Difference between Vertigo and Spinning

Hi everyone!

Can someone tell me what the difference between vertigo or spinning, if any? I have been reading posts where it has been classified as different. I thought dizzy and spinning were the same thing :'( Thanks so much again!

 

Dizzy to me is just more light headed feeling or off balance.... vertigo is actual spinning that will make you sick if it continues... that's at least my experience. hope this helps. hang in there.... and welcome to the board.

GinaMc

 

Thank you very much! I'm glad to know the difference, vertigo is what I notice then, because it is spinning around all the time, like my custom title says..."My head is a carnival!" haha!

Erin

 

I agree with Gina

Dizzy to me is the lightheadedness or disequilibrium I get where as spinning is the rotational vertigo where either you feel like you are spinning or the world is rotating at a very fast rate around me, just like on a fast spinning ride at the carnival...uuuugggghhhh hate that as it makes me as sick as dog and I get uncontrollable upchucking as well....I haven't had any true vertigo since April of last year but have major balance problems and the dizzies most of then time

Keep asking the questions

Maggie

 

Hey DizzyChick. I just recently figured it out myself. With Vertigo you are totally out of it and throwing up. Dizzy can be nauseating but I don't get sick. I call dizzy and spinning a bad day. Vertigo is an attack - for me.

I like the - my head is a carnival!

 

...There's two types of vertigo: One is an "iilusion" of spinning where things appear to be moving when you know they are really stationary. The second type of vertigo is the "sensation" of spinning where it feels like we're moving but we know that we're not.
..The Illusion type is what I would get when I ate something that I was allergic too. They would last about 4 to 6 hours and I had to keep my eyes closed and everytime I would open them it looked like the whole world was moving and would stop when I closed my eyes.
...I also get the "sensation: type and it's been mostly associated with my BPPV episodes. It's usually caused by movement of crystals in the canals which give a false sense of motion. Some peope get this really bad and it can last for days. Sometimes I have to fix my eyes on an object to get rid of the "feeling". Closing the eyes can sometimes make it worse.
...So even "spinning" can mean two different things. Hope this helped,
Rick

 

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When I get vertigo, it's like I'm standing still and the world is spinning around me. Then comes the nausea and vomiting, if I can't get Meclizine to stop it. It helps if I keep my eyes closed, BUT not too tight or it will get worse.
Leon

 

And to complicate matters, a few of us experience vertical vertigo. That’s up and down vertigo, so to speak.

Rotational vertigo, vertical vertigo, and torsional vertigo all have one thing in common: movement of eyes in erratic fashion. In the case of rotational vertigo, the eyes move left-right, hence giving the appearance that the world is spinning (or if you like, that a person's body is spinning in opposite fashion). Of course, neither the body nor the world is spinning. Instead, the eyes are moving in such a way that the brain makes the incorrect decision that the world or person is spinning. In the case of vertical vertigo, the pair of eye muscles that control up-down motion of eyes are causing the problem.

It is up to the doctors to try to figure out why a person suffers from vertigo. This is usually attributed to central nervous system problems or to peripheral problems, like Meniere’s disease.

Before I leave this post, it is worthwhile to put down a dictionary definition of vertigo.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vertigo n. pl. ver•ti•goes or ver•ti•gos

1. a. The sensation of dizziness.
b. An instance of such a sensation.

2. A confused, disoriented state of mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In view of this, it is quite understandable why vertigo means so many things. Like most words, there is ambiguity. However, there is a strong tendency on this site to use vertigo to mean dizziness associated with spinning.

Here is an excellent site on vertigo, its causes , and how doctors make their determination on what is causing a particular patient’s vertigo.

http://ivertigo.net/vertigo/veroutline.html​

Joe

 

Vertigo and spinning are the same - very debilitating, usually get sick with flu-like symptoms and unable to function.

The other thing is dizziness -- you can still function.

 

vertigo = dizziness, nausea, vomiting, hot and cold sweats and the stink that go with them, diarrhea (sometimes simultaneous with vomiting), spinning sensation, ultrasensitivitiy to light, touch, sound, inability to remain upright - several hours followed by absolute exhaustion requiring two or three days to recover. It is hellacious. :-[ :'( I have never felt worse, not even a broken heart.
Paul

 

For me vertigo consists of the room spinning around me so fast that I can't focus on anything, I can't walk in a straight line and even just slightly moving causes it to get worse. If I can take a valium before it gets to this stage then I usually find it goes away completely, if not then the vomiting and shakes happen and when I have chucked up all the food I have consumed in the last 10 years I can then take a maxillon (to stop the vomiting and nausea) and a valium to help calm the spins, although it never completely goes until the attack is over.

Dizziness is more like being lightheaded and floaty and is accompanied by a wave of nausea - thankfully it doesn't last long.

 

Thanks Robyn!

That is exactly what I get except without the vomiting, I sometimes feel as though I will, and I actually have in the past, but it does not accompany the spinning usually.

