Vestibular Migraine
Back in December 2019 I was feeling kind of off all day, came home and had a short vertigo attack. Since that day I have experienced sharp shooting pain in my head, Ringing in my ears, pain in my ear, some neck pain, and off balance. The hardest part of the whole thing and the hardest to describe I will just call brain waves. It feels like a wave comes over my brain, the closest thing to this would be if you were severely sleep deprived and we're having microsleep's. I can get these anywhere from just a couple a day to 10 to 20 per hour, They are extremely annoying. The headaches and pain in my head can go from an average of 2 to 3 all the way up to a eight or nine, when they're at their max they are extremely hard to break I can't even break them with an injection of Imitrex. I have not been without a headache or offbalance in the last six months.
I have had an MRI and a CT scan of my brain, ears and neck all are negative. I have done some vestibular rehab with limited improvement. My official diagnosis from both my ENT and from my audiologist is vestibular migraine. I have been on 50 mg topamax and 50 mg metoprolol for about five weeks now with no improvement.
I am seriously at my wits end I don't know how people can go on living like this. I am hoping to get into John Hopkins for an evaluation I have completed all the paperwork and just waiting for a reply there has got to be some solution to this. One other note all of this started two weeks after I had the shingles vaccine maybe just a coincidence. Thanks
Uff, I hear how much you have been enduring with these awful symptoms, dpribula1. It is discouraging to finally have a diagnosis and treatments, but still to not find relief. I hope you will be able to have an evaluation with a specialist at Johns Hopkins. Having additional perspectives on your case can be valuable!
In doing some research, while headache can be a rare side effect from the shingles vaccine, those side effects listed seem to happen within the first few days of receiving the injection. This article from the CDC gives some information about the shingles vaccine: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html However, it is certainly worth continuing to mention to your doctors! Please keep us posted on how you are managing and what you learn from Johns Hopkins! We are here to listen anytime you need support. Wishing you a gentle day. ~Allyson (Migraine.com team)
