Re: re: Surgery Question for

[Guest guest]

My husband's doctor prescribed diazepam for vertigo

Hi

That does sound like a peculiar drug to treat vertigo with. epam (better known as valium) is a sedative generally used for anxiety, stress and epilectic seizures etc. Vertigo, dizziness and lack of co-ordination are actually some of the possible side effects of this drug.

Phil

[Guest guest]

the only thing i can perhaps throw in....is that diazapam is often used in

the specific treatment of panic attacks.......did the doctor attribute the

vertigo to this? apart from that idea i remain curious :0)

julie(uk)

[Guest guest]

Phil and :

Well, I was a LITTLE mixed up. His surgeon didn't prescribe the diazepam - a doctor at the hospital did a few months ago when he had vertigo severely. But I read it right off the label - diazepam, take for vertigo.

This time, though, his surgeon prescribed meclizine for vertigo. In any case, I'm glad we didn't need it!

You know, at the time of the vertigo, a few people thought that was an odd thing for the doctor to prescribe. I wonder if it was a mistake?

-----Original Message-----From: PS [mailto:psmorris@...]Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 9:57 PMcholesteatoma Subject: Re: re: Surgery Question for

My husband's doctor prescribed diazepam for vertigo

Hi

That does sound like a peculiar drug to treat vertigo with. epam (better known as valium) is a sedative generally used for anxiety, stress and epilectic seizures etc. Vertigo, dizziness and lack of co-ordination are actually some of the possible side effects of this drug.

Phil

[Guest guest]

No, not a suggestion of panic at all. They attributed it to an infection in his labyrinth, maybe from the cholesteatoma but not necessarily.

I wonder if he would have gotten better faster without it! I'm going to have to investigate this one.

-----Original Message-----From: juliequill@... [mailto:juliequill@...]Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 11:24 AMcholesteatoma Subject: Re: re: Surgery Question for the only thing i can perhaps throw in....is that diazapam is often used in the specific treatment of panic attacks.......did the doctor attribute the vertigo to this? apart from that idea i remain curious :0)julie(uk)

[Guest guest]

Hi

I was curious to know how a tranquillizer might help with vertigo, so I did a little bit of research. Essentially the drug would be acting to suppress neurotransmitters i.e. it's suppressing brain activity and that would help to quell nystigmus etc. I think some doctors are loathe to prescribe medication because they see the vertigo as a symptom caused by the brain trying to compensate for a lack of information from one of the labyrinths. So the drug could alleviate the immediate distress of vertigo but might also hinder the brain's ability to adjust longterm.

So Valium is widely used, though, it seems, not without controversy:

epam (Valium® ) is one of the most widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of dizziness. Many believe it should not be the first choice, primarily because of the significant potential for habituation and depression, and because it can be the actual cause of dizziness. Nonetheless, it does remain the first choice of many otoneurologists or otologists.

http://ivertigo.net/vertigo/vertherapy.html

http://ivertigo.net/vertigo/veroutline.html (this is the main site - a lot of useful info here)

Phil

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info Phil - I feel better about that now. At least, even if it might not have been the best choice, it wasn't a mistake! I wonder now if that might have had something to do with how long he had the vertigo. He was out of work for a week because he couldn't drive.

And when I asked the nurse at the surgery center, after the ctoma was removed, if they were going to give him valium again for the vertigo, she looked at me as if I was insane. (Since I teach high school, I'm used to those looks, so I just ignored it.)

Thanks again!

-----Original Message-----From: PS [mailto:psmorris@...]Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 12:31 PMcholesteatoma Subject: Re: re: Surgery Question for

Hi

I was curious to know how a tranquillizer might help with vertigo, so I did a little bit of research. Essentially the drug would be acting to suppress neurotransmitters i.e. it's suppressing brain activity and that would help to quell nystigmus etc. I think some doctors are loathe to prescribe medication because they see the vertigo as a symptom caused by the brain trying to compensate for a lack of information from one of the labyrinths. So the drug could alleviate the immediate distress of vertigo but might also hinder the brain's ability to adjust longterm.

So Valium is widely used, though, it seems, not without controversy:

epam (Valium® ) is one of the most widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of dizziness. Many believe it should not be the first choice, primarily because of the significant potential for habituation and depression, and because it can be the actual cause of dizziness. Nonetheless, it does remain the first choice of many otoneurologists or otologists.

http://ivertigo.net/vertigo/vertherapy.html

http://ivertigo.net/vertigo/veroutline.html (this is the main site - a lot of useful info here)

Phil