I have been haveing a problem from the very beginning of this Ataxia....with getting sick when I ride in a car, Take out the garbage, Lifting heavy objects,Mowing the lawn, Stuff like that .I comes on very sudden and without warning...Jut start throwing up....then exhausted and tired afterwards...takes a long tome to recover from it too. Some times even walking for a while dose it too. I have tried many meds to help with this but none seem to work...If any of you have this ...How do ya deal with it?
Don't have the sickness bit or it seems your mobility though I do walk with a stick,however if I do anything at all more than I am able I get shattered very easily
I don't get physically ill, although I do get tired easily and feel totally wiped out! It takes me days to recover if I over-do! Do you feel dizziness or nauseous when you get sick?
Hi Ken,
My feeling sick symptoms aren't nearly as bad as yours. It must be frustrating for you. I do experience nausea and dull headaches nearly all the time, especially when I over do it. For me, these symptoms are my warning bells - I'm over doing it and I need to slow down, sit down, lie down.
Wishing you health,
Lisa
I haven't actually thrown up in a while but I come really close and it comes on so fast that I am never sure if I will make it or not. I used to have this so bad that once I started throwing up I couldn't stop. It was really really scary because I would choke at the same time. How I deal with it now is through finding a target for my eyes to look at for me it's a high point that stops my nausea(kind of like looking at the horizon when you are sea sick) and I also do my aviator trick, flex my muscles (legs and abs) really hard to try and squeeze blood back up to my brain or in some way get more signal up there for my nearly defunct vestibular function to use. I also take deep breaths. Some days are of course worse then others but I find this helps.
I get it bad in cars so I don't go out in them very much. I can manage a short local trip with family if they drive slowly, but has to short. As public transport is out I'm mostly housebound other than getting my dogs around the village.
I also struggle in busy areas with loads of people like busy shopping centre's
Hi, Ken.
I responded to your other posting about problems with vision. Yes, I get "motion sickness" on a daily basis. Mine actually started when I was in my late 30s. (I am now in my mid 50s) At that time, they thought that I had MS. They gave me meclazine (sp?), which didn't work, and scopolomine (sp?) that worked except I was allergic to the adhesive it and then it would fall off. I was desperate to find an answer as I had two small children and couldn't even get out of bed. I found some old dramamine that I bought for my kids and decided to give it a try and it worked!!! Within 30 minutes, I was able to get out of bed and semi function.
Since that day, I take dramamine every day as both a preventative measure for the motion sickness and to treat any times when it gets out of hand. I take 100 mg at night, because it can make you drousy. Most days that is enough to get me through the next day. Things like shopping where you are looking around and having to focus on different things, working on something where I have to bend over and look up or working on something over my head will definitely make it worse. On those occassions, especially if it comes on quickly, I take another 100 mg and try to fall asleep. Even a 15 to 30 minute nap is usually enough to get the nausea under control.
I have recently been diagnosed with late onset cerebellar degeneration and am currently awaiting the results of genetic testing to see if it is one of the spinocerebellar ataxias. About four years ago, it was discovered that I have double vision, which has progressively gotten worse. Looking back on it, I believe I was having problems with my eyes not lining up back in my 30s and this is what was causing my motion sickness back then but didn't know it.
Now that I have ataxia and problems with my eyes, it makes my balance and walking all that more challenging.....but I'm up for the challange! Hope you get your motion sickness problem figured out.
Sue