The Fight

Age: 50

Diagnosis: Undiagnosed

I have had dizziness since I was a child. I never liked it when my dad or other people would spin me around because of how I felt afterward. I still lived a kind of a normal life. I’m from Hawaii so I liked water sports such as surfing. I did it all through high school up until about 25. Then, I started having minor episodes of ear fullness and a little bit of a balance problem, but they weren’t severe. I’ve been a roofer now for over 30 years. I’m not afraid of heights and for some reason, I’ve never had any bad episodes while on the roof, thank god. Anyways, I’ve been living with this terrible, most ridiculous vertigo thing all of my life. I should probably be a medical professional for it…

So, my vertigo episodes have slightly increased. I would get major ones every 4 or 5 months. Between episodes I still experience balance problems, but I can still function kind of normally. My vertigo usually comes from when I lean or lie on my right side or if I’m tilted to the right. But, I’ll tell you that this thing comes out of nowhere. I can be doing fine for 4 months working on the roof, hanging over the edge of the roof, or running up and down the roof all day and be fine. Then I’ll get home and sit down on my swivel chair with wheels and bam, here comes a vertigo episode. Then I find myself on my knees holding on to the ground as everything just melts and twists and you have no control over it. So, l just go for the ride. They last about 20 seconds. Then I can get back up but I’ll be unsteady with anxiety for the next 3 to 5 days before I gradually get my balance back.

I never liked using the word “hate” but I will say, with every bit of meaning I have, that I hate this (without using profanity) terrible medical problem more than anything in the world. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. I’ve also accepted that I will never be cured of it because I guess there is no cure for it. So, I’m just living with it until my last day. I have so much more I could talk about but I’ll just share what I have just now. I hope anyone reading this that has it can agree with me. I wish it would just go away. Thank you very much.