Category
May 15, 2019
One question I tend to get a lot on social media is, “what are your vestibular migraine triggers?” “Do you have dizziness daily or just with migraine?” While most of us may have vestibular migraine (or VM,) I would venture to argue that all of our stories on how we first came down with this disease is specifically unique to you. Whether you were on a plane that caused your first inner ear problem or if you came down with...
April 4, 2019
Yesterday was normal. You woke up, drove to work, had a few drinks with friends during happy hour, cooked dinner, watched your favorite TV show and then went to sleep. Never in a million years would you think that a “normal day” would be something that could be taken for granted until you lose the ability to function, well, normally. Anyone who has been diagnosed with a vestibular disorder, or frankly any chronic illness, has mourned for their old life...
January 23, 2019
As an ambassador for VEDA, I receive a lot of emails from other vestibular disorder sufferers about my diet, fitness, and how I live a normal life. Unfortunately, experiencing the beginnings of a vestibular diagnosis tends to take most of us down the same dark road. It’s easy to lose hope and hard for a lot of us to imagine our “new normal” aside from being a prisoner of your house. So many people, like me, find themselves in the...
December 17, 2018
The holidays can be a fun, yet stressful time, especially if you’ve been recently diagnosed with vestibular migraines. It can be hard to want to go to a party when you’re fearful the food, lights, noise and overall environment are going to cause you to spin into a dizzy spell. While I wish I could tell you I had all of the perfected tips to make company parties, family/friend’s holiday parties and traveling home a breeze, I can give you...
October 31, 2018
Since I can remember, Halloween has always been something I look forward to each year. I love dressing up, the decorations, haunted houses, and scary movies. And while I patiently wait for October 31st each year, it now has a new significance to me. You see, two years ago on Halloween night, an evening at home watching a scary movie with my husband, turned into a horror well beyond the two-hour rental. What felt like a stroke mixed with a...
September 20, 2018
Something that has inspired me since being diagnosed with a vestibular disorder is seeing others “defeating their dizziness” by not giving up on the things they loved pre-diagnosis. I initially had a hard time with any hobby or activity that I used to love for fear of falling or feeling embarrassed that I looked drunk. However, a lot of time and healing has passed, and along with that, has come the confidence to get myself out of my dizzy comfort...
September 18, 2018
So often a vestibular migraine diagnosis is more than just being dizzy. It can be accompanied with chronic fatigue, light sensitivity, imbalance issues, hearing loss, tinnitus, brain fog, headaches and so much more. And when you’re already feeling awful it can be hard to want to pull yourself off the couch or find the energy after a long day to not only cook dinner but make sure that it’s migraine-friendly. But what if I told you that you could prepare...
September 16, 2018
October will be the two-year anniversary of my life-changing dizzy symptoms that would later reveal itself as a diagnosis of vestibular migraines and vestibular neuritis – permanently damaging my vestibular nerve. I will never be able to forget how a night home watching a scary movie with my husband turned into a horror well beyond the two-hour rental. Sensations of falling, spinning and melting into my couch convinced me I was having a stroke, but really, I would learn that...
August 22, 2018
If you have a chronic invisible illness, you know all too well that it’s easy for your friends and family to forget that you’re battling a disease each day. Heck, if you’re like me, you don’t even mention your daily symptoms anymore because what’s the point? Unless I’m needing to drive somewhere or am expected to go out for a birthday at the club, I don’t bore my inner circle with my tales of dizziness. However, while I’ve come a...
July 3, 2018
At 26-years-old, I was everything any career-focused millennial should be – stressed. I had moved to Dallas to live the dream. I wanted to be a mix of Carrie and Samantha from SATC and soak up the perks of living a fast-paced lifestyle. I worked a full-time job in public relations, freelanced on the side (because a full-time job wasn’t enough) and committed myself to countless social obligations. However, while the foundation of my life was sturdy, the more commitments...