big/sudden improvement - was this a fistula?
 

about a month ago i had a mild cold, but on top of everything else i wound up in bed for 3 days. when i got out of bed i noticed that balance and equilibrium were MUCH better than they'd been for the previous year. it was like my head was switched off of "vibrate mode".

although the "experts" were telling me that nothing was wrong with my ear that would affect balance or equilibrium, it seemed like there was a correlation between stuffy/congested and change (improvement) of vestibular symptoms. i was expecting my balance and equilibrium to decline as the post-cold congestion eased. now it's about a month later and i've had very few episodes of dizziness/disequilibrium.

since it's been a month since this big and sudden improvement, it seems like it's now time to push/challenge it.

over the last week i've been back on my bike a few times and last night i made it through a yoga class (i'm looking forward to the next class). i'm doing better with those things than i am with walking... at first that didn't make sense, but over the last year i've re-learned how to walk while ignoring vestibular feedback and focusing on visual/tactile feedback; now i have to un-learn that. getting on a bike, i had nothing to unlearn.

so, does this seem like a fistula? if it's been a month, does that mean it's healed, now?

i'd like to think that as i re-learn to walk, most cognitive capacity will return to pre-injury levels. my only concern is memory.

i'm still sleeping too much and eating too little, and waiting for an appointment with an endocrinologist to look into it.

relevant ear tests:
* pure tone audiogram - normal/excellent
* VEMP - normal
* calorics - normal, but not by much; weak on the side i landed on

Glad to hear you can walk straight.

I would not connect the vestibular improvements to any cognitive improvements. They are different and separate systems. Give the cognitive some time. Now that you wont be bothered by the vestibular symptoms, you can start to take inventory of your cognitive symptoms and learn work-arounds and other accommodations. Many cognitive dysfunctions can be overcome with work-arounds and other accommodations.

Tell us of your most bothersome cognitive issues and maybe someone has an idea of how to work with rather than against that dysfunction. There are oodles of ways to work-around cognitive dysfunctions.

My best to you.

I have a thought to share with you about this.

When fluid builds up in the middle ear, due to allergy or blockage of the eustachian tube for that ear, it will press on the ear drum
which has nerves connected to it and cause dizziness. In a worst case scenario it might be severe enough to be labeled vertigo.

Sinus congestion may cause this too.

In fact one test for the nerve function of the inner ear called an electronystagmogram blows air on the ear drum to stimulate these nerves and measure the nerve function and viability (they put electrodes on your head to measure this nerve).Water does the same thing with different results. Too much ear wax may also press on the eardrum causing dizziness:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_4759429_di...x-buildup.html

There is also a factoid for bipolar symptoms of mania. Putting cold water in the ear canal, somehow stimulates the ear drum and switches activity in the brain:
http://www.alternativedepressionther...wo-brains.html

So I don't know what "experts" told you what you claim. The nerves in the ear ARE there and have effects on perception.

the "experts" have been telling me that my "perception" of dizziness/vertigo/disequilibrium has nothing to do with damage to my ear, and has only to do with "hyper-vigilance".

after 20+ years of rock-climbing, martial arts (soft-style), cycling, dancing, extreme skating, some dabbling in ballet and yoga, etc, I KNOW when my balance sensors are working or not working. the "experts" have dismissed everything that doesn't fit their convenient model; lazy, crazy, lying and stupid.

@mark

i'm still re-learning how to walk straight (and at a normal pace), but i can ride a bike straight and do some of the tricky yoga positions without a problem (for the last year i've been off my bike, and it's been longer than that since i've done yoga, so i don't have to un-learn any coping techniques that i've adopted over the last year). for now, my walking pace is about one-half of normal; an improvement over one-third of normal.

my full neuro-psych evaluation just came in, and ranges from low-average (processing speed) to superior (verbal comprehension). overall i still feel "foggy" and slow, perhaps with most difficulties around memory. of course there's no pre-injury baseline, so my estimate of pre-injury abilities is just as useless as the NP's.

edit: over the last few months i've been more coherent, less foggy, etc... but still not quite right. pre-injury i was working as a well-paid computer geek, and i'm concerned about whether i'll be able to get myself back up to speed and stay there.

i'd like to think that conscious and unconscious compensation for balance has been contributing to my brain-drain, and as my balance system gets back on track the rest of my brain will follow.

I agree with Mrs D...there is a big connection between your perceptions of your whereabouts, vertigo, etc., and your cognitive functions.

I can't claim to understand it all fully. All I know is that as my daughter's visual system improves, so does her ability to concentrate for longer periods, her ability to understand complex verbal instructions, perform calculus equations, etc. Not to mention her ability to read for long periods and remember what she's read :)

In other words, perhaps your brain power was being consumed by helping you balance and perceive your surroundings. There wasn't enough left over for higher cognition.

For whatever reason I have become the board's cheerleader for vision therapy...so I have to suggest that if your ears are testing ok, then perhaps you need to get tested for ambient vision issues. Google post traumatic vision syndrome and you will see many of the symptoms you list.

In my daughter's case she continued to score 20/20 on vision tests but we now know she was actually seeing double for most of a year without really realizing it. I know it sounds too weird to be true. The vision therapist had her walk a straight line and we were STUNNED at how much she was compensating in her body to do so. He put a pair of sample prism glasses on her and her entire body straightened up.

It just might be worth some research for you. You might also google NORA vision.

All the best-

PS I don't know what any of this has to do with your stuffy nose/sudden improvement...sorry if I'm off topic for you.