Labrynthitis ongoing condition

  get an eye test ,that will show up if it's eye pressure ,those meds you have,have never helped me. Or anyone else I know ,do you suffer from anxiety prior or after the Virtigo .So get the MRI ,they will do a hearing test at same time ,but while you wait ,get an eye test first .Lets know how you go on ,if in UK where are you .Different area ,different ENT ,so you may latch on to a Dr who knows more than another ENT .

I have nearly the same diagnosis as you.  I have Vestibular neuritis, which is very close to Labrynthitis except that they say I have nerve damage coming from the Vestibular cavity, commonly refered to as the " Labrynth.  They say something like a virus invaded my left inner ear and the results are that it damaged my Vestubular nerve.  This nerve brings balance information to your brain so you can make sense of the world you live in.  It affects every aspect of life, not just your balance.  It affects eyesight, hearing, balance and your feeling of wellbeing.

I have posted several times here and I would like to give you some advice.  Mostly common sense, but some of it may need to repeated so you will not omit it from your regiment by accident.

First, if you can, look up the posts that I have made, I gave accounts of my own situation and the measures we went to trying to figure it out, and hopefully you will get a better understsanding of what I am about to try to tell you.

I would like to tell you to go to the doctor for a full battery of tests. You need to try to eliminate other possibilities.  This is what the medical industry calls "ruling out".  So you go and get all the tests, then they tell you what it's not and you move on from there.

There are a myriad of tests. MRI, CAT SCAN, Blood tests, Eye tests, Hearing tests, Allergy tests and Balance tests, and there are more. 

So, with all the test results NOT IN YET, it is premature to make a decision on the best path to recovery.  If you just try things you are throwing medicine back to the dark ages, and in all likelyhood wasting your precious time going in other directions, not the one that you need to go in.

Meanwhile, stay as healthy as you can.  Keep warm,eat right, sleep plenty and don't over do it working, you know, don't get run down.  Keep company that is upbeat, remember how important a positive atmosphere is to a sick patient.  

Please go to this website Wendy and just read through the printed paragraphs and you will better understand why it is difficult to have a forum like this actually help you.  We can give advice, but mostly we give our own experiences for you use to make your own decisions about what course of action to take.  

Please go to :>>>http://vestibular.org/labyrinthitis-and-vestibular-neuritis

If you cannot find the threads I have posted, I would be happy to rewrite the experience I have had so far.  Good luck with your experience.  May God Lead you and comfort you.

Ben

Emis Moderator comment: If you want to view Ben's past replies click on his user name and you can see all past posts.

I have made a post to you, but it is being held up for security reasons.  If they post it, please read it  and I hope it will help you.  

Ben

I know a little of how you feel as something similar happened to me in December. It stareted with a very muffled type of feeling in my ear, then progressed to the acute sickness and nausea you decsribe along with profound hearing loss in one ear. My GP didn't take me seriously and as a resutl the treatment for my hearing loss which should have been started within 24 hours was delayed for a week until I took it on myself to see an ENT consultant privately. At which point I was whisked into hospital for steroid injections into my inner ear through the eardrum and intravenously too. By which time I was also put on intravenous fluids as I was so dehydrated from all the sickness. Unfortunately they couldn't save my hearing as the probaility declines with time. So if you find you have a hearing loss too I would insist on being seen through A&E as soon as you can and have the steroid injection treatment.

The vertigo is debilitating and I still haven't seen anyone for proper help with it. I downloaded some VRT exercises and have done them everyday and they have really helped with trainng my brain. I am now allowed to drive short distances in the daylight, and can keep fairly stable in daylight and when I'm not tired.

I'm not on any medication, so that my brain can retrain itself, as the damage to my inner ear is permanent, and I understand that surpressing the symptoms with drugs long term will prevent my brain from learning a new way to balance. It seems to be working  some days are better than otheres.

I also have dreadful tinnitus and hyperacusis (oversensitivity and discomfort to noise) in my deaf ear, which is annoying at times and distressing at other times. I'm learning how to manage it, but not there yet. And this causes even more problems with the hearing - I can't hear in busy places - although I hear the noise I can't make out voices etc, but I'm hoping with time my one good ear will learn to filter sounds a bit better.

All I can say is that I have had some supportive friends and my family have been great in trying to help me be positive and celebrate the small steps of progress I make. 

I've had the MRI, which was clear, and been told that this was probably a virus of some sort. As you say, it is incredible that something so simple can have such as massive impact.

Hang in there and hope you gradually start to see improvement.