I have run into a massive brick wall after some hope…
After a 2 day boat ride - the past week I have had an incessant rocking sensation and my vision is jumpy as hell. This culminated last night with a massive stomach bug and me being sick everywhere - where am I? I’m in Laos so not much fun dealing with all this!
I’ve have been on Verapamil for 3 weeks now and can’t see any change. I did have a relatively good 2 week period where I felt ‘better’.
This MAV thing drives me nuts - I’m flying to see Hain himself in Chicago in December if this isn’t sorted. Its just absurd!
What a bummer … sorry to hear this thing is hammering you so bad in Laos of all places. Can you stop somewhere for a few days and just lie really low … get a routine going? I don’t know if 3 weeks is too early to expect anything from Verapamil yet. I’m sure the others will chime in.
Really hope you get a break soon. It is definitely absurd. This whole condition drives me nuts.
You should PM Nance with her story about Verapamil. She had it work and then it stopped. She almost went off of it and now she’s great. Hang in there if you can, but I really would advise you to keep on with it if you can.
3 weeks sounds like a short time. And what dose are you on? The doctor who prescribed the Verapamil had me go up to 480 mg. At that point, when it wasn’t helping, I was told I could stop after a few weeks on 480. I ended up cutting the dose in half before stopping completely.
The doctor I just spoke with this morning says it usually takes Verapamil 4-6 weeks to have any effect (on average). That’s why I was hanging in there with it even though my symptoms were getting worse (well, until I went all spotty). So it really does sound like it might be a good idea to “wait and see.”
Besides, with all that boating and all those stimuli (and you did say before that you haven’t been sleeping well), is it possible that things have gotten exacerbated? Scott’s advice about laying low for a few days sounds pretty practical if it’s possible…
I have been laying fairly low for the past week to be honest with doing very little, but haven’t seen much benefit. Bizzarly, I tend to feel a little worse if I just sit around and do absolutely nothing for long periods. This is especially the case if I have been lying horizontally and then get up off the bed.
I will crack on with Verapamil - I have nothing to lose. I just hope I return to my ‘base line’ dizziness at some point.
I will also stay away from 2 day boat journeys - I’m such an idiot, and always pay for it, but then I guess I’m not letting this monster stop me seeing the world!
I’m currently on 240 mg Verapamil a day - if anyone thinks I need to bump it up to feel more of an effect let me know - or should I wait until I’ve been on it for 2 months?
I can’t see why migraines would mess us up from going boating? I guess those drs who believe mdds (at least sometimes) to be migraineous theorise that the migraine unables the “sealegs” to go away or something; sorta lika how migraines can hinder compensation from VN.
Did you not have rocking before this boattrip or is it just worse? Thought rocking was something most of us shared.
I’m sorry that your having a difficult time right now. I am sure as the days pass by your base-line will return. When weening off Topamax and even after i was off Topamax i did not get back to a sense of normalcy (base-line as you put it) for about a month.
I applaud you for taking these long trips and taking boat rides. I will do many things (considering this conditon) but taking a Cruise or even a small boat ride is out of the question. Even before this dizzy condition i always knew that a Cruise trip would never be. I had been on a small boat with my dad when i was a kid…when fishing and at times that was uncomfortable. I have always been and appears will always be Motion Sensitive. I can’t blame you for not wanting this dizzy monster to get in the way of you seeing the world but if it’s really setting you back for weeks and possibly months i guess you have to ask if it’s really worth it? I remember when i was at my worst during the 1990’s…i love going to the movies and i would visit the Cinemaplex and on occasionaly while watching the flick …the Motion would overwhelm me so much and i would feel like i was going to go in a Spin (with panic) that i would leave the theatre and go home. But the following weekend i would return to that movie and make it thru the complete film. I told myself early on that i wasn’t going to let this Condition take away some of my favorite things in life. So i understand where your coming from.