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Help Nov 07, 2021 at 01:25 AM
  #1
I just recently began having dizziness. I messaged my doctor through the VA's healthcare website, so hopefully she will return my message by Monday. Sadly, the symptoms came on only two days ago, when I tried to get out of bed and turned my head to the left. Initially, the feeling went away after sitting up for a minute or two, or if I turned to the left to wake up instead. However, tonight the dizziness remained. I struggled to walk to the kitchen for water and to use the restroom prior. The room was faintly spinning while I was walking. I think it might be my neck movements or maybe my ear issue from the left side, which I complained about last week when I went in to see the nurse for a flu shot and was concerned about recurring acne that comes and goes in both my ears, as well as the scabs and clear fluid that sometimes comes out when I pick at the scab in my ear.

If I were at the other VA in a different state, they would have immediately had me go to a specialist. However, here they just think it's an acne problem, an anxiety problem, a PTSD problem, or some other issue concerning my sleeping and chronic fatigue syndrome. They act as if no test or treatment will help me, even though there are screenings that should be done at my age and given my abnormal labs, such as screening for stroke or vertigo or an ear infection of some kind, etc. I've never had dizziness before, so this is a very strange symptom.

I'm scared because I live alone and literally have no one close in this area to help me in the event of an emergency. My neighbors are not my friends, as one clearly stated in the hallway screaming at me to pick up my boxes in the hallway last year, even though I was too fatigued and sick to come out at the time to get my boxes in front of my door. She said derogatory things to me, and I reported her to the last landlord we had here. The boxes were not in anyone's way, but she couldn't stand looking at them. And I think she allowed her dog to pee on them. I had to purchase rug cleaner to clean up the mess in the hallway some months later, since she never took care of that. So, I try not to run into her, especially since she is a caregiver to another tenant here, and she refuses to wear a mask or get a vaccine. I don't even know if the tenant is still here and still alive now, due to her negligence. But I've never told her to her face about wearing a mask. I never said anything like that, but she's yelled at me for wearing a mask and only retrieving my packages at times when everyone is asleep. I do that to avoid people like her, and to avoid getting ill, and because I am sick.

Anyway, my neighbors don't like me, nor do they care if I live or die. I'm miserable and don't want to draw attention to myself, so I try now to avoid calling 911 in the event of an emergency. In that case, I'd rather take my chances and hire a Lyft ride to the nearest ER. But because we're in crisis standards of care with high Covid-19 surges and low maskers and low vaxxers, we have to call the ER ahead of time since they would not take me at all if I'm not in a true emergency. In other times, I'd be able to get seen, but during crisis standards, they will have to make a guess based on your symptoms without running any tests. They also would rather you pass out first in order to be eligible to be seen in the ER, though they will issue a mandatory DNR (according to their crisis standards ruling) if they are too full in all local hospitals to take you. Many people have died at home, were found dead after not paying bills on time, and have clogged up morgues here because they either weren't seen in the ER or refused to go to the ER for whatever reason. many preventable deaths, including non-covid strokes and heart attacks, were not seen and therefore allowed to die.

I'm so sick of where I live and dealing with all this. And there are no real renter's rights here, according to the VA's homeless prevention department and other counselors, including free legal counselors here. So I'm on my own.

I'm trying to do what I can to remain calm and self-care, in hopes that this dizziness will go away on its own.
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Default Nov 07, 2021 at 12:05 PM
  #2
How scary. I hope your dizziness will go away by itself or you will get effective soon! So sorry about the situation you are in!
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Default Nov 08, 2021 at 12:25 AM
  #3
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Originally Posted by SprinkL3 View Post
I just recently began having dizziness. I messaged my doctor through the VA's healthcare website, so hopefully she will return my message by Monday. Sadly, the symptoms came on only two days ago, when I tried to get out of bed and turned my head to the left. Initially, the feeling went away after sitting up for a minute or two, or if I turned to the left to wake up instead. However, tonight the dizziness remained. I struggled to walk to the kitchen for water and to use the restroom prior. The room was faintly spinning while I was walking. I think it might be my neck movements or maybe my ear issue from the left side, which I complained about last week when I went in to see the nurse for a flu shot and was concerned about recurring acne that comes and goes in both my ears, as well as the scabs and clear fluid that sometimes comes out when I pick at the scab in my ear.

If I were at the other VA in a different state, they would have immediately had me go to a specialist. However, here they just think it's an acne problem, an anxiety problem, a PTSD problem, or some other issue concerning my sleeping and chronic fatigue syndrome. They act as if no test or treatment will help me, even though there are screenings that should be done at my age and given my abnormal labs, such as screening for stroke or vertigo or an ear infection of some kind, etc. I've never had dizziness before, so this is a very strange symptom.

