Yep I find exercise helps too but have to get the balance right as strenuous exercise can aggravate things too. I canāt do crazy hiit anymore!
Stick to the diet anyway, Iām not sure how much it helps but Iāll stick with it. My doc wants me to stick with it and the nortriptyline (Iām really hoping I wonāt have to start any other meds but time will tell) until I stabalise, then remain on a maintenance dose/diet for a whole year while my brain calms down, then slowly introduce things and wean of the meds.
Nortriptyline is certainly helping. Only adding 10mg every six weeks. It wipes me out for a couple of weeks with each increase but ok once over that. I recently struggled going from 30 to 40 and fussyfussy on here suggested trying 35 which is working well so far. My heart rate has increased, but was really low to begin with,and I get mad dreams but otherwise it seems ok.
Sleep is really important- same time to bed/getting up every day. But not too much sleep either as this can cause problems. Stress is key too, try to keep stress levels down. Good luck!
Hi there Scottl, Thanks for your note about diet and nortriptyline. Honestly sometimes I think I should go back on nortriptyline and just cope with the bit of face puffiness (itās slight but as a 30 year old female it bothers me!) and faster heart beat, since itās so nice having just 1 dosage a day!
That said, gabapentin does help a ton and I donāt get a bouncy head under fluorescents. Nortriptyline did help in some ways better with respect to light sensitivity though, but gabapentin gives me more of a sense of stillness.
No drug is the wonder drug, but maybe as Asli mentioned, sometimes people get good results with combos- or we just respond individually to drugs.
I just want as few meds as possible. Glad to hear that your increase in nort. has helped. The diet does seem to make a difference- I get much worse with caffeine, nuts, gluten, etc. in my diet, so it seems worth following the anti-migraine diet.
I did want to mention though (in case its of interest to those who are about to experiment with nort. vs gabapentin or others), as for sx, nortriptyline slowed my digestion down a lot, whereas gabapentin didnāt do that much to change things, and topamax had the reverse effect of nort. in that sense.
Liv
Hi liv
Thatās a good point about nort - constipation is one of the main side effects. Have to say, think due to the shed load of magnesium and vitamin b2 I take, it doesnāt really bother me!
Youāre right, weāre all different and respond to meds differently so itās just a case of trying things out til we find something that works.
Iām female too (just realised my user name is a bit misleading!) and I have gained a few pounds. Iām not sure Iād want to carry on with nort if I gained much more- which I know is silly as getting better is more important than the size of my backside! But I think weight gain is a side effect of a lot of the drugs?
I might try zoloft again. I had tried it for 2 weeks, it seemed to knock out the dizzyness but made me feel weird so I chickened out at quit. Supposed to have less side effects than noro.
Hey again! Itās helpful talking to you guys! I do feel annoyed about weight gain too - that was one of the reasons that I didnāt like nort in addition to the constipation and faster heart beat- it caused a bit of water retention and/or maybe it was the slower digestion that was the factor.
Gabapentin definitely causes a bit of lower body bloating. Itās also sedating so that can make you eat more if you are feeling tired. I am trying to find a way to be on the drug and not gain weight.
Thatās the plus of topamax- it definitely doesnāt cause weight gain. It is more energizing than any of the other drugs, Iāve found, but causes anxiety for me and a load of other bad sx in my case.
Nort was one of the best even at 10mg for light sensitivity though. Really helped in restaurants and in settings with overhead bright lights. But it wasnāt perfect either, and gaba has less sx for me, so Iām probably going to stay with the gaba. Itās a hard one.
Iāve never tried zoloft, but if it helped with the dizziness and has less sx, go for it! Do check maybe for zoloft on the search function on this site though to see if others had any really negative experiences with it (is it addictive)? Will you rebound with anxiety if you get off of it? Liv
Thanks to all for sharing your experiences and giving suggestions.
Shogan, as to your question, Iām on Nortriptyline and have been for over a year now. Started at about 10, went up to 50 mg but didnāt feel better after about 25mg. Iām down to about 35mg now but am having a rough patch. In my case, my neck is a big trigger for the migraines ( it all started after PT on my neck, anyway. Was never dizzy before then).
Good luck. Itās a very personal thing. Youāll have to experiment and see for yourself. I suggest starting everything at a very low dose and going up slowly. Donāt be tied town by what the Drs say about āminimum effective/therapeutic doseā. Everyone is different.
Best.
Shogan, Iāve heard of dr. Furman. One of the best, they say. Can you share with us what heās told you about this condition, treatment, drugs, doses, what to expect, etc. since youāve seen him?
Thanks.
