While I don’t feel nauseated when these episodes hit, I can see how someone might. For me, it’s like the world is moving in a way I’m not used to, and I am trying to move through it the way it used to be. I perceive my vertigo as something of a physical manifestation of what I’ve seen visually represented in film — like the ripples in the air in The Matrix — or something I’ve seen myself, like the view up into the sun from the bottom of a pool on a bright day. It’s as if my body is experiencing things that previously only my eyes have seen. While these recent episodes of vertigo have slowed me down a bit, they’ve been nothing like what I experienced before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Early on, I had a bout of world-spinning vertigo that had me in bed for a week and crawling to the toilet with my eyes closed to vomit. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced it to that extent again.
Creating Our Own ‘MS Symptom Thesaurus’
But why go to such effort to describe this symptom of MS? Why not just call it “vertigo” and leave it at that? As many of you know, the symptoms of MS can vary not only in their occurrence, but in how each of us experiences them. And sometimes describing our individual experience of a symptom is difficult. Back in 2013, I hit upon the idea of creating our own “MS symptom thesaurus” to allow each of us who has experienced a particular symptom to describe it in our own words. Over the years, we’ve published entries on muscle weakness, fatigue, spasticity, speech problems, the “MS hug,” depression, and more. The words you’ve supplied have helped others who may be having the symptom for the first time describe what is happening to them. Doctors, families, employers, and friends have all benefited from your explanations.
What’s Your Experience of Vertigo?
So what about vertigo? Remember that your description can help other people express what they’re feeling or even help them realize that that is what’s occurring. As the comments section of this blog is still under construction, please use our Life With MS Facebook page to leave your descriptions of how vertigo affects you and to help build our MS Symptom Thesaurus. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis Photo: Getty Images
