Exercise / delayed dizziness uptick

After a long and very hard (by my standards…) workout, I’ve had a delayed increase in overall dizziness, and it’s lingering into the third day now. I’d like to know if anyone can relate.

Detail: I’ve known for a long time that even fairly mild exercise usually sets me off – wears me out quickly, and tends to raise the degree of dizziness / unsteadiness I feel, for a while.

On Friday eve I did something far tougher anything I’ve done before – I and a friend went walking – up a stairwell (inside), multiple times. In total, we walked up 40 floors of stairs in maybe 70, 80 minutes. Won’t go into the ā€œwhyā€ right now but there was a reason.

Not one with much stamina, I got winded a number of times, and it was hard, but at the time, my head was actually doing a pretty OK job handling it (not normal in itself). Felt pretty okay the rest of the night. … But come Saturday, then the dizziness ramped up, and it still persists.

Anyone here done something that physically pushed you way beyond what you’re used to doing – and then have a delayed dizziness that begins the day after? … And is there any way to ā€œgaugeā€ how long I could expect the increase to last?

Thanks for any input,
George

I am very exercise intolerant - so much so that I now hardly do any.

My physio recommended I join a gym and started exercising, but this only made me a lot worse.

The dizziness would be delayed for me until the day after and would ordinarily last 3 or 4 days. Sometimes as long as a week. As with everything about MAV, your mileage may vary.

Depending on what I do, I sometimes feel symptoms as soon as I"m finished w/ a workout, or an hour or so thereafter. Other times it does seem to hit the next day. I can do things like walk stairs, take walks or bike rides and generally dn’t have trouble, but a weight/aerobic workout will sometimes trigger dizziness/trouble–because I exert more doing that.

Obviously we are pushing our limits w/ exertion, hence the dizziness, etc get worse…but I still think in the long run, my myself, it’s best to try to continue to exercise … I cannot let my vestibular disorder ruin my life anymore than it already has, and thankfully I am mostly functional (but almost all of the time, I have uncomfortable symptoms)…so I think the best way to retrain my brain, etc is to push and keep doing things.

My ENT has diagnosed me w/ MAV, However he did not do any testing or scans (yet) so I’m not sure of the diagnosis.

Hi George,
I find that when I push too hard (e.g. during circuit training) then the dizziness can start to ramp up. Dr. S says to avoid pushing too hard during exercise - mild exercise is ok, but anaerobic is not. And, based on experience, I think he’s right - pushing too hard really does seem to aggravate the MAV. Others may find they’re OK…?
Tony.

Hi George,

I find that something that really depletes my stamina in a bad way - for example, keep pushing when you know you’re body is saying no! Makes me feel bad.

I have CFS too so I’ve been used to pacing myself for many years. I do aerobic exercise such as Zumba, but as it’s danced based to music there are small intervals to get your breath back. I always make sure I’m well hydrated and have eaten prior to it and continue to drink during and then have a meal within an hour afterwards.

Bev

I realise I’m resurrecting a two month old thread but I’m really interested in whether delayed onset dizziness after exercise is a common MAV symptom. I visited a friend over the weekend and walked approximately 2 miles on Saturday and 2 miles on Sunday. I felt bad yesterday but today (Tuesday) I feel terrible - my dizziest day in months. It’ll probably now take me several days to reach baseline again.

Yes! I haven’t been able to without since last September. I’ve always loved to run, but it got to the point where once I finished my run I would have to lie down for 30-45 minutes to let my head settle. Then I would feel bad the rest of the evening. I just had to quit, which has been such a bummer for so many reasons!! I keep hoping that I will take a turn for the better any day now…I’ve never had a spell that lasted months on end like this. I need to exercise to help me deal with the frustration of feeling so bad so often, so not being able to without feeling terrible after is a huge bummer!! After 10 years of symptoms, I finally just went to Duke Medical Center and had multiple tests done in the audiology and vestibular department. After being told for years that I had hydrops and migraine issues, I’ve now been told that my inner ears are not to blame at all and that it’s all migraine related. I am to start 10 mg of Amitriptyline at night to see if it helps. ??? At any rate, I feel your frustration and just wanted you to know you’re not alone. I’m a 39 year old mother of 2 young children, and have been battling this for what feels like forever now. I always tell myself that other people are suffering from so much worse, but there are definitely days where this thing just leaves me wiped out. Good luck to you!!

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Hi there! I find I have to be very careful when I work out. I used to work out pretty hard and have really had to tone it down. In the past if I didn’t feel too good, some exercise would always leave me feeling energised and good to go. Not now. Now if I’m not so great I know it’ll wipe me out for the rest of the day-and maybe the next day. I also have young children so think just day to day life requires plenty of activity so I need tp watch what I’m doing on top. Mentally I’ll feel rubbish if I don’t do something so I’m learning how far to push myself. On crappy days I find yoga helps a lot. It can get your heart going going just a bit and muscles working, but also the deep breathing etc really helps. I believe we all need to be doing some degree of exercise to help the condition.

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@MrHeathcliff. Reading your recent post brought this thread to mind. It seems true MAVers do experience delayed reactions to strenuous exercise. As @turnitaround says Dr S recommends no undue exertion and I read many times various consultants stating both migraine and MAV brains prefer everything to remain constant/unchanged, ie the regular meals, regular routine, contistent levels of exercise. Helen

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