This website has been a great find for information and knowing that other people are struggling with the same condition. In a weird way that is comforting!!
This all started for me in October 19. A sudden weird moment of dizziness which has never gone away plus additional symptoms. I have suffered from a strange lightheaded/dizzy feeling, severe neck pain, muffled hearing, mild tinnitus, braing fog, tight throat feeling/runny nose (allergy)??, fatigue and probably more! Generally feeling down due to this isnāt helping.
I was lucky to get diagnosed early and was given Nortiptyline. I lasted a month before the side effects became to muchā¦ looking back maybe I could have lasted longer. I am now on propranolol at 50mg per day and it has helped remove the muffled hearing, tinnitus and I seem to have a few good days here and there. This is a low dose I know. Any prop success stories that I can be linked to?
I have tried Magnesium but it seemed to make me worse? Is this common and I should stick it out?
I had 3 weeks off work but been back full tiem for 3 months now and I can just about do whatās needed but some days can be a struggle. Mixture of desk based/warehouseā¦
Hi and welcome. I am as near a Prop success story as you will get currently on here. There have been others all since now moved on. You can read my PD for more detail. You donāt say how long youāve been on 50mg which, as you very rghtly say, is low dose for Propranolol. Itās a very effective drug but does tend to take itās time to really work and reaching an effective dose is key. It is actually weight dependent although few medics acknowledge this. 160mg daily is UK top recommended dose which I understand is tops GP can prescribe without a consultantās instructions for migraine however other countries take that to 240mg. One consultant recently advised another poster on here 200mg is often needed to see good results. Perhaps you could discuss the possibility of increase ith your medical adviser. Some prefer to add in other drugs depending on comorbidities. A lot prefer not to have younger people on higher doses of beta blockers due to the probable exercise intolerance side effects.
Ive been on prop since mid february and ive been on 50mg since march. Like i said definite improvements but for some reason im reluctant to go to a higher dose. Doc wants me up to 80mg. Id say im at 80% on average but can have 50% days and 90% days.
Ive basically stopped exercise since this started and its something ive come to terms with but its taken a part of my life away. I could play high intensity football for 90 mins but now im terrified it sets of an attack or im dizzy for days. Like you say prop might not allow me to high intensity sport?
Fyi im 30 years old with a previous history of aura migraine when in my teens.
Doctor is correct. Propranolol range for migraine is 80-160mg in UK. Propranolol might stop the football but MAV might too. If you tolerate 50mg Iād say go up or get off having first sourced an alternative from the doctor. Propranolol has good reputation but you do need an effective dose.
Thats me up to 80mg. Everything was going fine but had a couple of bad days of ear pressure, popping and muffled sensation. Has made me feel pretty spaced out. Got an ENT appt next week via telephone so will see if its a case of continuing and upping it or maybe trying something else with it or seperate.
MAV symptoms change constantly. Ear fullness for me was one that appeared later. If thereās one constant thing about MAV it is that it keeps changing and that will continue for a long time. I have no idea how you imagine recovering will be but please donāt think, even on medication, that symptoms will at some point just suddenly stop. That isnāt going to happen. Propranolol does sometimes stop classic migraines dead in their tracks. I personally know people who have experienced that. MAV is a much more difficult nut to crack. We are talking months rather than weeks here. At a guessimate maybe 6-8 weeks before you start to see some reduction in symptoms on Propranolol. Itās not the fastest worker from my experience. Amitriptyline often shows improvement within 4 weeks but whatever you take nothing is going to shift it suddenly and completely. I hope your call from ENT proves helpful.
Very similar symptoms here - strange chronic lightheadedness, neck pain, brain fog, fatigue. Also the first magnesium supplement I took made me drowsy and lethargic and I couldnāt sleep. So experimented, and found a better one, now take it daily and feel slightly more relaxed. Maybe try a different type? Glycinate?
Canāt advise on medication, I donāt take any. Re. exercise, you mention that youāve stopped exercising. What happens when you exercise? I think regular exercise is absolutely key here, but possibly gentler than what youāre used to - so maybe no high intensity football (yet), but instead an hourās walk every evening after work? Have you looked into changing your diet? Itās all rather frustrating, isnāt it?! But good news that youāre still able to work, and you have your diagnosis, which is more than Iāve got (next appointment in Augustā¦ with a doctor who ādoesnāt think thereās a migraine componentā to my symptoms, soā¦). Good luck!
Its strangely nice to know someone else is going through this miseryā¦ that sounds a bit weird but you know what I mean! I have a couple of types of magnesium and think I will try again soon.
Exercise seems to trigger the spacey feeling. Its like my brain cant cope with the movement. I go for a walk most evenings with my 2 year old daughter and they are a great way to clesr the mind.
Strange you havent got a diagnosis. ENT after a 20 mins discussion said 100% vestibular migraine. Hopefully you can get a confirmed diagnosis.
Think the hardest part at the moment is staying positive. Ive defintely been struggling with depression and its been hard to admit.
