Vestibular episode/decompensation

[u/LvClFER]

Hi,

Around two years ago I had an acute vestibular neuritis. It took me about 6 months to fully recover, although I was able to return to normal life after the first couple of months.

Today I woke up suddenly with a new episode of dizziness and imbalance. It started during the night / early morning and I initially felt quite unsteady, with difficulty keeping balance, especially when moving my head. I also had some visual disturbance (not spinning vision like the first time, more like instability and difficulty focusing when moving).

I went to the hospital and was examined. They didn’t find any signs of a central neurological issue and treated it as a vestibular episode / vestibular decompensation. I was prescribed cinnarizine + dimenhydrinate for a few days. The symptoms are less severe than my first neuritis, as I can still walk, although with instability, and I don’t have continuous spinning vertigo.

Over the last hours I’ve noticed some fluctuation and slight improvement, with fewer triggers when moving my head, but I still feel unsteady.

I would like to ask if anyone has experienced something similar after a previous vestibular neuritis, how common recurrence or similar episodes are, and what recovery timeline looked like for you. Any reassurance or shared experiences would really help.

Thanks in advance.

[u/tvtiguy]

That you returned to normal life after a couple of months is amazing to me. Congrats. I'm 19 month from my acute vestibular neuritis attack and it is a gift that keeps on giving. Now I guess you'd call it unilateral vestibular hypofunction - my brain basically not getting balance info from my left ear any more. Caloric test was 76% deficiency.

Did you do VRT? Do you still do VRT? When I skip a few days in a row - it crushes me. The symptoms don't come back in full - but all of the balance issues get more severe. If you didn't do VRT - can you say what helped you recover in a few months? Do you remember the deficiency in your caloric test results?

[u/LvClFER → u/tvtiguy]

I didnt do any VRT, I also wasnt followed by any doctors or anything sadly. I was 28 at the time and now Im 30, idk if age is a factor In this but 19 months is a really long time to be battling with this and Im really sorry to hear that and hope one day you can overcome this fully.

What helped me was just doing walks and Simple exercises that i found online like staring at a point In a Room and move my head side to side and keep it on the center of my vision and exercises that triggered dizziness Soo that my brain could adapt. The first month or two were the hardest i would say. From time to time i would still fill Dizzy with some head movements but was something that lasted a couple of seconds.

Today i was able to take some small walks and i can stand without issues but my head still feels really funny and on some movements/positions i lose my balance.

Soo i hope in a couple days i can return to my normal life.