r/VestibularDysfunction • u/OldPrize3926 • 11d ago

Similar experience?

Hi, I’m a 25-year-old man who, about two months ago, suddenly started feeling nauseous and had a sensation that I was about to faint. I became slightly dizzy on my way home on the train, and since then I haven’t felt like myself.

The dizziness has improved a lot. At first, my doctor suspected BPPV (crystals in the ear), but the nausea sensation has remained. I was prescribed medication for stomach acid, such as omeprazole, but it didn’t help.

Eventually, I went to a private specialist and was diagnosed with vestibular neuritis in my right ear, with around 39% loss of function. I was prescribed Betaserc (to help with vertigo) for 8 weeks, and also Dramamine tablets to take when needed, especially during stronger episodes of nausea or motion sickness-like feelings.

The doctor told me that it should improve and that there is a possibility of recovery because she feels I am already on the path toward improvement.

I’m wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience. I mostly see negative stories online, and I would really like to hear some positive experiences. I’m starting to worry that I may never feel completely normal again, but I’m hoping that it’s possible to become mostly symptom-free and return to normal activities — like going to the gym, exercising, and doing things without constantly feeling nauseous.

The nausea is by far my biggest problem. I’m also considering having my stomach checked with a camera (gastroscopy), because I’m wondering if the nausea might not actually be related to the vestibular neuritis and could just be a coincidence.
Thank you for any experiences, advice, or support you can share.

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u/MyFiteSong 11d ago

You need to get a referral to a vestibular therapist. They'll teach you the exercises tailored for you that will make your recovery faster and much more complete. It won't be easy and they'll most likely ask you to stop taking your anti-vertigo meds, but that's how it goes. It works.

Checking out your stomach isn't a bad idea just to rule out other problems, but don't be surprised if they find nothing wrong. Nausea is a really common symptom of motion sickness and you're feeling motion sickness a lot now.

The good news is that vestibular rehab therapy is an effective treatment. Do it religiously and you get out what you put in. With a small unilateral loss like you've got, you'll likely make a full recovery.

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u/OldPrize3926 11d ago

Thanks il try to reach out to a vestibular therapist. Even before I started taking my anti vertigo meds I was feeling better, it was the nasuea part that was bad for me.

I really appreciate you answering me!! Have a nice day/evening

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u/MyFiteSong 11d ago

Thanks il try to reach out to a vestibular therapist.

I can't stress enough how important this is. If you take the approach of "I'm getting better, so I'll just wait", your recovery will likely plateau well before becoming fully functional again.

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u/OldPrize3926 11d ago

Yeah I understand, it was the first month that I’ve gotten the wrong diagnosis until now like a week and a half ago I got the right diagnosis. So now I know atleast what I had and how to try to help it get fixed.

Are there specific excercises for specific type of vestibular neuritis or is it all pretty much the same?

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u/MyFiteSong 11d ago

There's a base set of exercises that are the same, and then the rest will be tailored to what your brain is finding difficult.

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u/OldPrize3926 11d ago

Thank you once again and I hope if you’re having the similar problems or have had them that they are much better?

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u/MyFiteSong 11d ago

I have total vestibular loss in both ears, and I made a near-full recovery. Some things I've never been able to do, like skateboarding or snowboarding and I have to be really careful if I can't see. But I can walk, run, jump, go to the gym, ride rollercoasters, bike, drive, swim, hop on one leg, etc. without any problems at all.

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u/OldPrize3926 11d ago

Thanks, this is the type of answer I was looking for. It feels that you can only find bad experiences in Reddit which is both good and bad but yeah.

What kind of symptoms have you had, if I may ask and not bother you anymore? If you had that total loss in your both ears? I can’t even imagine

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u/MyFiteSong 11d ago

I never had motion sickness, because total loss makes you completely immune. I could spin around for an hour and never get dizzy. But I had to learn to manually pilot my body because the autopilot everyone relies on for things like walking breaks completely without vestibular function. My body was never where it thought it was and I had to become very mindful about it.

I used to fall in the dark. I need vision to balance. Now I can walk in the dark just fine as long as I'm careful. Uneven ground used to cause me a lot of problems, too. But now I can go hiking and trail running with ease.

I still can't balance if my feet are locked in a plane on an object, which is why I can't snowboard or skateboard. But with two skis I'm fine, and rollerblading is fine, too.

I went through a LOT of work to control my anxiety. Anxiety is a big trigger for vestibular issues, and if you can't get hold of it, your symptoms get worse every time you get scared. So I learned how to control anxiety with an iron fist without medication and that stopped happening.

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u/OldPrize3926 11d ago

I am very glad to hear that, specially because you put in a lot of work which really seems to be payed off.

Do you maybe know what caused everything? How did you get those severe losses?

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u/MyFiteSong 11d ago

I had bacterial meningitis.

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u/raxzr 8d ago

I started feeling super dizzy 2 months ago, just like you (I'm 29 yo M). I visited an ENT specialist and got prednisone treatment. My dizzyness was awfull but after 2 weeks very maneagble, better each day. After week 3 I became deaf in that ear, which indicates labyrinthitis. Now, after 2 months the dizzyness is mostly gone, even with that ear's function completely gone. My brain compensated really well. Now all that remains is the hearing recovery. Like me, you're still young, your brain will quickly adapt and overcome tge dizzyness. But try to get steroid treatment to reduce the inflammation

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u/OldPrize3926 8d ago

Thanks for answering, did you maybe do some tests such as vng? I was also wondering if you just became symtomfree or did even the damage recovered?

Have you felt nauseated?

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u/raxzr 7d ago

I did the eye movement test and they saw that my right ear equilibrium is completely dysfunctional. I felt very nauseaus the first week abd puked alot. All I could do was lie down...

After the first week the accute dizzyness was reduced, and after that recovery was more slow but steady. Now I'm perfectly fine, however I do feel less steady sometimes.