THE WORLD IS SPINNING

          Vertigo(1958) is one of my favorite films and my favorite Hitchcock films (I like it better than Psycho). Frequently voted as the greatest film of all time, Vertigo is the story of a retired detective who suffers from acrophobia and suffers vertigo whenever he is in high places. One day, he was tasked to secretly follow and observe a mysterious woman by her husband and—to tell you more about the plot will be a crime.

          But what I really want to discuss here is a different kind of vertigo—the dizzying type.

          Almost two years ago, I was inside our house when I suddenly felt lightheaded and nauseous—the room started to spin and the ceiling started trading places with the floor. It felt like being very drunk without drinking anything remotely alcoholic. It was scary because I thought I was having a stroke, although I always thought that my blood pressure was always okay.

          I tried to enter my room to reach for my bed but the floor was still swaying heavily and I almost collapsed near the door. I sat on the floor (another step and I knew I'd fall) and remained there for quite some time—the thought of dying or being paralyzed that time was still scaring the hell out of me.

          I was just waiting for my life to flash before my eyes and an angel to fetch me. Yes, an angel and not some guy with horns carrying a pitch fork.

          Then, the dizziness and the nausea started to alleviate and I was able to climb onto my bed where I lay still for the next two hours (even small movements aggravate the dizziness); until I was able to sit in front of my computer and research what the hell just happened to me.  Yes, I consulted the internet instead of a doctor. Isn’t that what sick people do these days? I later learned that what happened wasn't serious and that I had a vertigo attack because I was stressed, (mentally and physically) fatigued and I sorely lacked sleep. After a few more hours and a bottle of soft drink (one website said food or drinks that had lots of sugar would help parry the dizziness), the vertigo finally bade me farewell, said “good riddance” and left. I thought that that was nice because some vertigo attack lasted for many days, even weeks.

           Imagine that, many days of vertigo? It’s unthinkable, vertigo is the worst feeling in the world. It’s worse than being heartbroken. Wait… oh, yes, it’s worse than being heartbroken.

          So why am I reminiscing about this unhappy incident? 

          Because yesterday, I had another short-lived affair with vertigo. I woke up feeling so dizzy that I almost fell face-first to the floor when I stood up to go to the bathroom. The culprit? Sleep deprivation again. The attack was a little more severe than the first because I still felt a little dizzy during the night.

          So that’s it, whenever I’m sleep-deprived, stressed and fatigued, dizziness harasses me. Having learned my lesson now, I vow not to have another vertigo attack and to sleep early everyday. But wait, what time is it? It’s almost one in the morning now.

          F-ck!