monday evening in the ER

Yep, me again, in the hospital, again. Had a great little scare, took a ride in the wha mbulance and all. Apparently I was having a case of vertigo. Let me tell you what, not fun, not at all fun. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Couldn't stand up, world was spinning, lips numb, nausea. Fun times.

So apparently, after them stuffing me in a donut and taking pictures of my brain, blood tests and all that, they decided I simply have rocks in my head. Seriously. Apparently my inner ear has some tiny little stones rolling around in it that cause dizziness.

I must do some research on this, I want to know how one gets rocks in the head.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you're spinning or that your head is spinning inside.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is characterized by brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. Symptoms of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo are triggered by specific changes in the position of your head, such as tipping your head up or down, and by lying down, turning over or sitting up in bed. You may also feel out of balance when standing or walking.

Although benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can be a bothersome problem, it's rarely serious except when it increases the chance of falls. You can receive effective treatment for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo during a doctor's office visit.

Vertigo occurs when there is conflict between the signals sent to the brain by various balance- and position-sensing systems of the body. Your brain uses input from four sensory systems to maintain your sense of balance and orientation to your surroundings.

• Vision gives you information about your position and motion in relationship to the rest of the world. This is an important part of the balance mechanism and often overrides information from the other balance-sensing systems.
• Sensory nerves in your joints allow your brain to keep track of the position of your legs, arms, and torso. Your body is then automatically able to make tiny changes in posture that help you maintain your balance (proprioception).
• Skin pressure sensation gives you information about your body's position and motion in relationship to gravity.
• A portion of the inner ear , called the labyrinth, which includes the semicircular canals, contains specialized cells that detect motion and changes in position. Injury to or diseases of the inner ear can send false signals to the brain indicating that the balance mechanism of the inner ear (labyrinth) detects motion. If these false signals conflict with signals from the other balance and positioning centers of the body, vertigo may occur.

Common causes of vertigo include:

• Inner ear disorders, such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV),Ménière's disease, vestibular neuritis, or labyrinthitis.
• Injury to the ear or head.
• Migraine headaches, which are painful, debilitating headaches that often occur with vertigo, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light, noise, and smell.
• Decreased blood flow through the arteries that supply blood to the base of the brain (vertebrobasilar insufficiency).

Less common causes of vertigo include:

• A noncancerous growth in the space behind the eardrum (cholesteatoma).
• Brain tumors and cancer that has traveled from another part of the body (metastatic).

Immediate medical attention is needed if vertigo occurs suddenly with loss of function. Vertigo that occurs with loss of function in one area of the body can mean a problem in the brain, such as a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Alcohol and many prescription and nonprescription medicines can cause lightheadedness or vertigo. These problems may develop from:

• Taking too much of a medicine (overmedicating).

With all my other health issues and the large number of medications I take on a daily basis I admit I feared the worst. Apparently it's the BPPV that affected me.