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It’s been 6 years now since this all started, and I can finally say I am around 95%. I have not had a migraine in 2 months, I am not on medication, and I go out every weekend to socialise and go dancing etc.

I STILL have triggers, but it is nowhere near as bad as when this all started. My main triggers now are extreme stress – I work in schools and the dizziness comes back after a stressful week, and goes again when I calm down!

So here are a few things I find were vital on my journey to recovery. When I say recovery, I will ALWAYS have a migraine brain but at least I am functioning nearly normally on a daily basis!

If you want to know my full story and how this came about, click here.

WALKING – At first I was bedridden on and off for at least two months. It was so severe my partner had to leave food by my bed and on some days I didn’t know how I would walk to the bathroom so I would crawl.

I also had to crawl to get up the stairs and it took so much out of me I had to sleep after. I couldn’t read or watch T.V. I would just lay my head down and have spin-outs in the middle of the night and every time I opened my eyes I just prayed to god that I would see clearly again but everything was still moving and it remained like this for 2 years – although on a lesser level as I started walking.

So how did I do it? On the days I was not in bed, my partner would finish work, and hold me up and we would walk around the block of flats where we lived. He did this for weeks at a time!

With time I got to the stage where every day I would walk laps around my living room until I got tired on my own, then rest. I then would take it further and walk a few meters to the end of the garden, and rest. I built up this routine to involve more laps as the weeks went on until I would walk outside the house and cross the small road to our local shop.

I used to say if I could make it to the shop, I could get an afternoon treat for myself like a chocolate bar. I was so dizzy I had to hold onto the brick walls to get there.

Once again, I continued this until I would walk further, around my block on a 5 minute walk. I live in Hammersmith and eventually, I got to the stage where I could walk up the busy high street for 10 minutes to reach a local coffee shop and sit down and rest up again.

I found the biggest reason for me getting better was by testing my vestibular system. I saw myself as a child all over again having to learn to walk, see etc. I did try multiple medications in the early days but I was just soooooooo dizzy, nothing seemed to work.

I finally managed to make it to 15 minute walks before I would feel exhausted and dizzy, jelly legs etc. This was around the 1 year mark.

Note: Please note I had to rest when I was really exhausted for a few days if needed, and then I would carry on walking again. It’s s fine balance between pushing yourself too much or doing too little to test my vestibular system and being mainly housebound.

Once I got THIS far, I went onto vestibular exercises.

VESTIBULAR EXERCISES – These exercises vary for everyone but click here to see the exercises I used to do. I was absolutely exhausted after trying these exercises and often felt DIZZIER! But over the months, I found I could ficus a little better and my balance improved. Once I realised they were working, I went to hospital once a week with a vestibular therapist that gave me exercises to try at home. I would then go back a week later and we would time how long I felt dizzy after doing a particular exercise. I found that over time, I felt dizzy less and less and then I could stop going.

MEDICATION – As mentioned, in the early days no meds seemed to work. The only thing I took if I went out anywhere for appointments etc was Stemetil which helped to take the edge of the dizziness a little.

I moved onto Flunarizine a calcium channel blocker 3 years later which seemed to help with my vision, but by this time I was already around 80% better without meds and I found this medication gave me low moods so I came off.

I am definitely not anti-meds and will look into the med route in the future if I find my full-time job working with children is getting too much and I need to take something as the dizziness comes back.

I also still have problems on and off with sleep and I need a good 8 hours a day or I will get burnt out. I take Zopiclone which is a sleeping medication on the nights where I can’t sleep and have to be up at 7 for work.

ACCEPTANCE – This was the hardest for me. Luckily in a way my dad was an ex marine and even though he had passed when I got this illness, I knew he would want me to fight it and push on. But all that fighting does nothing at all if you don’t accept it in the first place.

Rather than realise, Ok, I have this now, It will be here for life and I will need to take life a little easier and manage it, I at times pushed myself like I was ‘normal’ but this was my NEW normal and I had to get used to it.

Once I finally accepted, this is what I have now……. at the 2 year mark, I came on leaps and bounds as I started to create a treatment plan to get through it. I was no longer trying to carry on like my OLD self! I also had counselling to get me through this stage as I became very depressed and at times no longer wanted to be here. Click here to hear me talking about low moods.

Click here to see a video on me talking about learning acceptance with this condition.

