The End of March

Well, March seems to have been spent dealing with and recovering from the Labyrinthitis/vestibular neuritis. It wasn't until last week that I began to get my energy back (a bit) and the vertigo and constant headache became less of a problem. It helped that we had such glorious weather too. I've not been to the gym/pool all March, which is frustrating. However, I have been out birding a fair bit so I've not just been sat on the sofa deteriorating!

So....here's hoping April is a chance to get back to a normal routine. One thing's for sure, I want to get rid of the headache, which seems to have accompanied the virus. I'm not sure there's been a day in the last 5 weeks when I haven't had a headache (including today!).

As ever, onwards and upwards.....

Still not too well

This is the 3rd week when I've missed a gym session. The vertigo problem is still lingering although improving slowly. I've had a few mornings where I've woken up feeling nauseous because of the inner ear thing (I assume). The nerves seem particularly sensitive when in certain positions, lying horizontally. I'm also getting momentary flashes of vertigo if I scan a certain way with my eyes. Using binoculars for birding isn't very pleasant at the moment and reading can also induce the 'spinning' sensation. I don't feel confident using my eyes or turning my head, if that makes sense. I tend to have to do things slowly and deliberately, giving my brain plenty of warning.

Generally, I'm feeling exhausted mentally. I'm needing a lot of sleep and a lot of rest. My head gets tired easily when driving. This week the neighbour's tumble drier reduced me to tears of despair as it woke me up two mornings in a row when I was feeling particularly 'ill' and vulnerable. They followed it up later each day with another hour of droning and pulsing. Anyway, I won't get into that. I could write an entire blog on the years of stress and upset caused by that [insert expletive] machine!

In the midst of all this though, I did manage to get out to watch a couple of Short-eared Owls hunting over grassland locally. It was a beautiful, sunny, calm evening. The air was alive with the sound of Skylarks and the owls hunted undeterred by the horse riders, joggers, dog walkers etc all in the area. I wasn't really able to get the shutter speeds necessary for flight shots but the photo above gives a flavour of what I saw. The birds will leave for their breeding grounds in the next week or so, so I was glad to have made the effort to see them when we had the right conditions.

That's it really. The right hip structures remain a problem. The left shoulder remains a problem. My energy levels remain a problem. I really hope my inner ears don't get added to this list of chronic problems....

Labyrinthitis Revisited

I think I was rather optimistic when I posted on Friday. I suspect that the virus has returned as the symptoms have not subsided or improved. I've just re-read my post December 2010 (Here) and it seems that, last time around, it was my hearing that was most painfully effected. Over the past 3 days, it's very definitely been the vestibular nerve that's in trouble this time.

Sleeping has been a real problem the last two nights. On Friday night, I lay down carefully and very slowly tried to turn over. It caused acute, intolerable vertigo. I spent the rest of the night employing the following strategy in order to move/turn over in bed: waking up, sitting up carefully/slowly, turning my body slowly and then very carefully lowering myself onto my other side. This wasn't without its difficulties i.e. vertigo, but it was tolerable. Last night, I tried the same thing but it was impossible. I couldn't find a way of turning over and lying on my right side. Whenever I got to a certain angle/position, it was like I hit a raw nerve and the vertigo was instantaneous and overwhelmingly extreme. The sensation through my head was like hearing someone running their fingernails down a blackboard whilst also being spun round at 100 mph - really not pleasant. I'd grab my head and carefully try to return it to a position that was tolerable, whilst the spinning subsided. Ultimately, I slept on my left side all night without moving which meant that, to be frank, I hardly slept at all. This morning, once I was properly awake, I did make a concerted effort to see if I could lie on my right side. I managed to get into position but on swallowing hard, it obviously caught the nerve in my ear and the vertigo was as before. It's very strange that it's worst when I'm lying on my right side.

I tried to get out and do things on Saturday afternoon but my visual processing was also effected (like last time) and I felt drained from the effort of coping. Today, it's been raining and snowing(!) so I've not been out and not really moved. However, I've continued to experience momentary spins (where it feels like my eyes are suddenly spun round in my head very fast). Sudden movements physically or visually cause acute vertigo. I'm not looking forward to trying to sleep again tonight.

Other than that, my ears do feel slightly 'full' but that's it. The vertigo (with its visual processing irregularities) is the key problem. I hope it doesn't last much longer....

Labyrinthitis Symptoms Recur

Woke up this morning. Tried to sit up in bed and immediately fell down again as my brain had no concept of where I was in space. The room and my head were spinning wildly. As I collapsed back down, I felt nauseous and still felt like the room was spinning. I lay there for a good 10 minutes wondering if I was actually going to be able to get out of bed today. I wondered if I might have to email someone from my laptop by my bed and had visions of the fire brigade having to break down my front door, lol! Anyway, after about 15 minutes of lying there, the room steadied, and I very, very slowly lifted myself up onto my elbows. From there, I eventually got up to sitting on the bed, and finally stood up. It seemed that once I'd achieved a vertical position, the symptoms reduced and I've coped ok so far, although my ears feel blocked/full and my head is generally rather 'swirly'.

Since that first bout of Labyrinths, I did develop a level of tinnitus in my ears. It hasn't been too bothersome and is most noticeable lying in bed at night, in the quiet. Apparently, the recurrence of symptoms like today isn't necessarily another attack of the virus. In my case, it's probably brought on my tiredness/deviation from routine yesterday, and my brain has forgotten to apply the compensating measures it learnt after the damage caused to the vestibular system last time around. It's called 'decompensation'. I guess my brain/nervous system is a delicate flower and is going to have to relearn the compensating pathways it developed last time. Better that than another damaging infection though. Here's hoping.....