My Recovery From Vestibular Migraines
I have been diagnosed with Vestibular Migraines.
My life changed dramatically on Christmas Eve 2015. I woke up that morning feeling extremely dizzy. We had family staying with us, so I was eager to get downstairs and enjoy our morning together. By the time I made it down the stairs and plopped myself into a chair, the dizziness turned into full blown vertigo. The room started spinning around me like a kaleidoscope. I had never in my life felt such a horrible feeling.
From that day on for the next 2 years, my life turned upside down. I went from bad to worse with all the crazy symptoms I experienced. I will try not to get too far into the details here, but my symptoms evolved as I went from doctor to doctor looking for answers. I went from a normal 46 year old woman to someone that couldn’t leave the house. My symptoms started out as feeling dizzy, then I couldn’t take any noise, strong smells, talking would make me dizzy from the vibration in my head, my neck hurt so bad that I couldn’t hold my head up, I had to keep my jaw as relaxed as possible or I would feel dizzy from the TMJ, I felt a constant swaying feeling as if I was on a boat, sometimes I felt as if I would drop a foot through the floor but hadn’t moved, when walking I felt I was being pulled to the right, I couldn’t write, type, cook or do anything that required concentration or I would feel dizzy, and just an overall feeling like my head was about to explode. This all caused extreme anxiety and my life had basically stopped.
I can’t tell you how thankful I am for my husband standing beside me through all of this. He was with me through every doctor appointment and would come home at lunchtime from work to check on me. He was afraid that I would take my life and he was right. Without a proper diagnosis and the baffled look on every doctor’s face, I started to give up hope.
It took about 1 ½ years for me to finally get the correct diagnosis, Vestibular Migraines. I cried with delight to finally have an answer.
I have decided to write a blog on everything I have learned along the way to my recovery. I still have moments here and there that I can feel a slight sway, but I know what causes it now. I know what to eat, what not to eat, how much sleep I need, how much stress I can handle, and what supplements to take. I am living a better life then I have for many years prior to my Vestibular Migraines. Most days I feel a 100%. I travel, work full time, jog, hike, swim, laugh, sing, and overall just enjoy life again.
If you would like to see the first video I did describing what I was going through, please see here: Vestibular Migraine Video (Part 1)
I also did an update video about 4 months into recovery: Vestibular Migraine Video (Part 2).
This blog is dedicated to getting back to my life and I sincerely hope that I can help you get back to yours.