I finally couldn’t take feeling so lousy, so I dragged myself to the Doc and got an EKG, urine and blood work. Everything came back perfect. So frustrating - if only there was one thing “off” that could be fixed with vitamins, or increased B12, C, whatever. Doc looks at me like I’m neurotic. For 3 weeks I’ve been spacey, imbalanced, groggy, exhausted, weak, slightly nauseous. I could literally sleep day and nite. She even tested me for Lyme’s. I finally thought I found the culprit - I just started on RAW local honey 3 weeks ago. Goggled it and found out that it can cause all the symptoms I had. I stopped it and within a day I was feeling great again. Now, a week later, I have the same symptoms again. I feel like I’ve been drained of all my blood, I am so out of it, and feel slightly drunk. Does this sound like MAV? I ate a ton of hot spicy chili last nite. :mrgreen:
Hi - definitely a possibility that it’s MAV. I tend to feel spacey, imbalanced, groggy, and tired all the time. (Needless to say I have yet to find the right med.) That said, some days are less foggy, etc. I had quite a few “better than usual” days in a row recently, which promptly ended after I got up this morning. It could be that I have been sleep less well than usual this week, but I’m inclined to believe it was the spicy tacos I made for dinner last night. (That Trader Joes taco mix is insanely spicey, and you make it with canned tomatoes.) I have a sneaking suspicion it was the tomatoes/citric acid. Could be wrong, but going to not eat my leftovers tonight and see if I feel better tomorrow. All that said, have you tried cutting out potential food triggers? (Have you read the Buccholz migraine book?) And what kind of doc are you working with? If it’s just a GP, you might want to try an otoneurologist or a neurologist - someone who might be more familiar with MAV.
Just some thoughts… Hang in there.
erika, thanks for the reply. It’s so discouraging. Some days I’m full of energy, have great workouts, no tinnitus, no motion issues. Then I seem to have several days of feeling really ill - I always think I’m fighting off something. It’s a pattern - groggy, spacey, lightheaded, weak, tired, off kilter.
I read the Heal Your Headache book. Out of the the triggers, the only things I can’t give up is my 3 cups of coffee a day, glass of red wine at night, & my hot peppers. Otherwise, I really never ate any of the things on the list. Oh, well, I do eat tomatoes and oranges. If I gave up everything in the book, with my already limited diet, I’d be eating next to nothing.
I know what you mean about not having much left to eat… Are you on the Buccholtz diet (aside from the coffee and wine), then, or a different one? The key to the Buccholtz diet is that it’s not necessarily permanent. The idea is to kind of get all of the potential triggers out of your system and then, once you’ve done that you can slowly try adding things in to see what’s a trigger and what’s not. Have you tried that with the coffee and red wine? My understanding is that those can be pretty powerful triggers for a lot of folks. Have you tried journaling to see if you can find a pattern between what you eat and when you feel worse? Honestly, I’d suggest trying to wean off the coffee (how about trading regular for decaf, one cup at a time if you can’t stand the thought of going all at once?) to see if that helps. And definitely the red wine. (If you must have a glass of wine, maybe try one that’s not red, at least…). Remember, these don’t necessarily have to be permanent changes, if they’re things you really love, but if you kick them out and start to feel better in a few weeks, you might not want to go back to them. Could be worth the trade-off… Rest assured, as much as I like tomatoes, after feeling tons more fuzzy-headed today and blaming it on last night’s tomatoey dinner, I won’t be too eager to have anything tomatoey anytime soon… 
erika, when I had my last bad bout of VN or Labrynthitis, that lasted 8 months, I had no wine and no coffee. Didn’t make a difference at all. I have been drinking coffee for 30 years, and unless a doctor told me I would die if I drank coffee, I will never give it up. Actually, I only started red wine a year ago. I’ve had these inner ear problems for most of my life.
Red Wine and coffee are also my favorite but unfortunately they are the biggest triggers for most of us with MAV. Coffe was the very last thing gave up as I was like you and just refused. But eventually I gave it up in return for feeling way less foggy, fatigued, out of sorts, nausea etc. I still miss it more than I’ve ever missed anything but it is so worth me feeling much better. Occasionally, I’ll have a cup and the caffeine makes me feel sooooo good, but than an hour or so later all my symptoms return. Ugh!
Red wine, forget it. I crash back into full blown MAV with MAV. I’ll take a sip here and there but not a full glass :x
Your symptoms certainly sound like MAV to me. Do you have troubles driving?
Take care. Hope you feel better soon.
mavprincess, hi, thanks for the info. Wow, red wine really affects you like that? I hate the thought of drinking anything else. I used to drink lite beer (only 1 can) but red warm really is so much more soothing. When I had my major vertigo attack (while running, and it lasted 24 hours - full spinout–couldn’t move my body a milimeter), I had not ever had wine. It could be why I feel more congested and my allergies are worse, however, beer has sulfites just like wine, so I’m not sure what the difference is. When you quit coffee, did your imbalance/dizziness go away for good?
oh, and driving is not a problem and never has been, thankfully.
Hey butterfly girl - like you I was a mad coffee drinker forever (double espresso yum yum yum), and for a long time I just refused to give that up because I just couldn’t see how one day it was fine and then the next day suddenly I couldn’t drink it any more without getting all those symptoms (mine are a lot like yours). Ditto the wine.
But you know what? After cutting right down to 1 a day I gave that up as well almost a year ago - and I am SO MUCH better. In fact having a coffee is a sure fire way to make me feel all those things again in pretty sort order. As I have discovered to my cost on one or two occassions when I thought to myself “surely one…”. NOPE. Logically it doens’t make sense to me, but I’ve got enough proof to be satisfied and I avoid the coffee. It seems it’s the amount of caffeine that is the issue for me, as on good days I can have a bit of chocolate (heck a lot some days) or even one cup of tea and be fine - although I avoid caffeine totally on bad days.
I’m sad to say that red wine is the same. I haven’t had any for months and months after the last time when I thought “darn it, just a glass or two” BAD IDEA. However happy to say I can still chug back a glass or two of white no problems. IN fact on some bad days it actually makes me feel better :lol:
Of course it might be different stuff for you, but just wanted to share my experiences.
My neuro isn’t a big believer in food triggers, but even he said if you notice something makes you consistently feel worse then stop taking it.
Have you come across the fat kid in the pool analogy?
was your chilli all home made? If not maybe a food additive is the culprit?