Vertigo and Migraine: Why the World Spins and How to Find Your Balance Again

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Ever felt like gravity just gave up on you?

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You are standing still, but your body feels it's falling or floating or spinning through

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the air.

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That's vertigo.

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And for many migraine sufferers, it's not just a side effect, it's a clue.

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Migraine Heroes is a podcast for chronic migraine sufferers who've seen countless doctors with

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no results.

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Learn how to reduce your migraine attacks without endless medications or constant sacrifices.

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Hello, I'm Diane Ducarme, I've helped over 500 people break free from migraine, even

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after suffering for up to 60 years.

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My mission in life?

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To bring this relief to a million people using a unique blend of Eastern medicine and Western

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science.

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In this episode, you will learn why vertigo often appears before, during or after a migraine

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attack and what it's trying to tell you.

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What really causes that spinning, folding or floating feeling from a scientific perspective.

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And how ancient Eastern wisdom uses grounding and flow to bring your world back into balance.

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Now stay with me until the end, because we'll explore how Eastern medicine reframes vertigo

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not as a symptom, but as a signal from your body's inner compass.

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Let's begin with the Western understanding of vertigo and migraines.

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Vertigo is more than dizziness, it's a false sense of motion, where your body feels like

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it's moving when it's not.

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Some describe it as spinning, others as being pulled sideways or falling through space.

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Now when vertigo and migraine appear together, researchers say it's not a coincidence, it's

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shared circuitry.

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A 2021 study published in the Journal of Headache and Pain by Putman found that over 30% of

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migraine patients experience vertigo or balance disturbances even outside of headache attacks.

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This means your inner ear and your migraine brain are in constant conversation.

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The reason lies in the brainstem, specifically in the area called the vestibular nuclei,

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a hub that coordinates balance, eye movement, and spatial orientation.

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During a migraine episode, the brainstem becomes hyperactive, confusing the signals coming

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from your eyes and inner ear.

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In simpler terms, your brain receives mixed messages.

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The eyes say, we're still, and the inner ear says, we're moving, and your brain, unsure

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who to believe, creates the illusion of motion, vertigo.

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Another 2022 paper, Encephalalgia, showed that patients with migraines and vertigo have

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altered blood flow in the posterior circulation of the brain, particularly near the cerebellum,

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which coordinates balance.

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This means blood vessel changes, core to migraine, can literally disrupt your sense of ground.

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Common triggers?

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Well, we have hormonal shifts, of course, especially before menstruation, stress and

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tension, which tighten neck muscles and reduce blood flow to the head, dehydration or skipped

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meals, sleep irregularity, sensory overload, sort of bright lines, loud noises, crowded

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spaces.

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What is interesting is that vertigo doesn't always happen during a headache.

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It can precede it as an aura, follow it as a hangover, or occur completely independently.

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Traditional treatment focused on stabilizing blood vessels and calming the nervous system,

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using medications.

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But as noted in Northwestern University 2020 clinical review, medications help the symptoms,

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not always the instability underneath them.

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Then I also have to say, from a migraine hero's perspective, if you look at medications long

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term, they can also create more of these symptoms.

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And I think we look forward to contributing to, with universities, all of that will take

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time.

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We're still a small team, but the data that we have really indicates you need to look

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at things long term to really understand the implications of medication.

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That's why Western neurologists also now explore multisensory rehabilitation, training the

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brain to realign visual balance and body feedback loops through gentle exercises, gait stabilization

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and controlled movement exposure.

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Because ultimately vertigo isn't just about the head, it's about how your brain perceives

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stability.

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This is the root of the West.

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For me, respectfully, it feels like taking a rock and rolling it a cliff, and the explanation

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makes sense, but the way to go about it does not feel it would shield you from much of

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these sensations.

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And that's exactly where Eastern medicine takes the conversation much deeper.

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In traditional Chinese medicine, vertigo isn't a head problem, it's a flow problem.

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When your inner energy, your qi, rises suddenly upward or becomes blocked, your body loosens

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its sense of grounding.

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And rising qi can take blood, heat and wind with it, disturbing the balance between head

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and feet, heaven and earth.

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Now I hear you.

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These terms may seem esoteric and not mean much.

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But trust me, we apply them every day with extreme rigor in Migrant Heroes, tracking

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every single one of the people we work for, measuring our rate of success and progress

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for everyone.

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And they are real, and they're working,

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it's just a very different way to look at life and at the body.

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More big picture, less details.

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There are three common traditional Chinese medicine patterns behind vertigo.

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You have number one, liver yang rising, so caused by stress, anger or overwork,

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and the energy is going to shoot up, bring dizziness and headaches,

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and that's where the vertigo comes from.

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A second route can be a phlegm damp accumulation from sort of weak digestion or heavy foods,

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leading to muddled sensation, nausea and brain fog,

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that's another kind.

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The third kind can be qi and blood deficiency from exhaustion or chronic illness or having

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lost a lot of blood, where the brain simply isn't nourished enough to stay steady.

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And sometimes, all of the above.

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And at Migrant Heroes, we tackle these root causes, the vertigo and the dizziness that

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may come with it,

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and no need for exercises every day,

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just adding the foods to balance inside of the body comes back,

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that's how we work.

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Because in Eastern philosophy, the cure isn't found in suppressing or rewiring movement,

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it's found in relearning stillness and order.

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Now this is so important, because vertigo isn't random,

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it's your brain's way of crying out for balance, both literally and metaphorically.

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When the world starts spinning, it's not weakness,

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it's your inner compass saying, something inside me needs help.

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No one should ever tell you, it's all in your head,

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if it's in your head, it's in your body.

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Your brain is doing its best to recalibrate, to find harmony between motion and stillness.

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Vertigo is your brain's poetry,

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it's a way of reminding you that clarity, rest and grounding are not luxuries, but essentials.

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Instead of fighting the dizziness, start listening to it,

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ask what your brain needs,

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put your mind at the service of your brain,

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let reason serve wisdom, not silence it.

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When doing external podcasts, I came to know a podcast host who was doing analysis on perimenopause.

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She was surveying an entire community on their symptoms, a very generous community.

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About 6,000 people replied to her survey on perimenopause and their symptoms, and it struck

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me the high prevalence of vertigo in perimenopause,

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it makes complete sense, but it's so not addressed in Western science.

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There is some shame and acceptance with it that needs to change, and it can.

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Now, what can you do in your home today if you have vertigo?

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Because while it's delicate to fix, it's important that it does not get aggravated.

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If you have vertigo, please avoid wine, specifically, among the alcohol, ginger, garlic, spicy foods

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and turmeric.

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And remember, every small step you take moves you closer to freedom.

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You are powerful, you are resilient, and you are no longer alone.

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Keep rising, migraine hero.