Well this has been an interesting week… What I lost in steps, I made up for in sleep.

I mentioned in last week’s recap that I woke up to vertigo on Sunday morning and that I’d had a pretty rough day. It seems that if I slept well, I felt weird and icky during the day, and if I had a room-spinning-kind-of-night, my following day went pretty well. Go figure.

Since I’m talking  quite a bit about vertigo, I suppose I should explain what it is – better yet, I’ll let the experts explain. From the Mayo Clinic website:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you’re spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is usually triggered by specific changes in the position of your head. This might occur when you tip your head up or down, when you lie down, or when you turn over or sit up in bed.

Inside your ear is a tiny organ called the vestibular labyrinth. It includes three loop-shaped structures (semicircular canals) that contain fluid and fine, hair-like sensors that monitor the rotation of your head.

Other structures (otolith organs) in your ear monitor movements of your head — up and down, right and left, back and forth — and your head’s position related to gravity. These otolith organs contain crystals that make you sensitive to gravity.

For a variety of reasons, these crystals can become dislodged. When they become dislodged, they can move into one of the semicircular canals — especially while you’re lying down. This causes the semicircular canal to become sensitive to head position changes it would normally not respond to, which is what makes you feel dizzy.

 

During the week I kept thinking I’d feel better soon, so I didn’t call my doctor until Thursday, and couldn’t get an appointment until this coming Thursday. Of course, if things had gotten bad enough, I could have gone to urgent care. Compared to a month-long episode of severe vertigo that one of my aunts had, mine has been a walk in the park.

The week was a blur (pun intended), yet I managed to get some workouts in, and somehow didn’t have to cancel on any clients. My week was filled with sleeping late when I could, taking mid-day naps, and catching up on some reading. Even if the room wasn’t spinning, I felt odd. I told Bill that I felt like my head was empty. Yes, I set him up for a home run, but fortunately, he was kind and didn’t take the pitch.

Over the course of the week I tried a variety of home remedies I found on YouTube or that my clients told me about; however, it wasn’t until Friday that I realized that I had been treating the wrong ear. Go me!

The first remedy I tried was mentioned on WebMD. It’s called the Epley Maneuver and when I tried it, I immediately threw up – violently. My poor husband was holding my head, and a bucket just in case. That’s true love right there.

The second home treatment I tried I named the Betty Flop, because my client Betty told me that her doctor had recommended it when she’d had vertigo. Sitting on a sofa or bed, I’d fall over onto my side hoping to reposition those pesky crystals. 

On Thursday, another client told me about the Half Summersault treatment invented by Colorado based ENT Dr. Carol Foster, so I gave it a try, too. 

 

After a horrible night’s sleep with the room spinning anytime I moved, I woke on Friday feeling great. I even managed a three-minute plank with one of my clients with no ill effects from holding my head face down parallel to the ground. 

For the second time of the week, I hopped on my spin bike and got some miles in on Friday afternoon. I didn’t want to head outside in case I had a dizzy spell and fell, and I didn’t dare get on my treadmill. My bike seemed like a safe place to get my legs moving after almost a week of practically no cardio exercise.

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During my workout, I captured another plank by attaching my GoPro Splat flexible tripod (affiliate link) to my chin-up bar for a fun new angle for taking workout pictures in my gym. I know I’m nerdy, but new GoPro toys are the best!

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After watching the Half Summersault video several times again on Friday afternoon, I realized that at 1:50 when discussing which way to turn your head, Dr. Foster explains how to determine which ear has the dislodged crystals. That’s when I realized that I’d been treating the wrong ear…  I started the summersault all over again, correcting my mistake.

Saturday morning I awoke to a gorgeous sky, and despite feeling dizzy, decided to meet the Cruisers for a run. My friends Shawn and Alan picked me us since I didn’t feel comfortable driving. In fact, I haven’t driven in over a week.

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My Cruiser friends are getting used to my need for pre-run selfies and humor me. We had a new Cruiser join us today brining us up to about fifty members; although, many train closer to their homes and don’t meet for our weekly runs.

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Yes, the Cruisers are getting used to my GoPro shenanigans and they’re learning to smile at all times during our runs! 

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After the first mile, Joe and I decided to run/walk. We saw my MRTT friend Jackie running toward us so I lowered my GoPro for an action shot. It wasn’t until later that I noticed that Joe was cheering her on as she ran by!

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After our run, I played around with my GoPro a little more on one of the bridge overpasses before running home.

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I felt great during my run as long as I didn’t bend over (like setting my GoPro on the ground for pictures). Once home, it was the same thing – I got dizzy bending over to get dishes out of the dishwasher and looking up to put them in the upper cabinets, and I continued to feel “off.”

We were invited to a house warming party last night that I kind of wanted to skip because of how I was feeling, but since it was hosted by our good friends, we went. While doing my beauty-duty I flipped my head upside down to dry my hair, and it wasn’t until it was almost dry that I realized that I felt fine. In fact, I felt fine the rest of the night while at the party, I slept without my room spinning, and feel quite normal today. I’m calling it the Hair Dryer Head Flip. Watch for a YouTube video. 😉  We’ll see if this lasts… 

If you survived my wordy recap, congrats! Here’s hoping you never have to put any of the information you learned today about vertigo to use!

 

Weekly Recap: 

  • Weights: Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
  • Runs: None
  • Run/Walk: Saturday – 5.1 miles mostly running (Total: 5.1 miles)
  • Walks: None
  • Bike: Thursday – 10 miles and Friday – 12 miles (Total: 22 miles)
  • Stretching: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
  • Average Steps Per Day: 7,307
  • Average Hours Sleep Per Night: 8:24

 

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap.  Be sure to check out not only the hosts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

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Have a great week!

  • Questions:
  • What non-running related illnesses have kept you off the running trail?
  • How’s the weather where you live?
  • Did you race this weekend?