Labyrinthitis - Feeling sorry for myself

[jontyandevie]

This is my first ever post, so apologies if I don`t get it right.

I`m currently suffering my second bout of labyrinthitis - first was very mild as it lasted on and of for about 3 weeks.

This second bout has been much worse and four weeks on I still feel really light headed.It seemed to get a little better and then came back and hasnt "lifted". I can get on with life simply becuase with dd (4) and ds(6), I have to. I feel guilty because I feel so damned sorry for myself, as the world seems so weird

I`ve read some old posts on this site and there seems to be conflicting advice as to whether I should take the anti-histimines as they may do more harm in the long run.

I know there arent any easy "cures" but if there is anyone else who has had this, please tell me how long your bout (s) lasted and if anything helped

You poor thing, it's really miserable. I've only had it twice, but I get very travel sick so the labyrinthitis made me throw up all the time. I took anti-histimine based travel sickness pills which didn't help the dizziness but did stop me from throwing up all the time. It only lasted less than a week each time so it wasn't much of a problem to take travel-sickness pills, but obviously I couldn't have done that long term.

I seem to remember that there was a thread about this ages ago (probably a few years) on which there were some useful links. Some of the websites had head movement exercises. I think the principle was that if you try to minimise your movement then you can't re-educate your body to get used to the labyrinthitis, but if you move all the time your body will be forced to compensate for the weird sense of balance and you won't feel so bad, sort of like getting your sea-legs on a long journey by sea.

I hope you feel better soon.

This is the link that I was thinking of, it explains things quite well.

Thanks for the link - my biggest issue is me, the perpetual worrier so I need to get my head round the fact that this should go away, but there are no set timeframes. I will give the head excercises a go

Hi. I get labyrinthitis quite regularly ever since a really bad ear infection in about 2001. Like bran I get very travel sick so the labyrinthitis makes me very sick too - in fact when it's first coming on I notice the sickness before the dizziness. I found that after the first very bad bout in 2001, where the effects lasted for several weeks and I was really very ill for a few days, throwing up every half hour even lying in bed (not nice), repeat attacks became gradually less and less severe. But I made sure I always had some stemetil (I've also been prescribed a different drug, but I can't remember what it's called, I found it about equally effective). This gradual improvement was the case until I had a really bad go this summer - I didn't feel right for a couple of months I'm afraid. Usually I find it is triggered by the tail end of a cold, but not in this case. I was however incredibly stressed - horrible break-up - and to be absolutely honest I think it was crying a lot that did it! Re: the drugs, I've also been told by the GP that it's better not to take them if possible because if you mask the symptoms your balance system is slower to readjust. Over the summer I stopped taking them for that reason (and also because, total nightmare, I thought I might be pregnant), but then started again once I was sure not. The main problem I find is that they really knock me out, especially to start with. (But then I find I get v. tired with labyrinthitis anyway, apparently it's very exhausting because you're having to concentrate to balance all the time.) If you are sick with it, try all the standard morning sickness things (ginger, eating bland things all the time, sipping drinks) - apparently it's a v. similar mechanism and I found they really did help. So I try to strike a balance between using the drugs to keep going and not getting too reliant on them. (Also have to be careful as my mother is incredibly allergic to stemetil and had a really dangerous side-effect - though this is v. v. rare I think.) For the future, I find it helps to fend off attacks if I'm gentle with myself at the very tail end of a cold - when it seems to come on - and if I go to bed and get lets of rest, if possible, when I first start to feel strange. (Obviously crying uninterruptedly for weeks probably best avoided too!)

Oh and bear in mind that you may carry on feeling tired and feeble - and giddy on eg trains - for quite a long time after it otherwise seems better, and also that you may find that you feel dizzy at the end of the day, or when very tired, again after you are otherwise better. I found this depressing but I think it's normal and it does go completely eventually.

I havent got any advice, sorry, but you have my full sympathy, I had this middle ear infection and was off work for 6 weeks, in total it took 3 months to go.

Good luck, can you get any help from friends and family to look after children for a while.

I didn't have children when I had it and was crawling on the floor everywhere or I'd just fall over, was like feeling drunk continuously, not that I can remember feeling drunk since having children!!!!!

Oh Im so chuffed that Ive got such lovely replies "I was worried Id get "pull yourself together, thre are peoplein a far worse position than you, which I know is true". Im lucky in that I`m not sick, I just always feel dizzy.

Arionater I really empathise with the constant crying bringing it on, Sorry to hear about your break up, home you are Ok now. This second bout I`m sure came because I feel so stressed and anxious anyway- DH changing job to travel v long distances from next week and I HATE my horrid boring but stressful part time job and thats been making me cry.

I feel like my anxiety is feeding it but then that website did say that the inner ear impacts on the stress hormone, so that is probably not helping

Thanks again - its just nice to know I`m not alone

Thanks jonty - break-up still really messy, as we have to work together, and also just spent Christmas together (what a brilliant idea! or not) - but at least I'm not crying 24/7 as I was in August! and have just joined loads of silly dating websites to try to cheer myself up.

Interesting about the stress hormone, but I'm not surprised, it's so disorientating. Take it really gently and try to be patient with yourself though I know it's exasperating (especially as it's so invisible - hard for people to empathise I think - though I found explaining it was like constant sea-sickness helped with people who've ever had that!)

Arionater - thanks Ill use the sea sickness bit - I look fine (suppose thats a matter of opinion) and I dont want to be a moaner but I need reasons why I can`t go ice skating in Brum with my friends and their kids

Have fun with the dating - hopefully it will go some way to dry up those tears