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Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

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YoungPupWithVertigoJr

Junior member
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
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Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

Hiya, I just now made an account on this forum. I plan to stick around even after the inevitable surgery I have to have.

Unfortunately, I have been plagued with BPPV (Vertigo) since I was a kid. It has gotten somewhat better over the years as I am now able to change the oil in both of my vehicles without help now.

The only way to trigger my vertigo is by sitting laid back staring at the ceiling. This has been avoidable all my life (don't watch stars at night, sleep on my stomach, I'm always on top :giggle: etc etc.) But unfortunately, dentistry requires that I lay back facing up.

I am going in for a consultation with my dentist to have a severe cavity, and wisdom teeth removed (although, I believe I may be able to keep my wisdom teeth as the pain is from the cavity.)

I have had surgery before, and during that surgery I told the doctor about my BPPV. In which I wasn't required to lay back, at all, because the surgery was the lower half of my body.


I can sit on a 140 degree angel without triggering it, but that's pushing it.


I am not even sure I have BPPV, I just know my family doctor says it all points to that. Violent spinning and puking when triggered, the off balance portion lasts for hours.

I don't want to be put to sleep and they trigger my BPPV. When I involuntarily roll onto my back during the night, I wake up with violent spinning.



If they trigger it, it might cause me to vomit.



What are the chances they can keep me on a certain angel to work with me? My very first dentist refused to do that, and I haven't seen this one yet.





I'm not even worried about the surgery to be quite honest. I've had a ton of surgeries in my life, but none of them required me to lay back and look at the ceiling.
 
Re: Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through this. It sounds as though you have no choice but to get your wisdom teeth taken out so hopefully you can find a solution that will work for you. Have you thought about sedation in some form? I had IV sedation for my procedure yesterday and it was absolutely wonderful. I was so anxious and I also have trouble getting numb from LA but under IV sedation I didn't feel anxious at all. I just very gently fell asleep and came out of it calmly and smoothly. It's just a thought. I'm sure you can try other things too, hopefully there will be something that will work really well and you can get this treatment done and get on with your life. Best of luck!
 
Re: Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

Hiya, I just now made an account on this forum. I plan to stick around even after the inevitable surgery I have to have.

Unfortunately, I have been plagued with BPPV (Vertigo) since I was a kid. It has gotten somewhat better over the years as I am now able to change the oil in both of my vehicles without help now.

The only way to trigger my vertigo is by sitting laid back staring at the ceiling. This has been avoidable all my life (don't watch stars at night, sleep on my stomach, I'm always on top :giggle: etc etc.) But unfortunately, dentistry requires that I lay back facing up.

I am going in for a consultation with my dentist to have a severe cavity, and wisdom teeth removed (although, I believe I may be able to keep my wisdom teeth as the pain is from the cavity.)

I have had surgery before, and during that surgery I told the doctor about my BPPV. In which I wasn't required to lay back, at all, because the surgery was the lower half of my body.


I can sit on a 140 degree angel without triggering it, but that's pushing it.


I am not even sure I have BPPV, I just know my family doctor says it all points to that. Violent spinning and puking when triggered, the off balance portion lasts for hours.

I don't want to be put to sleep and they trigger my BPPV. When I involuntarily roll onto my back during the night, I wake up with violent spinning.



If they trigger it, it might cause me to vomit.



What are the chances they can keep me on a certain angel to work with me? My very first dentist refused to do that, and I haven't seen this one yet.





I'm not even worried about the surgery to be quite honest. I've had a ton of surgeries in my life, but none of them required me to lay back and look at the ceiling.

Hey Pup,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It's quite an unusual one isn't it? I didn't even know what BPPV was before tonight, I didn't know that vertigo could be that bad. Sorry to hear about it, I can imagine how it can make certain situations unbearable and going to the dentist is all about lying back!! Oh man.

I would say a few things. Firstly, I know you said you don't want to be put to sleep, but you could consider it. Depending on what they use (probably GA would be best but don't quote me on that, I'm not a dentist) you'll be unconscious so you won't experience Vertigo as you won't have enough consciousness for that. GA isn't like sleep, really, it's full - blown unconsciousness, so you won't wake up before it's time. It's like passing out basically. Do you get BPPV when you pass out? Have you passed out before?

