Vertigo is also for the birds

This is a short post today!  Another bout of vertigo started last night, and in the 24-hours later getting better phase –I feel like I’m walking around on a ship on rolling seas right now instead of piss-drunk trying to close my eyes and go to sleep with the spins, which is how last night went.  That is an improvement.

I’m evaluating some new releases and new lines and just can’t hit any conclusions about them yet.  I guess it’s good if I don’t automatically go, that is just awful.  Now I’m just –  do I like them for me or do I have anything meaningful to say about them?  The new Amouages and the Atelier Materis. I like them, just having some trouble processing them.  Too complicated? Maybe that’s why I just go throw on some cheap suntan-smelling coconut perfume instead.  Summer IS coming.

The birds, you know I’m going to talk about them!  We had like 2 inches of rain overnight on Saturday, before Mother’s Day. Since then, we are awash in birds, mostly Orioles. We can’t keep the feeders full, they’ve run through like 3 jars of Welch’s grape jelly, and I’m waiting for more to arrive – no trip to the store today, drunken sailor vertigo is not an acceptable driving condition.  So I increased the number of feeders. I think some of the Orioles just got stuck because of the weather. It was warming, and they were still migrating, and some of the ones headed further north just stuck because it was too cold here, no sense in going into colder. AND there was grape jelly and yummy clementines!

There are actually two more feeders up there than in the picture, and I’m adding more. They fight over them!  Two of them sometimes will sit on the same feeder, but more often there is a bit of a scrap. One enterprising oriole, just held onto the perch and slipped over the side and under the feeder and popped back up when the bigger, older boy was gone. Then he had jelly snax.  They start out at the chain on the feeder, stop, look around, hop down a couple of links, look around some more and then finally get on the feeder. I used to think they were worried about people or predators. Nope, I’m sure they are just looking out for other Orioles ready to take away their sugary breakfast.

I had goldfinches today on the little finch feeder – they are so sweet and delicate. Yesterday I saw my first rose-breasted grosbeak. There was a gorgeous woodpecker having at the finch feeder upside down.  Crazy little guys!  In the picture is one of the orioles – not a good picture – but on the feeder next to him is the big fat-beaked grosbeak.  I’m dumb, that’s how he got his name!

My backyard is now their feeding meadow, I’m surrounded by trees, so they go soaring from one gigantic oak or maple to another. Still haven’t spotted any nests, but I need binoculars, I think to try and spot those.

Having trouble focusing on perfume with all the little wonderful bird friends!  And it still is avoiding really being spring here.  Overcast and rainy and 50s and 60s. Word is we are heading for 70s this weekend and generally staying there or going up. That sounds lovely. I need to finish planting my little raised bed garden. Just melons, broccoli and maybe cucumbers this year to see if we kill it all or not.

I think I’ve asked this before, but do any of you have vertigo, and is there anything you can do about it?  It never seems to last long enough or I have enough of them to see a doctor – maybe once a year now.  I’ve tried the motion sickness pills, and I think that made it worse!  so just laying down, neti potting my sinuses to try and clear any ear imbalance things, which I’m certain is what it is. I’ve checked my diet before they start. I thought for a while sugar kicked it of, but nope, haven’t had a lick of sugar in days.

  • Sarah says:

    Pretty birdies. Lucky you.
    Vertigo is the worst. Of all the varied visitations of Lyme life crap, vertigo stopped me in my tracks. Get better quick.

  • grizzlesnort says:

    A year-ish ago I flew for the last pre-pandemic time and on landing my ears got very unhappy. Woke up the next morning with vertigo–it lasted a few days. Epley maneuver as mentioned below really worked. There was a nice 52 perfumes article in the NY Times today, if you haven’t.

  • Portia says:

    Heya Patty,
    Vertigo is awful. I get it coming down stairs if I forget to take my glasses off, suddenly everything tilts. Hope yours clears up pronto.
    Woo Hoo! I love that you are a BIRD NERD! Me too.
    Hugs,
    Portia xx

    • Patty says:

      I bet you have a lot more interesting birds there than we do. Going to Costa Rica was just a feast for birding, and I wasn’t really a birdie person then, but I think that’s when it first started!

  • Musette says:

    Yay! on the birds. Boo! on the vertigo. I’m keeping it short, here, because I keep getting Spammed-out!

    xoxoxo

  • Jennifer S says:

    Oh yikes! Vertigo sounds not fun at all…I hope you find a successful solution soon.
    I love grosbeaks! I wish I could spot them more regularly up here but they seem rather scarce. I had an oriole on the porch trying to investigate the hummingbird feeder….first time I’ve seen that and pretty sure it wasn’t successful but maybe I can do some grape jelly? Can I just put some in a dish or…don’t want the ants to discover it though.

