Hi all,

From reading some of the posts I have this really strange feeling that I may have MAV. About 6 months ago I was at home and started feeling dizzy. I ignored it, hoping it would go away. But it got worse and worse and finally I decided I needed to go to the doctor. He told me it was probably a viral infection and to take stemetil for the dizzyness, however I had not had any other symptoms of a virus. Six months down the track I still have dizzy attacks which seem to correspond most frequently with a headache. I have headaches most days, ranging in severity but I would not say that they ever reach migraine level pain. But the worse my headache, the worse the dizzyness. I cannot drive often anymore. Driving scares me because I don't know when a spell of dizzyness will come on and I get afraid I will be stuck somewhere unable to get home. Sometimes the dizziness gets better for periods, more so in the beginning. But now it seems to be there almost all of the time. The frequent headaches were there for about 6 months before the dizziness. I cannot drive at night because the bright lights confuse and disorientate me, making me dizzy. When I see the car lights I feel like covering up my eyes and hiding. In fact most bright lights upset my balance. Also things like reading and focussing visually cause dizziness and headache. The super market sends me into a spin too. And the dizziness and headaches become extreme around my menstrual period. I was given Serc in case it was Menieres disease but this did not seem to work.

So I have some questions, can MAV come on suddenly like this? Do I have MAV? How is MAV treated? Are there any other possibilities of my symptoms? etc. I would love to know what's going on.
Any advice would be great.

Morkj008

I hope since you posted this that you've spoken about MAV with your doctor and you've been able to figure it out one way or the other.

Yes, your symptoms sound pretty similar to mine in a lot of ways. I can't go into most commercial buildings. I am dizzy a lot. I have severe vertigo attacks sometimes. I have headaches usually every day. Bright lights, loud noises set me off. I have difficulty walking, talking and thinking during attacks.

But, only your doctor can rule out other vesitbular issues such as Meniere's esp. bc of the sudden onset of your symptoms.

As for the "how could I suddently get this?" question....One of my doctors told me that analyzing particulars of MAV disease (or a lot of other diseases for that matter) and looking for the "perfect" timeline of when a disease starts is pointless.

The conversation went something like this... and I'm paraphrasing here!

"I can say that I had my first attack after having a cold and international flights in 1999. I have suffered several times a year since then with usually bearable vertigo. I have recently gotten much, much worse. Where I am suffering most days out of the month for four months now and not being able to function at all. Did my MAV start back in 99?"

Probably? he says.

"But, my attacks weren't as frequent as they are now!"

Yes.

"Nor were they as severe... what gives? Why am I worse? When will I get better?"

Picking these things apart can be wasted energy. You have to deal with what you have now and try not to worry about any of that.

My doctor was right. I have a hard enough time trying to keep myself upright and on my trigger free diet without worrying about when it started! :)

I hope you had luck with your dx!!! Let us know how things turned out.