View Full Version : Labyrinthitis
Hi all i'mnew here and have been suffering with labyrinthitis for the last 4 weeks. Has anyone else had this? It's really getting me down in many ways i just want to be normal again! Is it too early to be worrying like i am? I saw the gp last week and he didnt seem to care at all! Just as i seem to have a slightly better day the next day i feel bad again. Please someone tell me i'm not going crazy!!
Hi Chaos36
yes i had that a few years back and it can take a long time to get rid off. I can also come and go when you get a virus (which happens to me) It is horrible, but unfortunately it's one of those where there is no pill to fix it.
I have labyrinthitis at the minute but I feel lightheaded/foggy headed, nausea, ringing in my ears, sore neck and at present I think I had an anxiety attack last night - took myself to bed after thinking I had shakes/jitters from not eating enough and found that I struggled to get to sleep because afte I was nodding off it was like my body forgot to breath an I would shock myself awake :-( not nice
Thought the labyrinthitis was getting better after having it for nearly 7 weeks now , saw my doctor on Friday and he said I have fluid behind the eardrums in both ears as well as white dot on one tonsil. I've been off work since the beginning of August as I find computer screens, supermarkets, bright lighting and crowds trigger dizzy moments - and I work in a supermarket on the till! Not good. Did get so low that I was thinking if giving up work but I have barely ha panic attacks the last few years and then started again in may but I was ok controlling them, then I had one end of July and got sick with labyrinthitis shortly afterwards and they have been horrible since. Currently enjoying the idea of choking on everything I try to eat which is a new one to me - fun!!!!!
Sammy so sorry you're having a difficult time!! Labyrinthitis really can be such a nightmare, and it's very normal to experience anxiety/panic with it as your brain is confused about all the mixed signals it's getting. If you try to remember that it can help you manage the anxiety a little better.
If your labyrinthitis has been going on this long then you could have a look to see if there is anyone in your area who specialises in Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy - they will be able to help you get your balance back again. It's a special kind of physiotherapy that focuses on your balance system.
Vestibular.org has lots of information you might find helpful, including information on different balance therapists around the world.
Feel better soon! x
I had it a few years back and it's one of the most awful things I've had to deal with in my life. Truly debilitating physically and mentally. I had to crawl around on my hands and knees for days and everything was a chore. I was scared to drive or do anything. It took a good few months for mine to totally get better and I still get the odd bout. I've also read that stress can bring it on? I don't know about that one, but it feels like it!
It's normal for it to continue for a while, if you feel nauseas with it the Dr can prescribe some meds to help, other than that it's a case of hanging in there and seeing it through. It really got me down, so I truly know how you feel. It's horrible and you think you'll never be normal again! You will, it's just time unfortunately. Hang in there.
Breezy sorry to see you've been through it too! It's really awful!
It's not that the labyrinthitis comes back, but more likely that your balance system is a little damaged from the initial bout. Your brain learns to compensate for this damage, but sometimes it decompensates for example when you're sick or stressed or sometimes totally randomly - that's why it comes back again.
Vestibular rehabilitation therapy can help you with the reoccuring bouts, if you'd like to tackle them. The therapist will help you work out what part of your balance system needs work and will give you exercises to help with it. They can usually get you to a place where you either wont experience this decompensation or where with the exercises you can recover from it much faster.
I had it a few years back and it's one of the most awful things I've had to deal with in my life. Truly debilitating physically and mentally. I had to crawl around on my hands and knees for days and everything was a chore. I was scared to drive or do anything. It took a good few months for mine to totally get better and I still get the odd bout. I've also read that stress can bring it on? I don't know about that one, but it feels like it!
It's normal for it to continue for a while, if you feel nauseas with it the Dr can prescribe some meds to help, other than that it's a case of hanging in there and seeing it through. It really got me down, so I truly know how you feel. It's horrible and you think you'll never be normal again! You will, it's just time unfortunately. Hang in there.
Thanks Breezy - its one of the most unpleasant things I have ever experienced.....I have gotten to the point - infact the day me and my partner got engaged (september 1st) my dizzyness triggered a huge panic attack that I couldnt enjoy our anniversary meal, I ate barely 3 potatoes and a bit of turkey and me and him planned a nice walk on the beach afterwards and as we drove to the beach it all got too much and I literally sat crying to my partner telling him how much I hated my life at the minute because this illness was so restricting. Before I would jump on a bus/train without a second thought and only recently have I been well enough to walk to the shop by myself and even then I have to fight the anxiety back but it was my lowest point I think. Fair play my partner is very loving and supportive though and sat with me for 20 minutes in the car and then said just see if I can take a babystep to the cafe and we will sit and have a coffee. I had to make a bee-line for the bathroom but then felt ok and we walked twenty minutes to the beach, we sat on a big piece of drift wood then and he proposed........it was very romantic and once we got back to the car he said he did at one point think I wasnt going to get out of the car when I had my wobble earlier so he was trying to think in his head of a way to propose in the car/cafe!
Wow went off on a tangent. That was one of my lowest points though and it made me realise just how many issues I seem to have at the minute between anxiety, labyrinthitis, food anxiety and just in general OCD worries.
need to get myself sorted I think but as soon as this labyrinthitis goes I will be taking my world back with both hands since it feels like its been stolen from me!
I had this start of last year, took months to go and when I get a bug these days I get a much more minor version of it that is manageable and normally only a day or two.
Truly awful when I had it, its like you become disabled over night, clinging onto walls to walk etc, supermarket floors with all the dots/repeating pattern was a nightmare.
V unpleasant. The only good thing is it wont actually hurt you.
Hi Smamykaye, Just read your post... This sounds like me! Although I haven't been given a diagnosis of Labrynthis they don't actually know whats wrong with me but I have a number of symptoms! My now fiancé proposed and we had a little drink up the pub with a lot of friends and I could only stay for an hour as I thought I was about to die.. the dizziness got that bad! I really struggle with it, even now :(
Your not alone... not sure if that makes you feel better and I also want my life back!
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