Hard times will always reveal true friends.
I was 20 years old when my entire life changed. I had just been in a serious car accident and within a few months my symptoms started to affect me.
I was working late shifts as a waitress and my body just didn’t feel right. I knew something was wrong. Sometimes I felt as if I was walking on a boat. I started to experience more symptoms and my anxiety made it worse.
I was getting dismissed left and right many times and also advised to see a shrink. It was a 3 month wait to complete an in-person inner ear testing at my local hospital.
At first they said it was BPPV, then vestibular migraine. I’ve been to an ENT and an audiologist. I was told what tests to take to see if my inner ears were functioning properly. I had blood work and a CT scan.
I was scared and felt alone. I was living in constant fear. I fought hard each day to figure out what was wrong with me. I met up with my ENT, who is familiar with vestibular disorders, after testing was completed I was recently diagnosed with right saccular vestibular dysfunction.
I am still continuing this fight. My dizziness comes and goes every day of my life. Living life with daily symptoms is really hard, but I’ve learned to just push through. You don’t realise how much balance gets taken for granted until it is affected.
To those who suffer from vestibular disorders, I am here to tell you that we must continue this fight. This illness does not own us.