Dizziness

[terisandler]

Seven months post CK and now I am feeling dizzy. I've experienced lightheadedness on and off for years but feel considerably worse since the weekend. Glad I had an MRI on Friday and an appointment with my radiation oncologist tomorrow.

[TJ]

Terisandler

Please try to remember what we are going though is a process that can take years.  Having the feeling of being dizzy and balance issues could be many things including the swelling of the tumor from radiation.  It is not unusual to have various side effects for several years post CK

Hang in there,
TJ

[Echo]

Hi Terisandler,

I am 3 months post Gamma Knife and noticing some changes to my balance.  I remember my neurosurgeon telling me to watch for changes between 3 and 18 months post treatment, things could become more difficult before they become better.  I now tend to wander more from side to side when walking during the day and I still have my night time wobble.  Today I was out at lunch with some friends.  It was extremely cold out so they were walking quite quickly.  I tried to keep up but had to stop, everything was jumping all around me - up down and sideways. I've been dealing with buildings and sign's "jumping" when I walk, but nothing on the scale of what happened at noon today. I'm also struggling with walking at night right now with the Christmas lights on houses and trees. The lights make everything jump or twitch at night.  I've gone from thinking "wow this is really interesting" to "this is really annoying" .

I just keep reminding myself of what the neurosurgeon said and watching for any drastic changes.  I agree with TJ that this is a process we need to go through.  I have heard from several others here, that are 3 to 5 years out and they have moved beyond these side effects and are basically back to normal.  Lets hope we follow in their footsteps!

Hang in there and know that you are not alone. 
Cathie.
 

[Alison]

Hi, sorry to hear youre suffering from dizziness.

Just to let you know youre not alone. I'm nearly 12 months post SRS and although I had bad imbalance before treatment, it got worse at 3 months and has continued. I had an MRI at 4 months which showed "minimal growth", no measurements provided though. Some people see improvement after 6 months. Hopefully you will.

For me the 12th month has been the worst. I walk even more like a drunk and know exactly what you mean about the jumping world around you. Like you, I've been told swelling can go on for up to 18/24months. I'm due an MRI in Jan.

I hope your MRI result and appointment go OK. Let us know what they say. It's an unpredictable path we have to follow after treatment, and we have to hang on in there, with hopefully improvement ahead!

best wishes, Alison

[terisandler]

Thanks all.  I intellectually know these side effects like dizziness come after treatment and can last a while but I guess I don't expect them to worsen with time.   I suppose that mindset comes from thinking if I had CK my treatment wasn't all that "big a deal" which I know is not true.  The visit with the radiation oncologist went well.  The AN measures the same as before but there are some signs of necrosis.  No explanation why I have had some twitching and eye tics on the non AN side but nothing shows up in the MRI.  Follow up in 4 months.  And I can take meclizine for the dizziness and if that doesn't work it was recommended I check with the neurotologist to see if there is something else that may help.  To be continued...