I'm scared because I live alone and literally have no one close in this area to help me in the event of an emergency. My neighbors are not my friends, as one clearly stated in the hallway screaming at me to pick up my boxes in the hallway last year, even though I was too fatigued and sick to come out at the time to get my boxes in front of my door. She said derogatory things to me, and I reported her to the last landlord we had here. The boxes were not in anyone's way, but she couldn't stand looking at them. And I think she allowed her dog to pee on them. I had to purchase rug cleaner to clean up the mess in the hallway some months later, since she never took care of that. So, I try not to run into her, especially since she is a caregiver to another tenant here, and she refuses to wear a mask or get a vaccine. I don't even know if the tenant is still here and still alive now, due to her negligence. But I've never told her to her face about wearing a mask. I never said anything like that, but she's yelled at me for wearing a mask and only retrieving my packages at times when everyone is asleep. I do that to avoid people like her, and to avoid getting ill, and because I am sick.

Anyway, my neighbors don't like me, nor do they care if I live or die. I'm miserable and don't want to draw attention to myself, so I try now to avoid calling 911 in the event of an emergency. In that case, I'd rather take my chances and hire a Lyft ride to the nearest ER. But because we're in crisis standards of care with high Covid-19 surges and low maskers and low vaxxers, we have to call the ER ahead of time since they would not take me at all if I'm not in a true emergency. In other times, I'd be able to get seen, but during crisis standards, they will have to make a guess based on your symptoms without running any tests. They also would rather you pass out first in order to be eligible to be seen in the ER, though they will issue a mandatory DNR (according to their crisis standards ruling) if they are too full in all local hospitals to take you. Many people have died at home, were found dead after not paying bills on time, and have clogged up morgues here because they either weren't seen in the ER or refused to go to the ER for whatever reason. many preventable deaths, including non-covid strokes and heart attacks, were not seen and therefore allowed to die.

I'm so sick of where I live and dealing with all this. And there are no real renter's rights here, according to the VA's homeless prevention department and other counselors, including free legal counselors here. So I'm on my own.

I'm trying to do what I can to remain calm and self-care, in hopes that this dizziness will go away on its own.
This sounds a lot like a condition I had when I was a teenager and it damaged my inner ear so that I still experience vertigo. What I had was called Labyrinthitis. Have your doctors mentioned this at all? I still remember it, because I had it the day I went to take the SAT. I tried to walk and it looked like the entire room was tilting sideways and I almost fell on the floor. I ended up in a hallway with my face between my knees and eyes shut and had to be assisted out of the school. I remember when I laid down, I would turn my head and it would look like I was on a merry-go-round. The room would spin. It was insane. And my balance has never been quite the same since then. This sounds very similar to what you're describing.

So believe me. I understand. However, dizziness isn't always inner ear, it can be neurological or sometimes psychological. Or physiological. If my blood sugar levels get too low, I get hit with dizziness and vertigo. That is hypoglycemia. If I'm under severe stress I can get vertigo.

I hope they will be willing to do some more tests to explore this further and try to determine what specifically is causing these symptoms.
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Default Nov 08, 2021 at 01:44 AM
  #4
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Originally Posted by cinnamonsun View Post
This sounds a lot like a condition I had when I was a teenager and it damaged my inner ear so that I still experience vertigo. What I had was called Labyrinthitis. Have your doctors mentioned this at all? I still remember it, because I had it the day I went to take the SAT. I tried to walk and it looked like the entire room was tilting sideways and I almost fell on the floor. I ended up in a hallway with my face between my knees and eyes shut and had to be assisted out of the school. I remember when I laid down, I would turn my head and it would look like I was on a merry-go-round. The room would spin. It was insane. And my balance has never been quite the same since then. This sounds very similar to what you're describing.

So believe me. I understand. However, dizziness isn't always inner ear, it can be neurological or sometimes psychological. Or physiological. If my blood sugar levels get too low, I get hit with dizziness and vertigo. That is hypoglycemia. If I'm under severe stress I can get vertigo.

I hope they will be willing to do some more tests to explore this further and try to determine what specifically is causing these symptoms.
I'm sorry you went through that, too! ((((safe hugs))))

I hope they run tests, too. My VA docs tend to psychopathologize me more than take me seriously, despite me having abnormal lab results with prediabetes (though they said for VA standards, I need to be two points higher for them to diagnose me with that, even though my blood sugar levels on the VA MHV site tell me that I'm in the range for prediabetes). So it is likely my blood sugar is low. But then again, I also had an abnormal test for thyroid. I can't find a ride for my appointment, so they are postponing those labs. I can still somewhat function, but I do feel the room spinning when I wake up and sometimes when I get up too fast or turn my head a certain way. I've never had these symptoms before in my life - ever, so I know there's something wrong.

