Vertigo (not the movie!)

[CHB34]

Good morning everyone! Just a quickie. I'm nearly four weeks post VM and I was wondering if anyone else suffers from lightheadedness or vertigo. Mine is at its worst when I get up, even after having breakfast, but I suffer from waves of it throughout the day quite unexpectedly. Maybe it's totally unrelated to having VM, but it seems to have become a problem round about the same time.

[Amrita-A]

Hello,

I would bet it is part and parcel. I am at the 2 month mark and still experience it. I often feel like I have just stepped off a spinning ride.

Hopeful all these symptoms will pass with time. Good luck.

[CHB34 in reply to Amrita-A]

Hopefully, thanks. Interestingly,we have a power cut at the moment, so I'm sitting in candlelight - much more gentle on post VM eyes!

[Amrita-A in reply to CHB34]

I wear my sunglasses outside whether it is sunny or not.

[sonnerkay]

Vertigo , balance problems, sensitive to light & noise are VM symptoms. I also wear sunglasses, use hiking sticks for balance, & ear plugs for noise.

I never found a dr or neurologist, or ENT that addressed the vertigo, I did wear prism glasses after VM due to weak eye muscles , no longer using them. Time is ur best friend as all symptoms will fade as you heal and adjust to the NEW you. Good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I had VM dec 2015, took a year to get stable for me, hoping ur recovery is quicker.

Sonnerkay

[CHB34 in reply to sonnerkay]

Thank you for your kind words and sharing your experience of having vm. For me the hardest lessons to learn are patience and being kind to myself. Life just seems to be made up of a lot of frustration! But I'm hanging in there with the help of some wonderful friends and professional support through my mental health team (I have pre-existing mental health problems among other things). I guess it's just a day at a time.

[peechesgirl]

Yes I got vertigo quite a bit after my second bout of meningitis. It is always worst in the mornings. For the first few weeks after it would make me so nauseous I would vomit. Now I just have random episodes. I don’t know what brings them on, but this VM thing is not for sissies!! Ugggh!

[CHB34]

It certainly isn't. All this awful stuff the doctors don't tell you about! There seems to be this misconception out there that viral meningitis is something minor that you get over easily - oh if only that were true!

[OfAllTheLuck]

Hi CHB34,

I know the misery vertigo & disequilibrium can cause. I've lived with it for about a year and a half. I had issues with disequilibrium and vertigo ever since my 5th episode of VM in the past 6 years. My neurologist believes the nerve between my inner ear & brain is damaged.

I went to VRT (vestibular rehabilitation therapy) for a couple months and it helped a lot. I still have some disequilibrium, but it's much better now.

Maybe talk with your doc and see if VRT is an option?

[CHB34 in reply to OfAllTheLuck]

Thanks for the tip, I shall certainly look into it if the issue doesn't improve. I'm glad that it's helped you to a large extent.

[Lippistix]

Hello, You can find my 28 year old daughter, Rosie S' Story, via the link on the forum stories from the home page.

We found that cranial massage worked wonders for her. Her job is working with horses on pretty much a daily basis and is very physically demanding.

It is rare for a story to be so positive and we have tried to let people know that this amazing complementary therapy worked for her. It helps release the spinal fluid which VM leaves a blockage for. Rosie is pretty much cured after around 10 sessions coupled with actupuncture, although found awesome relief after only one appointment. She is now free of all pain killers and antidepressants and feels right back to her old self.

We can only let you know what worked for her. It's not for all, but has now given amazing relief for many. It seems the success could be to do with the skill of the cranial osteopath you use. So it is important to find out the osteopaths credentials and experience in this specialised field particularly dealing with VM sufferers, if you can. (Not all osteopaths realise that this helps VM sufferers, it is often carried out on young babies with birthing problems). You need an osteopath and not a therapist who mearly has some training in cranial massage.

If you find you are getting the violent headaches and feeling lethargic and depressed after a few weeks, give this complementary therapy a go, it really could be worth it and save you being on prescribed drugs, along with months, years, of unnecessary suffering.

Kind wishes and best of luck

[CHB34 in reply to Lippistix]

I'm so glad that your daughter was able to find a therapy that really helped her, I will look into it, although being on disability benefits, I have no idea how I would fund it.

[AHamilton11092016]

It’s related. I will say I sleep with a wedge underneath me at night because laying flat in the morning my nauseous feeling and vertigo are the worst. Try sleeping up right. I recently went to an ENT doctor who found that my right ear is worse than my left that throws my balance off, they requested a MRI to see if something else is going on. Of course negative. I have never experienced any issues like these until VM. Zofran pill helps but doesn’t take away the boat feeling. I get dizzy around the same time and I also get seizures daily around the same time as well.