Iāve only recently found this forum and Iām working my way through all the information here, and there is a LOT! 
Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, ALL. You have NO idea how grateful I am to find a group of people who understand what Iām dealing with!
I still do not have a diagnosis of MAV, but I guess that is not surprising given the apparent confusion, even among professionals, about vertigo. My ENT doc had suggested MAV when all my tests came back normal, but then said he didnāt know what it was when my second round (2011) turned into a chronic condition.
Some background:
My first episode of vertigo was more than a year ago. The initial attacks were a few seconds of imbalance at work while standing on a floating dock - almost a āblack-outā or fainting feeling. The subsequent attacks were more severe with sudden onset, vomiting, and inability to walk unaided. These attacks were of much longer duration from hours to days. The sensation was of spinning, or for anyone who has experienced the āone drink too manyā, itās where the whole room is revolving around you while lying flat on your back in bed.
The episodes of severe vertigo would be initiated by sound, or movement, or strobe-like lighting, or even watching a lot of movement on TV while sitting unmoving in a chair. This went on for about 2 months then stopped and I had no attacks for a 10 month period.
My GP initially said it was BPPV, but the ENT doctor said no it wasnāt. I also experience hearing loss (high frequency) in my left ear and developed tinnitus at the same frequency as the hearing loss. I have had a multitude of tests including blood tests, heart, MRI, electronystagmography , and all return normal results. Most tests were performed during the 10 months when I was symptom free.
This spring I had a sinus infection which included fullness in the ears and I had a relapse of vertigo which has not gone away. I have been dizzy for more than 3 months- 24 hours per day. The onset included a sudden initial vertigo experience that included vomiting and the inability to walk unaided. It did, and still does, feel different than the previous yearsā vertigo, in that the world is not spinning around me, but rather it shifts and heaves. I have difficulty focusing on the horizon as it appears to bounce. While the symptoms have been lessening over time, no one appears to have any idea what is wrong with me. None of the medications prescribed have alleviated the symptoms, although gravol does stop the nausea. I still cannot drive, cannot work, do not sleep well, and Iām depressed and dizzy! Iām starting to have panic attacks which manifest as racing heart, pounding in my chest, and a feeling that my airway is closing. I had panic attacks as a young child, that never reoccurred until nowā¦
I was an active person ā swimming, hiking, boating, etc., and I want my life back.
Iāve been doing āCawthorne-Cookseyā exercises to assist with readjusting to the dizziness, but I would prefer to have an answer to my question of āwhat is causing the problemā so that I can perhaps treat the cause rather than the symptoms. Perhaps Iāve found my answer here.
Also as background, I experienced car-sickness as a child, had migraines as an adult, but never had motion sickness issues as a young adultā¦ I loved rollercoasters, and carnival rides, and I travel by open boat frequently (at least I used to).
Cat
Lisa