My left ear hurts, and I told my doctor that about a week ago, when we had a Zoom appointment.

I do have two herniated discs in my neck from back when I was in my 20s, likely due to some injury from the military, though I didn't report it until after I got out. So that could also be causing it.

I could also have hardened arteries in my neck, so that could also be the reason.

I could also have an ear infection, so only time will tell if I have what you had.

I do get occasional ocular migraines (with or without the headache), which is the squiggly rainbow-like blinders that appear in my vision that last for about 30 minutes. I haven't had that for a year now, but I do see sparklies every so often.

I've got a lot of things going on with me.

I gained 50 pounds in 2 months back in 2015. I had no idea how that happened, but four years later, they found a nodule on my thyroid (only 3mm) and some "minor" blood abnormalities (anemia, vitamin D deficiency). I still have those issues.

I'm miserable. And the old VA was going to help me, but I made the mistake of moving out of state, so the new VA isn't helping me at all.

The only thing good is my therapist here. But apart from that, everything in this state sucks. I don't know where to move to feel safe, because where I used to live wasn't safe either. So I'm kind of stuck.

I don't know what to do because I don't know anyone out where I live. I moved here right before the pandemic hit. I had no idea a pandemic was even possible until I was stuck here.

Some veterans I met online are my "friends," but they live far or one is dealing with relationship issues, so they can't help me. But they, too, are dealing with medical issues. One is in her 60s, so 20 years older than I am, and the other is probably around my age and dealing with her own issues. They both have complained about the same VA that ignores all of our symptoms and blames it on our military sexual trauma PTSD. All of us have been "gaslit," so to speak. It's horrible.

I don't know what to do about my vertigo.

Our hospitals remain in "crisis standards of care," so I'm not allowed to just walk into the ER. You have to get permission first, since they are filled with Covid patients and other patients that they use crisis standards to admit. I'm not severe enough during these standards to be seen.

I wish I could move now, but I have many months left on my lease.
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Default Nov 08, 2021 at 03:11 AM
  #5
All this sounds awful for you, and the consequences of the virus and subsequent crisis care standards are appalling for everyone affected. It’s understandable that you’re scared. I’m sorry your neighbours are horrible people too. I don’t have any advice, just hope that when you’re able to move again you’ll hit the safe neighbourhood and nice neighbours jackpot.
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Help Nov 08, 2021 at 05:36 AM
  #6
RoxanneToto, Yaowen, & Cinnamonson - Thank you all for your replies!

I've dealt with my neighbors the best way I know how - asserting my voice when necessary to the landlord (we've had about 5 landlords since I lived here for about 2.5 years, which is saying something about where I live), and also avoiding/walking away from potential conflict (by keeping a low profile, staying out of people's radar for attack, finding alternative schedules). But avoidance and using alternative schedules have taken a toll on my health. I'm not able to sleep and wake at the same time every day, which affects my weight and sugar levels, etc. My doctors told me something along the lines of a correlation between PTSD, insomnia, obesity, and insulin resistance (prediabetes and diabetes). So all of this has affected my health in just 19 months of time. My low vitamin D levels are largely due to my pre-pandemic isolation habits, due again to avoidance from dangers in the community.

It's hard to find an *affordable* place to live in a safe neighborhood. I'm technically in a "safe" neighborhood, but only during pre-pandemic terms. I'm no longer safe in most places, because of my race. So I'm now trying to figure out what my next move will be in one to two years, and what will be affordable. I have one year to pay off all of my credit cards, and at least 6 months from there to rebuild my credit score to a much higher score after that while also saving money for relocation. Given the rises in both hate and discrimination, I am pressured to now be a so-called "model minority," just to find a place to rent. I know an Asian veteran who isn't able to find one place that will rent to her. She's thinking about moving her and her family back to the state where she came from because she's been homeless and renting rooms for rent temporarily. I lucked out because I moved here before the pandemic. I definitely won't be able to move locally, unless I buy a house, which I'm not doing.

In the meantime, I have to do the best I can with what I have right now. Hopefully, I can slowly come out and start walking, start going to my regular annual checkups, start getting the out-patient services I desperately need to prevent cervical cancer (I also have abnormal PAPs that require colposcopies, which I haven't been able to get for about 18 months now - at least not with a female OBGYN), and start eating fresh produce (I was afraid for many months of fomite transmission and the CDC downplaying that, since they downplayed masks and vaccines, despite the cases rising in my area all the time). I also desperately need to see a dentist come January, so that I can deal with my periodontal disease and seek braces for 18 months, give or take. I figure that I'll probably reside here for that long while I pay off my credit cards and any copayments I'll likely incur while also saving money and opening up a real savings account for somewhat the first time in my life. Those are my goals.

