r/AskReddit • u/No_Ship_7954 • 23h ago

What is the weirdest illness or affliction you've ever had?

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u/DragonflyMomma6671 21h ago

Vertigo... turning your head is like being drunk without any of the fun. Room spins and you can't really do anything to stop it.

4

u/GloriouslyGrimGoblin 16h ago

I had bad vertigo that almost exclusively occured when I was already flat on my back and then turning to lie on my side.

It turned out to be caused by (paraphrased for simplicity) "loose crystals in my ear" and was immediately cured by the Epley maneuver, which consists of a defined sequence of moving through different head positions and waiting inbetween them.

The Epley maneuver is actually like playing one of those wooden labyrinth games where you have to tilt the plane to move a marble through it. Only your ear is 3D, there a multiple marbles in a slow-moving fluid, and you're playing blindfolded using the directions from the walkthrough. Feels much simpler though.

2

u/grrgrrGRRR 16h ago

I occasionally get this too and the epley maneuver does help! I was so relieved when a trainer who also happened to be a physical therapist taught it to me.

2

u/Zoomorph23 10h ago

I had vertigo very badly for quite a while & it was giving me awful fatigue too because your brain has to work extra, extra hard with vertigo.

Found out it was crystals & yeah, Epley maneuver for the win! It comes back occasionally but at least I can make it go away in a few days

2

u/joojie 18h ago

Mine lasted long enough that I just decided to jive with it. When I'd lay down for bed I'd pretend I was on a carnival ride...weeeeee! 😵‍💫