Does Reading Trigger Anyone Else?

[westernmass]

I tried searching but couldn't find anything.

Recently it seems that my dizziness comes on while reading. Interesting bc this seems more "dizzy" than lightheaded. Comes on like a wave. The only other time I really feel this is sometimes while lying down- kind of a rush or wave of dizziness.

Anyone else? Any idea why?

[HopeSprings]

Yes. Well, I'm dizzy to begin with, but reading definitely makes it worse. Really any activity where I'm trying hard to focus my eyes or activities where I have to think hard or try to absorb information worsens things.

[Katybug]

Reading in and off itself doesn't trigger my symptoms. But, the position I read in does. I read to rest my head back. If I read for too long sitting up with my head bent forward and looking down, it will trigger me. For example, if I read while waiting at the doctor's office, I have to make sure I don't do it for too long or it will make me sick. I suspect it has something to do with the loss of cervical curve in my neck.

[heathmcev]

I get dizzy reading sometimes. It usually happens when I'm being overstimulated in general - like trying to read in a waiting room with flourescent lighting, which always makes me dizzy. The back & forth eye movement can mess me up. I don't know what to do about it but it's not fun . It may very well have to do with neck issues.

(null)

[jknh9]

Yes, reading and taking notes set me off. I had horrible issues with this in grad school before I knew what was going on. I've found that if I'm in a place with flourescent lighting trying to read it is much, much worse. I get the same rush feeling you described above with dizziness and also nausea. I am also susceptible to tension headaches in my neck.

[hippychic258]

I have this really bad!!! Its like you said waves of dizziness.

[diamondcut]

I too had this, they put it down to the migraines and the part of the vestibular brain that is the centre that processes so much information like balance, movement etc. Its all to do with blood flow to the brain with the POTs but if you are a migrainer you are far more likely to suffer with things like this and motion sickness too.

[westernmass]

Interesting- I do get migraines. Isn't pots fun?! LOL

[heathmcev]

Its all to do with blood flow to the brain with the POTs but if you are a migrainer you are far more likely to suffer with things like this and motion sickness too.

diamondcut - just out of curiosity, did your doctors say tell you this? I have been seeing so many specialists and floating this and they all scoff at it and say "there's no data". It's so frustrating. It totally makes sense though. They buy that the perfusion issues cause brain fog but are reluctant to tie it to the dizziness & nausea/migraine symptoms. Wish I could wear one of those doppler units on my head while I go about my day so they could see what's going on!!!

[diamondcut]

God yes, i went to a ENT specialist who ran every test from hearing to balance to filling your ears with warm water to bring on vertigo (was very unpleasant)

They were looking for things like Meniere's disease or what they highly suspected i had was BPPV (from what some of you are describing you may well have this and not realise it, its also eased with certain head and neck movements carried out by a Dr) I was housebound, couldnt look down to write my own name, nore have a conversation with 2 people across the room and look from left to right as vertigo would literally kick in!!! That i think was the lowest point of my POTs

.

But all these test came back negative so i was then reffered to a nuerologist who said its to do with low CFS pressure headaches and that alone adds to the migraine, never mind the fact i have EDS and on Midodrine so my poor little blood vesells in my brain dont know what to do

I was ruled out of having a CFS leak, so the conclusion was my vertigo, dizzyness and extreme nausea from simple daily tasks was the migraine predominantly!

The trick is you have to "re-train" your brain i was told. So i am on a mixture of POTs drugs and now when i feel i can, slowly start to do "Vestibular Rehabilitation Training" try googling it.

I can say im not cured, but i am writing this message now and 8 months ago i was a zombie that couldnt focus on anything less than 2ft in front of me.

Its kind of chicken or the egg, you need the pots meds to improve blood flow, you need migraine preventatives to stop the attacks as the vertigo and sickness can last days despite your migraine ending. You then need to slowly adjust your brain back to being able to "cope" with things.

My cosultant explained Vestibular brain training to be like being an ice skater, they had to practise and practise to spin around and around like that and not be sick, the more they practise, the easier it became. I know this is far easier said than done with dysautonomia but hey, im on my laptop and reading and writing now!!!

[Bayly]

Like diamondcut, I was totally disabled due to extreme motion sickness, inability to track anything with my eyes, etc. and after seeing more than 20 specialists over 3 years, the huge turning point for me was finding out that I had high antibodies to gluten. I scored extremely high on the antigliadin blood test that I asked my neurologist to run after reading on an ataxia blog that gluten could cause so many of the neuro problems I was experiencing.

I immediately stopped eating gluten and slowly improved over 6 months and was able to go back to work part time and then full time! I later found out that casein in dairy caused some of the same neuro problems, so now I follow a gluten free, dairy free diet and my migraine headaches and overall health has improved.

Don't give up on trying to find things that ease symptoms. There is hope!

[westernmass]

Thank you for that! I am finally getting allergy tested in a couple weeks. I am suspicious of gluten and dairy- was vegan for a while so know I could give up dairy again, but gluten... Not without being told to!