How many of you find moving your eyes and or head makes you off balance. I have this 24/7 for 5 years and thought it was cos I had uncompensated labs which I don’t. I was wondering how common it was with other mav suffereres and have meds helped. My meds have helped but not to the extent I would have liked.
I notice this a lot with my eyes! Why does it happen?
Absolutely, that happens to me. One of my biggest trigger is eye movement and head movement. Valium seems to help when I get super dizzy from that but lying down for a long period of time is the best treatment I have found.
It’s due to the brain over-relying on the eyes for stabilization instead of the ears and body.
It used to be an overwhelming problem for me. The antidepressants have helped this a lot, but the advice I got at the Mayo Clinic was to supplement the meds with Tai Chi so that my brain would also rely on my body more. Sadly, I haven’t started doing it yet.
Yeah I’ve noticed this too, eye n head movements r prob my worst triggers especially when I move my head from side to side
It’s so irritating because we have no option but to use eye and head movement
— Begin quote from “longshort”
It’s due to the brain over-relying on the eyes for stabilization instead of the ears and body.
It used to be an overwhelming problem for me. The antidepressants have helped this a lot, but the advice I got at the Mayo Clinic was to supplement the meds with Tai Chi so that my brain would also rely on my body more. Sadly, I haven’t started doing it yet.
— End quote
I didnt realize tai chi could help this!
— Begin quote from “longshort”
It’s due to the brain over-relying on the eyes for stabilization instead of the ears and body.
It used to be an overwhelming problem for me. The antidepressants have helped this a lot, but the advice I got at the Mayo Clinic was to supplement the meds with Tai Chi so that my brain would also rely on my body more. Sadly, I haven’t started doing it yet.
— End quote
+1 for this. Drugs usually stops this and you may need to do some VRT of some sort to stop it (while on meds).
Re Tai Chi. Have a look at this:
http://vestibular.org/images/pdf/Improving%20Balance%20with%20Tai%20Chi_VEDApubE12.pdf
and this for actual exercise you can follow:
S 8)
Hi Becks,
I’ve had this balance problem with the head movement since the whole MAV thing started last year. I read a good tip from another MAVer on the forum which was to focus your eyes on the spot you intend to look at before actually making any movement, e.g. look down at the desk before actually putting your head down. Trouble is it takes a good bit of practice to remember to do this ‘follow through’ exercise - but it did help quite a lot. The big change has been since I’ve upped my Prothiaden dose to 85mg - yesterday I was actually able to sign for a script at the chemist without grabbing onto something!
Good luck
Barb
I have issues with this and did some physical therapy for BPPV(Positonal Vertigo) the eplay maneuvers did not work in my case, they also had me do a walk and slowly turn my head to each side trying to teach my system( so to speak) that it was not the door opening that was moving and getting in the way 
but my visual system being out of whack and misprocessing everything. I also do some exercises with tracking my finger to each side of my field of vision but find fatigue in the eyes/brain/system after doing this exercise plus it brings on the nausea. On a side note tracking the red bouncing led in the ENG test was no fun either, triggers the vertigo/nausea.
My first visit for balance issues was to a Neuro physiotherapist who showed me the Epley, & VRT exercises, eg. looking at a cross on wall & moving head. I tried these for one day and immediately went into terrible dizziness! I went back to her & she wagged her finger at me & told me there was no way the exercises could have caused my downhill slide into such dizziness. I am 100% sure that the exercises definitely caused the increased dizziness & it took me another 9 months of specialists visits to get a diagnosis of MAV from another neuro physiotherapist who really knew her stuff. She was adamant that I not do any of the VRT exercises.
Barb
— Begin quote from “Barb”
My first visit for balance issues was to a Neuro physiotherapist who showed me the Epley, & VRT exercises, eg. looking at a cross on wall & moving head. I tried these for one day and immediately went into terrible dizziness! I went back to her & she wagged her finger at me & told me there was no way the exercises could have caused my downhill slide into such dizziness. I am 100% sure that the exercises definitely caused the increased dizziness & it took me another 9 months of specialists visits to get a diagnosis of MAV from another neuro physiotherapist who really knew her stuff. She was adamant that I not do any of the VRT exercises. Barb
— End quote
That’s a sad example of what happens when doctors are too self-assured to realise the limit of their knowledge. 
-Wexan
Thanks for all the replies
Barb-I have a few questions for you if you dont mind. I switched from amitriptyline to prothiaden a months ago. i am on 50mg of prothiaden but changing from ami has caused an increase again in my migraine symptoms. I know that i need to go up to 75mg of prothiaden but I am scared to do so because 25mg is such a big jump. How did you get a dose of 85mg when you only get 25mg tablets. I wish they came as 10mg. i found going up 10mg on ami hard going.
I see a physio for vrt and she said without the exercises my brain won’t compensate. Will you be doing vrt when you are more stable or do you think the drug will sort out all your symptoms.
Thanks
I definitely have this issue with my vision being weird. VRT made me much worse, I would proceed with caution on that. I tried VRT for 6 months, every day, it was grueling, and turns out compensating was not my issue.
I also had a huge problem with being over-reliant on my vision for my balance. I think I still am a bit, despite feeling pretty much ok now, as I notice I find it much harder to walk when it’s darker and I can’t see as well.
I just wanted to add something positive about VRT to give the other side of things. I did this AFTER I had got the MAV under control with medication, and I found it really helpful (although I’ve not managed to resolve all problems as I still sometimes get oscillopsia, but it did - very quickly - sort out the vertigo I was getting when changing positions, which was a much worse thing for me). I don’t think if I’d done it sooner it would have been any good for me, as when my MAV was at its height any kind of ‘messing about’ made me feel much worse again. My consultant said that in her experience it’s best to get things as stable as possible first and then try to deal with any residual problems with VRT. But she also said that she finds that about half her patients are helped by VRT but most of the others feel it has no benefit or makes them worse.
Hi Becks
Like you, I had great trouble upping Prothiaden from 50mg to 75mg - worse migraines! When I recently saw Dr Granot in Sydney (great to talk to a doctor who understands MAV & sensitivity to meds) he gave me a script for 10mg of Prothiaden which needs to be made up at a compounding chemist. They did this by using the 25mg capusles & measuring the powder into 10mg capsules. I was adamant that they not use a generic powder which I know contains sulphur - am allergic that. I’ve found the 10mg change much easier to manage & give myself at least 2 weeks before upping again. I tried cutting the 25mg in half but not very accurate! The compounded med costs more but I feel it has been well worth it.
Which country are you in? Even if you haven’t got a local compounding chemists you can probably send the script to one.
Good luck
Barb
Becks
In reply to whether I’ll be doing VRT - definitely not. I do pilates & balance work which has helped but the neuro physio (she is a professor & doctor) emphasised that I should not do any VRT which involves rapid head movements! She is an expert in the migraine & vertigo field & has treated many people so I trust her judgement. My balance has seen quite a big change since being on 85mg Prothiaden and I will probably up that to 95mg when I feel ready. I’ve just taken my dog for a walk & tomorrow will be going for a bike ride so I’m amazed what this drug can do! Only problem is constipation but I can deal with that - a minor problem compared to the dizzies!! :lol: