QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
I believe I am suffering from vestibular migraines. I searched your index and found nothing! I really need this information. It seems the site is mostly about BPD, which is fine, but the add I followed lead me to believe you had lots of information about vestibular migraines. I have been suffering for a year now with dizziness and pressure in my ears looking for answers. HELP!
ANSWER:
I’ve never heard of that term before. I’m assuming you have a problem with your balance, probably in association with headache. It’s starting to look as if migraines have a neurological rather than blood vessel or “vascular” basis. Many individuals respond to novocaine injections in the top of the neck, or to medications like Vioxx and some epilepsy medications (particularly Neurontin and Depakote). The best headache specialist I know of is Dr. Steve Wheeler in Miami, FL. In my “interesting tidbits” section you’ll find information about headaches, and Dr. Wheeler’s site can be found from there. Many patients have a mental health cause to their headaches – particularly due to the profound muscle tension that develops in the neck and jaw. Doing the screening test might give you some clues there. Everything that a person has wrong with them makes everything else they have wrong worse – so making all the diagnoses is crucial.