Vertigo

Have any of you had this? I was at Pilates a few weeks ago and kept having dizzy spells and then at the end when we stood up, the whole room spun like I was in a barrel rolling down a hill. It was quite distressing. The instructor had me sit and put my head between my knees which, yeah, I know she meant well but I wasn’t going to faint. I was going to fall down. So the sitting, ok. The leaning over, not so much. Anyway I recovered enough to drive home, but it continued to bother me. It’s gotten better, but occasionally I’ll do something that kicks it off and I stumble like I’m drunk, which I never am. When I turn over in bed at night I spin around for a while, but it’s not so bad. I guess I’m getting used to it. I did have to pause Pilates though because I think it’s not such a good idea.

Before you start telling me I might have had a stroke or a brain tumor, I didn’t and I don’t. I had my head examined (HEH) i.e. they did a CT of my brain and it appears to be normal (HA! HAHAHAHAHA). I think it’s probably my ear, because it’s worse when I dip my head to the left side, but I haven’t been bothered long enough to do anything about it, like go to an ear doctor.

I suspect it’s just more bullshit that happens when you start heading toward 60. I have some sort of thing wrong with my back that you really can’t fix without surgery and fuck that, I’ve had enough surgery in my life, so I got one of those stupid shots and it helped a little. I liked the doctor a lot because he recommended some crime podcasts.

So, moving on, this has nothing to do with my frailties, Elliot took my dad’s car a couple of years ago when my dad couldn’t drive anymore. It made my dad feel better to gift it to his grandson, you know? Rather than sell it or get rid of it some other way. Anyway, it was kind of a piece of shit, a Kia…Sonata? Maybe? I think that’s a Hyundai. Anyway, some kind of old man sedan because my parents NEVER spent any money on cars and didn’t take care of them. It was a decent enough car though, with low mileage and only a few mysterious dents that I wasn’t told about because both of them were always scared I was going to take away their cars. To be clear, I only took away my dad’s car because 1) the care coordinator at his rehab said I had to and 2) he got lost trying to drive to the library which is literally right across the street.

Fast forward, Elliot got rear ended and we were going to get it fixed but then while we were waiting to get it in, he got rear ended AGAIN. When we got it in to the body shop, the guy totaled it and it isn’t worth much money (but way more than it would have been worth had Covid not occurred). So now Elliot has no car and has to buy one in this horseshit market where shit cars are marked up 25% or you can’t even get one. We went to a car lot a few nights ago after it closed to see whether they had a certain vehicle and there were like 10 new cars for sale and I have no doubt that they will be sold at full price. Which is actually a good thing for me, because fuck negotiating.

I saw a half-gallon of ice cream the other day that was $8.59. I…what? I mean, I can afford food and ice cream is certainly not a necessity but what the hell? The world is falling apart! Everything’s expensive, it’s either godawful hot or there’s a thunderstorm from a dystopian movie, this country is run by imbeciles, dangerous imbeciles at that. I mean. No wonder I’m depressed.

4 comments

  1. Regarding the vertigo, it could be BPPV (benign something vertigo – something to do with tiny calcified crystals moving inside the ear). The way to test if that’s what you have is to have Tim watch this video on the Epley maneuver and have him do it on you. It looks simple, but it can feel violent if you have BPPV, so DO NOT do this right after eating and I recommend a trashcan nearby just in case you need to throw up.
    https://youtu.be/7ZgUx9G0uEs.
    However, if the Epley maneuver doesn’t cause you to feel anything on either side, then it could be a vestibular disorder.
    I’m not in the medical field, but I’ve had BPPV a couple times over the years and know three other women who were ‘cured’ with the Epley.

  2. ^Epley maneuver was what I was trying to think of. Never had vertigo but it sounds miserable. So much body BS involved with aging. The only “old person” thing I say to the youngsters is just wait, your body will turn on you in the weirdest ways. (Maybe that’s the only thing I tell them, I’m old and maybe forget everything else.)

  3. I’m dealing with vertigo and it’s the worst! I’m told it’s hypothyroid or autoimmune or vitamin deficiency or menopause or…

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