably calcium deposits, in the inner ear which rattle around and make one dizzy. Quite common.

AlexCyclistRoch

Sorry, Canklecat, but I HATE recumbrnts with a passion. No, my symptoms are completely unrelated to my dialysis-my BP was actually a bit high. What I have is BPPV-look it up. It SHOULD clear up by itself, but.....

VegasTriker

I wouldn't recommend a recumbent bike for riding if loss of balance is a problem. The idea that you are closer to the ground so will not get hurt as badly is bogus too. I've crashed on mine and watched other recumbent riders do the same. Yes, you generally crash to the side instead of going over the handlebars but you can get seriously hurt on a recumbent just like a regular bike. If you happen to fall into the path of traffic the recumbent makes no difference. Those of us who mostly ride trikes are really closer to the ground and much less likely to crash if we were to experience a dizzy spell. There is also the problem of cost. It turns off most people who express an interest. A guy was looking over my Catrike 700 this morning as I got back on it and when he asked about the cost, there was an instant loss of interest following my answer.

Edit: Saw your reply as I was composing this. Ever tried one or are you just opinionated?

tagaproject6

Sorry for veering off..saw a Catrike in Southwest bikes last weekend...I WANT ONE!

AlexCyclistRoch

Both, actually. A 'classic' road bike is a masterpiece in simplicity; a recumbent is a collection of compromises.

Artmo 

I had my one and only experience of BPPV while on vacation in France some years ago. I wondered what was happening to me: if I looked straight ahead I was OK, but if I looked up, everything began to spin. It's also known as top shelf syndrome!
The doctor who came to our apartment (yes, she actually made a house call!!) quickly diagnosed the problem and prescribed acetyl leucine (Tanganil), which I took (500mg) a couple of times during the day and the vertigo disappeared. Apart from a brief recurrence the next day, I haven't had it since. Tanganil is easily available in France over the counter and is very inexpensive, but when I tried to find it for a friend in the US, no-one had it. Reports of its efficacy vary, but it might be worth a try.

John E

I went through a bout of vertigo, which occurred primarily as I was getting up out of bed. I cleared it up with a few repetitions of the Brandt-Daroff and Epley maneuvers, both of which are designed to enable gravity to manipulate the "rocks in your head." So far, it has not come back.

AlexCyclistRoch

Update: I'm still about 90% recovered, but having difficulty with descending stairs,especially with laundry. Went for a ride on my single-speed, and noticed 2 issues:

1) Balance is poor when I look down while riding.
2) Twisting my head from side to side (like at an intersection) causes dizziness. I have to keep my head motions to ±45°.

Otherwise, my rolling balance is good.

I'm ordering an eyeglass mirror, just in case I still have minor symptoms next weekend.

qcpmsame 

+1 for using the mirror. I have balance issues, but they stem from Parkinson's disease and not a positional or non-positional vertigo. I was discharged in 1981 from the USAF flight program for having viral neuronitis (sp) that caused severe vertigo, each time my head got in a aft and rightward position it was lights out from the dizziness and spinning, tough to fly an aircraft with that to deal with. It was strongly positional, caused by a virus that gets into the inner ear canals. It is contagious and three others in my flight class' squadron were also discharged.

I have used the Take a Look mirror since 2012, rather be able to see, without trying to swing around with balance problems. Any ideas yet as to the cause of your vertigo? With the kidney dialysis you have to deal with this really sucks. Glad you were able to ride a bit.

Bill

AlexCyclistRoch

Well, 2 weeks later, and I'm back on the bike, but only on the MUT for now. Even there, I notice my rolling balance is a bit lacking, and things that used to be easy, like riding up to an intersection and unclipping, now are done a bit more reluctantly, and further from the line. Likewise, merging into traffic is still a bit difficult.

One thing that I used to do a lot was visually looking at my cogs/rings to see which gear I'm in; I can't do that now. I can barely look down at the cadence meter without wobbling off the road! I'm hoping that my recovery still has a bit more to go....

canklecat

Good to hear you're improving some.

Since I last posted to this thread I added a road racing bike to the stable. Yikes. Huge adjustment in adapting to balance and comfort. I've ridden about 10-15 miles every day this week on the road bike. On every ride when I hit a hard jolt I could feel it in my neck and experienced sudden bit of dizziness and seeing stars, but it passed quickly. That old C2 neck injury is always going to be a challenge.

So tomorrow I plan to cruise on the upright hybrid. Feels much more relaxed, better balanced and I don't need to concentrate on every little thing.