Hey everyone,
I have been feeling pretty good for a number of weeks with practically zero brain fog/off balance feeling (my main complaint since having BPPV in March). However recently I've begun to feel the off balance action creeping back in ever so slightly at times and I wonder if this could be because I stopped the twice/day VRT's I was doing. I mean, I thought that once my vest system was strengthened with the exercises I could knock them off, but I anticipate that everyone is going to say "oh no you can't!" But why not? Shouldn't we be able to stop this at SOME point? Or do I have to do these dumb exercises for the rest of my life to keep the dizzies at bay? I've started them back up in recent days to see if that helps, but I wanted to get others' opinions.
Thanks for any advice.
Dan
PS. I still have my visual symptoms also (they never went away) and I'm wondering if continued VRT's will help these also. (Tired eyes and lots of floaters in field of vision). I seem to recall Subs saying that the visual symptoms were the last to leave...anyone else notice this?
Hey everyone,
I have been feeling pretty good for a number of weeks with practically zero brain fog/off balance feeling (my main complaint since having BPPV in March). However recently I've begun to feel the off balance action creeping back in ever so slightly at times and I wonder if this could be because I stopped the twice/day VRT's I was doing. I mean, I thought that once my vest system was strengthened with the exercises I could knock them off, but I anticipate that everyone is going to say "oh no you can't!" But why not? Shouldn't we be able to stop this at SOME point? Or do I have to do these dumb exercises for the rest of my life to keep the dizzies at bay? I've started them back up in recent days to see if that helps, but I wanted to get others' opinions.
Thanks for any advice.
Dan
PS. I still have my visual symptoms also (they never went away) and I'm wondering if continued VRT's will help these also. (Tired eyes and lots of floaters in field of vision). I seem to recall Subs saying that the visual symptoms were the last to leave...anyone else notice this?
Hi Dan
Well it would not be unusual for the VRT's(including the ones for vision) to be required---for a period of time---that would coincide with---the amount of balance computations---that this junk screwed up....
The problem with that---is no one(Doc's) knows---what computations have been "hosed up"---or/and ---how long that will take....
So it comes down to a trial and error thing---most(people)---do it(VRT's) until they believe this thing(inner ear injury) has become a "rear view mirror" event---if their right---no probs---wrong---and their back to VRT's......
Given that---an inner ear injury can---destroy---all the computations for all of the moves u ever have done---from the beginning of when u first started to move as an infant---it can takes some time....
---further---if the injury caused a permanent "balance deficit" then the brain must recalculate---the moves---taking the deficit into consideration...
...."my visual symptoms also....wondering if continued VRT's will help these also."....
VRT's are for ur vision(also)---- which----is thought(by the Doc's) to---provide---40% of the input to the "Brain's"(ur brain) balance calculations---so---yes they will/would help---in fact---u could say---there essential....
Then---there are people who---get an inner ear injury---who---are 100% in six weeks or less---never do---VRT's---or if they do---for only a short time----they usually do not post on this board....
--while we all share some symptoms---and many overlap.....
---no two people---seem to--share the same outcome----the same way---at the same time-----with this junk.....
The path(and the only one I know of)to 100% compensation---is VRT's(including the vision ones)---and some version of them(VRT's) could be required---for: ____________(fill in the blanks).....
Hi Dan, sounds like you are doing good. I would keep doing them even after you are 100% for awhile at least and then taper them down to once a day then to few times a week. But still do them everyday until you are COMPLETELY 100% with now blips!!!! It may take sometime, but it is well worth it.
Thanks for the replies Subs and Jax. It sounds like I should continue for some time to come, just to ensure that I keep it in the "rear view" as Subs said. Perhaps I stopped a bit too early after making so much progress with phys. therapist...who knows? Not even the doctors, it seems, can tell how these disorders affect different people differently. I guess I'm luckier than most and should stick with the program that works!
Hello,
A good rule of thumb, twice per day for two months after symptom free, one per day for 1 - 2 months, then 3 - 4 times per week for another 1 - 2 months. If you feel your symptoms coming back, go back to twice per day.
All the best,
That's a really good rule. I had no idea I should continue for so long, so I'll pick up the pace again and follow that plan. Thanks for the tip...my phys therapist never mentioned such a follow-on plan.
herofix, this is incredible, I have the same symptoms as you since 4 years, including eye floaters but those are since 10 or more years. And I have also been diagnosed on MRI with mega cisterna magna, first they called it arachnoid cyst. What kind of exercise did you take to improve your dizziness? where can I read about them and what doctor did recommend them.
