Panicking: Need a rational take

Hi everyone,

Im new hĆØre and have been suffering of VM for the past two months: supposed to see Dr. S in two weeks. I feel lucky as I am still able to go out, (from time to time), go to school etc even if it obviously costs me a lot energy wise.

Im panicking because I read on here that VM can permanently damage your vestibular nerves??? I am now scared I will be dizzy forever and am obviously so freaking terrified. Iā€™d tjere anyway I can test for this before seeing dr. s??? How many of you have had daily chronic dizziness with no nerve damage???

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Hi. Just stop it. Stop panicking. Stop it now. Tell me exactly where you read this because I donā€™t believe it. Iā€™ve had MAV noticeably since 2003, probably had it all my life. Now with meds itā€™s under control. I guess thereā€™s a possibility nerve damage can cause migraine but I wouldnā€™t imagine the reverse to be true. I had it bad, really extremely bad - read my diary - I was far far worse than you are, I couldnā€™t leave my bed yet alone the house. Itā€™s a condition that lasts a long while but it does go away. If reading is causing you to panic stop it until after your appointment in two weeks. Anxiety will keep the MAV ball rolling better than anything. Oh, and worst case scenario with regard to nerve damage do appreciate that even if there were to be damage, damaged nerves will repair, they re-route (Iā€™m living proof of that too but relating to teeth not MAV) but that takes time too. Your World will not end. So donā€™t panic.

Me for One. Helen

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Iā€™m chronically dizzy. 7 years now. But no damage.your seeying dr s he is good. He will put you on the right meds to stop it earlier. I waited years before taking the medication route. Donā€™t panic you will get better

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@Dizzylady25, I wholeheartedly agree with Helen.
Try, try, try not to overthink this.
I did a caloric test at my ENT office about 3 months after MAV struck (did not have a diagnosis yet). The caloric testing showed I had 79% Vestibular loss (nerve damage) on my left side. Thatā€™s a huge amount of Vestibular loss!
I trudged on with Vestibular rehabilitation to help retrain the nerves that were still functioning.
After 11 months of hell, I finally saw a Vestibular specialist (Otolaryngologist) like Dr S. I brought along my caloric results and of course expected him to tell me the same as what I had heard before. However, he said ā€œI can see how the results were mis-read but you definitively have Vestibular Migraineā€. So, to the end point: I have no idea if I do or do not quite honestly. I do know that MAV can skew the typical testing, can show white matter lesions, can present with nystagmusā€¦ all of the things that would lead an uninformed Dr down the path of other awful conditions. Quite the little devil MAV is! :imp:
Donā€™t panic, leave your care in the hands of Dr S who is trained to identify the nuances of this condition. :sparkling_heart:

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I really want to thank all of you for taking the time to reply: I feel so much more calm now. So much more. Thank you for being so rational ā€” itā€™s so difficult when being faced with something youā€™ve never gone through or have any point of reference to remain calm!

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Just try and keep calm. It will go away with time. It will. Donā€™t doubt that. If research is worrying you, donā€™t do it. Do something to distract yourself and do something Positive to help yourself here and now. It might well be worthwhile you reading up on Deep Breathing and Relaxation exercises. Plenty on the internet,

I found it helpful to think up some sort of ā€˜Talk Me Upā€™ slogan - yoga people call them ā€˜mantrasā€™ I believe. Anything you can believe in. ā€˜This time next year Iā€™ll be betterā€™, ā€˜This will passā€™. My favourite long-term one was ā€˜70% better Nine months from nowā€™ which came from reading the attached. I used to repeat it to myself twenty and more times a day sometimes. I even marked the date on my calendar. Might sound daft but try it. It works. Helen
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/oct/14/health-healthandwellbeing

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