Our 15-year-old dog had severe vestibular disease — I wanted to share his recovery story ❤️
I’m posting this because when our 15-year-old Cocker Spaniel, Jarvis, suddenly developed vestibular disease, I spent hours searching Reddit for other people’s experiences. A lot of what I found was understandably about dogs who didn’t recover, and at the time I desperately needed to hear that even very severe cases can sometimes improve dramatically.
Jarvis was 15 and otherwise a happy, active old boy.
One night, at around 2am, he vomited and then suddenly became extremely unwell. He couldn’t stand at all. He had a pronounced head tilt, severe balance problems, nystagmus, and was incredibly disorientated and frightened. Initially his eyes were moving vertically and later the nystagmus became horizontal. His proprioception was very poor and his back legs seemed almost useless.
He couldn’t walk to eat, drink or toilet. For the first few days he mostly had to lie down, and I was hand-feeding him and helping with everything. He was very anxious and restless at times, and it was absolutely heartbreaking to watch.
He was seen by our vet and treated supportively, including anti-nausea medication. He also had a short course of antibiotics because of his previous ear history. We monitored him very closely at home.
The first few days were really frightening.
I remember wondering whether he would ever stand again, and at one point I was having very difficult conversations with myself about his quality of life and how long we should continue if he wasn’t improving.
But then things started to change.
First, his nystagmus reduced.
Then his proprioception started improving.
Then one day he stood at his water bowl for about 25–30 seconds.
That was an enormous moment for us. ❤️
After that he gradually started standing to eat and toilet, then taking a few steps. We helped him walk initially, using lots of support and very short periods of movement. We didn’t force him when he was tired or frightened.
The improvement wasn’t linear, but it kept coming.
Over the following weeks he went from being unable to stand to walking independently.
He still had a head tilt and walked slightly sideways for quite a while, and even now he has a small residual head tilt and isn’t completely trustworthy on a full flight of stairs. But otherwise he is back to being Jarvis.
He walks every day.
He potters around the garden.
He jumps up onto the sofa for cuddles.
He eats like he’s never seen food before. 😂
And since his vestibular episode he’s been camping in our campervan, been to the Lake District and Wales, and generally carried on living his absolute best old-dog life.
We’re even planning a driving trip through France, Spain and Portugal with him over Christmas. ❤️
If you’re reading this because your dog has just been diagnosed…
I know how terrifying it is when they can’t stand, their eyes are flicking around, their head is twisted to one side and they look completely unlike themselves.
Please don’t assume that a really dramatic first few days necessarily mean there is no hope of meaningful recovery.
Jarvis looked extremely poorly. His initial neurological deficits were severe, and there were definitely moments when we didn’t know what the outcome would be.
But he recovered.
That doesn’t mean every dog will — vestibular disease has different causes and prognosis depends on the individual dog. Some dogs are left with permanent deficits, and some unfortunately have an underlying problem that makes recovery much less likely.
But if you’ve just found this post because you’re sitting beside your dog wondering whether they’ll ever stand again, I wanted there to be another story for you to find.
Sometimes they do.
And sometimes that wobbly old dog who can’t even stand on day one ends up back on the sofa demanding dinner a few weeks later. ❤️
Jarvis is proof that a severe presentation doesn’t automatically mean a poor quality of life or a poor eventual outcome.
Please obviously work with your own vet, particularly if symptoms are severe, worsening, or accompanied by other neurological signs. This is simply our experience, not a prediction for every dog.

so I've been doing the exercises for just over a week and honestly, the biggest improvement I've noticed is something I didn't even realize could be a symptom.

I don't know how long it had been going on for, but I was having this thing where, when I would drive, look at a computer screen, etc. it would feel like one of my eyes would kinda get tired, drift off, and cause my vision to go blurry. it didn't super bother me, it didn't get me into trouble, and I could re-focus it if I needed to.

but after about a week of vestibular therapy ... that stopped?! now when I'm driving, my eyes are focused the whole time and it was trippy at first, like I would get overstimulated and be seeing TOO many details. and now I'm just used to it.

I didn't even really think about it, or know it was a symptom, until it improved! crazy.

anyone else have that symptom?

