Vertigo ,shooting and hunting

[momo-t]

Hey fellow Tradgangers, I'm curious if anyone here has had to deal with Vertigo and how it has effected your hunting?

Last few months I've been battling the effects of Vertigo,some days good most bad. Just seen the fourth specialist to try to determine the cause but so far nothing conclusive.

It's causing me to rethink my favorite hunting methods,tree-standing in very remote areas.
Our great province contains plenty of secluded and remote areas that I love to explore[usually solo].  While I do enjoying sharing camp with friends, when it come to serious hunting I prefer to go at it solo.

But now with this condition I'm not to sure if going at it alone is the smartest move.
Might have to seriously consider moving things closer to the ground. Not my favorite method,especially with whitetails but I guess I guy has to adapt or quit,and that's not happening any time soon.

Thanks for letting me rant
Just a little frustrated and dizzy...

   Mo

[Gordon Jabben]

I have a small problem with it from time to time but it sounds like you have it much worse.  I do the old remedy of laying on my back with my head hanging off the bed and slowing moving my head from side to side and it seems to go away for a few months.  It bothers me more looking up like when squirrel hunting than it does looking down from a treestand thankfully.  Like I say, I just have a small problem with it.  Hope you find a cure.

[stringstretcher]

Mo, I can relate to your situation very very well.  Two years ago I had to retire from work because of a very very bad case of vertigo.  Bad enough that they had to do a lambrinthectomy (spelling) on my left ear and grind out all of the inner ear.  This was last June.

I have not been able to go up in a tree for over 5 years now, as it would set it off.  I still can not go very deep into the woods because the dept perception plays havock  with me.  And if I am in the woods in the fall, and the wind is blowing and the leaves falling, some one will more than likely have to come get me.

I have gone to the extent of getting and making sure I have a phone with the gps tracking and make sure it is on when I go out.  I leave all the info I can on where I am to a lot of people.  

To this day, I can not walk in the woods before daylight under a flash light, or come out after dark.  It just blows my total balance system.

I feel for you.  It is not fun and for me, has taken a lot away that I always loved doing.  I can not go and watch the water go down the river with out getting messed up.  No canoe trips, no rides in the park.  And altitude plays a big part in how my balance reacts.

So now, I just take my time, since my right side has to read all of my balance issues and try to keep me upright.  It is not fun.  I wish you the best.

[Centex]

I was diagnosed with menieres desease (weak inner ear, loss of hearing, and sever vertigo) almost 10 tears ago.  I seem to have vertigo attacks in the spring and fall, during weather changes, and during sinus infections.

In the early years I would not fight the dizziness just take meds and sleep.  For the past two years I have started working on my balance (bosu ball) and I actively fight my attacks.  The results have been great, both during attacks and when working at heights.  

High sodium intake is associated with vertigo as are allergic reactions (seasonal and food).

If it comes back meniers, PM me and I will tell you a couple of things the doctors don't.

[ChuckC]

Sounds to me like you need to consider perfecting ground hunting.  Falling from a tree in a backwoods setting is never a good idea.

Seriously look at a good ghillie suit. They work.

ChuckC

[momo-t]

Thanks for the reply's guys. It always seems to help when you know your not alone with your problems.


Initially they thought it was brought on by issues with my neck. For years I had a degenerative disk condition in the cervical spine with canal stenosis. Layman's term ,basically a pinched nerve in the neck.But the latest news seems to point in the direction of an inner ear problem. Probably better of the two alternatives.

Charles you seem to understand the effects of the condition and you mentioned canoeing,another one of my true passion  in life. Along with shooting a bow,without proper balance it's hard to enjoy either activities.
 

Chuck thanks for the tip on the Gillie suit.

 I've been using  my Bush n a Bag poncho I got from Big Jim along with my pop up blind this past season with some success  but also with  mixed results.
While I don't call myself a 'Trophy' hunter I do like to target mature animals. So far my ground hunting methods haven't led to many quality encounters. I feel it seems to work in forced travel corridors such as river bottoms, but in great wilderness expanses not so much. While we have quality deer in our province we don't have huge numbers so maximizing your opportunities is crucial for success. That,s why giving up tree-standing is going to be hard to do.


But realistically a guy has to honest with himself and deal with life's ups and downs and just adapt with the conditions. Kinda like hunting.

Thanks for all the support.

Mo

[JEFF B]

on the ground is a good idea as i hate trees  thems for the birds and tree rats  

[PrarrieDog]

G. Fred Asbell wrote a book on ground hunting. Grab a copy, read it and you'll look forward to trying it.

[T Lail]

I have had vertigo attacks for twenty years.....hunt on the ground now almost all the time...just in case....

[BradLantz]

I woke up 3 years ago to it - thought I was dying. Puking,world spinning .... after a couple of specialists they said not viral, not bacterial ... nothing else to call it but an inner ear issue.

If you have it like I had it, its terrible. Mind you I've had excellent coordination and balance all my life and to suddenly not was horrible.

