Yes I believe you can! I have been thinking sooo much about this. We obviously have flares, in fact Iām having a bit of one right now. Iām hoping itās period related. And minor!!
But, Iām really interested in the brainās very stubborn and slow way of righting itself. I mean its so quick to get dizzy and remain in this state, but when migraines have passed, why doesnāt it go back to how things wereā¦ quickly!?
Iām an advocate for brain training in this period. Nausea is ok, spinning is gone. But dizzy remains. I guess it fits into what Joey Renemyi is on about. Neuro plasticity. And also VRT. Teaching the brain and eyes to work together again.
Lots of walking - fix on a tree or power pole and follow until it passes. Look at number plates of cars passing you by. I really think this helps. But itās a long process.
I also think we go in and out of these periods. Some people become chronic though, I think even those people can claw their way out with meds and brain training.
Iām just rambling. For me, the looming BPPV episode pretty much guarantees me these horrid periods. Itās a matter of doing what we know to help ourselves. We have become such experts.
And letās promote more research into this! I want a cure!!!
But it can. It does. It certainly did for me. Even at the time (long ago it seems now when Iād never heard of VM or knew anything about vestibular issues at all) when I was regularly having 60-72 hours long attacks of totally debilitating vertigo. They would start upon waking, continue constantly generally for t0 hours and then stop totally and looking back I suppose dramatically. No forewarning and never any after effects either. Then after more than 10 years the between times began to fill in with symptoms but even then it took several years before turning chronic. I donāt think of the brain as being stubborn. It tried successfully many many times but eventually just became overwhelmed by in my case iād imagine hormone changes. Building barriers of higher tolerance should improve its chances of regaining control.
Iām maxed out on all my medications and Iāve been taking the lowest dose of a benzo to allow me to get moving again.
The only thing I did different back then was VRT.
Iām really stressed/anxious and I know I can be getting better at the other things I can control.
My doctor said last time that to start a new med would be hard because of the side effects since Iām chronic right now and Iām already on 2 class of meds (Zoloft and topamax) but they did mention once about starting me on gabapentin or amitriptyline and I got so excited.
I see them in October so I pray something happens. Increasing the meds I was taking helped but Iām still having the chronic dizziness.
My work is starting and Iām a teacher and these weeks starting up to it my dizziness has gotten worse because I think Iām so anxious to feel symptoms at work.
There never is a good time to start an unfamiliar medication. If one doesnāt start it when one is ill is one going to start it once improved. I think not. Changing medication by increasing or introducing a new one can prove to be hard. Is coping with chronic dizziness easy? From my own experience Iād say not. And I was rotating constantly for several years from one bleak winters day in December 2014 onwards. Itās much a question of swings and roundabouts. Preventatives can take months to work and chronic dizziness tends to be the symptom that hangs on longest. As Iām sure you will have heard before the more attention we give to it the worse it will seem. Anxiety can certainly actually make it worse. As you say you are āso anxiousā that could be a main trigger for your current problems. Perhaps you need to ask your doctors to treat your anxiety.
Iāve been going to therapist lot for a long time however since this relapse it has been very difficult with the symptoms coming back so suddenly after doing so well. Iām assuming symptom relief would help the anxiety
I would think so too though no doubt much may depend on what raised the anxiety level in the first place. I certainly found the anxiety I experienced (Body Anxiety a psychologist friend called it) reduced in direct proportion to symptom reduction. However my own anxiety was only raised by the occurrence of actual symptoms. I was lucky in that even though I suffered episodic attacks for many years I never anticipated them and thus never became anxious about them in advance. Without doubt I have become a slightly more anxious individual since becoming chronic so it could be different now.
Iāve been symptom free and still an anxious person but wayyyyy less anxious without chronic symptoms. Something in my gut is telling me this is a PPPD thing with VM.
You may well be right. That could be why the current medication doesnāt appear to be working as well as it might in which case itās time for a change in treatment plan. Certainly worth some prompt further investigation. Iād set to it ASAP if I were you before PPPD symptoms become more entrenched than they may already be.
The good thing is that PPPD is able to heal so I feel if I get a handle with the meds again then i can get back to baseline and not be chronic anymore.