The FastDay Forum

Hello all

Have not been very successful on the fasting front this last few weeks due to firstly an amazing ski holiday and secondly intermitent episodes of feeling disorientated or woozy.

The episodes have been happening for the last few weeks, really only lasting a couple of minutes and gave me an almost out-of-body experience!!

Over my ski holiday I thought they were alcohol/altitude related. Other days I assumed I was lacking salt/sugar/vitamins and had made an effort to eat better and avoid high GI foods.

Yesterday I started fasting but as the day went on I wobbled, fell over and generally swayed around the building at work until my colleagues sat me down and plied me with biscuits and sweet tea. It didnt make a difference at all so cue trip to Doctors and it turns out I have Labyrinthitis - a viral infection of the inner ear!! Apparently mine is a mild version as I am not vomiting and off food (always hungry!!) but still really not safe to drive and typing this is making me feel seasick!!

Anyway just wanted to share my story and say don't assume your problems are caused by diet, I have been fasting since last April with no probs so really alarm bells should have rung earlier but I am rarely ill.

Take care of yourselves people, for me this involves bed rest and motion sickness pills, and probably a little break from fasting!

Spanner xxx

Hope you feel better very soon!

I hope you feel better too. I hope you're tucked up in bed for that bed rest with a few treats.

Wow, interesting cautionary tale, I too might have assumed it was to do with the fasting!

Wishing you a speedy recovery... Xx

Hello all

Have not been very successful on the fasting front this last few weeks due to firstly an amazing ski holiday and secondly intermitent episodes of feeling disorientated or woozy.

The episodes have been happening for the last few weeks, really only lasting a couple of minutes and gave me an almost out-of-body experience!!

Over my ski holiday I thought they were alcohol/altitude related. Other days I assumed I was lacking salt/sugar/vitamins and had made an effort to eat better and avoid high GI foods.

Yesterday I started fasting but as the day went on I wobbled, fell over and generally swayed around the building at work until my colleagues sat me down and plied me with biscuits and sweet tea. It didnt make a difference at all so cue trip to Doctors and it turns out I have Labyrinthitis - a viral infection of the inner ear!! Apparently mine is a mild version as I am not vomiting and off food (always hungry!!) but still really not safe to drive and typing this is making me feel seasick!!

Anyway just wanted to share my story and say don't assume your problems are caused by diet, I have been fasting since last April with no probs so really alarm bells should have rung earlier but I am rarely ill.

Take care of yourselves people, for me this involves bed rest and motion sickness pills, and probably a little break from fasting!

Spanner xxx

hi Spanner

I can relate because I was diagnosed with the virus back in 2009, its horrible, I never felt so ill before.. I was off work almost 2 months..sickness tabs just made me sleep, I couldn't eat as I felt very nauseaous..like you am rarely ill but this really shook me up!!
My head felt fuzzy everyday, I was desperate because I thought I would stay like this forever, as apparently some forms of it you can have for life
I will never forget walking in the train station all wobbly and side ways, I was mortified as I was sure people thought I was drunk
Eventually it passed, I have had minor episodes since but nothing as bad thank God
My doctor told me sometimes the virus get through your immune system just after a bout of cold, and once you have it its for life...
thank you for bringing this up, I wouldn't wish this on anyone, its a real nasty thing to have to go through!!

Take care
Angie

[Tracieknits]

OMG I'm glad you got diagnosed and are being treated.

I agree completely, by the way. The only time fasting made me feel disoriented, weak or dizzy was why my thyroid levels were too high. When I'm healthy (or they're too low), fasting doesn't do that to me at all.

It's an excellent thing to keep in mind -- fasting should not affect a HEALTHY person that way. If it's affecting you that way, you may have any number of problems from the inner ear infection to blood sugar issues or thyroid issues or goodness knows what else!

My Sis in Law had this a couple of years ago, completely wiped her out. Thanks for sharing

I've had it too, but caused by concussion. Its a very boring existance till it settles down as even watching TV or reading a book is out of bounds. Driving was a complete no-no.

Get well soon. Though I can't see any reason why fasting would affect it. If it does then obviously stop, but you may find that the repair days help to heal things up quicker.

I do hope you recover soon, spanner. I had a very acute, short-lived version of this years ago and it was wicked! Just a few weeks ago I had one of the symptoms (stuffy-feeling ears) that passed off after 8 to 10 hours. Maybe it was a mild version, maybe not.

Yes, coincidence doesn't mean causation! As others have said we can't rush to the conclusion that feeling strange is caused by fasting.

Co-incidently, my son has just admitted to me that he stopped fasting because of feeling lightheaded, after going to the doctors. To be told that his light headed feeling is/was probably caused by withdrawal symptoms from some tablets he has just stopped.

Oh wow spanner i was just about to write on chatterbox on this very subject!
I fasted y'day and was gonna try a back to back but - surprise surpise i didnt!
However have had two episodes today where i felt faint and sick just for a few moments each time.
If i'd been doing a back to back fast, i 'd have been blaming that! And swearing its not for me!
Hope you get better soon..labyrinthitis isnt pleasant as @angie090465points out
Didnt know Angie that once youve had it,its in yr system forever..
Glad you have it only mildly spanner,get well soon x

Hi Candice!

Yes once you have had it, it can come back anytime.. A nasty little virus, as someone pointed out it really wipes you out, people often mistake it for vertigo, its not the same at all!!

Its triggered off in you inner ear canal, the labyrinthe, hence the wobbles

Xxx

[carieoates]

I've had it too.
Just out of interest, are you on any contraceptive injections?I'm asking because
This is why I had to come off them . Two to three weeks of spinning for no reason. Not fun.

.

Anyway I have tried these two out and had brilliant results when suffering with true labyrinthitis. have tried a couple of ways to get rid.....and have found they work at differing levels.

1.
Ear candles - this extracts wax from way down, it's a homeopathic remedy, also good if you're not great with plane cabin pressure.

2.
Saw this demonstrated on a documentary.
Lay on your side on a bed with head hanging down over the side. You should feel like someone is picking you up and spinning you around like a rag doll. Count to 20. Keep someone with you it's scarey.
Turn onto the other side and do it again.
You may need to hold onto the bed, I do. Go to bed.
It has always worked for me, I have had to repeat it. Think it rebalances the bones in the ear.

It has come back a couple of times but not as severely as the one which laid me up for days

Sorry to hear of your virus, but I must say this: fasting HAS made me wobbly. Wobbly tummy, wobbly bum, wobbly thighs. But it's because of the fat being sucked away and I am assured the skin will stop being so wobbly.



(Just trying to add some levity to the conversation.)

I have had bouts of vertigo over the last few years. I went to my gp and he thought it was in the inner ear--the little hairs getting disturbed. It was extremely unpleasant (vomiting--not unexpected since I am prone to motion sickness) and debilitating, but thank goodness, not too long-lasting. He showed me how to do a little self-help, turning to the left side while reclining and banging my head a bit and then slowly sitting up while maintaining the same tilt. It seems to help.

I think seasonal allergies may help bring the condition on as I can sense a tendency to it when the allergies kick up. Not fun!