Asli
Just a quick note this woman had success with 35 mg of nort after having tried gaba and a whole other load of drugs, but I think Asli is right on that we all may respond to things differently and need our particular one: A little update from me
I am tempted to try nort again and go a bit higher since the dosing is so convenient and it did help with fluorescents in a way gaba does not, but gaba does a great job overall for me at this low dose - except for the pesky situations in which Iām under intense lights, and then the symptoms are back.
Olivia,
I donāt think the Nort. helped me at all with the fl. lights, even at 50 mg, FYI. Might help you, though.
Of course you can try to go up very slowly, I always divide the doses and never go up by 10s, but Iād say donāt get off gaba in the mean time.
Best, xoxo
Hi - piping in about exercise & glasses here ā Iāve managed to work in a recumbent bike (eyes closed) for 30-40min daily. It isnāt too strenuous and the recumbent part makes it steady & safe. Typically after the bike I sneak into my gymās empty yoga studio for 5-7minutes calm-down (people using ellipticals, stair-steppers, etc can be pretty provoking). To reiterate @Scottl @liv85 & @shogangp exercise is so important!!
Regarding glasses, Barton Perreira makes really dark sunglasses with reflective lenses that knock out a lot of light. They arenāt prescription and arenāt intended for medical purposes ā but theyāre magically dark and crazy effective. I wear them almost everywhere (including the ER during those iv-dates). Theyāre expensive but are 100% worth it.
Also. Was on Nort. last year. Did absolutely nothing. On Topamax & Baclofen now which is making much more of a dent. Takes a while but definitely seeing changes which is a massive relief.
Hi there! Weāre all on a roll these past few daysā¦ 
Yes I definitely donāt plan to get off gaba anytime soon, Asli ! haha It does make my life much more manageable and I am much more social, can go out, walk without feeling off balance, am not sensitive to sunlight the way I used to be, and my face and ears donāt have weird sensations all the time. I can also horseback ride (even jumping over obstacles again), which is massive improvement. My sensitivity to fluorescents is cut by about 70%, except for those darned CFLs, as Iāve mentioned. The flicker is just too powerful and itās like my kryptoniteā¦ But I still can bear it for a few hours before getting a migraine if Iām under them too long.
But under natural light and at work which luckily has less intense lights Iām fine (and incandescent light bulbs are great). Iām going to buy up the entire supply of those if they ever start going off the market! haha There is also depakote for people to consider on this thread, but again with my sensitivity to meds, I just canāt cope with the idea of getting on one the has big side effects potentially - and the risk of birth defects on that one (like topamax) raises my anxiety level if I got accidentally pregnant or something. Iāll try out glasses at some point perhaps - thanks again for the advice!
The main thing for me has been to find a way to use my computer when Iām not also simultaneously under CFLs etc. Just limiting things and finding balance, exercising and getting outside as much as possibleā¦ Thanks again for all the advice guys! Liv xx
Last note for the original poster on this tread in terms of topamax - itās always the tempting one in the back of my mind (esp if some other people were able to get over the āvisual trailsā in the morning after getting used to the drug- those are the weirdest sx for me and freaked me out, Iāve also heard that anxiety/emotional issues on it lessen over time when you take the drug and stabilize). The dose that seems to help people is at least 50mg over several months or 75mg and higher but titrating slowly is recommended I guess, I may have gone too fast the first time. Gabapentin works well but it does have a bloating effect in my legs unfortunately, itās just a matter of what you can cope with in terms of sx:
Yes Furman is supposed to be the best in the country. I live 10 mins from his office. Have been there 3 times.
First he had a brain mri for me. Then he did all of the hearing and vestibular function tests. In my case my ears and inner ears are working just fine, and my dizzyness pointed to a central cause.
I am a complicated case as I am male, young Äŗ which both are more rare for mav) and I have had a history of head injuries from my past.
Anyways he said with a clear mri vestibular migraine is the answer. Yes maybe something in the future will change and it wonāt be but with clear images and clean inner ear testing this is the answer. I also get facial numbness and had a previous history of headaches so the diagnosis b was made stronger.
Here is what he recommends.
1.) Diet and exercise. Allot of food is brain poison, change your diet and exercise as much as possible. 2.) Manage stress and try not to think about it as much. (i.e he said donāt obsess and read about all this stuff all day, wonāt help, guess being on this site all day isnāt solving anything either)
3.) Medicine.
He recommends either nototrypine or zoloft. Zoloft is suppose to be really good with dizzyness. If those donāt work then try verapmil or a beta blocker, then finally on to the anticonvulsants.
For acute attacks or to break up a bad cycle he like klonipan, but will allow Ativan also. Both low dose.
