So I received a response from a post from a tough time. It made me realize I need to share my success in this battle. I worked hard at changing my lifestyle the most realistically possible. I cut out the worst foods, but didn’t stress about it. I got as much rest at regular times as I could, which included just time during the day where I could just escape to a quiet dark space for a few moments. I have been prescribed 100 mg nortriptylene daily, I take the whole amount about an hour before going to bed. I wear special glasses that block out blue and red wavelengths of light whenever under fluorescent, LED, or screen lighting. I try to maintain my eating and water routine as much as possible. I realized one of my biggest triggers was dehydration so I try to stay up on that as much as I can.
Anyway, what I have been doing has been working. I have not had an episode in a year and seven months. I have moments where different symptoms manifest, mostly ringing in the ears, and dizziness of course, but strong auras still appear. That is when I know I have stayed up too late, not had enough water, eaten too much cheddar, or many other silly triggers that bring this demon on. But with every passing day I grow less frightened, less stressed of recurrence. I have “cheated” on my regimen lately, just living life and being realistic, but I pay attention to the signs, ringing in the ears, auras, and dizziness. When I get these sign I know to buckle down and hydrate, rest, quiet, and eat right.
@fishman Congratulations on doing better and having “semi” control of your condition. Thanks so much for coming back to this site and telling us the good news! I know a lot of us need to hear it.
I think I get that amount of water a day (my biofeedback dr said drink even less as you get water from soup/apples/etc.) but I mostly drink when I’m thirsty which is a lot. My neurologist told me to stop at 100mg nortriptyline but I read one can go higher for migraines. When you say rest during the day, for how long and how many times (like naps in your bed)? Also are your special glasses therapecs? My doctor said I could use those for certain times to block out bright lights but to not wear them too often (I already wear prism anti-glare glasses).
Here’s the chart from Buchholz’s book, with a list of medications and dosage ranges. It’s a fairly old book now (2002) and it’s possible that his recommendations could have changed since then. chart_heal_your_headache.pdf (1.9 MB)
Rest during the day is just taking a break from noise and lights for a few minutes here and there, and just realizing not to push myself too hard. The glasses I got from Axon Optics and I wear them all day. They filter out certain red and blue wavelengths of light, which florescent, LEDs, and computer/phone screens emit high amounts of. My work is entirely florescent and high bay LED lighting, and part of the day I am in front of computer screens, so I don’t take them off and I have been wearing them for a year and a half. My work takes me outside as well so I got transition lenses as well, they have a lot of options and styles. I have told two other people who suffer from MAV and they work all day with computers, and it has helped them as well. My co-workers thought the glasses were funny looking, but I really don’t care because I’m not laying on the floor unable to open my eyes waiting for someone to drive me home!
I know exactly what you mean about the glasses.
When my symptoms started 2 1/2yrs ago, my best friend became a cheap pair of bulky sun glasses that went over the top of mine. Cutting out the brightness helps to a certain extent. Then one day, as we spend alot of time researching with any form of vertigo, i read about colourimatory. As a result I’ve got a normal pair of frames with a prescription of 3 different colours (pink, orange and grey) of lenses. Again they do help but I do find sometimes, in the daily office environment, that I need the extra cover from the other sunglasses too. Like you, who cares what you look like when it helps you get through day to day