Of Vertigo and Swimming

Three years ago, nearly to the day, I awakened to centripetal forces swirling behind my eyes. I sat up, flopped back down to the pillow and told my husband, “something is very wrong: I’m spinning!”

I developed a form of severe vertigo presumably through a latent cold or flu virus that decided to take a wrong turn into my inner ear. The imbalance, the puking, the helplessness and lack of appetite—ugh! It was several weeks before I could read the text on a computer (magnified a lot I could), or drive again, and months before the visual effects subsided, also about six weeks of no swimming (I tried at three weeks out and that was a disaster); even at two months the “internal gyroscope” was not quite right. To this day, the lighting in large grocery and big box stores will make me nauseous if I’m in them for too long (bring a visor). Vesitbular neuronitis is no joke! 

Sometimes I wonder if open water swimming exposes us to more viruses; at the same time I know the brisk water—based on neuroscience—is beneficial. Another factor: cold water in the ear canals can bring on severe vertigo and I am sensitive to this. I grew up in a beach town with summers spent on a windy beach and relatively cold Pacific water. As a kid it was no big deal, but bodysurfing on that same beach in adulthood without earplugs was downright punishing. Not so much while in the water, the pain and ensuing dizziness really kicked in afterward. Lesson learned.

In the Pacific Northwest, summer waters reach the high 50s, and now in winter they are in the high 40s and still plunging. Year round, ear plugs are a must. Even in a hot stuffy pool, for me, they are a must. Yesterday my friends and I took a swim for a little over an hour. About halfway through I felt pain in my left ear and the unmistakable needling of cold water had made its way past my ear plug. Those terrifying feelings from the old, familiar vertigo were kicking in, and added an entirely new challenge to this workout.

On the return trip to our start point, I had one of the swimmers with a bright buoy stay close by to track off of, because I began to swim off course (not like me at all!). Once back to land and standing up, I was definitely “cold water drunk” and looking forward to warming up in the car and getting the water out of my left ear canal. Crisis averted, but a great reminder to take extra care to secure those earplugs. I avoid the neoprene cap because of the chafing the chinstrap causes, so this makes –plugging in- extra important. To all of you able to swim without earplugs, I marvel!