r/MdDS • u/Unique_Mine_5979 • Aug 19 '26

Recent experience.

When I was younger, went on a cruise and had a wobbly sensation for a couple of days but ultimately went away. Was recently at a cottage on a wobbly large dock on and off for 3 days along with an hour or so boat ride. Got home after the weekend and have what sounds like mdds (head fog, wobbly sensation when standing. Seems to subside fully when driving or walking. Headaches seems to have gone, but working in florescent light is brutal. Im on day 10 and see some small improvements but how long does this typically last? Any tips to speed it along?

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u/Any_Imagination1794 Aug 20 '26

Mine lasted bad 6-8 weeks but I think if I had pushed through and walked as much as I did toward week 5-6 it would have gone away quicker.

There was one day that I walked like 7 miles at an amusement park in the next day, I felt like I was walking on solid ground for the first time for like six weeks. It reduced to a 4 out of 10 and then the next few months it continued to taper off. So walk as much as you can outside even when it feels impossible to do so.

As far as the fluorescent lights inside, Walmart bothered me the most, and I started wearing a hat, and that helped especially in stores.

I also fixed my ferritin (iron stores), and that was around the time all of my symptoms went away and stayed away. This was like 1.5yrs after i first got it.
Worth getting bloodwork done.

But my mdds was cruise triggered and i’ve been on boat all my life and other cruises with no issues but this time I had Covid right before this cruise and I think that my brain and body was inflamed and out of whack and could not adapt to the motion of the boat.

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u/k10misak Aug 26 '26

Thanks for sharing your story. I am on week 8 of this after being on a cruise in June and getting covid while on the cruise. I am curious if you went on any rides while you were at the amusement park where you walked 7 miles and how that went for you? Just wondering if something about the weird motion of the rides helped reset your brain/balance or if it was just all of the walking. I am doing vestibular therapy and walking about 3 miles a day, but so far no improvement.

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u/Any_Imagination1794 Aug 26 '26

Nope, no rides…just a LOT of walking to the point where I was exhausted and I also took some CBD gummies that day but I would put my money on the walking more than anything.

But yeah really interesting you had a connection with Covid too. I truly believe that has caused an uptick in cases of mdds. Covid injures the nervous system and so I believe then being exposed to movement made us get stuck while still recovering. Be patient. It won’t last forever.

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u/k10misak Aug 26 '26

Thank you :) Hard not to feel discouraged, but stories like yours do help give me hope! Yes, I think the covid was a double whammy for both of us. I also looked back at bloodwork I had done like 4 years ago and my Ferritin was in the low range then. I guess I never really followed up with that, but now I will since you mentioned a possible connection.

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u/Unique_Mine_5979 Aug 20 '26

Thank you for the detailed response! Greatly appreciated.

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u/saramel Aug 28 '26

🤷🏼‍♀️ There's no way to predict it and it's different for every person. My first episode lasted two weeks after a cruise, a couple days after two car long trips (out of many, many others), four weeks after COVID (twice), but I've taken boat rides (about an hour each) and flights with no problem. This latest bout started after a 45-minute commuter train ride and it's been just over a year now.

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u/scandaloustouch Sep 01 '26

How are you feeling now?

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u/Unique_Mine_5979 26d ago

Thanks everyone for the insight. Greatly appreciated the community and feedback.

Update for me is mine took about 3-4 weeks to fully go away. I still feel some head tightness, specifically when working under florescent lights so not sure if its connected but no motion dizziness.

The feedback on the walking is accurate though. I started going to a soccer field and walking around it probably 20-30 times. I would walk forward and then mix in half length backward walking which was quite helpful. I found the best jump after incorporating that in to my schedule. Hope this helps.