i don’t agree with Dr Straumann but I do think that a major part of the battle is your mentality
DR s told me that everyone has a natural sway and if you home in on it you will find it. He said I know it’s easier said than done but he said to try your best and forget about your symptoms as much as possible and as much as you can. Try not to look for symptoms because if you look for them you will find them. Try not to wake up each morning and think am i dizzy today? Am I worst than yesterday?
‘‘a watched kettle never boils’’
He said to try and think I’m dizzy today so what!! He said to me I really need to get hold of this. I was all over the place at begging and I found it really hard to take this advice but I did and I found I slowly improved
I know this is REALLY hard to do!!! I used to do this every second of the day
But he did say the lifestyle changes and meds will do the rest and get you better you just need to get your mentality right
He told me anxiety and stress feed MAV!!
He said something else to me about you only know your wearing your shoes when you think about them.
When I’m busy at work or with friends and family, playing with my son I often forget about my symptoms and forget I have mav its only when I’m not busy etc that I feel worse. So it does make me think your mentality plays a big part in this
You know what? I’m a little disappointed that Dr S said this, but the truth hurts because he’s right.
“He said something else to me about you only know your wearing your shoes when you think about them.” Good analogy.
You can’t put this into practice all the time, but when you can, you should try.
I definitely can’t today, when my period is due, my head and nose in particular feels like there’s so much pressure it’s about to burst, my neck feels like someone has been hacking into it with an axe which is a constant reminder, and when I get up to walk my head feels like I’ve downed 2 bottles of wine at my desk- I wish…! BUT I’m no worse than I was last month… So it’s perspective.
Anxiety and stress do feed MAV. Mentality is a MASSIVE part of this. I think that’s why holidays make me better too. I whole heartedly 150% agree.
But as others said, it’s not completely practical advice when you’re in a terrible way, relapsing, or haven’t got a handle on the MAV. Dr S needs to give some advice on how to try to make some headway on the mental side of things in these cases.
I did actually say in my description of my history which I sent to Dr S before the appt that I needed some help dealing with this mentally. I was hoping he would refer me for some CBT or something like that. He has mentioned it in my letter to my GP so I don’t know if I will be able to have it especially as his NHS hospital is based in Kent.
I do think it would be helpful to have something in place mentally for those times when you get really bad symptoms or vertigo to stop you totally freaking out. I do believe it is possible to try very hard to ignore the dizziness and sometimes it happens for a certain amount of time or you may cope with something better than you expect. But equally there are other times when you feel a lot worse doing something you did before and that is very disheartening. It is ONLY possible to try and ignore the dizziness when you have reached a certain point in your recovery and symptoms have reduced considerably. I was at that point after about 3 years but just as I was thinking I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and making plans to get on with my life, I relapsed so badly that it once again became totally dominant over my life again because every movement was so uncomfortable. I was not stressed, anxious, depressed or anything prior to the relapse so I cannot in any way blame it on my mental state. Something just happened in my brain (probably chemically) which caused all this to flare up so badly again. I find that once you start to recover physically then your mentality starts to improve too but for me the mental state is totally dependent on and related to the way I feel physically and not the other way round x
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for me the mental state is totally dependent on and related to the way I feel physically and not the other way round
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I completely agree.
MissMoss, could I just ask you how many times have you seen Dr S in total and did he put you on the 3 meds you are taking or were you already on some before Dr S? It’s just I am on nori now and I wondered if he was going to add another one for me in future which he would be most likely to give me…x
I think I’ve seen him 5 times now (including initial consultation and balance testing.)
However, when I first went to see him, I was already on 15mg of Amitriptyline, 50mg of Topamax and 40mg of Propranlol. He immediately switched the Ami to Nortriptyline which I’ve worked up to 40mg of. I’m at 75mg of Topamax but should be at 100mg.
I was very happy with my progress from switching from Ami to Nort and increasing that but since this summer’s been over, I’ve been fluctuating around my periods big stylee. He said he might switch my meds because of this. I am now keen to push on with this thing, titrate on the Topamax and get better. I’m thinking of Pitzotifen next.
I don’t think he often prescribes Topamax but as I was on it already, he went with it.
The propranolol is for my high blood pressure and not migraines.
Oh right thanks for that. I am not sure where he would go next for me because like you say he doesn’t seem too keen on topamax and I don’t think he would go for a beta blocker as I already tried that and it didn’t seem to suit me. Maybe pizotifen then. I guess time will tell x