Goin' to rehab

Two and a half weeks ago, I woke up with a strong sensation of the room spinning. Actually, in all truth, I suffered with this horrible feeling all night long: each time I would turn my head to the left or the right, it was as if my brain was swimming. I couldn't even sit up or get out of bed. Thankfully, Josh was off that day, and I just plain stayed in bed for a few extra hours. That night as I was headed to bed, I felt the onset of the symptoms as soon as I laid down. I did a quick Google search for "dizziness + pregnancy" and found that the most common culprit is anemia. So, I called the midwife the next day, and reported my symptoms... she said it sounded a lot more like vertigo than dizziness, that my labwork had been fine, and that I should see my primary doctor. 

Ugh. It is impossible to get an appointment at our doctor's office, so I skipped the nonsense and went to the walk-in. The PA diagnosed "labyrinthitis" and gave me a prescription for Antivert. See, here's the thing. Antivert, or meclizine, is an antihistamine. It's pregnancy class B, which means it's labeled as OK for pregos, but if you are neurotic like me this means you look up what class B actually MEANS and it's something frightening* like, "caused no problems when tested on animals" or "no studies have demonstrated safety OR detriment" ...blah, blah. I mean, if you have to take something that is class B, do it. But I didn't feel like I HAD to take it. And the PA even said to me, "Take it or don't take it, either way it will be gone by Monday (it was Friday)... and if it's not, see your primary." So, I didn't take it, and two, almost three weeks later I have a significantly less severe case of vertigo... but the room still spins horribly when my head is in certain positions. Sigh.

So I got myself in to see my primary doctor. Quick aside: I arrived at 2:07 for a 2:30 appointment and didn't see the doctor until almost 4. Ew. I saw the nurse, I saw the medical student, I got that stupid otoscope or whatever it's called jammed into my ear so far that I can STILL feel it........ and then, finally, finally, I got to see the good doctor. I like him. Anyway, he had me do this and that, blah blah, and then finally, he had me stand up, put my arms out straight, and close my eyes (field sobriety test, anyone?)... and then he had me put my head in different positions, and once we hit that magic spot that triggers the vertigo, MAN did that room spin! And apparently my body responded and I was all over the place, I imagine something like a drunk person might be. Heh. Apparently that was a pretty clear indicator of what I have going on. He called it "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo," and he's sending me to rehab.

Ha, rehab! For real. I have to go to vestibular rehabilitation therapy. Should be a good time. I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Do you love how I linked you to everything under the sun, this post? 

*According to Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses, 9th edition: Category B - Animal studies have revealed no evidence of harm to the fetus, however, there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. or Animal studies have shown an adverse effect, but adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus. Admittedly, depending on your perspective, one part of that definition is a little less scary, but how does one know to which part of the definition the drug you are about to take applies? The doctor was like, "Oh you can take Category B, it's totally safe." I wanted to say, "No, see, then it would be Category A. Like Tylenol. So it must NOT be totally safe, or else we'd give it an A." But, I kept my mouth shut... I'm still not going to take it, and at this point, with the whole 'rehab' thing on the table, I don't need to anyway.