DROP ATTACKS

 

Drop attacks are sudden falls to the ground or floor that happen spontaneously without warning. There are many things that can cause drop attacks. The link below explains a few of them:

Drop attacks

 

TUMARKIN'S OTOLITHIC CRISIS

Sudden, spontaneous fall to the ground without prior warning experienced by some people with Meniere's disease and non-Meniere's endolymphatic hydrops. It occurs without warning, vertigo, nausea or vomiting, sweating, disequilibrium, loss of consciousness, numbness or paralysis. Some people have described the feeling of being pushed to the ground during one of these episodes otherwise there is no sensation. Unless injury occurs from the fall the individual is able to resume their previous activity. (Falling while trying to move about during an attack of Meniere's is not Tumarkin's Otolithic Crisis)

This event is thought to be caused by an undefined, sudden change of the otolithic organs, the two organs in each ear responsible for sensing gravity.

If you think you are experiencing this call your doctor and inform him/her of this change in your condition. Do not swim, drive, climb a ladder or do any other potentially dangerous activity until you speak with them.

 

More on Drop Attacks:

 

(the following is from my friend Steve's website and his experience with drop attacks)

It's time to discuss a topic that frightens many people; drop attacks.  Drop attacks become a part of life (I have 3 to 4 per week at times).  You'll probably never get used to them but you can learn to accept them.  There may be a number of external influences that bring on drop attacks (such as sudden air pressure changes -- salt and caffeine intake, smoking and drinking, even excessive visual or audio stimulation and of course the last biggie--stress).  The basic internal cause is the same for all of us, most of the items mentioned above just start the process.  Either those canals in the inner ear which form the balance center fill with an excessive amount of fluid or your brain becomes overloaded with mixed balance signals and just shuts down (like a computer rebooting). The next thing you know, you're on the ground.

In the case of fluid, the tissues that make up these balance centers, call semicircular canals, build up so much fluid that they become stretched and may rupture.  The result is a mixing of fluids from the inside of the canals and outside.  One is rich in sodium, the other in potassium.  The two mix, back up into the semicircular canals through the rupture and hit the nerve endings in the canals and when this happens, it brings on vertigo.  It may be very mild or very severe.  If severe it may result in a drop attack.  If caused by too much visual or auditory (sound) stimuli, just get away from it and that will usually cure itself.  I had a Labyrinthectomy (the balance center was surgically removed from one ear) and I find that too many separate noises in my remaining hearing ear can bring on an attack...like the excessive visual stimulation.  Now I'm hearing every sound from cars to voices through one ear and my brain just can't sort through too many sounds at once and after a while just shuts itself off.  The same in a crowded room of people talking.

For those of you who haven't experienced them, a drop attack is exactly what it's name implies.  You drop like a rock to the ground.  Try to keep in mind that as uncomfortable and frightening as it is, a drop attack is not fatal, won't give you brain damage (the question did come up) and after it's over the worst you may have is a severe case of exhaustion, a few bumps and bruises and you'll be back to your usual amount of dizziness in anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  Sometimes drop attacks are also accompanied by vomiting from the vertigo.  Recovery time is different not only for each person but for each individual attack.  So if it takes longer to recover from an attack, don't be alarmed.  I've been up and back up to speed (however slow that is these days) in minutes after some attacks and other times have had to lie down for a few days at times.

This is something I mentioned under the Misc. section but is appropriate to this section, so I thought it worth mentioning again because it can also bring on an attack: I have not run in to one doctor who has mentioned that there are different types of vertigo. We all experience it as soon as a drop attack occurs. But what many doctors seem to neglect is the second type of vertigo that can BRING ON AN ATTACK! It is called "Positional Vertigo". This, like a drop attack, gets its name from what it is or does. Positional vertigo is vertigo that happens when your head is in a certain position. Not every person suffers from this but most MMers do at some point. It is most often noticed when someone is lying flat or only slightly inclined. For the past several years I have had to sleep almost sitting up (hard for someone who used to sleep on his stomach to get used to). But I would rather sleep "propped up" than wake up in the middle of an attack!

Generally, sleeping at a 70 to 80 degree angle is sufficient. It is still slightly reclined so you really aren't sitting up (it just feels that way until you get used to it). A recliner (reclining chair) is great for this (you may also qualify for an electric hospital bed paid partially through Medicare so you can change the angle of your elevation with the push of a button).

Some people know in advance that an attack is coming on.  If you have warning (start to feel dizzy or dizzier than normal, stop whatever you are doing immediately, take your drugs and lie down for a few minutes).  Doing this you may avoid the attack completely.  I'm one of those people who has no advance warning.   This is a compilation of what I have been told by several doctors, specialists and other MMers and what works for me.  It may work for you exactly as is or you may find other ways more effective, but it's a starting point.

