The details re. my 1st adventure as a 40 year old:
Labyrinthitis (sounds kinda groovy, right? As if David Bowie is going to pop out of nowhere and whisk me away to unicorn land? Not so much.) is similar to vertigo and sucks just as bad.
So last Thursday night, I celebrated my 40th with my Inner Circle and was pretty drunk by the time we arrived at the Bird. Two beers at 9% each, two or three white wine spritzers, and three or so shots (with no food) will kinda make me drunk on any given day. But not sloppy. Certainly not “I-need-to-be-carried-from-the-bar-and-babysat” drunk. But all of a sudden, while we were just sitting there talking shit and swapping lies, the room started spinning diagonally and horizontally at the same time. I’d never felt the spins while I was drinking, only after I was done drinking and had gone to bed.
I stumbled to the bathroom, hoping to throw up and continue drinking like any other respectable party girl would do. Nope. Every time I closed my eyes, I was totally fine; when I opened them, the entire room went crazy and I felt like I was on a roller coaster. And I don’t like roller coasters, not one. little. bit. So I threw up a bunch in the tiny trashcan next to the toilet (like a lady) and finally realized I wasn’t feeling any better and needed to go home. I must have looked like a total amateur as I stumbled from the bathroom to the table to grab Kevin and out the door. But whatev, everyone knows I like to party. *cue Macklemore…”You like to party? I’m a partier!”*
After KMc dropped me off at home and I spent 20 minutes sitting in the bathtub, puking on myself, I finally put myself to bed. Like I said, everything was fine when my eyes were closed, so I just fell asleep with no problems. But the next morning (Friday), I woke up & opened my eyes to find everything STILL spinning like crazy. WTF?? Who wakes up the next morning still spinning?!? I was pissed because I knew we wouldn’t leave for our Valentine weekend in Saugatuck by noon like I planned. All I wanted to do was sit in a hot tub in Michigan with a bottle of Champagne, damnit!
Anyway, I puked all day Friday and knew that I was experiencing more than just a simple hangover. By Saturday, I wasn’t puking anymore but everything was still spinning. On Sunday, I went to acupuncture to see if that would help. Nope. So yesterday I went to the doc, who told me I have Labyrinthitis…caused by that nasty bout of bronchitis I had last month. My respiratory symptoms had subsided, but my left ear never cleared all the way. I thought it was just an annoyance to hear the popping and ringing in my ear for 5 weeks. I had no idea it would turn into my 2nd worst birthday ever (the first being my 30th, when I ended up in the ER due to a migraine that somehow subjugated all my prescriptions).
So now I’m medicating with vertigo pills, decongestants and ear drops, along with yoga and acupuncture, and I’m starting to see some progress. Case in point, I can stare at the computer screen long enough to type this blog entry…a small but satisfying victory.
It should clear up within 7-10 days and probably won’t come back since it was caused by symptoms of bronchitis instead of an inner ear disorder, like my mom has. Basically that means I can’t drive, don’t really want to drink (*shocking*), and have to miss a few things for work, which blows because A) I really like my job and B) I’m brand new, so they probably think I’m feeble or a slacker.
Note to self: if your ear is full of fluid, it’s not a mere annoyance…get it checked out.
2nd note to self: stay home for the 50th birthday. Lock the doors and close the blinds. Sit quietly until the next day.
Cooking with Vertigo 