Well it's a new morning and an all new symptom! Aren't I a barrell of laughs! Now my hands and feet fall asleep all the time, I wake up with tingling fingers and hands and sometimes feet, as well as that darn feeling on my ear lobes! If I lay wrong on that side of my head, my ear FALLS ASLEEP...my ear! Well who knows...now the only question I have is this: How do you know when to take the valium? i dont know when it is going to strike, unless I purposely make one happen for doctor reasons, like move my head to fast or something.

Have a great day Robyn

 

Thanks all, and Joe especially for the great definitions. I get true vertigo sometimes, and there is another class which is EXTREME dizziness..........hard to function with that one too, and then the Oscillopsia which isn't considered vertigo at all, right? Just FUN FUN FUN on all fronts.................

 

In my case , when the walls start moving , the things start to move in certain direction i,e: from upper right to lower left , this movement repeat over and over (like when old TVs where not properly adjusted ) ,

But strangely i have noticed that during this movement when i look at certain direction the movement stops ???

My eyes have been checked and nothing explained.

Regards
Ray

 

Robyn... I take my valium on a schedule... but.. i'm only doing this for now because my symptoms have come back and I am waiting for surgery (VNS) on Oct. 19th.. until then.. I take 5mg of valium every 4 to 6 hours a day... IT IS NOT AN ANSWER OR A CURE.. as you do NOT want to get addicted to it. but that is just a suggestion until you can figure out what is exactly going on and get it treated. Talk to your doctor about when you can take it and how much to help stop an attack... as sometimes you have no warning when one might hit. i have been perfectly fine and didn't have ringing in my ear or fullness and the next thing i know everything starts to spin and i'm down.... now that doesn't happen to everyone... that is just what my experience has been. Please talk to a good ENT and if you feel you are getting nowhere get another opinion. take care and god bless.

GinaMc

 

Just a quick note to Ray, there is something called gaze induced nystagmus. (I'm not trying to hijack thread.) Also, since your erratic eye motion is on a diagonal, you may be experiencing nystagmus. Make sure your doctors are aware of your experiences.

When I have nystagmus, sometimes my eyes will drift slowly towards the upper right corner of my field of vision and then quickly flick back to center. The process repeats. Note that it has two phases: slow motion followed by fast motion.

Joe

 

Hey Erin!

Hmmm ..... when do I know to take a valium? Well, I can kind of tell the difference in the dizziness - it feels more intense and almost like it is further in my head than just the normal dizzies that come and go. That sounds strange I know, but that is the best way I can describe it. There have probably been times that I really didn't need to take a valium, but I do just to be on the safe side. There have also been times that I have taken the valium and it has warded off the attack - I have just learned to tell the difference over the years as to when I should take a valium and when I know it will pass and not become a fully fledged attack.

I have MAV, so although my symptoms are similar to Meniere's they are not exactly the same. I do have valium and anti-nausea meds to try to stop an attack happening, but I also am taking an anti-migraine medication which is working well and I haven't had an attack or much dizziness for about 10 months now. Most of the time my attacks would come in the middle of the night and I would wake up in the morning with the world spinning. When that happens there is no stopping it and I am unable to do anything much about it - it is just a matter of riding the storm until it passes.

As for moving your head fast to cause dizziness, well that to me sounds like you could have BPPV. I am no doctor and I suggest that you get yours to check it out for you - there are lots of people here that have it and they have successfully had treatment for BPPV.

Have a good day yourself Erin!

 

Vertigo is my world spinning all around me so i'm unable to move, walk, talk, open eyes (chills/sweats). Vertigo and spinning were same for me. In beginning 2 yrs ago i would vomit and experience all the disgusting symptoms as GF described in his post but this recent episode wasn't like that, just vertigo sensations. But sensitivity to light/sounds and all that this time, just like a migraine without the headache.

I would takie valium the minute i felt my world starting to spin. Within 10mins - half hour of head back, no lights, eyes closed i was ok (it works like a charm for me). So i was taking valium on an "as needed basis" which i found to make me worse (i think anyway). I was having 2 to 3 vertigo spells a day (no vomit, must my world spinning around me, awful!) for almost 6 months and popping valium all hours of the day. So a month ago i started taking the valium in the morning, 15mg, daily and at night, 5mg and i've been vertigo free for 4 weeks now. I don't feel like a zombie from it at all. But i've also added acupuncture and massage therapy at same time so not really sure what is working (valium is a muscle relaxer also so helps with tightness). I noticed the valium also helps with my hypercusis (sound sensitivity). After another month of acupuncture i'm going to slowly come down on the V's and see how i feel. All i have to say is they work, and they enabled me to go back to work....regardless of addiction and all that. The muscle tension relief has been a biggy for me also and it's pretty much gone. I found a good path for now anyway.

Mya

 

Totally cool Mya, you just explained me! I get the migraine symptoms...text book actually, but without the headaches, and as far as Meniers...again text book is what my Dr. says yet, they have been unsuccessful in an official diagnosis. I am so glad to hear others are having the same problem, as I was starting to think I had been probed by an alien or something...these mysterious illnesses and symptoms that even my doctor cannot explain...sheesh! haha...glad to know it's not an alien...LOL! I guess I will stick to the valium and vicodin, that also has been helping me!

Erin