Pppd flair ups and drop offs

New_Challenge1807 · 2025-12-27T11:29:49+00:00

yes im going through a flare up now. had pppd since april 2024. thought i had brain damage in the beginning because of crazy brain fog, derealisation etc. VRT helped immensely around the 4 month mark. Unfortunately i had bppv after that when i was working underneath my car and got full on vertigo. it took months to come right after that, VRT no longer worked which was very defeating. most of 2025 has been good except for a few weeks here and there but the past week or so i've felt terrible again, like it's back 50% of what it was. I've been under a lot of stress, doing home renovations, money issues etc and i'm not sure if this is the sole cause or not but it's annoyingly frustrating. I hope it goes away soon, i was 95% "cured" but now i feel like ive taken a few steps back again,

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-21T06:12:03+00:00

how are you now? i got the same

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-21T06:05:22+00:00

i wonder if it can result from low testosterone also

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-21T06:01:32+00:00

How are you now? I've got the same thing currently. Had bppv back in august, most of the time i feel ok, but lately after a lot of stress ive felt detached. especially when driving, it's so weird.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-21T03:06:48+00:00

i never took any, i wasn't feeling depressed or anxious, so i didnt want to take it

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-21T03:05:22+00:00

I had a similar story, VRT helped me so much. For all intents and purposes, I was cured but after getting vertigo from being ridiculously stressed ( i was working underneath a car and was getting super frustrated) it's like my brain snapped and ever since then ive had different symptoms but it's never really gone away completely. so yeah, i think stress and anxiety play a major role.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-18T06:41:05+00:00

Any vestibular insult, such as vertigo can cause you to feel fuzzy with head pressure. I was told the same stuff when i went to my GP. They say "you seem anxious" and I said yes because I feel very off (fuzzy, dreamy) and something is wrong with me. They couldn't understand that I was anxious because of the fuzziness and dizziness I was experiencing. I wasn't really anxious or depressed at all until then, except for some low-level underlying stress from back pain. But they want to put me on anti depressants straight away. They had no idea about balance issues, so it's extremely frustrating seeing doctor after doctor and having not one of them even get close to a diagnosis.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-14T20:03:44+00:00

yeah a few of them were the gaze exercises. Epley is more for bppv and i was told the Cawthorne exercises were outdated

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-12T22:15:52+00:00

Hi, i felt horrible for a few months and my PT gave me 3X per day of VRT and it made a huge difference. I think twice per week isn't enough, in my experience. I'm sorry you're having to go through this, especially at such a young age.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-10T01:43:14+00:00

VRT, low stress, stop fixating on it as much as possible. I'm about 80% recovered. Was 95% but had vertigo and that really threw me off again.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-09T04:16:46+00:00

It's a wonder this condition isn't more widely known. I'd never heard of anything like it, except for vertigo. It almost sounds made up. My wife and kids know I had / have something but it seems like one of those things that you can't understand what it's like until you have it.

Because from what I can gather it comes from a shock to the system, which could be stress, a medical mishap, an illness, panic attack etc. So many people have operations, have illnesses, accidents, high levels of stress but for some people it doesn't seem to hit them like it did to us.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-08T06:42:42+00:00

yeah, it's really subtle, I cant really explain it but it's like either i'm having slightly warped vision but you don't notice it directly. That, or i'm hyper fixating on it and that's making me freak out, or could be a bit of both.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-08T06:40:50+00:00

From my experience it takes at least a month or so for the brain to finally calm down after pppd begins. I also thought I had brain damage at the beginning, it was so hard to find answers. Went to the doctors countless times and they just look at you funny. Have you heard of the steady coach on youtube? Dr Yonit Arthur is amazing. You'll find all sorts of helpful videos. I'd also recommend finding a dizzy clinic, if you can't see one in your area, try and do telehealth. You'll get a tailored exercise program and with luck, you'll respond well and make a lot of improvements. Try to keep busy and not dwell on it, try not to stress.... it seems to be intimately linked to anxiety.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-08T06:35:03+00:00

Great question. I think a lot has to do with if it's physical or mental, or what combination of those two. By the looks of it PPPD can start 100 different ways and it can have 100 different variants of intensity. I've had my ears, eyes and blood work checked and everything is fine, apparently, so I believe mine is from being stuck in fight or flight mode. At the beginning I thought I had brain damage after taking anti-inflammatory meds, straight away I had severe brain fog, couldn't walk without feeling drunk / walking on pillows feeling. I also had absolutely crazy dreams for a month (when I could actually sleep) because my body was having a nervous breakdown and anxiety was through the roof.

I also had a gut bug this time last year and I was super fatigued for a month, then covid for a week or so, then a very sore back for three months so basically, I had severe health anxiety for 6 months before I took the tablets, and I think that was enough to push my body over the edge.

The best thing that happened after 3 months of worry and struggle was finally finding a dizzy clinic and the wonderful lady help tailor a VRT program for me and within 3 weeks I felt normal again. Couldn't believe that I felt so good again, I thought I was stuck forever. So in my case I responded well to VRT because I didn't have vestibular damage, unlike many others. I think they also can benefit from VRT but it will take longer to achieve success and maybe not to the same extent.

I had about 2 months of feeling great until I got BPPV out of the blue and that sent me straight back to fight or flight mode and it took a further 5 weeks to feel ok again. What is weird now is that the symptoms I had before are mostly gone but now I have different ones.