Hey wow that's pretty weird that we have the same brain condition AND symptoms, for sure. I've been told several times now by different doctors that the MCM/AC is not causing any dizziness, and at this point I think I have to believe them. Anyway, the exercises I did are pretty much the same as the ones floating around here under the tag "Charlotte VRT's", which are a progressive series of exercises designed to rehabilitate/strengthen the vestibular system. Like I noted recently, I apparently shouldn't have stopped, as the same old feeling has begun creeping back in gradually.
Thanks and take care! Be sure to keep me posted if you have any significant developments.
Dan
Last edited by moderator2; 07-09-2007 at 07:06 PM.
Reason: posted commercial website
What age are you now and when did your floaters appear first? I'm 26 they appeared around 15. Ophthalmologists said my eyes are fine and were not concerned about floaters at all. But I feel like my vision is bad, my eyes easily get fatigued and floaters are very disturbing and annoying.
I have also been told that AC/MCM have nothing to do with my symptoms, except from one NS who said if that is AC, surgery may be indicated, if it is MCM then there should be nothing wrong with it. But he also said it looks more like MCM. The only way to find for sure, it's cisternogram.
My symptoms are aggravated by stress. Do you ever have occipital headaches or neck pains? Or do you tend to always have bad posture? ( REMOVED )
I will read about those exercises and try them to see if there is any change.
Last edited by moderator2; 07-10-2007 at 04:41 AM.
Reason: please do not ask members to violate the posting policy
Well Vaio, it seems that we will have to carry out the discussion of our startlingly similar situations here, since we can't contact each other offline and there is no private messaging on this board. (See the Posting Policy for the rules). So, do a G****e search for the words "eye floaters causes" and the first non-sponsored link that comes up should say "an overlooked cause and possible treatment". I thought the info on it made a lot of sense, so perhaps I'll try the yoga positions and see if that helps. I am now 33 and never noticed them before and have not been to an opthamologist (yet). I do indeed have bad posture (though I've been working to improve it) and also get stress-induced headaches but more often they are "head pains" where it seems that a certain head/neck position gives me a pain on the outside of my skull, maybe like a nerve is being pinched?
As for the AC/MCM, I heard from one neurosurgeon that it was MCM and nothing to worry about (not causing my off balance feeling and eye symptoms) and heard from another PAIR of neurotologists that the cisterna magna is never as big as mine (implying that it is indeed an arachnoid cyst). But they too agreed that it was not causing my vague, mild symptoms. Like I said earlier, the VRT exercises really seemed to help, both with my off balance feeling and eye tiredness (but not the floaters, which before I had BPPV I never noticed before this much). For more info on AC, again do a search for "arachnoid cyst" and find the Skull Base Institute, which (unfortunately for you in Bulgaria) is here in Southern California. The doctor there appears to have a LOT of experience with AC removal/mitigation without full open-skull surgery. There is a lot of info about it on that site.
My next move, which will be after I return from vacation next week, is to try acupuncture. I understand from researching it that it can help with a lot of the things I'm experiencing, including the head pains, off balance feelings and possibly the floaters too. I'm thinking (hoping) that my AC/MCM has nothing to do with my symptoms and they are truly inner ear related, as the neurotologists told me. Good luck to you and please keep me posted on what you learn...I think we may be on a similar path.
If you manage to help your symptoms so much with the exercises, they you really should not worry about the MCM/cyst.
Did any neurologist tell anything about the cerebellar vermis? Because mega cisterna magna comes usually with smaller vermis.
I am also thinking about acupuncture.
If you manage to help your symptoms so much with the exercises, they you really should not worry about the MCM/cyst.
Did any neurologist tell anything about the cerebellar vermis? Because mega cisterna magna comes usually with smaller vermis.
I am also thinking about acupuncture.
Yes, that's what I was thinking too...if my AC was the cause of "central" vertigo, as they call it when it's brain related, I would guess that no amount of exercises would mitigate symptoms. No mention from anyone about the cerebellar vermis, though I think I read that only Dandy-Walker syndrome causes changes to the vermis. It's good to know that whether it's MCM or AC it has been present since birth, so hopefully that means it was just an incidental finding of my MRI. I wish the same for you.
Everything that I've found about AC indicate that it forms during development in the womb, or sometimes (rarely) after a head injury or brain surgery...and I've had neither. Thus, it must be congenital (present since birth) and unlikely to be suddenly growing after 33+ years...at least that's what the neuro docs said. Like you mentioned, the only way to know *for sure* is to have cisternography done, and that sounds terribly unpleasant.
I'm thinking about having cisternography, I think it's 1 day of hospitalization but at least I will be 1 step closer to finding an answer.
Is there anyway we could get into direct contact? it seems no private message option on the forum and I wanted to ask you something which was edited by the moderator because of the forum rules.
Re: Time to stop VRT's? 