    • Patty says:

      Grape Jelly! That’s all they want. They eat it pretty fast, so don’t leave it out for ants, just leave it out long enough in a dish, if you don’t have a hanging feeder for it. But those are pretty cheap. They are pretty special. They have gone through a whole jar of jelly today! I have so many right now, it is ridiculous!

  • Dina C. says:

    I agree with labyrinthitis. It’s a kind of inner ear infection, just not the typical otitis media that kids get. If antihistamines don’t clear it up, get antibiotics. I’ve had it, and agree that it is seriously disorienting. Love, love your bird sanctuary and all the bird stories.

    • Patty says:

      This sounds right! But does it clear up on its own in 24-36 hours normally? I had a ton of ear infections when I was growing up, and my ears hurt, etc., and these always go away on their own with time, though doing nasal neti potting seems to help whatever has gone wrong.

  • pattie says:

    Hi Patty! Google Epley Manuever. It worked for me, but my doc said sometimes you need to do it a few times. Basically, the crystals in your ear get lodged in the wrong place (or something like that).

  • Shiva-woman says:

    I’ve been diagnosed a couple times with labrynthitis a couple times. Awful! Here are some Google blurbs on it:
    “Treatment consists of antihistamines
    Labyrinthitis usually goes away on its own. Medications can help manage symptoms. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy may help in some cases.”
    And
    “The most common symptoms of labyrinthitis are: dizziness or feeling that everything around you is spinning (vertigo) feeling unsteady and off balance – you might find it difficult to stay upright or walk in a straight line. feeling or being sick.” NIH

    • Shiva-woman says:

      Delete one of those couple times. I’m in middle of second cup of coffee….need to finish it.

    • Patty says:

      So just antihistamines when it onsets? Never though to try that, but that makes sense. I’ll go google away, it sounds exactly like that, comes and goes in 24-48 hours, though I have a disoriented feeling for another 24-48 hours after it goes, like a hangover.

    • Patty says:

      Okay, all of this sounds right except the duration. I’ve never had this last longer than 48 hours, and it gets better somewhat in 24 – way less nausea. Everything else sounds right, though. So I think it is some kind of short-term inflammation, so anhistamines could be a help, I’ll stock up on them!

  • Cinnamon says:

    Wow, that does not sound pleasant. I have tinnitus (and have for over a year now). Am really hoping the masseuse can help to sort it with some myofascial release starting next month. It comes and goes, but I’d like it to go permanently (or as close as possible). Hope your weather performs as promised.

  • Filomena says:

    I had Vertigo for months in 2020. I tried old school remedies like tea with ginger, honey and lemon, plus ginger capsules. These remedies lasted for about 4 minutes top after witch I went back to feeling my head spinning and my balance in jeopardy. After dealing with this for so long, I finally found a DPT who did a procedure on my head that made me feel like I had been exorcized. I have never experienced anything so weird in my life, but it did the trick. He also gave me follow-up instructional home exercises to do every morning and night. As of now, except for sometimes have a split second feeling of dizziness, I am actually feeling normal again.

    • Patty says:

      What is a DPT? I need an exorcist! I go so long between them, but they come on so fast, usually in the evening, and it’s just awful while it lasts. Nobody really understands it until you’ve had it.

  • taxi says:

    Between ages, 18-27 I had intermittent sieges of vertigo, bad enough so that while walking across a room I could suddenly lose any sense of balance and end up lying on the floor. My GP gave me Rx Antivert.
    At age 48, vertigo returned. The diagnosis then was “viral encephalitis” which had no available treatment. The docs said that being as active as possible despite the vertigo would give the damaged neurons the best chance to “regenerate.”
    Now I’m 75. I’ve long since stopped cleaning my rain gutters, walking cliffside trails, etc., but feel normal 95% of the time well. I do have occasional dizzy-spin days days.

    • Patty says:

      it sounds like you have it much more regularly? I captioned a class on balance, the causes of dizziness, etc., a year or so ago. And nothing they talked about really fits me except the occasional we don’t know why you’re getting it rule. 🙁 I’m glad you are doing okay. It is so awful, right?

  • Barbara says:

    If you google “Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo” you can find head position stretching exercises that may help. Good luck!

    • Filomena says:

      I tried those exercises on my own but they only gave me momentary relief. Once I had the DPT procedure, the exercises made things even better.

    • Patty says:

      Yeah, I can try those. That sounds like it is more for those short bouts. Mine last about 24-48 hours. 24 hours is the worst, and then the last 24 it comes back into line. It’s weird and brief and utterly debilitating during the first 12-18 hours.