Hi - basically i have rcovered form the acute phase of Labrin's bbut still suffer form long periods of imbalance. In fact this year I have had constant sensation of imbalance when walking and standing. I can sometimes even feel like I am moving when I am sitting down. This is year 2 of the problem for me. I have had all the tests and it is deffinately an inner ear issue. Any one else out there who feels like this. Please Please let me know. Thanks. Thinking of you all.

YES i have badly.. been 1 yr for me... all tests came bk normal... ok theres 2 things it may be.. inner ear prob.. which is up to the ent... may operate.. or it could possibly be anxiety..... doc told me as i suffered with it, my body got used to it... i may feel normal but am shadowing it... ??????? lol .... thats what he said... so after an mri, eeg, blood tests, opthamoligist, motion sickness tabs... bla bla bla he finally refered me to an ent... which i have to wait untill march next yr for an appointment.. grrrrrrr (NHS)

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dipps

Oh thank god - there is some-one who feels the same as me. to be honest it is a funny co-incidence but I too have suffered from anxiety in the past. But I know exactly how to control it and not have it control me. I think that it is not imagined what we are suffering. But what i would say is that it is exagerated likley by us worrying it and paying it alot of attention. But you know they say that people who worry alot and anre basicallly analitical thinkers are actually brighter than the average. Is that a concilation - I am not sure. Any way i deffinately find that If I let myself get really wopund up about it it does seem more severe. But the fact is I have and periods with very little or minimal symptoms and others like this year when it is persistent. What I do believe is that if you stay positive in the belief that at some poinmt we will recover it helps you simply cope with it better. I guess it is like any chronic condition it is a case of mind over matter. I am not saying that i am a happy bunny about it - of course i would be delighted if it went away - please god hurry that bit up. I actually found the ENT doctor really helpful. Aside form any thing else it seems that the vast majority do get over these symptoms it is just very much that it is quiclker in some than in others. Incidentally did yours start with Labr's - do you avoid ecrtain activities, does it put you off participating in activities away from home. Thanks for your reply I really app[recaite it.

Me again, I also have the feeling of moving when sitting. Have it at this moment! Are you bad in crowds? I may have already asked you this. Did your ENT say you would recover? What annoys me is, there is no way of telling when. I have good periods and then wham, like now, I feel I am back to where I was 6 mths ago. Very annoying. I am worried the damage may be permanent and I am so scared of that. You are right though, staying positive is the key. Thanks for your advice, you have made me feel better :smile: xxx

Hi - oh yes i do feel that I am moving even when I am sitting. Tonight I went out to dinner with my husband and kids and although I stuck it out I felt stressed. The symptoms were basically that i was moving all the time although obviously i wasn't. When I feel like this which is alot of the tiome when sitting in an up-right position i get the feeling that I may either faint or that i will be unable to walk properly. To my relief i can say that neither of these things have ever actually happened to me. To answer your question about is this permanent - i spoke with my ENT doc today on this very subject after reading the article about vestibular damage. He assured me that this is like highly unlikely and if this was the case would show up on an MRI scan. I like you also wodered how it was that the symptoms dramatically improve for a period and then wham we are back at the beginning (well not the very acute stage but the off balance and sensation of movement when still bit). he told me that the reason this happens is that the inner ear does in fact kinda recover and the brain compensates hence feeling better. Then a minor thing irritates the inner ear agin (eg: increase in stress levels, minor illness, a reduction in activity e5tc etc) and you got it the old symptoms are back. He assured me that these are not forever and that they will deffionately get better. I think that we have both had periods of remission or at least when we were much better proves his point. It is I guess just an utter pain in the but and we have to wait it out. In my experience it is bettert to try to keep as active as possible during the day this apparently helps to compensate for the imbalance and get the brain to switch of the imbalance sensations.He was at great pains to emphasise that although all these feelings are gross/scary they are actually do us no real harm - so keep going. Yep- I do feel worse when I am in crowded places or out shopping. I think that this is due to several factors, the first is that we are in an unfamiliar enviroment when feeling off balance this increase anxiety levels and quite naturally increases symptoms. The second is that when you are out and about you have to move more like dodge people in super markets etc etc and you are often forced to stand inn positions that you probably avoid at home like ina que to pay for something. Again just keep doing it - if nothing else it will reasuureyou and help to increase your confidence that despite all this off balance nonsense nothing awful does actually happen to you. Incidentally do you feel a bit light-headed at the same time. I can even sometimes feel that not only am I off balance but that the ground is somewhat unstable. Don't you just love these inner ear issues!! Let me know

One of the most popular web publications--Dizziness Explained---it will take a while to get through it--because it really gets into it---in layman/patient terms/level:

http://www.pneuro.com/publications/dizzy/index.html

hi irobertson,
i am really suffering from this allday allnight sensation of swaying and moving . do u find this worse in enclosed spaces ,where the walls r closer to u? i think u r handling situations very well. i know its not at all easy. but u r doing better than me.. i feel like ive switched off.. does it make u more tired than usual?
u r staying positive as possible. keep it up.
brina

Thank you I Robertson for explaining things to me. I have a sore throat so wonder if this is why my dizziness has worsened again. Think I may ask for an MRI - havent had one yet. Yes I do also get lightheaded and my eyes feel weird, out of focus. I think crowded places are also worse cos of the increase in visual stimuli. The dark is bad for me. Yes Brina, small rooms are much worse for me and moving around these small rooms quickly are v bad for me! xxx

