By Kristi Hujik
You may be wondering where my newsletter has been the last couple of months…Fair question.
I can sum it up in two words…Vertigo sucks.
I promised myself I would do this newsletter every month in 2021 and as an upholder, you can probably imagine how disappointed I am that didn’t happen. But I also knew, I had to practice what I preached.
I was struggling and I wasn’t capable of taking care of anyone else. I had to make my own health the number one priority in order to work, to workout, to care for my family, and because feeling bad is not ok.
On 4/28 I woke up with a case of vertigo. Full out room spins and I mean the room was banking hard right and I was ready to toss my cookies for hours. Long story short, I had vertigo. But that’s not a diagnosis – vertigo is a symptom. I could not find a solution or a source. That’s frustrating especially for someone like me who is not happy unless active.
I went to multiple doctors producing multiple theories but no conclusive evidence for what the cause was. I’m still dealing with this to this day but I know I’m getting closer to answers I need thanks to the wonderful medical professionals and health professionals I associate with.
Why am I writing this?
Because I couldn’t help but think about people who aren’t surrounded by good medical professionals or blessed with a keen proprioception of their own body. This can be really hard to deal with and it’s really easy to lose the will to continue to look for answers. I spent some moments in tears of frustration. I felt this prior to my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and I felt it again during this. I thought it took forever to get answers but then realized the more I speak to support groups and others with MS, there are people who took 10 years to be diagnosed. That’s mind-blowing to me.
I’m impatient, stubborn, and capable of figuring out a lot of my own. I’m lucky. I won’t settle for no answers. Those are good traits in the health world when you want to get better.
The message in this is don’t give up. Get answers. As Dr. Mark Hyman likes to say we are in a society of “name, blame, tame”. That’s where the doctor comes up with a name of what you have and then prescribes the latest medication to cope with the symptoms. I’m not saying prescription drugs have no place in society. But lots of time it’s a band-aid. You need to ask “why?”. It’s not just you have migraines, here’s a drug to help that. It’s why do you have them? What’s causing it? Only then will you be able to deal with the source. Be curious. Ask questions of others and of yourself. Journal to find patterns. I normally journal but I had to intensely journal to really drill down what was making me feel better or worse.
On a night I visited Centracare because I wasn’t feeling well I was seen by an older doctor. I immediately thought he’s going to try to give me some prescription for this and send me on my way. He said some things that stuck with me. “You are the best resource I have as a doctor. Tell me about what you’re feeling. What makes it better? What makes it worse?” He was amazingly astute and trusted the patient. He even asked me what I wanted to do. He laid out what he could offer me but in the end there wasn’t much he could do for me with his resources. But he sat with me and we discussed symptoms and circumstances for over a half hour. I was so impressed and it reminded me and refreshed my belief that we can and are getting better as a society helping people deal with what’s ailing them. Just listen to yourself. Your body knows you more than any doctor and no two cases are ever the same.
Have any of you ever dealt with vertigo? I’d love to hear your stories and how you found out what the cause is.
There are so many things it could be. Did you know that dehydration could actually be a huge reason for vertigo? Put another check mark next to the reasons to focus on hydration.