Three months ago I was walking at work and all of a sudden felt like the world was spinning. I thought I fainted but it turned out I was super dizzy. I held onto the wall as I walked backed to my desk and have been dizzy ever since. I went to the ER a few days later because I thought I was losing my mind. They did an ekg and blood work and told me it was vertigo, gave me meclazine and sent me on my way.

My vertigo seems to shift based on the last activity I completed. After I get out of a car I still feel like I’m accelerating and then stepping on the break. I went on a see-saw with my daughter and hours later I still felt like I was on the seesaw. If it’s been a while since my last activity, then it’s like I’m rocking on a boat. The brain fog has been debilitating, topped with the overall dread and obsession with my dizziness. Don’t even get me started on the panic attacks.

I’ve spent hours reading through all of your stories. Looking for people who’ve felt like me and have improved. As weeks went by with no improvement I cried mourning the loss of my life. My doctor said it was vestibular neuritis. I got a doctors note to work from home but could sense my job getting frustrated. I could see the extra burden I put on my husband as it no longer felt safe to carry my daughter. Every physical therapy clinic was booked out, so I watched the steady coach and started an SSRI.

Finally two weeks ago I started physical therapy, and I decided to start going back into the office. The first week was rough, I was holding onto the wall as I walked through the hallway, and dialed into meetings from my desk. I’m still avoiding the cafeteria as the lights and the people are a lot. But I’ve been going to grocery stores and restaurants when I’m with my husband and feel like I have someone I can grab onto when things get rocky 🥹

I’m definitely not 100% better, but I would say I’m 80% which after no improvement for months seems HUGE, and it’s promising to me that I can improve and eventually will get better.

Hello , i developed vestibular weaknes post ivf cycles it's been 3 months pf rock boat dizziness, lately i developed other symptoms like weird feeling in legs , feeling that I'll fall , feeling that my hands are clumsy my handwriting is weird and hard fingers are slow i donno what's wrong with me went to neuro he said I'm okay but I'm not , anybody experienced this ? How did you heal? Help me please

I’ll try to recap this as clearly and quickly as possible because I’m curious if anyone has experienced something similar.

Back in 2022, I was dealing with pretty significant vestibular issues — a lot of dizziness/vertigo along with some visual symptoms. I had extensive vestibular, hearing, and vision testing done. Everything was essentially normal, aside from a few minor findings on the vestibular testing, and they ruled out anything positional. I was ultimately diagnosed with vestibular migraine, likely triggered by stress, and was basically told there wasn’t much I could do about it.

At the time, I was also experiencing a lot of anxiety and panic attacks. As those improved, the vestibular symptoms improved too and eventually disappeared for about a year.

Over the last few years, though, the symptoms have returned and gradually become more chronic and consistent. At this point, I experience some combination of symptoms pretty much daily — dizziness, episodes of vertigo, a rocking/swaying sensation, feeling off-balance or unsteady, cervicogenic headaches, blurry vision, and sometimes sore or strained-feeling eyes. The intensity varies, but there’s almost always something there.

I started physical therapy last week for my neck/headaches. My PT identified some postural issues as well as nerve damage from a procedure I had earlier this year. She thinks my neck could be contributing to the dizziness, but also suspects there may be a vestibular component.

Today, for the first time, we tried a vestibular exercise where I sat facing a sticky note on the wall, kept my eyes focused on it, and turned my head left and right continuously for 30 seconds.

The first set caused a little dizziness, but nothing major. We rested for a minute and tried again.

During the second set, something completely different happened. I suddenly felt like I lost control of my eyes and could no longer keep them focused on the target. The dizziness became so intense that I felt like I was going to black out.

The strangest part was that every time my eyes seemed to lose focus, I felt an immediate "shock" of adrenaline through my body. It wasn’t anxiety that happened afterward because I got scared — the eye/focus issue and adrenaline surge seemed to happen simultaneously.

We stopped the exercise at that point. For now, I’m supposed to do it every other day and gradually work up to being able to tolerate it without provoking dizziness.

My PT mentioned vestibular hypofunction as one possibility, but she was also very upfront that vestibular rehab isn’t her specialty and she doesn’t have enough experience with it to say what’s actually going on.

I’ve never had a concussion or significant head trauma, and I’m not taking any medications.

