Vertigo, Motion Sickness, and the Migraine Syndrome
"Whoa! The room started spinning again! I just caught myself in
time. I was walking into the kitchen and as I turned, it
happened. I closed my eyes as the room was whirling around. I've
been noticing this more lately. Sometimes it lasts longer and I
will even get sick on my stomach. There must be something wrong
with my inner ear or brain. I am going to the doctor and ask him
why do I feel this way?"
I can remember a patient that I treated in the early 1980's with
similar complaints. She also had a lot of neck symptoms. In
fact, on neck X-ray she had some worn out discs. Her vertigo
(room spinning and dizziness) were at the time her neck bothered
her the most. I knew there was a correlation between the neck
hurting and the vertigo, but I could not figure it out. It was
not until years later when I finally understood what was
happening. Migraines, which can present as neck pain, can cause
vertigo and motion sickness. I was beginning to understand the
migraine syndrome.
This person falls into the migraine syndrome profile. Let me
explain what I mean by the migraine syndrome. It
is the outward expression of the body's sensitivity to light,
sound, smell, food, and/or stress. Some people are more
sensitive than others; therefore, their reactions to different
stimuli are greater. This sensitivity can be manifested in the
body as migraines, sinus headaches, neck aches, palpitations,
irritable bowel syndrome, motion sickness or vertigo, reactive
hypoglycemia, temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), panic
attacks, and/or fibromyalgia. Now that's a mouthful!
Understanding what is going on with you is very important in the
healing process.