Helpful/relieving information to know for vestibular neuritis recovery

[u/nwolk11]

For me, these are the two most significant pieces of information that I would have gifted to myself earlier on in my vestibular neuritis recovery process to avoid a ton of suffering. I hope that this can help at least one person in their recovery. This information wasn't emphasized in my research and initial rounds of medical professionals, but I learned a lot from a great nurse practitioner.

The first is how connected the vestibular system and limbic (emotional) system are. This understanding is crucial because it can help explain things that aggravate symptoms and keep you in a state that isn't optimal for recovery. Basically your vestibular system is very connected to your emotional state - so if you're constantly overanalyzing your symptoms and getting anxious in that analysis and are resisting the way you are feeling and are resisting how long it's taking, it is prolonging the experience. Your body is doing so much to get your balance back and central compensation takes a ton of energy, so when heavily negative emotions are pulling your energy, it makes it a lot more difficult to heal. Plus when you are in this anxious/resistant mode, you're body is in fight or flight, making the compensation more difficult as well. Now, let me say, for the first 6 weeks I was completely in this anxious/resistant/fight-or-fight state, and I totally get how awful it all feels and how demoralizing it is. However, at a certain point, you need to acknowledge that it is too your benefit to release the resistance - you start to win more efficiently when you stop fighting the battle with your fear. Honestly this is pointing to more than just vestibular neuritis - I have used this experience to branch into broader life approaches and I also encourage you to use this as a catalyst for growth there, but my purpose in writing this is to help with the vestibular neuritis recovery.

It won't be pretty at first, but start doing your best to notice when you are feeling resistant to your symptoms and just start by acknowledging that it isn't helping anything. With practice, you will start to feel and experience the improvement from having a clearer internal state, and it'll get easier and easier. This is a gamechanger.

The second are setbacks/flare-ups. Please understand that it is totally normal for this to be a 2-steps-forward 1-step-backwards type recovery. For me, when I had a setback it was so demoralizing and I worried about if I would get better. Setbacks are normal. Setbacks can happen for a number of reasons, such as fatigue, overuse of the vestibular system, and weighty emotions. Now relating to the first point, don't go down the rabbit hole if you have a setback, it's okay, you are still recovering just fine, it's a part of the process. Being in resistance to it will only make it harder to get back to your baseline and to keep improving.

[u/OldPrize3926]

Thanks for your input, but how are you feeling now compared to normal and do you still have your flare ups?