On 5/8/2008
Donnamswa wrote:
Hey all,
My husband is now in week 4 of treatment for tonsil cancer, this has been tough on him and he has lost 15lbs with a peg due to nausea. Now he has vertigo, has anyone else had this happen? The Rad docs say its from chemo and the chemo docs say its the radiation. Ummm I don't care what caused it we just need it to go away! The meds they gave him for it make it worse. Any suggestions?
Keeping Faith
Donna
Hello Donna,
I began to experience vertigo for the first time during my second week of radiation treatment for base of tongue cancer. My doctor also said it was not possibily a side effect. But if you read the posts on this forum you will see that many people have had it. The techs that do my treatment have been much more upfront with me and have told me that many people get off the radiation table swaying.
I did get some meds from the ER when it first occured but they did next to nothing. My oncologist would not give me anything else for it. So I started to take Dramamine over the counter and it worked better than the prescription. I'm now taking one or two before each treatment and the vertigo is much less.
A few weeks ago I posted this messge when it first happened to me, it is an excerise. It is hard to do when you feel lousy anyway but it did provide me with some relief.
Hope this helps. D.
The Brandt-Daroff exercise is done as follows:
- Sit on the edge of a bed or sofa, and quickly lean to the side that causes the worst vertigo. You should end up lying on your side with your ear down.
- Remain in this position until either the vertigo goes away or 30 seconds have passed.
- Sit up. If this causes vertigo, wait for it to stop. Repeat the procedure on the other side.
People using this exercise usually are instructed to do 20 repetitions of the exercise at least twice a day.