A NIGHT IN HOSPITAL
This week has been a nightmare.
Things started pretty well. I was fine when I woke up on Monday morning and got ready for work, but things changed dramatically in the space of a couple of minutes in the taxi on the way to the office. I went from being perfectly fine to being violently dizzy and unable to focus on anything. It was incredibly scary.
When I got to the office I literally collapsed out of the taxi and onto the steps. All I wanted to do was lay down. After about 25 minutes I felt I could make it to the relative comfort of the sofa in my office, so with the invaluable help of Tanya and two of the security guards from my building they managed to get me into my office. And there I stayed, sweating heavily and still unable to focus, for the best part of three hours.
Eventually I felt strong enough to try and make it home or to hospital. Home was first choice because I just felt like I wanted to sleep. And that's what I did for most of Monday, but with no real change on Tuesday morning Tanya accompanied me to the hospital.
In short the doctors couldn't find the cause of my problems. The good news is that my heart, my brain and my blood are all fine. Actually my cholesterol is low - bonus ! The official diagnosis is vertigo but, as of 6.40am on Thursday morning, I'm still nowhere near back to normal.
The doctors kept me in hospital for one day and one night to monitor my condition but I came back home yesterday morning armed with yet more tablets.
It would help a lot if I knew what was causing my dizziness, but right now I have no idea. I'll be off work until next Monday and I think my trip to China on 5th November could well be in jeopardy. I'm not going to go unless I feel 100 per cent.
8 comments:
This might be from something that you ate. Do you have any kind of headache?
Dave
Hi Dave. That's the weird thing about this, I don't have any pain whatsoever. Last week I had a stomach infection but that had cleared up by the weekend and I was pretty much fighting fit at 6am on Monday morning, yet by 6.30am I was so dizzy. I would be happier if I knew what was causing it but the doctors I saw didn't seem to know.
My wife, Linda, is currently suffering from what was diagnosed asvertigo...for the past three months or so. No one has any idea what brought it on. Doctors have said it can last for up to six months!
Apparently the dizzyness is not there constantly, only at certain times. She can go days without feeling dizzy.
Linda says she doesn't feel 'sick' or 'ill' when the dizzyness comes on. She described it as having all the symptoms of being blind drunk without the pleasure of having had any drinks!! That's no fun.
Colin (Gunney) from Woky
Colin, good to hear from you. Your wife's symptoms sound similar to mine, although I was sick when I got home from the office on Monday morning after the first 'attack'. I don't think I have ever got so drunk that I felt like I did on Monday, but it's fair to say I had very little control of my legs, and certainly zero balance.
I don't like the idea of not knowing what caused it, and not knowing when it might come back. It was a frightening experience and not one I want to go through again anytime soon.
I wonder if you might have an inner-ear infection? But then, Bangkok always makes me dizzy...
Your entry made me think of an article that I read in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/health/06dizz.html
It's quite informative, and may help explain what you experienced. Hope it helps.
V & M - thanks for that link. I can related to that experience and it's very similar to what I went through. Although I didn't have any pain I did feel that perhaps I was having a stroke. In A&E I couldn't even put one foot in front of the other and walk in a straight line. This was 24-hours after the first 'attack' and in hindsight I should have gone straight to hospital, but in reality it would have needed an ambulance to get me there as I was really in a bad way last Monday.
Thanks again ...
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