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My wife has had vestibular neuritis for 18 months will she ever recover?

Posted , 6 users are following.

Scaniaman
Scaniaman

my wife has suffered with vestibular neuritis since February 2015 and after the initial attack,after a week in hospital she was referred to a consultant who confirmed it was VN. She undertook a course of exercises and was told to go and live her life,work, drive etc.

She has done this but she only encounters the odd good day,meaning it's a bit more bearable,every day her head spins and her balance lets her down especially when turning quickly. She is 70 and very active even with this debilitating condition but is starting to believe she is going to suffer for the rest of her life. Does anyone know if she likely to return to a better normality than she has today?

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • elizabeth36542
    elizabeth36542 Scaniaman

    Posted

    Hello Scaniaman - sorry to hear that your wife has been dealing with this for so long.  Last September I had Vestibular Neuritis and it destroyed 83% of my balance on my right side. I was bedridden for a week, then had to hold onto walls to walk around the hosue, very wobbly for months.  I had cloric testing done and the results showed that it was indeed Vestibular neuritis with an 83% loss in my right ear.  I have done months and months of Vertigo Therapy which has helped tremendously.  Now I can pretty well do everything I had before.  I have 'bad' days which causes 'brain fog', but overall it's not too bad.  In my limited knowledge of VN I would recommend doing the exercies at least 5 times a day. Once I started to feel better, I started doing them on my Stryder (a cross between an eliptical and a skiing machine) without holding on - just to see how much I could push my balance. The exercises I did were looking vertically side to side, up and down, back and forth and then I would try with my eyes closed. Some days were not easy, but it has helped.  I am encountering some positional vertigo, which is new, but learning not to put my head back (especially at the hairdressers) and sleeping with two pillows has helped.  I am also taking Amitriptyline which is supposed to provide more blood flow through the inner ear and I recently started taking Magnesium and B2, not sure if it has made a difference, but I'm feeling pretty good at the moment.  From what I have read most people can see a full recovery, hope she feels better soon.

  • arria
    arria Scaniaman

    Posted

    Hi, sorry to hear that. Keep doing Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT).  In my case it did not help because I had brain clamp after the intial attack of vestibular neuritis.  For some people the brain compensates with VRT, but some people brain will not (like me).  So I live gently with lots of rest/fatigue.
    • victoria78511
      victoria78511 arria

      Posted

      Hi Adria I had vestibular neuritis just over a year ago.i feel like I'm walking on sponges and go a flickr in my left eye the ENT said I've got a weak balance system I feel like I'm being pulled to the left I feel wores when out side all in supermarkets the exercises does not help me anymore. Can I ask how you feel when you go out side and why dose not the exercises help you

    • arria
      arria victoria78511

      Posted

      Excercises do not help me because my brain clamped to protect itself in the beginning it does not compensate or change. Supermarkets, bright sun, noise, crowds etc make me worse.
    • victoria78511
      victoria78511 arria

      Posted

      Thanks for getting back in touch you are the first person who has mentioned that exercises don't work.

      It seems that it affecting my whole body, I get a pulsating feeling right through my body ,from head to toe. It feels as though my whole body is "sticky".

      Turning my head causes a dizzy feeling and changes from hard to soft floors affect me.

      I have boon told the signals in my brain will not let the exercises work, waiting to see a specialist in this field.

      Are you on any medication, prescribed or herbal ? What are your symptoms?

      Thank you.

    • arria
      arria victoria78511

      Posted

      Brain clamp is a proper medical term. I am not on any medication,  nothing ever helped. tried herbal and am vegan. I have bad imbalance all the time. I am 4 yrs in.  I am a wall toucher and can drive. I have some forgetfullness (am aging) and terrific fatigue. Fatigue is actually the worst thing.
  • lynne85105
    lynne85105 Scaniaman

    Posted

    Hi...I was told I had VN 2 years ago after a gone wrong surgery. (I lost 100% hearing and 100% vestibular nerve on op. side) I was told go home, keep pushing, carry on with your normal routine. Eventually your brain will compensate - find new pathways by doing VRT.

    It would take to long to list all that I have taken on but I am still out of body, rocking, and a lot of the time unable to function. I have since been told I also have MAV ( migraine associated vertigo) and MdDS. I am 62 years old and have been seeing a therapist to learn to accept this is it ...for the rest of my life.... It's more than devesterating but I'm now just starting to accept it.

    I have found yoga, swimming (water aerobics), driving, walking and VTR exercises have kept me going. I can now walk straight but I feel like I'm on Mars - nothing like the world I once lived in.

    i have a wonderful husband, together we have made huge changes to try to cope. It's tough! I wish you and your wife well.

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