Dizziness Or Vertigo

I am caring for my mother in law, she has stage 3b lung ca.  The doctors have stopped all radiation & chemo therapies because it was just too hard on her 81 yr old body.  She could hardly swallow water after 15 treatments of radiation & 3 rounds of chemo & was very weak.  Now after 4 weeks off all treatment she is eating & feeling stronger.  Except this wkend she developed a severe case of vertigo with nausea. We ended up in the ER & they gave us no reason.  We are afraid of possible mets to the brain....is this a symptom of that? 

Hi Merrym, I just saw your posting &  thought I would give you this website to visit: www.dizzy.com. It is the American Institute of Balance, and has a wealth of information. I have suffered from vertigo, and call it the "illusion of movement". If it is true vertigo, it can disappear as quick as it came. Maybe it will last only a few days, a few hours, or less. Did she have a recent blow to the head? Tell your dr if she did. Symptoms are brought on by head movements, and are most prevalent when you wake up and go from laying down to sitting up. That is usually when the room starts spinning around you and you get that feeling of nausea. The cause is from the inner ear, as you may know. There is no 'fix' but you can try Gingko Biloba, a herbal supplement, it may help ease the symptoms. Hopefully it is vertigo and nothing else.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Thanks Nadeene for responding.  No, Mom hasn't suffered any blow to the head or fall.  She just woke up one morning & was dizzy.  She says that it is better, but it does happen sitting up & lying down, the nausea is mostly gone now.  If it continues we will try to ginko biloba.