I know what you mean. I get the āspaceyā feeling when walking too. Usually just at the start, for the first few minutes after Iāve left the house - as though my brain is adjusting - then it begins to calm down. Usually, the longer the walk, the calmer my head feels. Before COVID I did a 15 mile walk (from London, through Wimbledon Park, to Kingston), and though it gave me a cold, it also gave me a massive reduction in overall symptoms (thatās lasted to this day).
Yes, wellā¦ āPPPDā is my diagnosis, but to me that looks like a subtype of migraine. You can find my welcome post on here, which details all of that. Going to push the guy on the migraine thing when I next see him.
Yes to the depression. And frustration, and anger, and lots of other things. Thereās nothing really to say that makes it better, is there?! At least those walks with your daughter sound a lovely way of clearing your head. Lots more of those!
Check out the walking threads on here. Walking outside is so good both physically and psychologically. Medically acknowledged fact. Exercise is a strong balance stressor more particularly the heavy gym-based stuff.
All part of the Grieving Process. You are grieving life seemingly lost. Actually that is temporary but I appreciate it doesnāt seem that way at this point. The grieving stage will eventually pass. Donāt dwell on all those things you canāt do. Just concentrate on those you can and constantly Talk Yourself Up. You need to reach a state of Acceptance. Doctors use the phrase āWe are where we areā and that makes much sense. Once we can accept our current health restrictions frustrating as they might seem it is possible to move forwards.
@Onandon03 You are so right. For the first 12 months of feeling ill, I took all the anger out on my body and blamed myself rather than thinking, perhaps my bodyās trying to tell me something and slow down!! Now that Iām 18 months in, Iāve finally accepted this condition and that this is the new me for the time being. I wonāt lie and say I donāt get spooked by my symptoms from time to time but I now have a better understanding of whatās going on and plenty of distractions to keep myself from falling into the anxiety trap. I love walking and find getting out every day one of the best things I can do. It definitely resets the mind and calms the soul!
Last week i felt pretty good. At times didnt even think about it. Then boom Sunday afternoon my right ear suddenly does this strange long beep sound and thats me. Days of muffled ears off and on. Ive had a constant small aura in my right eye that wont disappear. Has anyone had this before? Had a feeling that the right side of my face was a bit numb also. All part of the migraine
Im on propranolol 80mg per day and im wondering if I need a dosage increase??
Sounds like that might be a good idea. Of course no preventative is likely to give total protection from attacks. Doctors deem the preventative strategy a success if it reduced everything, attacks, severity and frequency by 50%. That said once people find a tolerable drug at an effective level they do tend to do a lot better than that. A straight migraine friend of mine stopped all here it seems at 120mg. Propranolol dosage is somewhat weight dependent and as I have mentioned to you before 200mg is often an effective dose according to some neurologists.
The definition of effective dose is one that contains most symptoms for most of the time and this needs to be achieved in order for the preventatives to be successful in bringing about some long term remission.
Sudden blast in ear. Yes I have experienced that a couple of times. Seems it might be linked to some sort of ongoing change. Bearing in mind change isnāt always for the worst.
Aura in right eye? Not exactly sure what you mean. Please detail.
I think as mentioned Im just not at an effective dose yet but the current dose is helping. I donāt really feel any side effects which is good. I will get in touch with the docs next week.
The sudden blast is horrible and I just know it signals a bad few days ahead.
Like the aura experienced during classic migraine attacks. There is just a tiny wee spot in my vision still lingering. Wouldnāt say itās anything more than slightly annoying but I wonder if itās just the attack going through me and taking time to tail off.
I actually said to my wife on the way home in the car on Sunday, wow I feel great and have done for a whileā¦then boom soon as we got home it happened. Typical!!
Ah you too have discovered the Jinx Mechanism. Never fails. I did the same with the strength of my Broadband signal recently and next day the modem flashed so many colours so often all day I more than half expected ETās space craft to land in the garden..
As to the speck in your eye. Sorry canāt relate to that one at all. If itās not your own usual occurrence mention it to the doctor. Propranolol has āvisual issuesā listed as a known side effect although I donāt remember anybody having issues with that on here.
Ears are still feeling off today. Popping etc. Yay.
Its so hard to stay positive at times and my poor partner must be sick to death of me moaning all the time that I donāt feel 100%. I think I come on here as I know itās the one place people truly get me. Otherwise as much as I know everyone is trying to be helpful I just get annoyed having to pretend I feel fine when inside I feel like I have lost a part of me.
Had a tough few days so thanks for listening needed a place to vent.
Oh never pretend. Thatās not fair on you? Best not to moan too much but do let family particularly know if you are feeling off. I donāt believe in bothering to try to explain the condition outside immediate family and very close friends. It will take for ever and you wonāt really succeed but family is different. You may well be in this for the long haul so they do need to know.
Yeah your right. Migraine is a major family problem but this type is very different and it seems no matter how many times i explain, the not getting a headache part still confused everyone!
Helen ive noticed you mention NHS grampian a few times on posts? Im also from the aberdeenshire area.
Iāve had issues with the right side of my face feeling tingly and numb. My neurologist says itās ānormal for a complex migraine conditionā. Itās not a fun feeling though haha but none of this really is
