Vestibular Neuritis

[KandiFloss]

Vestibular problems

I have just read this thread with great interest. It's a great relief to have read that people have gone through something similar to myself, and that i'm not going mad .

Approx 5 weeks ago I went with my husband for lunch at his parents. I remember having what tasted like a really strong coffee (which I have since found out was 15 years old ), but as I drink strong coffee I wasn't too concerned. On the drive home I commented to my husband that the coffee was really strong as I was feeling a bit 'buzzy' (when you have too much caffeine). When I got home I felt really spaced out, and felt as though the vision (in my left eye) was poor. I remember picking up a magazine to read but I couldn’t read ... I could see that there were words on the page but I couldn't simply read the information. I was able to read one word at a time, think about the word and then read the next word, and repeat the process. It was really alarming as I can normally skim read information and pick out information really quickly.

The next morning I thought that I would be fine having had a sleep, but I wasn’t so I went to see my GP. She checked for retinal damage but couldn’t see any, and suggested that I went to get an eye test done. I got my eyes tested, which were fine. On the way out of the shop I felt really odd, it was as though I was in a dream, I knew that there were people around me, but it was as though they weren’t really there. I was lucky that my husband was with me because I feel that if he hadn’t have been I may have walked into things as I was unsteady.

I was still having difficulties the next day so I went to see my neighbour (a GP) who thought that I may have labyrinthitis (feeling hot + cold, and a little dizzy, and I also had the sensation that the floor was dropping away from underneath me a couple of times ... really odd) I went to back to see my own GP the next day who referred me to see a neurologist. The neurologist checked me for signs of stroke, and said that he felt that I might have a vestibular condition. He didn't think that I ahd labyrinthitis as he said that this doesn't affect your vision (although I have read that it can). To cut a long story short I had to have an MRI. When I went to get the results of the MRI I was upset because the scan came back showing signs of inflammation which really freaked me out. He said that the next thing to do would be to do a visual evoke potential test (not sure why he wanted me to have this done), and then possibly a spinal tap.

I’ve most recently had the Visual Evoke Potential test done, which i'm waiting for the results of.

Although i'm generally feeling better (can now read) and think that i'm getting over it there are still small signs that i'm still not 100% (I feel as though my brain is slow at the minute) and if I get stressed the symptoms are worse. If I do have a viral infection I just can’t believe that it’s taking so long to go.