Dizziness, room spinning

Your ear crystals can be messed up. After a few manuver therapies you will be good to go. Go to the doctor.

It sounds like you have inner ear imbalance, or Meniere's www.mayoclinic.org/.../con-20028251. I suffer from it on occasion, as do some other swimmers, caused by an imbalance in the inner ear fluid. And this link, which is supposed to be funny, though vertigo is not:www.crankyfitness.com/.../vertigo-research-remedies-and-ramblings.html. Maybe try doing a shorter distance without the ear plugs. Get used to turning your head side to side. I suspect the ear plugs have some sort of effect on the inner ear, and you're accustomed to it. So going without is a change. You might talk to a doctor. Sometimes meds help. Usually, you can feel the onset, a slight vertigo when you turn to breath. If that happens you need to stop. Don't tough it out. It only makes it last a lot longer. FYI, Olympic diver Mary Ellen Clark suffered from this. You can read her story here: www.si.com/.../vexed-by-vertigo-us-olympic-platform-diver-mary-ellen-clark-has-been-laid-low-by-dizziness

If it turns out you do have Meniere's and are stuck with it, you won't be able to do flip turns without getting seasick. I am only able to do a few before I have to quit, so I gave them up in favor of developing a fast open turn that I am able to do without any trouble. Magick17, can you provide more information on therapy for Meniere's? I have yet to be able to eliminate the problem completely.

Elaine, the cure is to imitate the head movements that cause dizziness, bringing on vertigo, and continuing to do this until your inner ear gets used to the movements and the fluid balances out on its own. If you can stand the treatment, it works, but it also doesn't guarantee it won't come back.

Elaine, the cure is to imitate the head movements that cause dizziness, bringing on vertigo, and continuing to do this until your inner ear gets used to the movements and the fluid balances out on its own. If you can stand the treatment, it works, but it also doesn't guarantee it won't come back. :eek: :eeew::afraid::bolt:

loonytick, mine have been less frequent (she knocks hard on every piece of wood within striking vicinity) since I got older, but I have chronic tinnitus. DH has the same problem and no one's been able to figure out why it happens, although the doc recommended lowering salt intake and that does seem to help. Meniere's is often associated with hearing loss. I suspect, though, if someone is using ear plugs and suddenly takes them out to swim, and water does creep into the canal, there's some blow back that could cause vertigo. Here's a link with a lot of good information: www.medicinenet.com/.../article.htm I've never done a flip turn and never will, and I've never been able to do tumbles. I was one of those kids you didn't want to spin or hold upside down if you were wearing anything nice.

I get dizzy in very cold water and I think it's related to cold caloric reflex (cold water against ear drum can cause nystagmus and the urge to yack--en.wikipedia.org/.../Caloric_reflex_test). Ear plugs can help this. If you have BPPV with some out of place canoliths in your inner ear the Epley maneuver may help--www.dizziness-and-balance.com/.../bppv.html). If you have Meniere's, bless you, as it is very difficult to treat.

LOL, which is the reason I've never done it.:D

To the OP, some of us just have to swim with earplugs. It's a little bit of a pain in the neck to have that one more thing to manage or to have muffled hearing when swimming, but you get used to it. If you haven't had any other symptoms, I'm skeptical that you're dealing with a bigger problem. There are a lot of conditions that trigger vertigo, not all of them serious or chronic. It could just be your body freaking out at having extra water too deep in the works of your ear, rather than an ongoing issue. If it happens again, I'd definitely consider going to an ENT, but in the meantime, it looks like you're an earplug swimmer. LOL, which is the reason I've never done it.:D Out of curiosity, as another person with Meniere's, do you guys feel like flip turns bring on a spell for you? And do you have a lot of short spells of vertigo or clusters of longer ones? I guess I'm just trying to figure out how weird of a case I am, lol. I will have days where the fluids seem to be just stuck in the WRONG position, with lots of vertigo, tinnitus, that full sensation in my ear, the whole shebang. And then it seems to reset and I'm ok for weeks or months. I can flip turn without problem, whatever. Movement doesn't seem to be the triggering event to put the fluids out of wack for me. The best I can tell, it's more tied to sinus problems, stress, salt intake, etc. But oh, those days when it's acting up I'm a total mess--can't drive, can't swim, have to call in sick and just stay as still as I can to make sure I don't run into walls or fall down or whatever.

Out of curiosity, as another person with Meniere's, do you guys feel like flip turns bring on a spell for you? And do you have a lot of short spells of vertigo or clusters of longer ones? I guess I'm just trying to figure out how weird of a case I am, lol. I will have days where the fluids seem to be just stuck in the WRONG position, with lots of vertigo, tinnitus, that full sensation in my ear, the whole shebang. And then it seems to reset and I'm ok for weeks or months. I can flip turn without problem, whatever. Movement doesn't seem to be the triggering event to put the fluids out of wack for me. The best I can tell, it's more tied to sinus problems, stress, salt intake, etc. But oh, those days when it's acting up I'm a total mess--can't drive, can't swim, have to call in sick and just stay as still as I can to make sure I don't run into walls or fall down or whatever. Hi Loonytick, I'm also a sufferer with an inner ear disorder, since childhood. Since I would easily get motion sickness, nausea, etc, on amusement park rides, car rides, airplanes, I have avoided flip turns. For me, it's not worth the risk of setting off disabling vertigo if swimming works well for me. I truly believe doing yoga inversions set off a vertigo bout that lasted almost one full year, so anything that puts my head in an unnatural position is something I avoid. I have bouts like you. One day I have no vertigo issues, no matter what I've done the night before, no matter what the water temp is, how I feel that day, allergy readings, etc. Another day, same conditions, and I feel "bouncy" all day. I gave up trying to isolate causes. For me, I take one day at a time. I'm grateful for every day that I can swim. :applaud: P.S. I've been to dozens of "specialists" from ENTs, to neurotologists and have yet to get a definitive diagnosis. I have some hearing loss from the 1980's but, other than that, my condition seems to be chronic motion sickness, tinnitus and brain fog.