Otherwise he said most of the time this condition goes away but could take a couple years. Itās basically a constant silent migraine going on.
He said MAV is the number one cause of dizzyness now.
Hi Shogan,
thanks for writing and sharing.
Stress plays a HUGE role in this. You said it right, being on this website all the time doesnāt help. Having said that, I learned more useful info on this site than from any other doctor, etcā¦ But reading about people whoāve been ill for many many years puts you in a certain mindset, you know - everyone is different, we each have to remember that. Also, I really think everyone has to think about what their particular cause of MAV is. For many people, it is not obvious. For me, it must be my neck, but I ignored that for over a yearā¦
So like your dr. said, try not to obsess about it. Find a balance between being informed and being obsessed. I do obsess about it, but find that I am much better on holidays, etc. when the stress level is down.
Have you decided what to try next? Are you on verapamil now?
Thanks again for sharing.
Asli
My problem with going online is I obsess with reading about other peopleās medicine side effects. Which I should stop because itās different for everyone and sitting around not trying anything isnāt helping me.
I am on just 20mg of verapamil twice a day. Not enough to do much haha. Canāt say itās helped allot.but it has de-intensified everything.
I canāt take a beta blocker because my normal resting HR is too low so that is out.
Topomax is on the end of of list because it is true that allot of people have side effects from that.
So next I will try Zoloft or Noro. I think my choice will be Zoloft first. Reason is because itās on Furmans list and isnāt supposed to have as many side effects as noro. I am going to start with a 1/4 of a 25mg and work up and see what happens. That is a VERY low dose.
If that does not work after a month or so will try noro in liquid form so I can work my way up to 10mg slowly which is what furman said is a good starting point. Remember people with depression, etc take this at 100mgā¦ 10 is nothing. Noro has really good reviews for migraine prevention. I hesitate because it can increase HR which is a feeling I HATE, so will try the Zoloft first.
He also gave me some compaize which is suppose to break a cycle and help with dizzyness but I am too much of a medical baby to try it yetā¦
I have tried that ativan. Low dose. Causes no bad side effects at all. Makes you a little sleepy but helps allot with the dizzyness.
I also get facial numbness too.
My mav started in July of 2015. In December of 2015 it went almost away for a while month but is back daily again. Itās weird though I swear it I am sick with something else like a bad cold etc, the mav seems to r really go away during those times. Maybe because my Brain is concentrating on something else and not the mav.
There is a huge study out of mayo clinic for veramapil and Zoloft for mav. Results still not posted yet. But when I take the Zoloft I am going to stay on the veramapil as well.
Chiming in about Topamax. It gets a bad rep but really chronic migraines and dizziness (I have both vestibular migraines and intractable level 7-8 daily migraines) are far worse than Tās side-effects. I started taking it in late December and now am at 125mgs. Personally, steroidās side-effects are far, far worse than topamaxās - so if youāve ever taken steroids and were ok with that, then topamax should be a breeze.
PROS: less migraines, less painful migraines, less aura, less dizziness. More serotonin means youāre pretty happy & coping with the whole chronic vertigo thing most of the time. These are all really great pros!!!
CONS: loss of appetite for first month (I lost 15lbs but have gained 3-5lbs back - some people may think of this as a pro), sleepiness during the first two weeks, incessant tingling in your legs/feet (I also have FMS so this is particularly annoying and can be painful at timesā¦ but FMS is painful on its ownā¦ although the Topamax tingles are not as bad when the weather warms up). I personally havenāt had much of the ādopamaxā effect (most of my dopiness can be attributed to being in chronic pain - when I donāt have a level-8 migraine, Iām pretty with-it). Finally, Topamax is a long-acting drug, so youāre not going to wake up tomorrow feeling great - Topamaxās goal is to eliminate your migraine almost entirelyā¦ but in three- to four-monthsā time.
To be perfectly blunt, being dizzy sucks. Most meds arenāt made to work overnight and itās important to remember that. Nort didnāt work for me. Topamax has seemed to be far more effective.
If you have any other questions about the Big Bad T, more than happy to answer. Itās really not that bad and itās definitely not something to be afraid of 
(written by a tiny pocket person who is easily influenced by most prescription drugs, including benadryl)
And to reiterate: diet & exercise are crucial. Follow the migraine diet. Go to the gym daily. Even when you want to hurl. Itās cool. They have buckets at the gym. Isnāt one of their mottos No Judgments?
I have actually heard that topomax can worsen symptoms like dizzy spells. I have given zoloft a try and it worked pretty well for a short time. Iāve read here about some medications that should be very helpful.