Had a vertigo episode while driving my truck. Lasted probably only a minute or so. No symptoms other than spinning feeling. None of the symptoms related to a stroke. But it scared the crap out if me. I think that I might have had a real problem had I been on my bike. Have an appointment with my general practitioner in a week. Also have an appointment with my ENT doc. (I have an ear/hearing problem, but not inner ear.)

Two or three years ago I think that I had a similar episode while walking my dogs, but after checking myself for stroke symptoms pretty much forgot about it.

Has anyone experienced vertigo while riding and what did you do about it? Did you continue riding?

Oh, I'm an old guy...age 73. But I sure want to ride another year or two.

 

I have not experienced it but sure hope it checks out good for you and you can keep riding,I guess only you can be the judge if you should keep riding.



I am soon to be 68 and every year I have a complete physical, everything checked, so far so good.

 

There is a member named Baracu that suffers from this, I believe.

 

Park it until you receive proper medical treatment. Anything else is begging for disaster.

 

I used to work with a guy who had miniere's disease ( general contractor ). No ladders for him until he got it ironed out. Its an inner ear equilibrium problem that has the exact symptoms your describing. May want to park it till cured, spinning around at 50 MPH sounds like no fun at all.

 

Haha...I was just about to chime in on this.

TGuild, I had a serious attack a little over a year ago 250 miles away from home on a motorcycle trip. Fortunately it happened first thing in the morning and not while riding. Symptons started as profuse sweating, vomiting and balance so bad that I couldn't walk down an 8' hallway without banging off the walls. A few times in the previous months I would get an imbalance while walking that would last only a few seconds and never gave it much thought.


There are three types of Vertigo. One is BPPV which has to do with tiny crystals in your inner ear which go out of place. This can be corrected with manipulation of the head by an ENT specialist. The second is Viral, cause by an infection in the inner ear which is treatable. The third is Menierre's disease which has to do with fluid imbalance in the ear and pressure within the inner ear.This one is not curable but it is treatable with medication.

Last year, I spent two months being seen by every specialist you can imagine . Testing included MRI, Cat Scan, carotid artery tests, heart tests, hearing tests, eye tests, some crazy computerized test with blacked out goggle to detect minute variations in eye movement... You name it, I had it to the tune of over $15,000. Thank God for good insurance, cost me under $100 out of pocket. The final answer was .."You're healthy in all respects and we have no idea"

The attacks would come for no apparent reason, but only within an hour or so of waking up. I'd be fine then find myself in the bathroom, vomiting then crawling to the couch or the bed unable to even stand up for most of the day. Attacks would happen once a week pretty much.

ENT specialist put me a combination blood pressure pill and fluid pill. My BP had been running, at times, 150-160/110 with a resting pulse of 100bpm! The medication has it under control, have not had a serious attack in 14 months, but have some days when I'm a little off, so I don't ride on those days.

Best advice is to be careful until you have been thoroughly checked out by competent specialists. Age is also a contributing factor to these issues. I'm 65. If you only have brief episodes, now is the time to get checked. I couldn't imagine having one of these attacks while riding. I continue to ride . Good Luck and let us know how you make out. AL

 

Thanks for the comments.

Riding season is winding down in Nebraska. The past few years I have winterized my bikes at the end of October and tucked them in (literally) until spring. I'll just do it a couple of weeks earlier this year. For sure I don't plan to ride until after I meet with the docs.

I have a deer hunting trip planned for mid November. I'll not be headed out to do that unless the docs think that I'll be OK driving a six hundred mile round trip in my truck.

From what I have read, folks with vertigo do drive unless they are having an episode. When I had my "little" spell", it just happened...no warning. My driving right now is limited to trips darn close to home and then I am driving slowy enough that I can pull over. Fortunately there are no freeways where I have to drive and almost all the highways have nice wide shoulders.

Thanks again...especially Baracu. That's just what I needed to know. Hope my situation doesn't get as involved as yours.

Any other comments or suggestions will be welcomed.

Tom

 

I have had it come on while riding. I had had some issues in the past but nothing recent and it came out of tHe blue. My field of vision went down to next to nothing. At the time I was in downtown LA riding home from work. I was able to pull over and park it for a bit until symptoms subsided and I got it together and was able to see again. I took it real slow on surface streets to get home. Went to have it checked out and after lots of tests nothing showed up. I'd have rather found out what caused it so I could deal with it and move forward. I'm riding as usual, but it's in the back of my mind. I can say that having an episode while on two wheels absolutely scared the crap out of me. Wouldn't be much fun on four wheels either. Good luck with it.

 

Curious, have you taken a fall and hit your head in the last several days? I'm not joking.

 

I had my first and only episode with vertigo about two years while on the bike. My world was spinning. I was about 62 then.

Finally got the bike pulled to the side of the road. Then I walked/rode it into a parking lot. Got the stand down and almost crawled off of the bike. I went to the ground on my knees while holding onto the bike for support. Scared the crap out of me. Everything from stroke to heart attack went through my mind. Never thought about vertigo.

After some time I was able to get up and walk around slowly. Still felt light headed and wanted to throw up. After about 20 minutes I felt safe enough to get back on the bike and ride the 40 miles home. Dang that was a long ride. When I got home my bp was 190. I have no bp issues. I guess the stress of the episode jacked it up.

Went to the Dr the next day. She diagnosed it as vertigo and gave me some meds that kicked my butt. I only took one and done. lol...

Hope it's only temporary for you. Good luck....