Disclosure: This article also published within the organization I work for. Posted here with permission from organization.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers: I still remember it vividly. It all started Sep 1, 2021, early morning. I get up to use the washroom, comeback and lie on the bed. As my head hit the pillow, ceiling started rotating, don’t exactly remember clockwise or anti-clockwise. It lasted for around 10-15 seconds. Got little scared but didn’t scream or wake anyone else. Not yet. Thought it could be because I lied down too fast. After few mts, as I tried to change my sleeping position, it hit me again. With a vengeance this time 😱 Ceiling rotating and I had the feeling of ground going down – as if I am in a free fall and sinking. Trying to control myself, I pushed my hands hard on the mattress to hold on. Panic kicked in, I moved my head more and the rotation increased. It is time to scream for help. Hearing my shout, family members woke-up. With their help I steadied myself. What could have caused it – low blood pressure or sugar level. BP and sugar readings were normal. Problem with ears – balance system messed up? Couldn’t figure out. Since symptoms subsided, tried to get back to sleep – slept on my back reducing the movements.

Alien in the Attic: By morning, I kind of figured out symptoms happen if I make swift movements of the neck and head. Since my son had to leave that day to US for his Masters, I put on a brave face. Hey, I could manage by moving my head in slow-motion – as slow as possible. Don’t wake-up the Aliens in the headquarters. Like in The Quiet Place, walk slowly, speak softly, and don’t make sounds. Thanks to the friendly pharmacist, got hold of low dosage anxiety reduction tablets which helped me to get through that day and next before I could consult the physician.

Edge of Tomorrow: Next 1.5 months felt like I was caught in a time loop like Groundhog Day, Edge of Tomorrow, and Maanadu. Stuck in a Merry-go-round wheel and not able to get off. Looking for answers and cure, I started with GP, General Physician. After bunch of blood tests and ECG, GP did correctly diagnose that I was hit with BPPV, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. A mouthful. I did ask him what is benign about if I could fall and trip myself 🤔 He prescribed few medicines for a week with a follow-up consult. While the medicines helped, it calmed the Aliens a little, but they were still in command and kept hitting me at their will. Kind of reminding me they are there and in control of my movements and in turn life. Since the symptoms didn’t fade away, based on GP’s referral, consulted a neurologist. After few tests, neurologist also concluded it has nothing to do the brain but to rule it out completely suggested to go for a brain MRI scan. MRI scan led me to Cloverfield 😳

10 Cloverfield Lane: I had gone under MRI scan machines earlier, but this one was different. Previous ones, the chamber they push you in is reasonably bigger and is not claustrophobic. But this one, I had one of the worst claustrophobic experience – only few inches clearance and if my nose had been little longer it would have touched the inner wall of the machine. The whole 20mts felt like I am stuck in a basement with no way to get out as in Cloverfield Lane. I was so relieved when it got over and hurriedly ran out of the scan room, lest they may put me back in. Scan turned out to be normal, meaning I can continue to be part of the work force and is fit to work. But it didn’t solve the Aliens in the head puzzle though 😵

The Abyss: It has been 3 weeks and I continued to have the symptoms. It has started taking a toll on my daily life and work. One more follow-up visit with GP followed by an ENT specialist didn’t help much, other than more tablets. I did a Google about BPPV and went through various sites on the treatment. Many suggested Epley Maneuver but so far, the doctors I consulted with didn’t recommend it – they all reasoned out the symptoms I have is mild and doesn’t warrant the Epley treatment – mentioning sometimes it may worsen it. To complete the process of elimination cycle, I also went for a heart checkup. With no solution in sight, it felt like I had hit the ocean’s bottom. How can few dislodged calcium crystals can cause so much havoc? It is hard to explain the feeling – imagine you are not in control of your head, someone else is inside your head in driver seat and directing you – is the way I can describe it. It is like Aliens have colonized you and taken over. Combination of vertigo, fear and anxiety had taken over me. Simple activities like picking something from upper shelf or bending down to put the clothes in the Washer / Drier became highly conscious activities – body stiffens, I had to think and prepare before I could perform the casual activity.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy: It has been more than a month now and 9-day Navaratri festival started. I stopped the medications since they made me feel worse – sleepy, down, and caused stomach problems. Festival season did provide some distraction and helped to take my mind away from the Aliens. Symptoms existed like a sine wave (few days none and other days worse) but was able to manage by restricting the movements. We had invited friends over in groups for the festival. While chatting with them I did share my struggle with the Vertigo and my friend, Malay Vyas, suggested me to talk to his relative who is an ENT specialist. Looking back, Malay Vyas came across as Ford Prefect who saves Arthur Dent, me, before the earth gets destroyed to build the galaxy highway in The Hitchhiker guidebook.

Men in Black: Called Malay’s relative and his words felt like someone playing Stairway to Heaven in my ears, that BPPV can be easily cured and no need of any medicines. He patiently listened as I narrated my tryst with the Aliens. He gave names of two Vertigo Specialists in Bangalore – who work as a team. I immediately booked an appointment with them. After a long time, it felt so good to see 2 doctors spent 1.5hours with me. They made me wear a goggle (resembled VR goggles) – which relayed the eye movements from 3 embedded cameras to a monitor. They observed the eye movement as they took me through various head and body movements and tracking dots and lines on a screen. To me those two felt like the team from MIB except that they were not in MIB costume. By the time they finished, my vertigo has subsided a lot, able to move my head and bend down with no dizzy feeling. I was asked to do an exercise routine 2 times a day for 3 days and call them back with the outcome.

Independence Day: Practiced the exercise for next 3 days without fail. Within two days, symptoms vanished completely. I felt so free and relieved. After 3 days, on a fine and beautiful Sunday morning, I called the doctor and informed him. I did ask him what if there is revisit of the Aliens. Yes, it can happen, he replied, it is like cold, but you know what to do and we are just a call away 😀. To my other question, why and how it gets triggered, his reply is that there is no hard evidence as of now, but most probable causes are lack of sleep, injury, and ageing.

The Arrival: It all comes down to communication and vocabulary. In this case, deciding on the right treatment, treatment of choice, the word uttered by Malay’s relative, and it stuck in my head. Like us, doctors, especially in India who see lots of patients, are also crunched for time, don’t get to spend the required time on a given problem. They take the easier path – most probable cause and treatment. Interesting thing with Vertigo, from my limited reading, is that many times it goes away on its own, as the calcium crystals go back to their place. My takeaways from the whole episode are, nothing groundbreaking, go after root cause (whys), do the data gathering (No, WhatsApp forwards don’t count. Opinions differ on reading up and data gathering on medicine, but I am of the school you own your body and health…do science-based approach and complement the doctor), treatment of choice, be open and share & talk openly with friends and families, and the final one as Douglas Adams would have said Don’t Panic.