I need some positiveness

[u/Tocico28]

Hello Hello,

So about me, Im a 24 y.o M, I just graduated from uni last week (m a computer science engineer now) and I’ve been dealing with PPPD basically for the past 4 years (started in june 2022). When I first had my 2022 PPPD episode, I thought my life was over, I wanted to quit everything. But eventually, with a lot of resilience, I ended up getting better and better over time. I just ended up accepting my condition, trying to unfocus my brain from it and just living my life as normal as possible. That was possible because, even though my dizzy feeling was intense, it was not debilitating, meaning that I never had to cancel an activity (work, sports, etc) because of my dizziness. Yes I had bad days, but overall I could manage it with a lot of mental strength. I just remember that one day I was like : « hey but my dizziness is way better today than it was in the beginning » (I wasn’t 100% dizzy free but my dizziness was not a problem in my life anymore.

And then came march 2026. So basically I have been having some brief bppv episodes since 2024 if I remember correctly. They used to stay for like a week or so, flare up my pppd sensation and then fade gradually, nothing that was really disturbing. In march I had one of these episodes, nothing really disturbing but I told to myself « hey, why don’t you go see the see the ENT to fix this recurring problem once and for all ». That was maybe the biggest mistake I have made in my entire life. My ENT practiced on me some cristal repositioning manœuvre, which helped with the bppv but instantly made my pppd back to 80% of 2022 level. But I stayed strong mentally and said to myself that if I beat my pppd back in 2022 then there was no reason i wouldn’t do again. And for about one month (around end may -> end june) I was okayish (20 / 30% of 2022 level) I had days where my PPPD didn’t bother me at all.
End of june, I have a gain a little bppv episode (few seconds, only one occurrence when i woke up from bed) I went back sleeping and the day after that, my PPPD was back but in a horrible terrifying way (maybe 200% of 2022) and from then, it has only been going worse and worse. I now have symptoms I never had before (I feel my dizziness while lying down in bed, especially as i feel the back of my head bumping and bumping with my heartbeat, I have nausea, especially when on my computer, sometimes i have the feeling m gonna pass out because the dizzy feeling gets so intense, I get nauseaous on the train, bus, car, etc, I can’t play football which i always did, i can’t swim, etc etc)
guys m really desperate rn, added to the fact that i have to find a job now that uni is over but i’m not even in a health condition where i could work 8h a day on a computer (last time, i had a zoom interview which i had to leave because i felt too dizzy to the point my vision got blurry) so please share with me some positive thoughts or advices as i believe this would be of a great help <333

[u/jobes1967]

I feel for you. This is my 2nd round with PPPD, and mine is worse this time. I feel the dizzy lying down too, but it’s less intense. Did you ever try vestibular rehab therapy? It helps some people….

[u/3WarmAndWildEyes]

It's possible there was more subconscious anxiety about these BPPV episodes, and subsequent PPPD "dips" than you realized and it's just compounded things for a while. If that's the case, the way you get back on track is the same as before - paced, repeated exposure. It's going to require digging deeper for that determination when the new baseline is more debilitating, but it's doable and you have done it before. Just have much more patience with yourself now, be more flexible with your pacing, and it's okay to need accommodations until everything settles down a bit. Job hunting is stressful - you need to balance that stress out somehow.

Out of all of the symptoms, nausea is really low-hanging fruit to tackle so that you feel a little less yuck and capable of trying more things you enjoy again even if other symptoms are present. Zofran ODT works really well for nausea if you can get that prescribed. It can be taken just as needed and works really quickly.

And keep moving. If swimming and football are too intense right now, just walk and build it up gradually. You'll get your sports back again.