Post-Covid dizziness/off-balance, as most troubling symptom

Posted by kirstenk2003 @kirstenk2003, Mar 30, 2022

I contracted Covid in December 2021 and am currently dealing with persistent dizziness (off balance, sometimes feels like swaying, rocking, spinning, or a pull to one side). My other most bothersome symptoms are ear ringing, headaches (pressure in the head), feelings of pressure change in my ears, trouble multitasking or thinking, along with developing anxiety/ depression and some elevated heart rate and blood pressure.

Dizziness was not a symptom of my initial infection. I developed dizziness (not BPPV) around January 15th. I saw a physical therapist who determined I had Vestibular Hypofunction and I began vestibular therapy. It seemed to be working and I even returned to my office job for about 3 weeks, restricted hours. Two weeks ago I began feeling worse again. My physical therapist believes my initial issue has improved - so he doesn't know what's causing my current onset of symptoms. I started an antihistamine to combat any allergy related ear fluid, along with an anxiety medication to try and improve my blood pressure and heart rate.

I'm going to see an ENT next, and hope that I haven't waited too long to try other remedies (if there are any). Has anyone else experienced this overwhelming dizziness and had positive results with treatment or answers as to the cause? I'm scared that this is going to be how I feel forever.

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@wisfamily

I had severe Covid in Dec 2020 and again in Sept 2021. I have to say what came AFTER that first Covid infection was far worse than actual COVID.

I had that lack of balance, also heavy legs, would fall, etc.. I still have some balance issues but they are improving. I had a couple of periods where I had Vertigo. Never had that before in my 58 years and happy to say that also seems to have gone away. Thankfully, that was awful.

Physical Therapy might be helpful specific to the balance issues . I used a wheeled walker a few times and now still use a cane here and there on days I feel extra off balance.

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I still have vertigo after c--twice--last time April of 2022
yes --a little alcohol or caffeine or a V8 juice--depends if I,m going somewhere
Therapy helped after the 1st time--didn't try the 2nd

I'm 86

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my daughter thinks some of the problems with my long Covid are from side effects of remdisivir--

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Kirstin
Your symptoms are very much like mine. Mine started with clogged ears, and cascaded into all that you mention. I've been in this for about two years. Had Covid 2/22.
For me it has been a gradual worsening of symptoms over that time, with additional symptoms coming on.
I am dizzy, now wear hearing aids (don’t help much), have blurry vision, tinnitus and hyperacusis and also constipation. It’s a real party.
I’m mostly housebound, but still going to various therapies. Early on I had Vestibular PT which did not change things for me.
I’ve been to all sorts of specialists, and now go to an Integrative medical group. I’ve been going there for about two months and as yet have had no dramatic improvement. They believe from my blood tests and symptoms, that EB has been reactivated. I don’t remember having Mono, but I apparently have a lot of inflammation. I’m having vitamin infusions and antihistamine therapy. I hope this will give me some relief....but, it hasn’t done much yet.
I do believe Functional Medical doctors and Integrative Medical doctors are our best bet for help.
Good luck.

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I know exactly what you mean. I have had dizziness and poor balance for a couple years or more. It started when I had COVID in November/December 2020 before the vaccine was out. I haven't been able to walk without a cane or sometimes 2 canes or a rollator, but even then I am not stable. I have been to numerous doctors including neurologists, ENT, chiropractors, acupuncturists etc with no improvement. I went to PT with a balance specialist (who was great) but no change. I applied to Mayo and got denied, so I applied again last week. I am convinced that at this point in time, there are no answers. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

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@jrg200911

@chrissy2470 I third that. I passed my 3-year anniversary post COVID in September. My heart and lung issues have mostly resolved, but brain fog and dizziness are still very debilitating. I am considered a "fall risk". I was a career bookkeeper and a writer. I considered myself extremely detail-oriented and dependable. Since post COVID I continue to make drastic costly errors in our business and personal bookkeeping. I no longer trust myself. I cannot focus to do any writing. I cannot focus enough to comprehend anything longer than a short article. I feel I sound like a bumbling idiot when I attempt conversations. Yes, hang in there. There is life while having chronic conditions - it just may be different than before. We humans are more resilient than we may think.

