My symptoms were relatively mild, but I did a cross country road trip from MA to CA over the summer, and I could tell right after that all my symptoms were just increased, including sensitivity to light, trouble navigating aisles in supermarkets, the rocking dizziness, etc. Now I even get dizzy lying down! Could it be possible that the long car trip triggered a permanent state of increased symptoms for me? I haven’t tried any med yet for the record, but am planning to. Thanks!
hi yte I do not know the answer to that as I don’t drive or go on many car trips,i thought I would just say hi and welcome!
Hey yte. I could envisage it upsetting you for a few hours, maybe max a day after, but not make a permanent difference.
then why do you think my symptoms got worse? does mav usually get worse if you leave it alone? might be time for me to try meds…
I think MAV gets better or worse of its own accord. Only time will fundamentally improve it. The meds help you cope with the symptoms whilst it makes its mind up to go, lol
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Ok if you want my opinion I think many cases of MAV are actually some upset of the inner ear probably secondary hydrops. Secondary to some initial injury, upset or genetic predisposition. This takes time to come on and can reach a crecendo, then can subside. There is no effective direct treatment except time and habituation. Symptom control is the order of the day.
that’s very interesting! the only reason why i would say mine are migraine-related would be that i have a history of migraines and they started up in the following weeks leading up to the sudden start of the dizziness. i remember having the worst migraine pain of my life the exact night before the dizziness started… it’s probably different for everyone though. nevertheless this is truly a monster that has definitely decreased my quality of life 
Migraine plays a huge part.
If you have ear trouble of any kind AND are prone to migraine then Im sure you will get more migraines.
Having done a LOT of reading on this I think migraine as a cause of this condition is baloney and current medical dogma: take away the ear trouble and the migraines would vanish.
I think in 10 years the medical consensus will be different.
i had never had a migraine in my life until this and my parents have never had migraine either but my sister has one once a year so im in agreement with james the ears have a huge part in this but carnt figure it all out!
Thanks. The thing is there IS an element of chicken and egg here, I guess. If you are prone to migraine and have a tiny bit of ear trouble that might be enough to provoke a migraine. So which is mostly at fault? The migraine sensitivity or the ‘slight’ ear trouble?
The thing that convinced me is that there is no such thing as a 24/7 migraine. Just don’t buy it. So how come we have symptoms 24/7?! How come they are specifically vestibular symptoms?! Something other than migraine is going on.
It’s just too easy to call it migraine vertigo. It’s very easy for doctors to call it this because it’s convenient: migraine prophylaxis works for MAV AND migraine sounds far less threatening and benign so has the added benefit of calming the patient.
But it’s still baloney.
The one thing we can probably all agree on is symptom control strategies.
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I think it’s overactive/overly sensitive nerves…just try to minimize aggravating factors. Tyramine (cheese, raspberries, dark chocolate, avocados, citrus) is my biggest problem.
Look up Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. Some associate it only with traveling on water but I’ve also seen it referenced after long car rides. Sounds like a possibility, could be it and/or MAV.
Personal opinion only!!! I do think that car travel exacerbates and already present ear/balance/migraine situation, based on how I used to feel after my daily 1.5 - 2hr trip . If I did not have a spin whilst driving (had 3 of those - very scary!!) , it was sure to follow soon after getting home. Now that I am about 95% symptom free - I do find that the worst time is later in the day - my theory being that it is after I’ve done my road trip and been moving around etc.
I agree with James that mostly the base cause is something malfunctioning in the ear…and I can imagine a long road trip getting that beast angry!! It will take it’s time to go back to sleep! Hope you soon find a way to help it settle down.
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Actually Jess I get that a bit after travelling by water on the boat shuttle. But it lasts about hour or two not days 
thank goodness.
Gets back to the additive thing - betting your boat shuttle ride is not as long as yte’s cross county drive 
’ although the vibrations from a boat’s engine are more pronounced than a car’s.
I’ll accept that sure. I happen to believe that Mal de Debarquement is part of the same spectrum of conditions of the inner ear. I often get periods where I feel like i’m swaying very slightly when I’m completely still. Can last hours. My bet is on air bubbles or some disruption to inner ear fluid around the senses, or some pressure on the nerves.
thanks for your opinion but i had already been diagnosed with migraine already! also it wasn’t continuous drive, we stopped a lot along the way…
thanks mazzy! it also correlated with the start of my menstrual cycle so i’m wondering if that could be part of it… glad to hear that you’re feeling great!
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@yte just throwing it out there. I’ve done a lot of reading on it and it doesn’t have to be continuous car movement just a long trip and it has been found in some people to last more than a few hours.
thanks again! it doesn’t really make sense for me though because my symptoms already mimicked mal de debarquement anyway lol even before the road trip (the rocking while sitting, feeling better when moving). those vestibular symptoms didn’t really change, just the increased light sensitivity, neck pain, etc… i just supposed maybe the road trip made things worse. i think mazzy might be right with her own experience, thanks for your input though