Hi Brina and Emsy & Subs - Thank you for your replies - I cannot tell you how great it is to talk with people who are going through the exact same thing as me!!!!
In answer to your question YES I too feel funny in enclosed/confined spaces - but I think that this is partly because things shift (or rather we have the feeling of swaying/imbalance) ever so slightly and it is more noticable when you are in an enclosed area.Sometimes I find that I actually check to see if I feel funny or not etc like as a habit. How i often cope with it is if I become aware of these sensations is to quickly say to myself - I am fine don't worry and then very quiclkly deliberately think about something else. What this does is build up your toplerance to it and it is impossible to think of two things at once. That usually helps me avoid feeling really stressed aboiut it all. I tell you another thing. I have had that ghastly feeling 24/7 for months and to be honest I had kinda slowed down alot and spent a fait amount of time sitting or lieing down. But since reading all the stuff about keep moving even though you feel ghastly - I have done just that. You will not believe it but although I still feel gross and off balance (just the same as you explained Brina) I am know getting days when it is slightly less pronounced. Where as every day before was really awful. I think the other thing that I have noticed is that I feel marginally less light headed. Today has been quite good - I cna asure yesturday was not. Do you guys all just keep on moving about alot or do you like me feel slolwed down. The other question was does this make me feel tited. Yes deffinately - and also yes my eye sight is slightly blurry. Apparently this is because whilst you inner ear is playing up your brain compensates and relies on more accurate info form the eyes and your feet. This is literally more work for the eyes than normal. That too is why you feel really yuck when it is dark as your brain is relying on that sense for balance. Also I think you are right that I cope with it pretty well - but I have been through the whole gambit of thinking it was something really serious etc etc so I have been there and done that. I also know that the more stressed and frightened I am the more pronounced the symptoms. The other ything I medant to say earlier was that another reason I think we notice theses odd things like our vision, etc is simoply that because our balance is affected it makes you almost tune quite subconsiously into your body much more than you would if you were 100% well. Also feeling off balance 24/7 is a draining experience! I think that you never fully relax.n I find that I can minimise the movement feeling if I sit in a semi-up-right position supported by pillows wityh my head being supported too - this also seems to reduce the movement sensation. By the way you guys how long have you all had these symptoms.

Hi I Robertson, My ENT told me exactly what you have about the dark and having to rely on the eyes.

I am approaching Month 7. Up til a week ago, thought I was making big improvements, then wham having the worst week ever. Sigh. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

..."Do you guys all just keep on moving about alot or do you like me feel slolwed down."....

Yep---all the time---don't feel well when I'm doing some of the manuvers---but they have to be done(safely)--for the most part (its been 9 months)--it is working--but slowly.

..." Apparently this is because whilst you inner ear is playing up your brain compensates and relies on more accurate info form the eyes and your feet."...

Signal inputs to the balance part of the brain is thought to be(via medical testing):

40% Visual Information

30% Vestibular and Auditory Information

30% Proprioceptive Information

If this is true--and I think it might be--then with a problem(bad signals or none) with the 30% from the Vestibular signal--puts a very heavy load on the brain to process for correct balance and it becomes over dependent on the other two---the visual for sure--since it normally delivers 40% of the signal. You can read about it at:
http://www.vertigo-dizziness.com/english/equilibrium_pathologies.html

...."By the way you guys how long have you all had these symptoms."....

Nine months--will be ten next week (Vestibular Neuritis + BPPV caused by viral infection).

But as I said above it is slowly going away--very slowly & I know since I had the MRI/ENG/Audio and have read alot/talked alot/listened alot that it is benign and in 95% plus of the cases it goes away.

.."Fortunately, in the great majority of cases (at least 95%) vestibular neuritis it is a one-time experience. Rarely the syndrome is recurrent, coming back year after year.

When it is recurrent, the symptom complex often goes under other names. These include benign paroxysmal vertigo (Basser, 1964), benign recurrent vertigo (Slater 1979, Moretti et al, 1980), or vestibular Meniere's syndrome (Rassekh and Harker, 1992). Many authors attribute this syndrome to migraine associated vertigo. There is often a familial pattern (Oh et al, 2001)"..(Northwestern Univ, Dr Hain)

& you can help it go--by understanding what the heck is going down---and taking action(s) to speed up its departure. It ain't easy--but its do-able--got to work at it(a Lot!).

Think your on the right track.

Must be someting in the uk thats causing this... hee hee most english people posting here with this. how r u feeling today roberston?

I am a bit better.... fear bigtime thought.. schudueled for a ecg i have been having mild seizures... i had them when i was younger.. grrrrr, that will show most stuff up.. anyways back to ebay.. love that place really takes my mind of worrys shop shop shop and shop, and pogo.. games love tham too...

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dipps

Hi guys,

Well, I have most of all the symptoms, sensations you are describing. I've been like that now for nearly 20 months. Although I have better periods than others I don't see any improvement at all. I try to keep as active as possible but I find it takes a lot of energy. Doctors don't have a clue what is causing by 24/7 dizziness and unbalanced feeling. All my tests turned out negative I don't fit in any "classic catergory". My condition didn't start like Labyrinthitis, it started very gradually. Right now, knowing that my condition is not life threatning is very little comfort for me, I don't want to live my life this way. Sometimes I'm trying to tell myself that a lot of people are worse off than me, but then there is a lot of people better off than me.