GETTING ON WITH IT – In the early days, months, years I was a google fanatic. I would google until my eyes and dizziness couldn’t take anymore to find out HOW I could get better.

I was OBSESSED with my condition and how DIZZY I was feeling that morning. I found this made me feel WORSE! After a year or so I thought, fuck it. Just GET ON WITH IT! This is NOT going to stop me and take over my life anymore, dictate when I can see my friends, how far I can walk, if I can see properly again. I used the anger I had to march to the supermarket dizzy as hell and go food shopping. I was NOT going to let this illness dictate my life anymore!

I found that once I stopped obsessively thinking, ‘How dizzy am I today’ upon waking and just ‘getting on with it’ as best I could, I also started to recover faster.

Please note that EVERYONE is different, what might work for me may not work for you, but overall accepting this is your condition and realising the old you has gone but there is STILL a new you out there that can STILL have a life surrounded by family & friends can be vital in your first step to recovery and being kinder to yourself.

Through this I had to give up my university degree, I lost my job and the house I was renting, I even lost my 5 year relationship to the man I thought I would marry and friends too…… BUT…. I have moved to a new area, started to work again, made a ton of new friends, have started dating again and have an active and fin social life so HAVE HOPE!!!!!

Click here for more vestibular migraine videos

UPDATE! I wrote this post 3 years ago! I am not on any meds right now but recently I started to learn to rollerskate in the last few months and it’s going well!

I still get flareups if I am stressed and extremely tired on a consistent basis, then I can almost guarantee I will get dizzy and feel like I am on about for a few days until it all calms down.

I have nearly hit the 6-year mark as a vestibular migraine sufferer.

I know many have asked how I got back to ‘normal’ or should I say the NEW normal so here is a link to my Youtube channel for more info but this post is more about how I have to live my life now and what triggers I need to watch out for, as once you are hit with this, your life changes permanently.

I have had relapses that’s for sure! Most recently a 3-week relapse that was very severe and it led me to be bed bound for a few days again and then on and off dizziness for three weeks, but now I am back to 95% again and to be honest, I have found that since the very first attack all those years ago, I have NEVER gone back to how bad I was which has always been my biggest fear!

So how has my life changed?

Friends – In the past few years, I have learned to avoid friends and family members that can cause a lot of stress in my life. Seeing as stress is my NUMBER ONE trigger, I had to be more careful about who I let into my life and how I whom I spent the majority of my time with.

I no longer try to be a shoulder to cry on all the time, it is exhausting and I needed that energy for my recovery. You soon find your true friends throughout all this as the ones that you are no longer giving your undivided attention too will drop away whilst your true friends will stick by you.

I used to avoid certain people completely but now I try to balance it out to people that are fun to go out with socially ( Good time friends ) and the friends that are there for you 24/7 if need be and who truly have your back.

I have learned to say ‘No’ more and have stronger boundaries too. Over time people have come to understand my condition so will not pile their problems onto me or ask me for favours that they know will drain me or be highly stressful. I no longer feel guilty for this, it is a matter of survival.

Career – So my career went out the window. I was a full-time marketing manager for a big travel company and I had to give up my job as being on a computer for 8 hours a day was impossible.

Even now, writing this I find it very difficult. I get brain fog if I am on here too long and have to go back and correct a word in every sentence!

I decided to leave my job behind and I tried to work with children as a TA for around a year but this caused me to relapse as there were so many triggers for me! Stress, bright lights, loud noises and lots of movement. It became too much and I would find myself swaying when I was on lunch duty, not to mention as well as a TA I was a carer to a girl there that needed around the clock attention and certain medical needs and after a while, I had to just leave completely as I ended up taking so much time off sick, I was not there for her and it was unfair.

I still miss my kids so much…….

I now work part-time from home on my laptop and have hours that suit me. I cannot see myself going back to a full-time job again. Overall, I am a lot happier and healthier!

Exercise – I used to be very very active. I used to surf, run, go to the gym and all in all I have always loved sports.

I can now no longer go to the gym as I find any weights I lift will put pressure on my shoulders and neck and cause migraines. Also, any high impact sports such as running or Zumba for example, are a no go as any stomping causes migraines again.

So I started ice skating lol! I LOVED it! When coronavirus hit I had to give it up and instead took up rollerblading. It has been very challenging, not so much the balance funnily enough but the stamina needed and our bodies are working twice as hard as anyone else to keep us upright!

