John's labyrinthitis after the Turtles All the Way Down tour (2017)
story · status: told 7×, last update 2026 · last event: mentioned (2026-02-15)
Origin known from later mentions
2017 in the title is when this began; it first appears in the videos read here in 2021, so the earlier part is known only from what is said later.
Told alongside: Turtles All the Way Down tour: John and Hank's US book tour (2017)
About: labyrinthitis, Vertigo
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-05-25 (happened 2017-11) | first in the videos (retold; it began earlier) | A week later, his balance suddenly failed: the world spun, his eyes shivered, he vomited and was rushed to hospital; diagnosed with labyrinthitis, an inner-ear disease, it was an unambiguously one-star experience. | The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated 00:00:58 |
| 2021-08-10 (happened 2017-11) | retold | Three and a half years ago John was diagnosed with labyrinthitis, a viral inflammation of the inner ear: he went from a slight head cold to incapacitating vertigo, fell over, vomited and was rushed to hospital. | My Physicalmental Illness 00:00:00 |
| 2021-09-14 | mentioned | John recalls making Tuesday videos when labyrinthitis kept his eyes from focusing. | I do this every. single. tuesday. 00:00:15 |
| 2022-04-12 | retold | John says many bad things that didn't kill him didn't make him stronger at all; labyrinthitis just made his life worse, and still does a little. · also in: John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated | Utter Chippy Butty Chaos 00:01:06 |
| 2022-10-18 | retold | Recovering from labyrinthitis, John was told by his physical therapist to go outside daily; relearning balance, his brain relied on visual cues and was easily overwhelmed. | Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London 00:03:16 |
| 2023-10-17 (happened 2017-11) | retold | In November 2017, just after publishing Turtles All the Way Down and a grueling tour, John's balance failed at home; he was hospitalized and diagnosed with labyrinthitis. | My Next Book 00:00:00 |
| 2025-04-22 (happened 2017-11) | retold | John recalls that a few years ago, with labyrinthitis, he was stuck in bed with his eyes closed for two weeks because opening them made him throw up. | The Unimportant Things 00:00:00 |
| 2025-08-12 (happened 2017-11) | retold | John recalls that on a Monday afternoon in 2017, while rummaging through a drawer, his sense of balance suddenly failed; he fell to the floor and started vomiting. | On Balance 00:00:00 |
| 2025-08-12 (happened 2025-07) | update | John says he is making this video because his vertigo returned a couple of weeks ago. | On Balance 00:01:10 |
| 2026-01-02 | mentioned | A few weeks ago Hank woke in the night with the room spinning; he hated it, partly because he knows it has happened to John and that John hates it. | I Got a New Disease and I Kinda Liked It. 00:00:00 |
| 2026-02-15 (happened 2017) | mentioned | John does not need a yacht: he dislikes boats because a vestibular disorder from his labyrinthitis in 2017 makes him sick; he is glad they are hiring community health workers in Lesotho. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! 03:12:33 |
What is said about it
11 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2021-05-25 · The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated — John: Recovery meant weeks in bed unable to read, watch TV or play with his kids, alone with thoughts that drifted or panicked him, his mind roaming through the past. — 00:01:36
- 2021-05-25 · The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated — John: The universe didn't give John labyrinthitis to teach him about balance; he was mostly better within six weeks but still has terrifying bouts of vertigo, and now viscerally knows consciousness is temporary and precarious. — 00:06:35
- 2021-08-10 · My Physicalmental Illness — John: After years of treatment for labyrinthitis, John has started to wonder whether the disease is mental or physical. — 00:00:00
- 2021-09-14 · I do this every. single. tuesday. — John: If it is Tuesday John tries to make a video whatever happens: he made them when labyrinthitis kept his eyes from focusing, and one in a hotel room just after his grandfather's funeral. — 00:00:15
- 2022-10-18 · Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London — John still sometimes gets vertigo when the quantity of visual information gets too high. — 00:03:16
- 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John says vertigo is almost impossible to explain to someone who has never had it; comparisons like a small boat on a heaving ocean or being spun around fall short because those feelings end. — 00:00:43
- 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John: For John the defining experience of vertigo was not the dizziness but not knowing how long it would last, or whether his balance would ever be restored. — 00:00:58
- 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John recalls that with vertigo in 2017 he was in bed for two weeks unable to open his eyes; his other senses did not matter and the imbalance was all-consuming. — 00:01:30
- 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John: Sarah took John to the hospital, where they first tried the Epley maneuver, moving his head and body to rearrange the crystals in his inner ear; it failed and made him vomit more. — 00:01:40
- 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John: Since vertigo can have scary causes, the hospital gave John a CT scan of his head; his brain was, in his doctor's word, unremarkable. — 00:01:56
- 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John was eventually diagnosed with labyrinthitis, when a virus or something attacks the inner ear; in some cases, including his, balance is never fully restored. — 00:02:10