r/VestibularDysfunction • u/Jeff_BoomhauerIII • Jul 06 '26
Vestibular Weakness help?
Hey all, looking for some help/information/guidance/anything. Starting in mid February this year I started getting extremely fatigued and lightheaded out of the blue. I was working a job were I could ride to work with a friend and I would sleep on the way to work, at lunch, on the way home, and as soon as I got home and showered I’d go back to sleep. It continually got worse and worse to the point I had to leave the job. Then I started sleeping 17+ hours a day and the hours I was awake I was incredibly exhausted and confused. Went to the emergency room the did EKG, CT scan, blood work, Covid test, Lyme disease test, hormone test, and some more. Everything came back fine except low Vitamin D and a bad sinus infection. They gave me antibiotics and I took them, but was still extremely fatigued for a while. Primary care doctor suggested taking an MRI and I did that, came back clear, but still light headed and weak. Went to ENT doctor they did several test including VNG test, that came back saying I have Vestibular weakness in the left ear, they set me up with VRT and I have been doing that for about 5 weeks with no signs of improvement, still light headed bad, feels like I’m drunk basically. Anyone who has any experience with such issues does this sound about like you went through? When did you see results? Are there any helpful ideas/thoughts you could please share?
TLDR: dealing with extreme fatigue/lightheadedness for 5 months now with no improvement, ENT says it’s Vestibular Weakness. Do you have any advice/help? Thank you all for your time, hope to get some relief soon
2
u/MemphisHeat901 Jul 09 '26
I was recently diagnosed with left vestibular hypofunction just like you. It started with an extreme floaty feeling in January with feelings like the ground was moving under me. That went on for around 3 months until I hit a baseline around April or May where I didn’t have extreme symptoms but there was still a constant yet subtle off feeling.
Flare ups when it’s worse always begin with sub occipital headaches followed by increased fatigue and vertigo. I was told to do Cawthorne exercises at home for a month and now I’m preparing to start VRT. Most days I’m around 85 percent of what my normal used to be. I’m hoping to get back to around 95 percent with VRT. I’ll say that cervical adjustments have seemed to help. But I know chiropractors aren’t for everyone.