I couldn't ride a bike, catch a football, shoot basketball .... but I kept trying. Never stopped. I remember climbing into a tree the first time that fall ... good gawd.

Today I'm playing basketball again, and not bad for a 42 year old. I run 3-4 miles a day normally.   I can play football but that's probably the hardest thing for me - the running, and looking up and around - freaks me out still. Even running I keep head down - head up and it just starts to be not normal.

Canoeing this summer didn't bother me. Climbing tree's doesn't.


I was told some people recover 50% some 80% etc ... everyone is different.

I swear to this day it was P90X Kickboxing that set mine off - day 7 of it, kickboxing. The next day I was Vertiogo'd

[Bud B.]

Originally posted by BradLantz:
I woke up 3 years ago to it - thought I was dying. Puking,world spinning .... after a couple of specialists they said not viral, not bacterial ... nothing else to call it but an inner ear issue.

If you have it like I had it, its terrible. Mind you I've had excellent coordination and balance all my life and to suddenly not was horrible.

I couldn't ride a bike, catch a football, shoot basketball .... but I kept trying. Never stopped. I remember climbing into a tree the first time that fall ... good gawd.

Today I'm playing basketball again, and not bad for a 42 year old. I run 3-4 miles a day normally.   I can play football but that's probably the hardest thing for me - the running, and looking up and around - freaks me out still. Even running I keep head down - head up and it just starts to be not normal.

Canoeing this summer didn't bother me. Climbing tree's doesn't.


I was told some people recover 50% some 80% etc ... everyone is different.

I swear to this day it was P90X Kickboxing that set mine off - day 7 of it, kickboxing. The next day I was Vertiogo'd

Sounds like my exact story. Except I did some hard mountain biking instead of P90X. Each day is a battle. Some small, some more than small, but thankfully not the severe spinning and nausea like when it first hit me in 2011.

I do climb with treestands  still, but ever so carefully and a harness is an absolute must.

[tarponnut]

I've had vertigo on and off for 8 years or so. It comes and goes. I couldn't work taking the meds they prescribed, so I just dealt with it.
It can be truly debilitating. Walking across a room for me was like I was on a boat during rough seas.
Controlling my salt intake has helped a lot.

I didn't go up in a tree for awhile but now do(I just keep them fairly low and brushed in with palm fronds) or hunt from the ground.

[KSdan]

Awful condition.  Over 12 years of severe vertigo. Non-typ form of meneires.  Disabling. . .   Went to Mayo clinic and other specialists.  Finally had to give in to Gentamycin tx. . .  did finally work.  Blessed to be able to hunt for all those years- though very limited.    

PM me and I can tell you more.

[stringstretcher]

KSdan, I had two of the Gentimycin injections prior to having the complete inner ear ground out.  It was not fun.  I could not drive, walk, sit, stand or anything with out being so dizzy it would make me sick.

Please, everyone that has this problem, do not go up a tree, please.  If I sit for a period of time in the woods even today, it plays havoc with my depth perception and eyes.  Just the sun coming through the leaves and the moving spots from it will cause me to become disoriented.  

Please take precautions.

[Friend]

Rehabilitation from multiple strokes has been carefully overseen by my Creator. Balance is still a compromising issue and my extreme lower peripheral vision is nonexistent. Also, my always, poor sense of direction has been further.

Am seriously contemplating acquiring a walking stick since varying terrains may and do present an immediate challenge.

My physicians permit hunting but strongly encourage no ladders or stands. I still go it alone and utilize a Backtracker as I enjoy the tranquility.

[Gdpolk]

I am sorry to hear that you have vertigo.  That can be a debilitating condition for an outdoorsman.  

My suggestion would be to begin hunting off the ground by either still-hunting or blind hunting.  You won't want to be in a tree when an attack hits you as that would not only be highly noxious but also dangerous.  

You may also consider seeing an occupational or physical therapist for some vestibular training to help strengthen and normalize the messages that your inner ear are sending to your brain.  Some of the treatment protocols such as Astronaut Training specifically aimed at integrating the vestibular and visual systems may be beneficial to you.

[MCS]

It's called Benign Positional Vertigo. I have it and it sucks. There is something called the Epley Manuver that does work. You can google it. I hope it works for you.

[Bullfrog 1]

I don't have vertigo but will get light headed from an adrenaline rush I sometimes get when a big one is coming. Anyone else experience this?   BILL

[MCS]

Every time. Makes me nauseous. But I love it.

[momo-t]

BILL I just love the 'head rush' when a big one come's in. Nothing else beats it.

But what I'm dealing with now doesn't compare.

For those of you partake in liquid refreshments.
Picture your worst whiskey hangover, room spinning,
nausea,bouncing off the walls and totally useless felling and you'd be getting close.  No fun at all.

Michael I think you have something there. The latest talk from the specialist was possibly BPPV.

Time will tell.
Mo