Does anyone else suffer from a perceived feeling of motion when they close there eyes and occasionally with eyes open? Like rocking in a boat or swaying back and forth? This is one of my main symptoms.

I find after I "push it" or over stimulate myself this feeling gets worse. How can I determine if this is a vestibular nerve problem or my brain still not processing things correctly? Television seems to make it worse. It's the worst and most noticeable when I'm laying down with my eyes closed.

When I wake up, from a nap or a full nights rest, as soon as I open my eyes it seems like my brain has to adjust to what my eyes are seeing for a second. Everything is blurry and woozy. This only last for a second or two then goes away.

My general practitioner requested I start vestibular rehabilitation therapy. How do I know if my brain is ready to start the rehab? I'm concerned the focus and concentration of trying to balance will make things worse.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

Nitro

Yes. I do have that perception when my are open and looking at the computer when my head is very still. sometimes even looking at some one and talking I get that. I call it as visual dizziness.

YEp, I get that too.

One of the worst parts for me of this whole thing was feeling disoriented while driving and exiting the highway on a ramp. I'm normally an excellent driver. I pulled too closely to another car because my spatial reasoning is skewed. I got honked at and the sound made things visually start spinning. It was bizarre. I reacted solely out of intuition as if I were in a cloud of smoke and luckily made it through without hitting anyone. I was basically driving blind. Scary! Before that moment, I didn't realize how messed up my brain was or I wouldn't have gone out that day.

Me too. It happens to me off and on throughout the day and when I'm laying down with my eyes closed. I used to have vertigo (felt like twirling around) also, had a surgical repair done on my inner ear and don't have that problem anymore.

I also have elevated Intracranial Pressure (ICP), discovered during the ear surgery. My eyes are always blurry for a while when I get up and off and on throughout the day, especially after laying down. I know that part is from pressure on the optic nerves from the excess fluid. I am quite certain the raised ICP is from my concussion, I had no symptoms at all prior to the injury.

My doctor had me try vestibular rehab early on, it didn't help me at all because there was physical damage in my inner ear. I know others have been helped by it though. It's probably worth giving it a try, you'll be able to tell if it's helping and stop if it's making things worse. Good luck!

I've been lurking here for a while but had to jump in finally since this describes my primary symptom and problem.

My concussion happened on 4/2/2011. I touched wheels with a fellow bike rider while going about 25mph and ended up landing mostly on the left side of my head. I came to a halt by skidding on my helmet and shoulder. No loss of consciousness. I had a minor headache right after but otherwise felt fine. That night I went out for a few drinks with my wife and I can't remember much of the evening. After that I called my doctor.

I went to work the next week with a very light persistent headache. I was having a really hard time concentrating, it was like I had to flex my concentration muscle really hard, and my brain felt really weird. As the week went on things got worse until finally, almost two weeks later I decided to stay home and sleep after a particularly bad day. I woke up the next morning and I was dizzy -- the room spins around.

It's worse in the morning. When I reach over to turn off the alarm that makes the room spin. As the day progresses it gets a little better until I just feel like the room is very slightly moving all the time. Very annoying.

I was doing vestibular therapy and I thought it was helping. About a week ago I felt really great. In fact I was in the doctor for a follow up appointment one week ago today and we noticed that my balance had improved quite a bit. Yeah!

But just a few days later I woke up to the room spinning again, almost as bad as before. Just got off the phone with the doctor and I'm off to get an MRI next week.

I still have other residual symptoms. Mainly I hate loud, busy places. But the dizziness is by far the most annoying thing. Rest just seems to help me deal with it better -- so I can look at a computer screen, etc. But the dizziness remains. I'm totally baffled as to why it improved and then came back again so suddenly.

Wish I had some good advice!

Anybody want to take my bet that chitowndizzy's MRI will come back normal?

What are the doctors thinking when they order these expensive imaging systems for concussions when there is not specific indication of serious injury?

I guess they are just covering their thinking end.

True enough Mark. CT scan from a few weeks ago also came back negative.

To his credit, my doctor has been super conservative. To date it's been lots of rest, wait and see. The neurologist and subsequent ct scan was at my request.

I think he's worried that the dizziness went away then came back again. Personally, I want to see an ENT specialist to really figure out the root of the dizziness. But I'll let him do the MRI thing and talk to him about it Tuesday.

If anything, an MRI makes me feel like I'm being proactive. I'm sure folks can relate. This is one reason I really like doing the vestibular therapy -- at least I'm doing something.

Here's hoping lots of rest and quiet time with my noise cancelling headphones fixes everything before my MRI! 6 weeks later and I still think I'm just going to wake up one morning and feel normal.

It probably would be helpful to see an ENT, they can test for all types of ear issues, at least rule things out. It doesn't seem like most people on the forum have vertigo (the spinning sensation you're describing), so you may have something ear related going on. I did, got it fixed and no longer have the vertigo, just periodic waves of dizziness, not the same.

Just like other doctors, all ENT's are not equal, so do some homework before you choose one. I saw a regular ENT then switched to a neuro-otologist (specialty within ENT field) who has been fantastic.

There is a great informational website on dizziness and balance by a Dr. Hain. I found it after my doctor prescribed vestibular rehab early on and I was researching what exactly to expect.

I still hope I'll wake up and feel normal one of these days! I am a lot closer to "before" than I was though, so maybe after enough days I'll get there...we can all hope!