End of February the world spun. Vertigo. Vomiting. ER. Nausea meds and vallium. Short term diasability. physical therapy. By the end of month 3 I could finally go outside and do very short focused projects. Saw Otolaryngologist. Moron. Did testing. Month 4 phys therapist suggested we were moving into PPPD territory. Month 5 went to balance specialist at a university hospital a few hrs away. Finally explained after testing. I had Vestibular Neuritis rt side with 57% damage. Permanent. At least I knew what I was dealing with. Started gym and hiking with poles. New diet to lose some weight. Began taking gabapentin which helped…until it didnt. Month 7. No more disability time. Back to work in a noisy, busy interactive retail shop as sales person. Brain shuts down often with the overload. Nobody can see my internal nightmare. Just an occasional stumble or hand reaching out for a stable surface. At each turn of the head the world undulates and my stomach flips. Pressure in my brain alerts me of a shut down. Cannot process information anymore, not even read. I am expected to perform at increased sales requirements. The loud voices of my managers hurt my ears and send my head reeling. This continues day after day for months. No more sick time. Month 10. Still no relief. Family needs bills paid. The saga continues. Relentless.
Hi. So sorry to read of your predicament. All so very very negative except you are strong, both strong willed and physically strong and have managed to keep going throughout which is great. MAV is indeed relentless. It just goes on and on, hence my chosen username. Trouble was I found you cannot ignore it. You can battle on against it and struggle but, untreated, it tends to gradually get worse and worse. It’s not difficult to end up bedridden unable to stand up for weeks/months on end. It is after all a variant balance disorder. I think the reason my recovery has been so protracted is because it was so long undiagnosed and untreated. I think anybody who hasn’t ever been completely without balance and bedridden stands a much better chance of a (relatively) quicker recovery physically and virtually not psychological element at all. Sorry you didn’t get any assistance from gabapentin. There are loads of other preventatives out there to try. Many of them with a much higher profile for treating MAV than gabapentin. If I were you, I’d give it a go. Helen
End of February the World spun
Strange that. I do wonder how much influence light or lack of it makes. More n more people seem to start in winter. I know @jojo65 started like me in November as did @turnitaround. My very first attack was early November and then mine turned chronic early December years later. Talking to my optician only today and he had ear infection last November and his world spun for first time ever and he was incapacitated for a week but all cleared up completely. Now, this last week or so he’s getting breakthrough BPPV type spinning vertigo. He isn’t a migraineur. Odd? Helen
I’m so sorry to hear that. You aren’t alone, though. 3PD also started at the end of February for me. I still had to work over the summer, still had to go to college in the fall and keep my grades high enough to keep my scholarships. It’s so hard to have the world seemingly fall apart around you without others seeing it. With broken arms, your friends and strangers see a cast and know to be careful to not further damage your arm. With 3PD, MAV, and anything else on this site, we look completely fine.
Thank you for sharing your story and allowing me to add it to my research. I hope that you may find something to bring you back to no more disability time.
Gillian