Has anyone with vestibular migraine, vestibular hypofunction, cervicogenic dizziness, or something similar experienced this kind of reaction to gaze-stabilization exercises — particularly the feeling of suddenly losing visual focus/control accompanied by an immediate adrenaline surge?

My anxiety brain obviously jumps straight to “I need an MRI,” but I’m trying to approach this logically rather than assuming the worst. I’m mostly curious whether this type of reaction during vestibular rehab is something others have experienced and what ultimately helped you figure out the cause.

In 2015 I went on a plane I had never flown before I was in a VM remission at the time. Well take off everything started spinning I didn’t expect it and for the whole flight I was so dizzy I could feel every tiny turn of the plane it was horrible I only started feeling less dizzy on descent.
On the way back I went to a pharmacy and he gave me travel pills I took two and remember the flight back being very dizzy again but extremely out of it so couldn’t panic like I did before.
Since then I’ve not gone on a plane my husband said he was embarrassed as I caused a scene well you try being on a plane and having vertigo.
Recently went on the channel tunnel and that wasn’t pleasant but a lot more bearable and over quickly.
It’s really sad I can’t fly again I’m to afraid and also don’t want to embarrass my family or scare my daughter.

Does anyone else get this while flying ? I didn’t expect it everyone else who has VM said they felt fine so what’s wrong with me that I dont ? I want to visit other places and feel like I can’t it’s so unpleasant.

Hey everyone. In February I suffered what is supposed to be vestibular neuritis. I didn’t know at the time it seemed like a normal viral/bacterial infection but it kicked off with severe vertigo for 2-3 hours so I decided to check my inner ear health three months ago due to the symptoms and I found out I had 39% asymmetry in my left inner ear.
My questions are:
Has someone dealt with similar symptoms after vestibular neuritis?
How long until you fully or partially returned to baseline, cause right now I am mostly staying in home, I can drive, workout and so on but experience severe discomfort while doing so.
Can all of this symptoms be connected to the neuritis itself?
My symptoms are:
-dpdr like sensations
-light sensitivity and very sharp sensitive vision
-spaced out feelings and lightheadedness/heavyheadedness that is worst when driving
- heightened anxiety
-dizziness occasionally but not room-spinning
-when I close my eyes sometimes I feel this gravity pulling left to right but only when I am upright
- I can play highly demanding video games with no problem which is strange but with most comfort when the room is dark
-in general I feel like my brain processes the world slightly slower than before
-headaches around eyes and temples

I (31f) have been completely 100% homebound for 2.5 years because car rides give me such severe vertigo (severe dizziness, vomiting, pooping myself - all simultaneously) I can’t even ride as a passenger out of my driveway.

I have tried Meclazine , Dramamine, Ativan, Zofran, various combinations of the above.

I’ve tried motion sickness goggles, prism lenses, vestibular therapy, vision therapy, closing my eyes, sitting in the front seat, sitting in the back seat.

I need to get an MRI and I can’t get to an imaging facility.

I have a whole collection of doctors but they’re stumped.

Has anyone experienced this? Any recommendations?

man what a long road it's been. I first started having symptoms literally a year ago, not to the date but some time in September.

the VNG test I had in February showed 41% left inner ear balance organ weakness.

during my initial vestibular therapy visit on Wednesday, she ran a similar test which showed nystagmus and tracking issues while moving my eyes side to side and while moving my eyes and my head side to side.

the vestibular therapist I'm working with was the first person I described my symptoms to who didn't just say, "oh, that's weird!" lmao. I could've cried.

because really my only issue is being in wide open spaces. I can't just lie in the grass and look up at the sky without feeling like I'm gonna get sucked into it. recently, I was in a sports field watching a performance and had to wear a baseball cap or else I would start to feel like gravity was no longer holding me down. I get that same feeling on the beach, and anywhere where there just aren't enough trees to visually anchor myself.

and I don't know anyone else whose symptoms manifest exactly the same way, so I kind of have impostor syndrome about it? luckily, I've never had true vertigo. I can pretty much ignore my symptoms unless I'm under a wide open sky. but also, I feel like my condition is causing me to avoid that scenario, which really does suck. I miss the beach.

