Question:
Does anyone out there have or had vertigo associated with
anxiety? My vertigo is gone after a few years of spinning, but I
still have bouts of it when I get excited or nervious. I have
been to ENT"s everything is neg. I have tried meds for aniety
the only one that agree's with me is Xanax. Shopping is always
an adventure I never know what to expect. I no longer can drive
I'm at the end of my rope. No I'm not suicidal I'm stressed!!
Answer:
Some involve dealing with the CAPD some involve dealing with the
AD that is triggered by it. First you figure out exactally what events
are setting you off. A wal-mart for example is a bad situation for
Vestibulars. First you have the store intercon system constantly
blaring. Remember we see plenty of threads of people having problems
with this perticular store. Try wearing ear plugs and see if the
attacks decrease while there. If you have trouble at family get to
gethers and can't figure that one out you are sitting there in a daze
hearing everyone and no-one makes sense go outside or to another room
where one conversation is going on. Do not try and have a conversation
with a room full of people with this disorder you probably can't and
trying to will result in an attack.
Driving that is a tricky one but can be dealt with. You have to figure
out your visual problems. Most of the times it takes an optometrist
that understands what to look for. Vision check in both eyes at the
same time is very esential. You will be very suprised how many doctors
check one eye then the other. You can indeed have vision in both eyes
and onloy have one eye functional even with 20/20 vision. This again
leads to sensory interpitation problems for depth perception you must
have both eyes. For depth perception you can judge distance by using
power poles, and white lines. But you have to remember in this equasion
your operating at less than capacity your brain knows this but you may
not. With this back streets with less traffic are recommended. The less
visual events the less you have to interpit the less the chance of
attack. Also wear a good pair of poloroid sunglasses outside especially
when driving near trees. The flashing or strobe effect of the light
coming in between the branches can trigger an attack as well.
Television and radio. Avoid AM type radio. The frequency ranges of the
audio constantly vary and more shrill unfilterd noise comes through. Fm
is more filtered and the back ground is quiter. The TV part is another
place for Vestibular attack central. You have to remember you are
dealing not in emotional response but sensory. The show may be funny
you may like it but your sensory system responds to what it sees real
or unreal it responds. High action special effects TV can trigger an
attack. Such things as the recent AD specials on HBO and 20/20 come to
mind. Stay away from strobe.
Computers Be very carefull when scrolling the screen or page. Go very
slow.
To understand what is happening think of a funnel. That is your sensory
system. It in this case is lets say smaller than most meaning limited
in its ability to allow but only a certain flow to come through. That
is all thats going to go through. Pour in too much and you have a
flood. A flood is danger. Danger to your sensory system in our case
sets off an attack. The attack isn't a danger the attack is the sensory
receptors are maxed out and when that happens just as in a computer you
have a crash.
I became OCD for quite a while due just to the fact my brain knew
something was wrong and I didn't. I'll explain. I worked as
amaintenance man at a health care facility with 200 beds. I also
watched the boilers. My last year of work was starting to really give
me problems especially with my memory. I would check the boiler do some
functions that required opening a series of valves then closing them. I
knew my job I had been doing it 5 years. During the last year I started
having trouble with remembering did I close some valves I would do it
but did not remember. I was doing two task at once. I would go back
into the boiler romm 5 minutes later and check myself then again 5
minutes later to make sure. I got to the point when I got off from work
I would call back in. Something was wrong My brain was trying to tell
me. I did not listen. Vestibular dydfunction makes multitasking very
difficult. I know that now. A lot of the OCD disappeared when the
multitasking work disappeared. In other words within a year after I
retired the OCD was for the most part gone.
The reason I stress this theory you can do a lot for yourself to still
do things. Some things you must avoid no therapy can change that. A lot
of the treatments being used will work against you not help you.
Medication wise that means any stimulants or anti-depressants.
Sedatives offer the best response as the work directly on the central
nervous system. Therapies some relaxing techniques being taught can
induce attacks one is an eye exercise. CBT was designed for phobias not
neurological damage. The more the exposure in this case the worst this
condition will become. You have to pick the times and places to go
where you want to go and try as much as possible to manipulate your
enviorment to your comfort. I'm not saying be a Hermit I'm saying limit
the ammount of trigger sources as much as possible, I've done well with
this. I go to Wal-mart about 3 times a month. I write down what i need
get it first and go from there. If it's busy I then leave if not and
I'm doing OK I shop until I feel the attack coming and I leave then not
10 minutes later. Also for myself when I know I am going to have to
lets say do the grocery shopping I will take extra medication before
hand my doc knows. I also know how to stop a full blown attack within
minutes if I have too and sometimes I do. Especially if my wife is with
me She is a quad and can not drive. I can chemically stop my attacks
within usually 10 minutes. I do not make that a habit though. For my AD
i only take Xanax. I do have severe spasms with my attacks and it
offers skelital relaxant properties.
What I posted is things I have learned in my 42 years of life dealing
with this. Plus I did learn quite a bit about the Vestibular system
when my wife became a quad. That is the second thing they loose. That
is why physical therapy for them includes a tilt table. I do not post
anything I feel will mislead anyone. I won't do it. I only post the
info I know about this when I see a thread with the person that looks
like a possible Vestibular AD. It's time for this to be reckonized and
excepted as a cause more than sufficent now exist to take it very
serious. I went through a lot of unnecessary treatments just because
Vestibular wasn't the first place checked even though I mentioned my
medical history. As i said it's not to mislead it t's ais my experience
with it very real. I am only trying to help a percentage of us that
have been left out of the AD loop when it comes to treatment thats all.
By the way I spent 5 years in weekly group therapy and did make a
convert out of my LCSW. He studied up on what I was telling him even
though he was fixing to retire.
These theories are for the most part new. 6 years ago I was said to
have A-Typical Anxiety Disorder. Today it is docummented as Vestibular.
Taking what I have said I honestly feel Vestibular is the reason for
the AD surge we are seeing. The reason is technology has brought us to
a point we are on the edge of our capacities to process information in
a lot of cases and that one extra special effect is the straw that
broke the camels back. Again I'm not here to disrupt or troll theres
too many people in this NG that know my real name through other E-mail.
I keep those names to myself as I do their E-mail. Those who know me
know that.
