Hi

I went to see my consultant today for the first time in around a year as my symptoms have been getting worse the last couple of months (previously I had come on leaps and bounds).
The consultant suggested a new course of VRT (this will be my third bout) and a course of CBT. I don't feel like an anxious person though I know that this illness has taken it's toll on me. I am not sure that this will be of much help to me. I also don't want to go in with the wrong attitude but would be very interested in anyone who has tried this before along with any results.
I have never suffered from anxiety though I do worry about this and the fact that I still don't feel well after 3 years.

Thanks

Hi
The consultant suggested a new course of VRT (this will be my third bout) and a course of CBT. I don't feel like an anxious person though I know that this illness has taken it's toll on me. I am not sure that this will be of much help to me. I also don't want to go in with the wrong attitude but would be very interested in anyone who has tried this before along with any results.
I have never suffered from anxiety though I do worry about this and the fact that I still don't feel well after 3 years.

Thanks
Hi Krys
Why did you stop vrt? I am into my third year of this now and I can see big improvement but I haven't stopped vrt at all. I didn't get offered any for the first 15 months, didn't get diagnosed either, but I have been doing the exercises since last March so its just on one year. The physio, who happened to be a Menieres sufferer, that's why she got interested in balance therapy, said not to even think about stopping for 18 months. My neuro-otologist in London reckons its a good idea to keep going indefinitely, as a way of keeping the vestibular-oculo reflex fit for purpose, sort of a hedge against decomp.

I'd like to meet someone who has had this nightmare and isn't anxious about it and I think it takes a toll on everyone. I have a follow-up with the neuro in 8 weeks and I am planning to talk to him about the psychological issues because I think this is the last hurdle to get over. I have become pretty obsessed - I find it very difficult to get it all out of my mind. I go through each day worrying about what might happen, and sometimes it does but mostly now it doesn't and I had begun to wonder if a talking therapy might just move me on.

Sorry that you are still feeling unwell, I have been very encouraged for the last six months because I have finally started to feel much better physically.

Thanks for that your comments really help and i can emphasise exactly with how you feel.

The only reason that I have stopped VRT in the past is because I have been feeling much better. Instead of actually doing VRT I just tried to do what I would normally do i.e. lots of walking, going to the gym etc. It does make sense to keep going with it though.

I was feeling much better but twice have had two huge setbacks, once this time last year and now a month or so ago, both times have led me back to VRTs. This time I will persist with it though. I think the problem is when you start to feel better you do forget how bad it can be and for me I just stop the VRTs and then it hits you again and you can almost feel like you are back at square one. I also need to remind myself on how far I have come and how much better I feel now.

Krys
My neuro-otologist says we should think of vrt like exercising for fitness. If you exercise to get fit then stop you will just get out of shape again. He says once you’ve had vn you are always more fragile in the balance department and under certain conditions there will be blips. But by keeping the vor system ‘fit’ you reduce the likelihood to the minimum and for all intents and purposes you are 100%.

It is so tough when you go back to square one. I had a severe decompensation after one year, fell over in the street and got taken to A&E, that was the fourth time and the nurses now recognize me! I was extremely tired at the time, busy at work and I blamed that. But a really big one hasn't happened for 15 months now. I use the analogy of climbing a ladder, only after vn you never really get to the top. Every so often you slip back some rungs then start climbing again and each time you get to beyond where you were last time you slipped back! Then the time between slips increases and when you slip its only a rung or two, not right back down to the ground.