Secondly, you could be able to tell a dentist to work with you at an angle - 140 degrees? depending on where the cavity is.

Can I ask how BPPV is caused? Is it like stress related or something wrong with your balance? Did the doc say/do anything that might help?

It'll be ok, you know - a solution will be found, we'll get there.

We're all behind you!

HM

:bear::bear:
 
Re: Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

Hey Pup,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It's quite an unusual one isn't it? I didn't even know what BPPV was before tonight, I didn't know that vertigo could be that bad. Sorry to hear about it, I can imagine how it can make certain situations unbearable and going to the dentist is all about lying back!! Oh man.

I would say a few things. Firstly, I know you said you don't want to be put to sleep, but you could consider it. Depending on what they use (probably GA would be best but don't quote me on that, I'm not a dentist) you'll be unconscious so you won't experience Vertigo as you won't have enough consciousness for that. GA isn't like sleep, really, it's full - blown unconsciousness, so you won't wake up before it's time. It's like passing out basically. Do you get BPPV when you pass out? Have you passed out before?

Secondly, you could be able to tell a dentist to work with you at an angle - 140 degrees? depending on where the cavity is.

Can I ask how BPPV is caused? Is it like stress related or something wrong with your balance? Did the doc say/do anything that might help?

It'll be ok, you know - a solution will be found, we'll get there.

We're all behind you!

HM

:bear::bear:



Hi! Thanks for the reply.


I'm assuming that my vertigo comes from either genetics or where I had tubes in my ears when I was younger.



To best describe the experience, when I lay back and unfocus my eyes it triggers.

Imagine going around a marry-go-round while drunk, seriously.

The attack will last anywhere from 20 seconds - 4 hours.


I wonder if there is a drug I can take prior to surgery that will stop my vestibular system from responding to changes?


I am not even worried about the surgery itself at this point. I've prayed about it a lot, and thought a lot about it. It will better my life in the sense I will no longer be in pain, but I am afraid of the vertigo outcome.


Is it physically impossible for a surgeon to work on someone at an angle?
 
Re: Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

Hi, it really depends on the dentist in question, some are more comfortable with this than others (have a look at this thread for example: https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/forum/threads/sitting-up-position-and-tooth-being-worked-on.16709/ ). It might be worth calling a few dentists/surgeons to see what they say.

I don't really know anything about BPPV, but when I googled for it, I kept coming across something called the "Epley maneuver" as a treatment - has your doctor ever tried anything like that?
 
Re: Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

Hi! Thanks for the reply.


I'm assuming that my vertigo comes from either genetics or where I had tubes in my ears when I was younger.



To best describe the experience, when I lay back and unfocus my eyes it triggers.

Imagine going around a marry-go-round while drunk, seriously.

The attack will last anywhere from 20 seconds - 4 hours.


I wonder if there is a drug I can take prior to surgery that will stop my vestibular system from responding to changes?


I am not even worried about the surgery itself at this point. I've prayed about it a lot, and thought a lot about it. It will better my life in the sense I will no longer be in pain, but I am afraid of the vertigo outcome.


Is it physically impossible for a surgeon to work on someone at an angle?

Hey Pup,

Thanks for getting back to me!

I'll be perfectly honest with you here, I don't know. That's a lot of biological/dentistry questions that I don't know the answer to :(

Hope you get it sorted out. My advice is to ask multiple dentists their opinion and your general doctor too. I don't know if something like diazepam (valium) would help you in this instance as it isn't about nerves it's about your biology.

Best of luck, man!
 
Re: Severe BPPV (vertigo) and laying back - literally an impossible feat for me.

140 degree sounds like you can lean back quite a bit, it might be possible to find a dentist who can work like this, at least for some of the procedures. So as the rest suggest, it would be good to keep searching.

Would it be possible to trick out the BPPV through you eyes? Like trying to look down or watch something that is not too far so that your eyes stay focused or something like that? Hope this question is not too silly, I don't know anything about BPPV, just wondering..

However, a dentist who genuinely wants to help would be a start.
 
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