Now, Iām doing pretty well considering and Iām balance-symptom free these days.
But one issue I have is attending meetings ā¦ and when nodding in agreement.
By the end of the meeting the non-verbal nodding that you do to communicate your agreement on things starts to really irritate my brain and I start to feel the old ābrain rumblesā coming back.
Anyone had this experience?
I have a tendency to tense my neck and shoulders when I speak. If I have a long meeting where I have to talk a lot I always come out feeling way worse than when I went in
If I am not speaking and itās just a mundane update meeting I get stressed thinking about all the other things I need to be doing and the stress will sometimes cause some issues for me as well
Yes. In fact I never noticed that it was many years since Iād last either āNoddedā my head in agreement or āShookā my head in disagreement until I was having trouble turning my head in conversation in a group when I first had 24/7 MAV. Iād obviously subconsciously adjusted my behaviour to avoid both such movements long since. Helen
Wat job do you do? Iām noticing the exact same thing as Iām attending and hosting lots off meeting at the moment. I also noticed I find it difficult to maintain eye contact for too long too
All very MAV typical symptoms. Turning head left to right /right to left to converse in a group of people was always a killer for me. After a while it feels like the manchete you were attacked with is still embedded in your neck! The eye contact maintenance is most probably related to temporarily MAV affected vision reducing depth perception making it hard to maintain focus on a specific point. Same occurs long distance driving. Try to make sure you look away to a different distance as often as possible and give your eyes time to refocus to a different focal length before you look back. Helen
yes, vestibular therapist pointed out to me that I was holding my neck stiff to avoid moving my head. I still get it with a lot of movements, specially playing with my son in the playground, etc. But I guess with time you will adapt.
Hey Veena, Iāve recently started freelancing as a web developer
Well Iād say itās our brain that does it subconsciously due to circumstances. Those Shoulder Rolling exercises will release it but it wonāt last, not until the underlying vestibular condition improves. When my balance is good, my neck is free and I can comfortably turn my head left and right often as I wish without discomfort or it causing any instability. Balance bad, no way. I notice this almost every day even now in one form or another. Tight neck = Worse/Bad day. Best bit of advice I was never given was not to keep your head still (Dr. Of friend who had labs.) but really donāt think it would have made much difference to me because MAV is central not peripheral and the brain is very much in charge. Helen
Making/holding eye contact is difficult for me still as well even though so many other symptoms are gone. Hopefully that one will leave soon too!
When I was doing VRT, the āhead nodā exercise was the worst for me. Right and left head turns were no cake walk but nodding was by far the most symptom inducing.
I couldnt even cross a road without someone with meā¦still cant 100%. In meetings i have to sit at the head of the table stillā¦otherwise a sicknote would be required the next day! No hanging washing out without a stumble no putting plugs in the bath without a sharp spinā¦i still have ALL thisā¦but still feel better than 5 years agoā¦
Jo x
Not anymore, but I know exactly how that feels.
Awesome! I am also freelancing.