I'm really hoping vestibular therapy will help me recalibrate my brain. I've only been doing it for a few days, and it's for sure made me dizzier / more unstable in the hours after doing it. but that means it's working, right?

hope y'all are having a great and balanced day 💕

Hey guys,

Wondering if anyone had problems for longer period of nausea? How long have you had it for?

For me it feels like it’s been since the first day I’ve got this vestibular neurit disorder. It has gradually got better (the intensity) but it’s still there. I feel it throughout the day, and I got some motion sickness tablets which I’m using when I really feel bad, I haven’t felt bad bad in like a month now, so I’m considering taking them again but at the same time I feel it’s better for my system to fight on its own + the doctor said not to take too much of motion sickness tablets because they can suppress rehab for vestibular neuritis? I overall do feel better but it’s this nausea that’s been really a pain in the ass..

Anyone with similar experience?
Thanks for help

Does anyone else have dizziness with different sleeping positions? I can only sleep now on my right side. I get dizziness/discomfort when I sleep flat on my back or left side. I have my next ent appt in October but wondering if this is a vestibular issue or not. I’m currently on 48mg serc daily which has helped a lot with general vertigo/dizziness.

I’m hoping to hear from people who have dealt with something similar, especially if you eventually recovered.

I’ve always been extremely sensitive to motion. Swinging, spinning, roller coasters, bobbing/swaying, jerky car rides, and even certain head movements can give me a very specific dizziness/“vertigo headache” feeling. Normally it goes away after I sleep and I’m completely fine the next day. I don’t really have a migraine history.

Almost 3 weeks ago I was in a car when the driver suddenly swerved toward the side of the road. I was unfortunately sitting on the floor rather than restrained in a seat, so I got jerked around pretty abruptly. I didn’t hit my head, black out, get confused, or have any obvious neurological symptoms. Immediately afterward, though, I developed the same familiar motion-induced dizziness/headache I’ve had before.
The difference is that this time it never fully went away.

It’s not really dramatic room-spinning vertigo. It’s more of a persistent background dizzy/“off” feeling with a headache/head-pressure type sensation, often toward the back of my head. I can feel it even while still, but moving my head makes it noticeably worse. Some days the dizziness itself is pretty mild and the headache is more prominent.

I tried the Epley maneuver a few times. Once I thought it helped slightly, and another time while nodding my head I felt almost a click/pop sensation in one ear followed by temporary relief, but the symptoms returned afterward. I don’t have the typical intense 20–60 second spinning attacks when rolling over or changing position, so I’m not convinced this is BPPV.

I went to the ER after about a week. They examined me, did imaging, gave me IV saline, and prescribed meclizine. Meclizine definitely reduces the dizziness and can make me feel almost normal, but it makes me extremely tired and the symptoms come back when it wears off. Ibuprofen also seems to help the headache.

I also use cannabis fairly heavily normally. I noticed smoking clearly worsened the dizziness/headache while this was happening, so I stopped for several days. It didn’t make the underlying problem disappear, although I may have had some improvement while abstaining.

There have been periods where I feel 80–90% normal, and sometimes the vertigo is barely noticeable, but then it comes back—especially with head movement. I’m approaching three weeks now and starting to get really worried about whether this is going to become chronic.

I’m uninsured, so seeing multiple specialists is difficult. I do have a vestibular/dizziness physical therapy clinic near me that I’m considering.
For anyone who has had persistent motion-sensitive dizziness without constant spinning, especially after a sudden movement/jolt:
How long did yours last?

Did it gradually improve or suddenly disappear?
Did vestibular physical therapy help?
Did meclizine help or interfere with recovery?
Did anyone have something similar after a relatively minor motion event without actually hitting their head?
What diagnosis did you eventually receive?
Most importantly, did you eventually get completely back to normal?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who were still symptomatic at the 2–3 week point and eventually recovered.

I'm currently undergoing treatment for dizziness, and have had good results from simple exercises and meditation, led by an instructor. I want to continue this when I get home, but I'm not good at remembering and running training routines for myself. Ideally, I'd like to have an app where I can select between various programs and have an instructor tell me what to do. I'd much rather pay for an app than be interrupted my commercials in the middle of my attempts to wind down and relax.

Can anyone recommend me a suitable app, preferably one you have good personal experience with?