Vertigo

Vertigo, sometimes called a headrush, is a major symptom of a balance disorder. It is the sensation of spinning while the body is stationary with respect to the earth or surroundings. With the eyes shut, there will be a sensation that the body is in movement, called subjective vertigo; if the eyes are open, the surroundings will appear to move past the field of vision, called objective vertigo.

The effects may be slight. It can cause nausea and vomiting or, if severe, may give rise to difficulty with standing and walking. Vertigo is usually associated with a problem in the inner ear balance mechanisms, in the brain, or with the nerve connections between these two organs. The most common cause is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. Vertigo can be a symptom of an underlying harmless cause, such as in BPPV or it can suggest more serious problems. These include drug toxicities, strokes or tumors. Vertigo can also be brought on suddenly through various actions or incidents, such as skull fractures, sudden changes of blood pressure, or as a symptom of motion sickness while sailing, riding amusement rides or in a vehicle.

...More at Wikipedia

Related Links:

• US National Library of Medicine

Recent Hope Cube Blog Entries For Vertigo

• Spinning Wed, December 05, 2007 - [view]
  I've been having recurring vertigo attacks since November 2006. After lots and lots of doctor visits, I was diagnosed with atypical BPPV. In September I finally used the Epley to try to reposition the little rocks and I haven't had another vertigo attack since. I still feel off-balance sometimes, nauseous, and fuzzy-headed. I'm doing VRTs to get rid of those things but so far it hasn't helped much. The only VRT that seems to help is treadmill walking +reading but I'm bad about doing it every day... I feel nauseous and can't make myself go to the gym. Trying though! Have an MRI scheduled next week along with an upper endoscopy because I'm vit B deficient.  Fun fun!