Tired ? You might not be....

[tony]

I apologise for any repetition here but I thought to raise the profile of this for all.

Basically those of us with a single surviving balance nerve
(or a damaged nerve) will experience sensations of fatigue or tiredness – this is in part due to the compensation of the single balance nerve and the eyesight working together to balance.
In a strange way this part of the brain is now “overworking�
- and we get tired.
It is definitely the case that as our relearned balance gets better the tiredness gets better as well – so all the therapy and retraining is worth it.

However I have found that you can reset the mechanism by just a short break – a 5-10 min “cat-nap� with eyes shut (definitely shut)
will enable the overworked section to rest.
I do not recommend a full sleep during the day as this will tend to disturb sleep patterns at night.
Happy snoozing
Best regards
Tony
 

[matti]

Thanks for the info Tony.

I find that I get very, very tired after reading/ being on the computer for more than 10 to 15 minutes. Grocery shopping and driving are also a problem.  I have done vestibular therapy and not finding much relief after 8 years. I do take frequent breaks and little cat naps and you are right, it does help quite a bit.

Cheryl

[Battyp]

Thanks for the tips Tony...I actually did that tonight as I was exhausted and wanted to watch something on tv...now I'm regenerated!!  I was just told the same thing last week from the neuropschologist.  Said the fatigue is from brain overload.  I thought I was just lazy 

[Kilroy1976]

Good post Tony. I assumed that my fatigue was either from the radiation or the drugs, but the overworked balance nerve seems plausible as well. I may start trying your catnap remedy. Thanks!

[tony]

The tiredness is real for sure - but it can be easily fixed
good luck
Tony

[ppearl214]

I live for cat-naps Tony! Thanks for sharing this...

dr's also have me on low dose Valium (2mg) 2 times a day to help with the balance issue. Still get fatigued but not as bad.  But, I'll take those cat-naps whenever I can get them.

Thanks for sharing this!
Phyl

[Kilroy1976]

Does the Mother's Little Helper really make a difference for you? It seemed to do a little bit of good for me, but not enough to keep taking it.

[ppearl214]

Does the Mother's Little Helper really make a difference for you? It seemed to do a little bit of good for me, but not enough to keep taking it.

Hi Kilroy,

I'm assuming this post is for me? If so, it does seem to help, not make me tired, able to function at work (since it's so low dose and now I'm accustom to it).  There are still days I'm a bit off, but overall, the "better" days of balance due to the Vit V ouweigh the "bad" days.  BI wants me off it in the next month to see how I do and see if my balance improves as the vestibular nerve (as well as trigeminal nerve) showed no swelling in the MRI 2 wks ago.  So, hoping balance will be better then. Dr. Medbery made the recommendation of Vit V as he has seen others prescribe/use it with some success.  Says is helps to calm down the "overactive signals" the vestibular nerve gives off post radio-treatment.

Hope that helps.
Phyl

[Kilroy1976]

Yes, it was for you. I'm really glad that it helped you, but I haven't found anything that has helped my balance/dizziness problems yet. I had that problem before the radiation though; was yours a post-radiation symptom?

I take Neurontin for overactive signals in my facial nerve. Seems like kind of a similar thing that you're taking the Valium for.