Dizzy and balance issues. Help please!
Posted , 10 users are following.
Hi eberyone.
I posted a while back and had some great advice but I thought I'd update as my situation has changed slightly.
Towards the end of December last year I developed severe dizziness/being unbalanced and uncoordinated. For the first couple of weeks it was so bad to the point I couldn't walk properly and couldn't leave my house.
This gradually eased off a bit and I was almost able to live normally and go back to work. However if I stand up I still sway and need to lean on something but it was much better than it was.
However the last 3 days it's started to come back again. Even when I'm sat down I feel like I'm swaying. I don't understand why it's coming back again.
I have had numerous doctors appointments and they are unsure I had an ENT appointment last week and they have said my ears are fine and it's definitely not anything to do with my ears or my hearing. I'm currently waiting for a Neurolgy appointment. All bloods came back normal and blood pressure is fine.ECG is also normal. Saw an optician who said my eyes are healthy.
This is really getting me down and I have no idea what to do.
My other symptoms have included;
Ghosting vision around items, especially as I get more tired and especially when I look at light text on a dark background.
More floaters.
Some weakness in my face and arms (this has failed off majorly in the last month)
Constant feeling as if I'm moving, as opposed to the world spinning. Sometimes I actually do sway when I'm standing or sitting and I cannot stop no matter what I do.
My eyes find it hard to keep up with things, like fast moving text on a screen or fast scenes on TV.
Please note most of these symptoms do not come and go, they are always there.
Could anyone shead some light on what this could be? I can't have this dizziness come back just when I felt I was starting to be able to live my life again.
Thanks for reading
0 likes, 29 replies
eleftherio33095 Dee7777
Posted
Eleftherios S. Papathanasiou, PhD FEAN
Clinical Neurophysiologist
Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology
jo48179 Dee7777
Posted
Hi Dee,
I have had the exact same symptoms as you for seven years, it was initially diagnosed as anxiety and was put on Paroxetine which i am now unable to come off of.
I finally have a diagnosis only this week that it is "Uncompensated Labyrithitis" i have an occaisional week feeling not too bad, then it rears its ugly head and lasts around three weeks, i am now agoraphbic and can only go out if chaperoned by my husband, if i lose sight of him i have panic attacks.
Do google it, there are lots of people in a sinilar position and they offer up tips on how to live with it.
Try the brain rehabillitation exercices they do help, and try to keep moving around as much as possible almost making yourself dizzy so the brain gets used to this altered way of balance.
My Doctor will not refer me to ENT or Neuro and has told me to learn to live with it and get some CBT.
Do hope you get it sorted, its a living hell.
Jo
victoria78511 jo48179
Posted
jo48179 victoria78511
Posted
Hi Victoria,
he said it wasn't necessary,i still think he thinks it is anxiety....it was another Dr that diagnosed labyrinthitis.
I do suffer anxiety due to the length of time i have had this, but inbetween flare ups, i feel perfectly fine.
Prior to my first bout seven years ago i had two jobs,and my own small business,sadly no more
victoria78511 jo48179
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Waffalobill victoria78511
Posted
Did water on me years ago. Hated it. They use air now. Same result but don't get sent home with water in your ears. Lol.
victoria78511 Waffalobill
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Waffalobill victoria78511
Posted
Nope. Menieres is kicking my butt. Doc tryed meds first. Didn't work. Gonna have to do something more agressive.
victoria78511 Waffalobill
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lily65668 Waffalobill
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Waffalobill lily65668
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They haven't suggested anything yet. My first app with neurotologist was end of January. That's when he confirmed menieres. First step he wanted to try just getting rid of fluid with diuretics. Need to go back to tell him it's not working. Think next step may be injections through ear drum.
lily65668 Waffalobill
Posted
Glad to hear you're finally making some progress anyway. Sounds like this has been going on for far too long.
I remember having that water test years ago and yes, it was horrible. The ENT did it the first time I had BPPV. As far as I recall, he did it before even trying the Dix-Hallpike, and in spite of the fact I reported no hearing loss or tinnitus. Shows how much some ENTs know about vertigo!
Waffalobill lily65668
Posted
I had the water test done 11 years ago. Was before they tryed therapy or anything. It was hell. I thought it meant something. Then was told that's normal. I remember leaving the office so dizzy and wet I was throwing up in the parking lot. Was winter to. Was a very cold, windy day. They didn't do hallpike or epely. That episode lasted 6 months. Second bad episode I had, doc skipped worthless ENT cause I already went to hospital and was checked out. Sent me to therapy. She did the tests and started my excersizes. That episode lasted 3 months. This latest spell I had everything repeated and then some. VNG, brain MRI with and without contrast, MRI of inner ears, neurologist visit, the whole 9 yards. Finally a trip up north to a neurotologist.