Grad school might be a dead goal now, since my physical health has worsened, and my brain fog has become somewhat permanent. I had a small window for rehabilitation with much needed support, and I lacked both at the time. This pandemic definitely robbed me of those benefits. So now, I am looking more towards seeing my life as "early retirement," as opposed to a disabled veteran who once sought rehabilitation and upward mobility.

All of this alone is enough to make anyone "dizzy." In essence, my dizziness could stem from multiple sources. I'm stressed out more than usual. I'm experiencing major losses in life, including the loss of health and youth. I'm dealing with midlife crisis and/or transitions. I'm dealing with added/new diagnoses. I'm dealing with additional ongoing, continuous traumatic stressors regarding my identity and my medical traumas and this pandemic overall. I'm dealing with changes in my hormones. I'm dealing with obesity, visceral fat, high blood glucose, prediabetes, and other abnormalities. I'm dealing with thyroid problems not yet diagnosed. My blood sugar levels could be the cause of many different symptoms, including my vertigo/dizziness. So could my low Vitamin D levels, low Vitamin B levels, etc.

I took some vitamins last night and, after eating some things with minimal sugars and intermittent fasting, I woke up super early this morning (only had about 3 hours of sleep) with NO VERTIGO/DIZZINESS! YAY for me, but now I'm wondering where the vertigo came from then. Perhaps it was from intermittent fasting and a combination of low blood sugars coupled with my ear crystals - the shifting that happens with people over 40. I'm 47, so this would be a first for me. I'll need to monitor myself, but if I don't have any more vertigo, even though I have slight dizziness that I can feel (like a weakness, but the room isn't spinning this time), then maybe I found the culprit. Maybe it is my sugar levels. I was also cognizant of the way I slept, so I did what I could to move my head and make sure I'm not all that tense. My neck feels super tense though; that's the hardest part for me to relax. I self-massaged my neck last night, too. I forget to do the neck stretches, and I keep hearing cracking in my neck as I move it from side to side and up and down. I'm so afraid of the vertigo returning, but I realize that I have to stretch my neck. I haven't done any stretching in over 2 years, if not longer.

I would be way healthier and in a better financial position had this pandemic never hit. I'm so upset at the pandemic alone.
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Default Nov 08, 2021 at 12:49 PM
  #7
If you collect SSI or SSD, try looking into transportation services for disabled people. I found one in my state. I haven't used it since COVID happened due to concerns, but I found a service with volunteer drivers who transport people to their appointments. I really have no idea if this might be a program where you live but it's worth doing some research on google or calling your local social services office and inquiring. I realize not all states have the same level of support or programs. I think we have it here because it's a rural area without much public transportation.

I am so, so sorry to hear about all of this medical stuff. I'm sure it feels overwhelming and like it's a lot to handle. Thyroid problems can really mess up your whole body. You wouldn't think it, it's such a small thing. My dad had a module on his thyroid and had to have biopsies and ultrasounds. I never had that, I have an autoimmune disease that attacked my thyroid, so my experience is different. I'm surprised they are not pushing the prediabetic a bit more. That is odd to me given what you said here. I hope they will refer you to a specialist on this. Sometimes you have to ask.

I wish you the best luck with all this and that everything will begin to come together in a positive way.
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Default Nov 08, 2021 at 06:22 PM
  #8
My dizziness/vertigo went away this morning, so I was happy about that. But now I have a headache (around the forehead area). Not sure what is going on with me. It could be blood sugar levels because I'm trying to change my diet slowly.

My primary care never refers me to a specialist. I will have to use Medicare to find a specialist outside of the VA. I plan to do that next year.

I'm hoping that these boosters work, because I need to go to the dentist and orthodontist. I would like to put braces on my teeth by early next year, after I've had periodontal cleaning, x-rays, and all the normie stuff. I see the dentist and hygienist at the VA for free, but for periodontal work, they used to cover it at the dentist in the other VA, but here, they do the regular cleaning first, despite my records showing that I have periodontal disease. I will need to hand them my records, since they claim they can't see them. I was trying to ask for all this back in late 2019 and early 2020, before the pandemic, but they were delayed, and then they postponed my appointments for over a year. So now I'm back at square one.

I hate this pandemic! It's literally ruined our lives - globally!
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