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Agree. Accept alternastive ways to live one's life. I had covid in March of 2020 (earlyy on) and the major symptom was thast I was so dizzy that I could not walk. It went away quickl. When KI got the vaccine a yr. later; a minth later I started to other (heart/lung) symptoms which eventually went away and have ended up primarily having chronic head tightmess and pressure, and not being as shar[ as I once was; along with a tingling in my arms and hands. I have a friend with LC for over 2 years now and we all concur with embracing one's resiliency and paying attention to treating your body well while dealing with chronic symptoms. That and seeking out a good doc who cares and will guide you to the right specialists...

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@wbbill

I still have vertigo after c--twice--last time April of 2022
yes --a little alcohol or caffeine or a V8 juice--depends if I,m going somewhere
Therapy helped after the 1st time--didn't try the 2nd

I'm 86

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Have you tried the Epley Maneuver?

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@shark37

Have you tried the Epley Maneuver?

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Yes, many times. Sometimes I learn that I need to keep doing it to get the crystals back in position, but most of the time, I do not get dizzy when doing it.

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I have not read all the posts. I have had Long COVID for over 3 years. I had dizziness. I tried PT as well. It turns out I have POTS. I saw a Cardiologist and wore a heart monitor for 2 weeks and had a tilt table tests among the many, many others. I still get dizzy but I wear an abdominal binder and it prevents my passing out. It took forever for me to be diagnosed, so I progressively got worse and had no idea how to manage it. You can also wear compression socks. I can't due to my neuropathy also due to Long COVID. Good Luck.

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After contracting COVID, the virus attacked my vestibular system causing multi-level damage. The symptoms will usually manifest as

-vision disturbances
- constant vertigo (usually without spinning, if you have spinning, believe it or not, you are luckier in the long-run)
-pulling sensations
-severe imbalance
-other "Secondary" crap you will endure like tingling, spasms, weird sensations, brain fog, tinnitus etc.

To give you some bg, I used to be a healthy individual, well built and very active. After contracting this disease, I was lost like many of you (mis-diagnosed, different opinions from doctors, neurologists, otlogists etc.). I also have the luxury of access to many hospitals and doctors where I have done repeated tests over the course of 3 months, and can conclude that, this disease will yield inconsistent results due to examiner errors and the nature of the infection itself (fluctuations).

I am no DR or practicing professional, but with all this back and forth medical banter taking me nowhere, I resorted to reading, lots of it. I am now very well versed and no doctor can enlighten me with info that i didnt already know (this has helped especially during revisits). My only hope now is exchanging experiences between us suffering individuals, and this is why I am here posting. Unfortunately, I am still not compensated or recovered but I have come to conclusion, that a lot of your ENT visits will result in false negatives.

From the posts ive read, your ENT visits are relying solely on teh basic VNG (could be due to the lack of equipment). From my experience and research, the "basic" VNG test alone is not enough, and this disease will cause damage to the superior nerve (among other things) and will not be visible via the usual VNG test that involves maneuvers and pursuit testing (VNG will show up as normal 95% of the time, in some cases, nystagmus will be present but will not be enough to diagnose your illness, and they will probably write it off as "mild" which is not the case at all). To add to that, make sure your VNG includes the calorics as ive also noticed some ENT's will not execute this examination among other useful testing like the video head impulse test (there are many more).

And for you out there with financial issues, you can do the cheaper tests (the 3 vemp tests) but they must be done in tandem, from there, your ENT can run you with the more expensive testing (some hospitals do not have the full VNG equipment but you will find them in the top 30 easily).

good luck to all and please share your experiences if you have managed to resolve your imbalance and dizziness from covid.

hope this helps

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@wbbill

my daughter thinks some of the problems with my long Covid are from side effects of remdisivir--

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never took remdisivir har dizzy spells.

My inner dislog tells me it is inner ear inflammation

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