I've always suffered from migraine headaches and back in 2001 I was diagnosed with acute viral labyrinthitis that lasted for almost 2 months. At that time I was informed that once you sustain a balance system injury, it never truly heals and that your brain just learns to adapt and bouts of vertigo are to be expected. I've been lucky enough to be symptom free for years between episodes. The next episode I had was in 2005 - the only reason I remember the year is because it was the weekend of my brother's wedding. After that I was symptom free for another 3 years when it got really bad. Jeff made some some detailed posts about how we saw this amazing neurologist that reminded us of the Indian version of Dr. House that you can read here and here.
My doctor determined that my migraines tend to have vertigo symptoms and are linked to my hormones. I was very fortunate to not have any episodes during my pregnancy when my hormones were all out of whack. I think I started getting some headaches again about 6 months after Simon was born. In the last few days I've been experiencing some symptoms again and while it's not full blown vertigo I need to be careful. One of my first warning signs is a weird tingling/fuzziness in my head, similar to what you feel when your foot falls asleep only it's in my head. It only lasts about 5 seconds but it really freaks me out and I know that things are going to happen. True to past experiences, I had the brain tingling yesterday morning and it developed into a headache yesterday afternoon. I can't seem to shake this headache but sleep and staying away from eye straining activities like being on the computer, reading, and knitting definitely help. So after I make this post I need to unplug for a few days.
I'm hoping symptoms don't progress enough that I need to go back and see my amazing doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, but there's definitely a comfort in knowing that he's only a phone call away and a short trip across town.