Can I get my "land legs" back?

[Fly Girl]

This probably isn't diving related, but I'm hoping this group can help. I got back on Sunday from an eight day cruise. The diving was awesome, and so was the cruise, but I have a bit of a problem now. My head keeps spinning like I'm drunk, I'm very dizzy, and I'm nauseous to boot. It is almost like a reverse seasickness. I've been cruising before, and I've had this feeling right after I've gotten off a ship, but I've never had it for more than a day, and it is Tuesday night. Does anyone know anything I can do to help deal with this? I feel like I need to put a seasickness patch back on!

 

[Diver Lori]

This too shall pass. It took me a couple months to get back to normal after being discharged from shipboard life in the Coast Guard.

I remember one time, standing in the mall trying to decide which way to go next and someone calling out my name. I turned too fast and tossed my cookies right there.

 

[cutlass]

Assuming that you're an otherwise normally healthy person, IMO the odds are that you have an inner ear disorder (labyrinthitis) resulting in vertigo. Labyrinthitis can result from a head cold or infection which inflamed the middle or inner ear. Given the confined and active lifestyle aboard cruise ships, community-acquired illnesses are not at all unusual. However besides labyrinthitis, vertigo could herald something more chronic or serious, from microscopic flaking of the interior ear's lining (otoliths) all the way up to involvement of central nerves or brain structure. It's best to go see a doctor.

 

[doctormike]

This probably isn't diving related, but I'm hoping this group can help. I got back on Sunday from an eight day cruise. The diving was awesome, and so was the cruise, but I have a bit of a problem now. My head keeps spinning like I'm drunk, I'm very dizzy, and I'm nauseous to boot. It is almost like a reverse seasickness. I've been cruising before, and I've had this feeling right after I've gotten off a ship, but I've never had it for more than a day, and it is Tuesday night. Does anyone know anything I can do to help deal with this? I feel like I need to put a seasickness patch back on!

Inner ear injury after diving is rare, but certainly possible, especially if there is any pre-existing abnormality in the skull (such as an inner ear fistula). In addition to a fistula and labrynthitis (less likely, given the association with diving and cruising), there is the posibility of inner ear decompression illness - especially if you had any significant nitrogen loading, etc...

Is your hearing OK? It might be a good idea to see an ENT doctor and get an audiogram...

 

[TSandM]

It's not uncommon to have some "reverse seasickness". In fact, the only time I've been motion sick in my life, was in a Chinese restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was after a week on a sailboat, where my ears and brain had adapted to the pitching motion. The restaurant seemed to be doing the same thing

If you are really uncomfortable, by all means try a seasickness patch. It will work the same way on land that it does on the water.

Most of the time, this adaptation disappears pretty quickly.

If you have had a recent upper respiratory infection, or have ringing in your ears, you could have labyrinthitis, as mentioned. But far more likely is inner ear adaptation -- or, the most concerning possibility, an inner ear injury from diving. If you have any hearing loss going along with your vertigo, THAT would be an indication to proceed expeditiously to an ENT doc.

 

[Teamcasa]

Its also called Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, here is some info.

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome

 

[Charlie99]

Those guys aren't really drunken sailors. They just have Mal de Debarquement Syndrome.

While in the Navy, after 2 or 3 weeks at sea, the 10 second roll period of my ship was firmly ingrained into my body and I'd often feel false motion on dry land for a day or two. My worst case lasted 3 or 4 days.

As strange as it sounds, one day I just spun around and around until nearly dizzy. That seemed to reset my inner ear. Kind of like overpowering the 10 second roll period and I would no longer sway back and forth while sitting in a motionless chair. I also knew a guy that swore that doing a whole bunch of jumping jacks would cure him.

The other common solution was to get drunk .... or maybe that just masked the symptoms.

 

[Fly Girl]

Thank you everyone! My hearing is fine, and I'm otherwise happy and healthy, so I suspect it may be the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. While I'm certainly not a doctor, my symptoms do seems almost exactly as what is described. I'm still feeling dizzy today, and this chair I'm sitting in just won't stop swaying (not unlike my bed that is pitching back and forth all night), but I think I'll give it a couple of days to go away. I think I'll just stay active. I'll try the spinning thing that Charlie99 suggests - it can't hurt. If I have another night of "rocking bed," I'll put my patch back on tomorrow. If that doesn't work, the weekend will be here, so I might have to open up a good bottle of wine to see how that helps.

 

[Diver Lori]

Well I be! Now I have a name of the malady I had when I was discharged from the Coast Guard! I was discharged for excessive seasickness, btw.

 

[daniel1948]

After spending a week on a tall ship, and being more sick than I've ever been in my life, I felt dizzy for two months! Eventually I recovered.