Hi all

I am a new member and have just had a diagnosis of VB following some very acute dizziness last Friday. Spent the weekend in bed and then had MRI (which was clear) and have been improving slowly but am still experiencing symptoms of dizziness.

I am a competitive cyclist and have just tried to get back on my bike for a short ride, I rode into the curb and fell off after looking down and around in some traffic - pretty unpleasant especially as I felt I was sufficiently stable to ride.

Has anyone else out there been able to identify when it is ok to do things like ride or is it just a case of trying and falling off until you go ok ?

I am really determined to be back on my bike ASAP as I have various events to train for coming up.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Peter

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the board. I think it's really an individual thing to be honest. But here's some good news for you - the one thing I was *always* able to do even when acutely ill was ride my mountain bike. Not sure why it didn't make me feel worse but it never did. I reckon it won't be too long until you will be able to handle it again but it's early days for you and might take a little while yet.

Good luck...Scott :cool:

Hi there
I am a competetive athlete also and this thing has been a major pain trying to keep skills up. When I first got hit with this in the winter I tried cross country skiing at night, I was pretty wobbly but luckily we have a place here where there is lots of space and no people (especially in the dark) so I wasn't a danger to myself or anyone else. Later I realized that helped me to recover faster for balance.
I would keep giving it a try to see how your are doing, perhaps start with more balance drills, eyes open and closed. ONce you feel like your balance is at an acceptable level get on your bike but go somewhere where you won't risk hurting yourself.
My main sport is canoeing which requires a fair bit of balance so I know exactly how you feel, it completely sucks. If you are feeling up to it, keep working on it but don't overdo it. One thing with this horrible stuff is it can really wipe you out and make you feel like riding the couch instead.
Luckily we have 21 days of Lance coming up so you have a legit excuse to hang out in the A/C and recover.
Subs did a post quite a while ago with some balance stuff on it which I have been doing, also a wobble board would be great to use if you have access to one.
Good luck on your ride to recovery!!

i was dx'd with VN as well, with me it lasted almost 7 months. but better now, and only a very few episodes of dizziness