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Vertigo is a fairly common symptom even in healthy older people, and it's unlikely (but possible) that lupus is playing a role.
If you continue to have episodes, Jeri, please ask your doctor about the Epley maneuver to reposition the inner-ear cupuloliths (crystals). This is highly effective and can be done by a doctor or vestibular rehab therapist.
@CarolynWells--What you're describing sounds like benign positional vertigo, and I hope you saw your doctor for it. There are simple exercises that you can do at home to help with this. You can sit in bed, lie down to intentionally bring on the vertigo, and wait for it to pass. Then repeat the sequence as many times as you can tolerate, a few times a day. This causes the inner ear receptors to adapt to the position-change stimulus and stop reacting. It's similar to the way your olfactory nose receptors stop noticing a smell after you've been around it a while. It really works, and it's helped my patients (and my healthy 91-year-old mom, too).
I also suggest you consider a bedside commode for now to prevent more injuries until your symptoms improve.
I should mention that there are many other possible causes of vertigo, including sinus congestion from colds or allergies (transmitting pressure to the inner ear), direct viral inflammation of the inner ear, Meniere's Disease, rarely strokes, etc.
That sounds really uncomfortable — vertigo is no fun at all! The connection between ear crystals (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV) and lupus isn't strongly established, but lupus can affect the ears and surrounding areas in ways that may contribute to ear-related symptoms.
Lupus-related ear symptoms are more Show Full Answer
Thank you Niranjana for your help. I will give the exercise a try. 👍
I have been dealing with vertigo now for over a month. Only when I am going to lay down or getting up from laying down. When I go to bed, I lay down on my right side and just hang on until the room stop spinning. When I get up in the morning, I sit up on the edge of the bed and just wait before attempting to stand up. Then everything for the rest of the day is fine. It gets a little hairy when I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I don't want to turn on the table lamp and wake up my husband, so I attempt to find my way thru the hallway to the bathroom without falling into a door jamb as my balance is off. Tricky! I have one bruise already on my "bony" shoulder where I bumped into the door frame on one of my nightly trips. Ha!😁
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