Earthquake in my head...

[mews]

I have been having this scary new thing happening to me and I can only describe it as earthquakes in my head, sometimes they are mild and sometimes they are very strong, strong enough to wake me from my sleep. When it happens I feel as though my brain flips in my head, I have to grab onto something and wait for it to pass. Now I also have had this crazy twitching in my left eye non stop, I also must say that over the last several months most of my weakness has also been on my left side, like my hand down to my foot.
So last week when I was at Johns Hopkins and I was leaving we were saying good by to the host person there and I had one,I grabbed my husbands arm and the host person who was talking to me at the time saw that my left eye just moved outwards and then back while I was having this "earthquake" in my head. He started flipping out but I just wanted to get out of there.

My question is, anybody have this type of stuff going on??? Or know what this might be?? I have an appt with my Neuro next week in NY, but I keep having them and it's making me nuts.

Feel Well
Mary

[Reanne]

No, thank goodness, I have never had anything like that happen.  I hope you get some answers when you see the neuro. It sounds serious to me, but I have no medical training.  Please keep us posted.

[msgirl]

Sounds like you are having vertigo.  Is the room spinning?  I have MS and that was my first symptom until I got on the MS therapies and it haulted alot of my flares including this one.

I am new to this site and recently diagnosised with Mikulicz or Sjorgrens.  So will hopefully find out more about this disease here. 

I hope this symptom goes away soon.

[amberjolie1]

It's a good thing you're seeing the neurologist soon.

I would say, though, before that, if anything happens like you lose consciousness during one of these episodes, or you have a particularly strong one, or you notice some other strange things going on, it might be wise to go to the ER.  It's much better to rule out something serious than to leave it and find out it was something that should have been addressed sooner.

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

By the way, did you happen to start a new prescription or change a dosage or anything?  Something to think about, since meds can do so many strange things at times.

[irish]

I have had these issues and mine are from the vertigo and the CNS/inner ear involvement. They come on rapidly and make you think you are going to fall--grab for anything you can to hang on to.

Many people with sjogrens and other autoimmune diseases have problems with vestibular issues. This is part of the ear and you can do a search on it. Irish

[DryEyes]

hmmm  I wonder if your earthquakes are equivalent to what I call Zingers.   Sudden loud disturbing noises.   They feel like the move through my head.  Any and all directions but they only move in one direction each occurrence.   I also experienced the eye movement that was off to one side but only once.  Left eye only.  I was shopping when it occurred, just hung onto the shelf til I felt normal.  It was like someone had taken a string and pulled my eye ball off to one side.  Every now and again I have this noises usually at night time when settling down.  Can be accompanied by sudden jerking motions too.  These noises seem to come on about the same time the tinnitus showed up.  Originally it was just my left ear now both are involved  24/7. 

My problems seem to have started in the summer of 2001.  By the spring of 2002 I was booked for a mri to rule out a tumor on my acoustic nerve as the tinnitus was only on the one side.   It was that MRI  where the first two spots (non specific white matter lesions ) were found.   It is scary to say the least ...   Never had any explanation of what or where these noises might of originated from.

[mews]

The room does not spin, it feels like it flips and then flops right back, maybe a slight shaking back and forth, and then its over. Does Vertigo end that quickly, I'm not sure? I have not started any new prescription, and there is no noise with it at all.
The thing I think is the weirdest is when I'm woken up at night with it and I can feel my eyes move back and forth, crazy stuff.
Anyone with Vertigo care to tell me what this is like?

Feel Well
Mary

[sunnyhii]

Hello Mary,
I found your post yesterday after I experienced the same event (earthquake in my head) as you had in 2011.   And you are right...there is no other way to verbalize the experience...it is just like having an earthquake in your head.  I also grabbed onto my desk when it happened, and it came out of the blue - nothing to indicate anything was wrong.    I went to Urgent Care where they were unable to find any reason for what had happened.  Did you see your neurologist?   Did you ever find out what caused the "earthquake in your head"?   

I know your original post was 2 years ago, but I hope that you see this post, and can let me know if these events continued, and what your neurologist found.  With the exception of yours, I could find no other links describing this event.

Susan in San Diego

[Daisy1234]

Mews:

I don't know if you've ever heard of this issue which can cause a person to experience quite a sudden imbalance and vertigo, its called Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). I have this problem and its generally because a crystal has come loose in my inner ear canal which triggers this dysfunction.  I've had this issue on and off for a decade.  BPPV is a common clinical disorder characterized by brief recurrent spells of vertigo often brought about by certain head position changes as may occur with looking up, turning over in bed, or straightening up after bending over.

In my case, I have a series of exercises (manoeuvers in bed while lying down)  that I have to do to stop the spells from happening.  These episodes only last a seconds but they can really shake a person up.  I too experience a flip flop of the room as you mentioned.  Perhaps you might wish to google BPPV and see if the symptoms match up with your issues. 

Daisy

[A66eyroad]

When I went off Zoloft cold turkey I experienced what I called "Head Zips."  What you're describing sounds a lot like what I was going through.

I don't know much about medication -- is any of the meds you're taking a Zoloft-type?

Note to my Sjoggie friends: Promise me you'll NEVER go off Zoloft cold turkey.