A Mysterious Illness with No Clear Diagnosis

If you’ve read My Story, you may have seen where I mentioned vestibular neuritis. This was a condition I thought I had back in 2015 from the research I had done. I never went to the doctor because I was able to manage things on my own. Eventually the episodes of dizziness/vertigo subsided as I continued my normal activities, allowing my brain to compensate for the inner ear loss, and I thought the worst was over. Little did I know that not long after that, in 2018, I would start developing other symptoms that were triggered by visual motion, head positions, and head movements. It’s been a battle trying to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it. The doctors don’t seem to know, or they have come up with diagnoses that don’t seem to fit. One that has been applied repeatedly is vestibular migraine. When I finally realized that doctors were not going to help, I began my own research and tried to figure out by trial-and-error what would work and what would not. On my own, I found supplements that really helped with my symptoms and my day-to-day activities. Other things that have also been helpful are hearing aids, computer glasses, and changes to make it more comfortable to see and read. My research, along with my test results and history, led me to believe over time that I had to have some kind of vestibular hypofunction, with the symptoms slowly increasing over time after my episode of vestibular neuritis in 2015. When I finally had some abnormalities on the right side uncovered in testing at the beginning of 2021, I figured that I might have some sort of neurological issue keeping me from compensating from that damage. However, later that year, I had additional tests that uncovered an abnormality on the left side as well. I now believe that my inability to compensate fully is due to a bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Below are links to posts detailing my journey with this mysterious illness.