I used to say to my partner when you work out, your body gets tired, but when I work out, my brain gets tired and that’s worse as it sets off the chronic fatigue, dizziness, and problems with thinking, co-ordination, brain fog and difficulties speaking.

Roller blading is low impact and helps with my vestibular recovery.

I am also almost certain I have PPPD which is why I have been chronically dizzy for years and why it comes back if I am super stressed or anxious.

Stress – It’s hard to avoid in life and I find that a lot of people that have vestibular migraines tend to be highly strung, worriers or have a lot of anxiety too and I find this really does worsen our symptoms.

Ok, so I am so crap at meditation! But I lead a much slower and calmer life now. I wake up later, I rest for a few hours, I work, then I go for daily walks and fresh air or skate, go back to working again.

My meditation is actually reading my kindle in my local coffee shop every day. It helps me to zone out from all my worries and have a little bit of peace.

I am now also in Sweden and it has made a MASSIVE difference staying here in the country compared to London. No noise, lights, traffic, busy streets, people lol!

So yes, this is the NEW normal. it has taken a lot of getting used too, but I am happier, more settled in my life too. The career is not so important to me anymore, more being with loved ones and valuing friendship and simple things like a skate in Hyde Park with the sun on my face.

I may not be able to do everything I used to do, but instead, I have swapped them for other activities and a career that gives me a better work/life balance.

I can STILL drink and party really hard if I want too and dance for hours lol. But what I have learned with this illness is a one-off is ok, but to burn the candle at both ends regularly would be too risky.

Overall, I would say I am more rested and take each day as it comes. I rarely make big plans now that will lead up to anxiety etc, I am more ‘spur of the moment’ depending on my energy reserves.

I am also with a new partner for the last year that supports me 100% and I feel very calm around him. It is so vital we have that support from loved ones! Before I met him I thought I would rather be on my own than have to conform to someone else’s idea of how I should be….. how I should put on a brave face when I feel like crying, how I should just ‘get on with it’ etc.

You see, this illness is all about balance, not too much of this, not too much of that, but when you start to get that balance right, no matter how many years it could take you, life really does become worth living again..

Workplace health and safety are things that should always remain at the forefront of your mind as a business owner. After all, neglecting to do so means that you are putting your employees, customers, and business at risk. 

However, whether you’re dealing with high employee turnover rates or are struggling to keep up to date with changing industry regulations, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to establishing clear health and safety standards within your workplace.

With that in mind, here are four simple ways to improve health and safety within your business so that you can push your business to the next level. 

One: Invest in vital technology. While a savvy business owner is always on the lookout for ways to save money, safety is something that you should never cut corners on. As such, this is something that you should be willing to invest in consistently throughout the entire tenure of your business. 

For example, if you run a manufacturing site, you should purchase Welding Fume Extractors. This will help you to improve indoor air quality throughout your business premises, preventing respiratory complications among your team and ensuring your practices remain above board. 

Two: Train your team. According to a recent study, up to 80% of workplace accidents can be attributed to human error. Fortunately, this means that 80% of workplace accidents are preventable when your team receives adequate training. Not only should you ensure that employees receive thorough health and safety training as new hires, but you should also work to refresh their knowledge annually or whenever new equipment or tools are introduced. You may also benefit from sending employees on external health and safety courses so that you ensure you’re as prepared as possible. 

Three: Appoint a health and safety officer. It is the responsibility of every single employee who walks through the door to maintain high health and safety standards within your workplace. However, you can ensure that exceptional standards are maintained by appointing an on-site health and safety officer. This way, you have someone on hand to conduct thorough risk inspections and bring potential hazards or issues to light before they can cause problems for your team or business. 

Four: Understand what is required of you legally. As mentioned above, workplace health and safety laws and regulations are constantly shifting to make sure the needs of employees are prioritized above all else. As such, it’s crucial that you know what is required of you legally as an employer so you can put plans in place to protect yourself and your business. For example, it is your responsibility to maintain a clean, hazard-free workspace.

 If you find it hard to break down legal jargon or to understand legislation, consider working alongside a lawyer who can explain your duties and obligations in more detail. They can also aid in ensuring that your current health and safety policy is up to date or enact changes when necessary.

In short, while it may seem like a difficult task, there are many steps that you can take to improve workplace health and safety standards.