Denise Welch revealed she was left ‘screaming like a wounded animal’ during a recent vertigo episode which she has struggled with for 15 years.
The Loose Women panelist, opened up about her battle with vertigo and how it has affected her daily life and revealed a particularly bad occurrence.
Symptoms of Vertigo
Denise detailed how the symptoms have left her ‘struggling’ for 15 years and have previously caused her to miss work on the ITV daytime show .
Speaking on Loose Women on Monday, she said: ‘I’ve had it for about 15 years. My sister has it. They say it’s not hereditary, but she has it too.
‘It feels like you are falling off the edge of something. So my normal vertigo would be that if I’m walking around, normally 90 per cent of the time, I’ll be okay. But when I lie down at night, I go 1, 2, 3, 4, spin and it’s like a rollercoaster.
‘It’s like when you used to get drunk, but without the fun getting there. That’s what it is. And then if I’d wake up in the night to go to the loo, I’d have to sit on the edge of the bed and hold the bed and it’s absolutely miserable.’
How Vertigo Affects Her
Denise went on to explain how vertigo made her feel so ‘bad’ and weak as she arrived at an airport in New York following a trip.
‘And last year in New York, I went to the airport early so that I could find some seats and lie down, it was so bad. It’s really, really debilitating.
‘Anyway, I went to an ENT guy who sent me – this is after years of trying to get it done properly – went to an audiologist, check my hearing and said that was fine. And then it sounds pretty brutal, but we established it was mainly my right side.’
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‘It’s like when you used to get drunk, but without the fun getting there. That’s what it is. And then if I’d wake up in the night to go to the loo, I’d have to sit on the edge of the bed and hold the bed and it’s absolutely miserable.’
She added: ‘So Lincoln was with me. And he laid me down on the bed and he said, I’m going to put you backwards to the left, which he did, which was horrible, but not so bad.
‘… Like a Wounded Animal’
‘Then he sat me up and put me down to to to the right – they threw me backwards. First time, threw me backwards with my head to the left, then with my head to the right. Lincoln said I sounded like an a wounded animal.’
Denise revealed she missed her stint on the show due to being so poorly but since that meeting she has not had vertigo again.
However she did warn viewers to consult with their doctors before attempting anything similar.
Discussing that day and her recovery, she added: ‘I was meant to be coming to get the train to come down to work that night. And I had to phone Ashley, our producer, and put Lincoln on. I was vomiting. I had to take the rest of the week off work. But then on the Friday, I woke up and it had gone. This is three months ago and I haven’t spun once.’
