ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => Inquiries => Topic started by: b28 on November 24, 2011, 11:39:03 pm
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Lately I've noticed if I'm on my laptop on our couch and watching tv at the same time, it doesn't take long before I start to get real dizzy and tired. It happens from looking up at the tv and then down at the computer screen and up and down up and down and it's not like it's a big movement, the tv is just a little bit higher than the computer screen. It has also happened a couple of times when I'm sitting in my truck texting waiting for my daughter to get out of school and then looking up to watch for her. It also happened tonight at a family Christmas. I was sitting on the floor with my son helping him open presents and everyone else was sitting on chairs in front and to the sides of me and I kept looking up and down at my family and my son opening his presents on the floor in front of me.I haven't been diagnosed but have an MRI in the next couple of weeks. Does this sound AN related? Has anyone experienced this?
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I am not a doctor, but I do have an AN. When I look up and then down, I do feel dizzy just for a second. Of course that does not mean that you have an AN. You will have to wait until you get the doctor report.
Best of luck
TJ
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Thank you TJ. Mine lasts at least several minutes and I feel very dizzy and nauseous. There's a certain store I go to that has narrow aisles so when I'm in an aisle looking at the shelves I have to look up and down alot b/c I'm so close to the shelves and that makes me very unsteady and off balance to the point that I hang on to my cart. It's annoying. Anyone else experience that while shopping?
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Although I am not a doctor either but have had an AN, it sounds like you have a vestibular system problem. However, do keep in mind that many things can cause problems with that system besides an acoustic neuroma (otherwise known as a vestibular schwannoma). The only way to definitively diagnose an AN is by way of an MRI with contrast.
That being said, because the tumor is an overgrowth of the outer covering of the vestibular nerve, most people with ANs experience varying levels of disequilibrium or dizziness. Sometimes these symptoms occur years before the diagnosis and by the time hearing loss (or facial tingling or something else) send a person for an MRI, their brain has already compensated by using the other good vestibular nerve only to maintain balance and no longer have significant balance issues.
Most doctors will rule out inner ear involvement first with the vertigo you are describing, since ANs are relatively rare.
In my case, I have no working vestibular systems on either side. Therefore I experience what you are describing on a daily basis. Grocery stores are not "user friendly" for me so I grab a cart in any store that has one and hang on for the bulk of the time I am shopping. Needless to say Black Friday held no allure for me whatsoever! Looking up and down or side to side too quickly is something I have learned not to do if I am standing and not near something or someone to hang on to.
Just remember these symptoms can also be experienced with other medical conditions, as well.
Let us know what you find out.
Clarice