For years, Candice Rosenblum would start feeling carsick without any warning or explanation. It would trigger extreme dizziness and nausea. Often, a migraine would set in, making it all the more worse.
She suffered with these intermittent attacks for 15 years. “It was such a debilitating feeling to experience these bouts of vertigo. It felt like the room was spinning and I could not stop throwing up,” she recalled.
Candice found it very difficult to explain to others what she was feeling.
She finally got relief after a visit to Sarah McGuire, MSN, APRN, at CNC Hearing and Balance Center’s Mandeville office. Sarah diagnosed migraine-associated vertigo coupled with a condition called Hydrops.
“Hydrops is a disorder of the inner ear which causes excess fluid buildup that was one of the factors in Candice’s symptoms,” Sarah explained. Hydrops can be a precursor to Meniere’s Disease which can cause permanent hearing loss and debilitating vertigo attacks. It is akin to prehypertension or prediabetes, catching it early and initiating treatment measures can prevent permanent damage. Often, as in Candice’s case, a person experiences two separate driving forces for symptoms. One being the ears, the other being the brain. These two systems can feed off each other and create a vicious cycle.
Sarah prescribed medications to help with Candice’s symptoms and help her tolerate specialized vestibular physical therapy with Carrie Black, PT, DPT at CNC Hearing and Balance Center.
It worked. Candice has not felt this good in years, insisting that “Sarah gets it. She knows what I am going through.”
Candice also started vestibular physical therapy with Carrie Black, PT, also at CNC Hearing and Balance Center. “Carrie has been so helpful with me in physical therapy,” Candice said. She has been teaching me ways to cope with my dizziness.”
Especially important, Candice mentioned, was the continuity of care she received at CNC Hearing & Balance Center. “Their professionalism matters so much. I can count the number of episodes I have had on one hand, Since I have been seeing them.” The team at CNC Hearing and Balance is here to get to the root of the problem, come up with a treatment plan, then the patient does the work. Being compliant with medications, dietary recommendations, and exercises is the cornerstone to symptom resolution.
Candice put in the work, now she is reaping the benefit.
