You Can Help a Patient Like Manisha

Living with a vestibular condition is hard enough without being told that your symptoms are “all in your head.” Sadly, that is exactly what vestibular patients are told time and time again. 

Right now, there is a patient desperate to find a specialist who will believe that their symptoms are real, and they need your help. A gift of just $25 today will connect them to a qualified vestibular specialist. Will you send in a donation to help that patient find the healthcare provider that they need?

Manisha’s Story

Manisha was in this exact situation after a fall left her world spinning. 

She was enjoying a beautiful hike in 2018 when she tripped. She fell backward, bashing her head on the hard gravel path. Her head, neck, and shoulders were in severe pain. Her ears were ringing. She was overcome with fatigue. 

When she went to get checked out, she was told her symptoms didn’t need to be further evaluated or treated. “I was told I might have a ‘mild’ concussion, but since I didn’t lose consciousness and my brain imaging was normal, I was told not to worry and there was nothing that needed to be done,” Manisha explains. 

Her symptoms continued for several weeks and developed into intense headaches, brain fog, and dizziness.

She kept pushing to find answers and started regularly seeking medical help. She was going weekly to a wide range of specialists for her speech challenges, neck and back pain, and more. But the dizziness and brain fog largely went unexamined and untreated.  

For years Manisha visited different doctors from all different specialties trying to find answers. She was told over and over again that there was no physical explanation for her symptoms, and they must be due to fibromyalgia or anxiety. But the more medications she was put on for these conditions, the worse her dizziness got. 

Manisha’s symptoms were unbearable. “They progressed to the point where I couldn’t walk in a straight line without falling over, read a single line of text accurately, think straight, or speak without slurred or confused speech. I felt like I was intoxicated 24/7, without any control over my mind or body.”

She became desperate to find someone who understood that her condition was not just in her head. “I tried begging several doctors for help, but was routinely turned away, disbelieved, or accused of being purposefully difficult to understand and work with.”

“It took several years of complaints about poor balance, frequent falls and injuries, chronic head and neck pain, and other neuro, cognitive, and visual disturbances before a doctor mentioned the phrases ‘vestibular dysfunction’ or ‘migraine’ to me for the first time,” explains Manisha.  When she finally found doctors who recognized her vestibular disorders it opened up a new line of treatments and gave her hope.

Your Help Is Needed! 

It should not take years to find providers who will recognize your vestibular condition. 

Right now, there are patients just like Manisha going to doctor after doctor, pleading for someone to believe them. You can help a patient who is desperate for answers. Your $25 gift will connect a patient to a provider who will recognize their symptoms. 

Will you help one, two, or even three patients find the healthcare provider they need?

No one should be told that their symptoms are all in their head. With your help, a patient like Manisha will finally find a provider who understands what they are experiencing.

 

Help A Patient Now

Vestibular patients need your help finding a provider who will believe their symptoms are real. Your support is essential to funding the services that connect them with qualified vestibular healthcare providers. Please give today.