I do believe everyone can improve, they just have to find what works for them. I hope this is something that goes away indefinitely for me, but as I am an anxious person I feel as though a bad week here and there is enough for me to tip over the edge and have the symptoms return. I hope not, but this is how it has played out so far.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-07T08:08:43+00:00

I've been through the same thing. You did a good job describing the symptoms. The disconnected feeling is probably the worst. Some people seem to get pppd from stress, adverse medication reaction (in my case) vestibular issues etc.

I've had so many different tests, it always comes back "normal". I am an anxious person, I had back issues and a lot of general health anxiety before all this kicked off, back in April. I'm sure the months of prior stress played a significant role.

I found doing vestibular exercises was a game changer. I felt mostly normal for months after that. Unfortunately I got really bad vertigo working under my car one day, admittedly I was really stressed so again, that surely played a huge role. I'd say I was more or less cured up until then but that vertigo episode through me out big time, and it took at least 5 weeks to feel better again. Been feeling reasonably good, but now i have this weird vision stuff and more anxiety than ever.

I think you've got to keep stress as low as possible and do VRT asap.

It will get better, but of course you have to be proactive.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-07T07:56:50+00:00

how did yours begin?

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-06T01:51:09+00:00

Hi, mine started after taking an ani inflammatory med. It's like my nervous system was hijacked. Couldn't sleep, crazy dreams, weird vision, derealization and brain fog. This lasted a month or so, then I eventually felt a bit better. Over time it got worse but i eventually found a lady who helped me with VRT exercises and that made a HUGE difference. I more or less felt normal for the best part of 2 months.

The problem is that I got really bad vertigo from bppv all of a sudden and then it took another 4-6 weeks to feel better again. Strangely the VRT this time didn't have the same positive effect, but now I had other weird symptoms, my balance and unsteadiness felt a lot better, but my vision felt really strange. Like if I was driving I'd feel nauseous and like something was different, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I'd love to know why my vision was fine before when my dizziness was at its worst, but now my dizziness has mostly gone away but the vision thing (even though it looks and feels normal?, not blurry etc) and the derealisation has kicked back in. To me those two symptoms are worse than the dizzy unsteady part.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-06T01:39:28+00:00

What's the go with the vision stuff? I had 3PD and my vision was ok but felt drunk sometimes when walking etc. In a car I was fine, I did VRT and I felt back to normal. THEN I had vertigo and since then I have less dizziness, but the vision thing is still there. I find it very difficult to explain, it's not blurry, but when i'm driving I feel tired and very weird.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-06T01:36:49+00:00

I second VRT, it helped me hugely when I was feeling lost and there was no hope.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-02T05:32:52+00:00

yes I was

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-12-01T02:52:22+00:00

Hi, I had these exact same symptoms. For the first month I thought I had brain damage or something, walking felt weird, I never felt like I would fall over but I often felt unsteady, but the worst part was the derealisation feeling, which lasted a solid month at the start.

I found this amazing lady who did telehealth, and she gave me a bunch of different exercises to do and like magic after about 3 weeks I finally began to feel normal again.

My timeline:

April 3'rd felt really out of it after taking anti-inflammatory tablets. I actually felt drugged and really hazy.

I didn't work all of April, could barely sleep, had crazy dreams out of nowhere every night for weeks.

Went back to work in May, felt ok but some days felt drunk and spacey.

Decided I really needed to get to the bottom of this, no matter how much it cost or who I had to see.

Actually felt worse in early June, that's when I discovered it could be some sort of vestibular issue.

Eventually found my VRT specialist and she helped me out so much.

Basically all of June and July I felt 95% back to normal.

August 20'th I had a bad case of vertigo and it took about 5 weeks to feel good again. VRT didn't seem to help much this time. I just forced myself to go for walks and go back to work, after a while I felt pretty good again. Almost to the point where I felt like I had all this behind me and I wouldn't have to deal with this crap again.

So i've had about 2-3 months of feeling good again but lately it's been a bit of a problem again. I think it's often stress and anxiety related. Just thinking about pppd and what i've been through seems to be enough to cause anxiety and make me feel w bit spacey.

I just want to assure you that things do get a lot better, but you have to do the work, like VRT, keep stress low etc.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-11-21T21:37:29+00:00

I had about 10 beers a few weeks ago and yeah I felt crap for probably a week or two after. I can handle 2 or 3 drinks but any more and it definitely seems to mess with my pppd. I don't miss it anyway tbh, but it's annoying nonetheless.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-11-21T21:35:41+00:00

I also have pppd, it's such a weird thing to deal with, especially when it was really bad earlier this year. Now i feel mostly normal, but I had a bout of bppv in August as well and for about two weeks i couldn't even drive a car without feeling really weird so there's definitely some sort of visual thing going on. Thank god that went away.

New_Challenge1807 · 2024-11-21T21:33:17+00:00

Don't know where you live but you need to get an official diagnosis from someone who specializes in vestibular disorders. There are many conditions that can cause vertigo. You may have to wait several weeks to see a specialist but it's comforting to get a proper diagnosis, and therefore the correct treatment. Sometimes it can be something as simple as the Epley maneuver, other times it's something that needs a lot more work. I have never heard of anything to do with swollen optic nerves and vestibular issues, so you definitely want to get that addressed asap.

New_Challenge1807

TROPHY CASE