Vertigo ain't fun

There are things we don't appreciate (if appreciate is the right word for some things) until we experience them. I always thought pneumonia was nothing but a particularly bad cold...until I contracted it. Believe me, it's much more than that. I likewise never thought of exactly how bad dizziness could be. Then I developed vertigo, and I have a definite respect (if that is the right word for such as thing) for it.

Having a room spin and blur for several seconds when you lay down or sit up is perhaps the worst non-physically painful sensations I've encountered. It's a feeling of total helplessness. Everything spins, everything blurs, and then you come out of it slowly and awkwardly. Your head and/or body even wobble. You lay there and just think, 'Oh my'. I've probably dealt with it before, but never sober. You do not forget it.

The doctor told me to get up and lie down slowly. But I can't seem to do either slowly enough. Oh, it's getting better, now that I'm taking an antibiotic (the cause of my vertigo is an inner ear infection). But still, it's kinda traumatic when the spinning happens. And it startles me occasionally when I, say, take a step back and feel as though I'm going to keep falling backwards whenever I feel it coming on. It isn't fun.

They famously say that don't appreciate someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. I didn't fully appreciate dizziness or a loss of balance before the last few days. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.