Inner tempest
I am managing to function at a low level as I learn to deal with this condition.
Having experienced this kind of profound disturbance, I can better understand how severe inner ear, or vestibular, conditions are. It was debilitating for several days and I think it's only by sheer force of will (and some strong medication) that I'm functioning now.
This inner-ear condition is probably an inflammation, maybe brought on by a virus or other bug or irritation. It could be related to the pool's new chemical mixture. The had just dumped in a load of inorganics when I arrived to swim about 24 hours before this all began.
Whatever its cause, it is the sickest I've been in my life, except once when I was in the first grade and threw up after school. That only lasted one day and I got to watch TV to make up for it.
On Saturday I was determined to do something, anything so I could claim to feel a little normal. Yesterday, I worked pretty hard in my office, moving a file cabinet, setting up new bookcases, vacuuming behind furniture.
Today I have cleaned the kitchen, answered e-mails and backed up my computer files to an external drive.
These small tasks have extra meaning for me, as it's been impossible to do anything for so many days. I feel as if I'm drunk ... whether it's from the medication or the illness, I'm not sure. Yet every day I've felt slightly better.
I found a reference to Meniere's Disease, a nerve disorder of the inner ear. It's believed Van Gogh may have had this illness and it drove him to try to cut off his ear.
I don't think I have Meniere's, but I have a lot of sympathy for the artist who saw the world in spirals around him and tried to make sense of it. (Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh 1889 MOMA)
