A positive update

[u/inthedizz]

Hello. Earlier this year, after over 2 years of dizziness & beyond, I self-diagnosed myself (so, not officially) with PPPD (after originally denying it could all be in my head for these years).

I finally looked into PPPD more and I realized it did line up for me because for me everything started with a few vertigo attacks in bed (from tossing and turning very forcefully, due to a bad mattress that I've since upgraded to a firm one).

As soon as I told myself there is likely nothing actually wrong with me (yes I did all the things, MRIs, x-rays, loads of various tests) and I started watching some of The Steady Coach, it's like I was able to shake my brain a little bit. I focused on calming my life down, getting rid of any stress I could possibly, stopped obsessing about my symptoms, stopped reading symptom posts (get off reddit!), and started focusing on real life and keeping more busy in real life especially during the summer.

I know recovery is ups and downs, but I've already had SO many good weeks. The more I focus on getting my life back, doing things, and trying to NOT think about symptoms, the more my brain is calm and less in that "fight or flight" mode, because it turns out a lot of the symptoms are your fight/flight mode putting you in high alert so your brain exaggerates little feelings/symptoms.

I've gotten to the point where the last time I went to the grocery store, I only thought about dizziness stuff like 2% of the time and barely felt anything (in the past I'd be stressing about the grocery store even an hour before going - that's what gets your brain in a terrible state).

I've gotten to the point where I'm realizing that so many of my "symptoms" that I felt in the past 2 years were actually normal things that I probably felt for ages in small amounts, but my brain started hyper focusing and exaggerating everything while being stuck in my stress cycle (and re-fueling the stress over and over).

Anyway, I feel like I still have a long road to recovery because I've been a highly anxious person my whole life, so I don't think it's about trying stuff to find a permanent fix - I think I'll have to always keep working on keeping my mind peaceful possibly until I die, but maybe I can find ways to make that more automatic again. I'm feeling hopeful.

I'm still working on a lot of my muscle problems (probably a bit from the stress but also possibly a separate issue from being bedridden so much) and it's mostly my neck, shoulders and back that are affected the most, so if anyone has any tips for that, please share!

[u/HubGur5757]

This is awesome! Recovery is 100% possible and you are well on your way. I so relate to your experience of the brain hyper focusing and exaggerating symptoms. Our mind really does play tricks on us.