If you know it's happening:

Stop whatever you are doing and move slowly; don't run for your pills or turn suddently....MOVE SLOWLY.

Take Dramamine (not Dramamine 2--contains different chemicals) immediately (called Gravol outside the U.S.).  Dramamine works within minutes while prescribed meds. (like Valium) for vertigo can take upwards from 20 to 40 minutes to effect your system.  Dramamine usually wears off in about that time so it carries you until the regular, stronger meds. take over.

If you don't have it, tell your doctor you want a prescription for Promethazine.  This is a mega-strength anti-nausea only drug.  So even if you are spinning you won't be overly nauseous and may avoid vomiting (again, not everyone vomits when having drop attacks).  Some doctors prescribe Meclizine but unlike Promethazine which treats only nausea, Meclizine is designed to treat other types of seizures and has no effect on the dizziness itself, just nausea so you are taking a medication that is treating symptoms you don't have and your body has enough to deal with without adding unnecessary medications.  And yes, many ENTs prescribe it as the primary medication for Meniere's.  However, it has been proven to be almost completely ineffective in treating true Meniere's cases -- like I said, it helps with nausea but they prescribe it for the dizziness and in actuality, it does nothing for that.  Unfortunately, it is the standard medication they are taught to prescribe for balance disorders but it is really for balance disorders caused by chemical imbalances in the brain and Meniere's is a Vestibular disorder so it requires a different class of medication (such as Valium which suppresses the Vestibular/balance system--Meclizine does not effect the Vestibular system).

Unless you live with someone, if you are in the middle of cooking anything go back and take it off the burner or OUT of the oven.  If a full attack does hit, you won't be able to get back up to turn any burners or the oven off.  As I said, the aftereffects of an attack can last from minutes to DAYS.  Better to lose a little food than burn your house down with you in it over a roasting chicken! ;-)

Turn off the TV, radio, your computer or any other external stimuli (including telling people in the household to, in plain English...leave you alone and don't ask constantly how you're doing).  Sounds cruel when someone is showing concern, but external stimuli are too much for the brain to handle at this point.  It's getting enough confused signals so it doesn't need more signals to sort through.

Lie down, but not flat.  No doctor has been able to give me a completely logical explanation yet, but EVERY SINGLE ONE AGREED that inclining at about a 60 to 70 degree angle helps greatly (you're almost sitting up but not quite--reclining chairs are great for this). That's "Positional Vertigo" after an attack.

Keep a light on in the room (not directly in your field of vision) and try to keep your eyes open, looking ahead.  For non-MM related dizziness you are usually told to close your eyes but with MM, it assists your brain in reorienting itself. I'm sure I've mentioned this elsewhere on the site but if you have those wonderful "energy saving" flouescent lights in your lamps...GET RID OF THEM. Flourescent lights actually flicker extremely quickly. It may be too fast for your eyes to register but your brain does pick it up and it's one more thing you DON'T need to deal with at this particular time.

If you've taken the drugs listed above you will start to feel tired.  If you start to feel sleepy, then by all means sleep if you can.  An attack takes a lot out of you.

NOTE:  I keep a sports bottle (one of those with a built in straw with cap that won't spill if knocked over) filled with water by my sofa.  If you vomit you can become dehydrated and that can make you feel dizzy in itself.  DON'T drink soda.  I know a lady who would drink Gingerale (her mother gave it to her whenever she was sick as a child).  It contains tons of sugar and some have caffeine or if you get the no calorie type, will usually contain Aspartame/NutraSweet which may also trigger MM problems.  Aspartame studies are going on now with MMers and the results are not absolutely conclusive.  So until they are, stay safe and keep away from it.  Either way, the best fluid for you is plain, FILTERED water (most towns in most countries use plain old salt in the conditioning of their water supplies so you need filtered water -- I have one of those "pitcher" types).

If you didn't know it was going to happen:

These are the most difficult.  This is the type I have now.  One minute I'm chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter, the next I'm on the floor looking up at the counter and vomiting.  I think I said it before, "it's as pretty a picture as it sounds".

Because I have been having attacks with no notice I have gotten into the habit of ALWAYS carrying a small plastic pill box on me.  You can get them at any pharmacy for about $0.75 to $1.00.  I carry all the meds. I listed above right on me -- even being housebound.  If they're in the other room they might as well be 1,000 miles away during an attack.

Be prepared to stay on the floor for a while if you live alone like I do.  Remember I live alone so I have been on the floor for a few minutes and as long as 4 hours before I could take my pills and crawl to my sofa.  Believe me, dignity goes out the door during and after an attack.

You still need to be conscious enough to make sure the stove and oven are turned off.  If you smoke (and you shouldn't with MM), be sure your cigarette is completely extinguished.

Otherwise, once you get to the inclined position everything is the same as for the advanced notice attacks

 

 

Next Page

Back

Home