New diagnosis after VHit

I have seen a new person today. I had a VHit. Itā€™s shows I have unilateral hypofunction in my right year. This is a new diagnosis for me. He also looked at my balance and said it was very bad. I will be starting VRT. I donā€™t know if this is why I have not got better with migraine meds as itā€™s only part of the problem. Iā€™m feeling quite confused with it all.

Hi Veena
Sorry to hear that you are having a tough time. If memory serves me correctly, I think that @manatee and @turnitaround are very well versed on the various ear and balance tests and what they mean. I remember seeing a post on here that @manatee did explaining the various tests and what they mean. Perhaps they will chime in here and offer you some advice on what it means and where to go from here. I personally had ENG/VNG/caloric tests done and while I had a 16% balance loss in my right ear it is not clinically significant and therefore was deemed not to be the cause of my imbalance.

Hereā€™s a good explanation of the test:

I had the vhit and vemp fine last month on the nhs. It was normal. But this vhit flagged up my right ear. Itā€™s so strange

Very good explanation that. I recall investigating VOR and thinking about a long journey to a balance centre up country. I was told by them before I embarked and spent alot of money to carry out the simple test there listed (picking a word on screen and head movements to see if it stayed sharp). When I tried it and it did they said your VORā€™s OK, donā€™t bother. Thatā€™s not your problem. Helen

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Never had these tests. Just Classic Manual Head Impulse Test where the consultant shakes your hand violently as if he/she is hoping your eyes might drop out and then stops as abruptly as he/she started and waits to observe eye movement. However, for such discrepancy, there must be an explanation. If tests donā€™t actually produce quantifiable results, as in a number/percentage which is compared to a normal range or some sort of mean, then it must surely be interpreted by the testerā€™s own ā€˜informedā€™ opinion which in light of two totally different results in a week must mean opinions cover a very wide range. So wide as to render results worthless one could possibly surmise. Before I did anything more I would want a much more detailed response from both testers. I would be seeking a full explanation. On further investigation I notice this modern version of Hit does give quantifiable results so Iā€™d want to see an explanation of them. Helen

Interesting, I thought I had every vestibular test done, guess not. I did the rotating chair though and everything was normal. I think the rotating chair also tests VOR.

I hope you get some relief with the VRT, it helps me a little bit from time to time.

The recent vhit I had was apparently very new machine where you do not need the goggles. It was all computerised and came up straight away about my right ear. The other vhit was on the nhs.

Iā€™m feeling as rough as a dog st the moment with the VRT

You may well do as you have an unstable migraine condition. I did. Helen

Darn, I know the feeling. Can you reduce the intensity/duration of the exercises? My rule of thumb was 30min after the exercises I should be feeling OK - maybe a bit worse, but not much. Then after an hour I should be back to baseline, which is still bad of course, but at least not worse. Sometimes I over did it and the whole day was worse, the term ā€œno pain no gainā€ certainly doesnā€™t apply with VRTā€¦ or any part of MAV reallyā€¦

I cnt seem to find the balance of the VRT and triggering migraine stuff. Feel so stuck.i am only doing the bare basics of the VRT too.

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Sorry to hear this veena. When I started I did 5 mins, took a break of 5 mins then did the second exercise. Overall, I always tried to do the set of exercises 3 times per day. My therapist told me that itā€™s OK to feel worse for a bit eg 30 mins but then you should go back to baseline.
He also told me that to do the exercises within the context of my day so if I was having a busy day with a lot of stuff involved to just do 1 exercise so everyday I had to make a judgement call on doing it.
Vrt did help me a fair bit but its the meds that have made the biggest impact.
Stay strong, maybe do the vrt every 2nd day for a while to see can it help. Take care x

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I know how stuck you feel. Maybe just give it a break for a few days and try again.

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I havenā€™t done it today. I will try to do it again tomorrow

Could I suggest that you contact the exercise provider and ask their opinion. Did they tell you what to expect? How often do you have to see them to assess your progress? I notice @ninā€™s provider gave her some further detail. The therapist I saw laid down the law to me very strictly considering how often, how many repetitions etc. She was a real Sergeant Major. But whoever you are working under should be available to offer you assistance,. Obviously everybody on here is behind you to offer support in any way they can but you should still be receiving support from your VRT exercise provider. Helen

He will be calling weekly to check progress. Also he had sed to drop the frequency down if itā€™s too much, he is very supportive. But unfortunately does not really thibk much as vm as a diagnosis.

Thatā€™s good. Like meds perhaps low and slow is the way to go. How does he check to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly. I know I was doing one incorrectly at one time that caused some extra difficulty, and also a couple of times exercises were made more simple rather than drop them altogether (eye exercises that was). Are you doing exercises involving head turning/eyes because that can cause problems if you wear prescription glasses. Helen

I will be seeying him in a month agen. Also he said he will Skype me if needed. He was very good. I felt like he understood my dizziness a lot, hexeed just by looking at me he cud see my eyes were jumpy. Did VRT help u Helen?

No. Didnā€™t help me at all. Quite the contrary. Helen