Hi everyone,

I've been dealing with this for around a year and it's completely changed my life. I'm not looking for a diagnosis over Reddit, but I'm wondering if anyone with vestibular migraine (or something similar) recognises this pattern. To preface Ive been keeping a diary on ChatGPT. I asked it to help me write this as I tend to go on and on and on. Im also going to post this in r?dysautonomia in case Ive got this all wrong.

How it started

The symptoms began completely suddenly while I was walking at work in a hospital. One second I felt completely normal, then it was almost like someone flicked a switch in my brain.

It wasn't spinning vertigo.

Instead I suddenly felt "different." My vision became soft or less sharp, my perception of the world changed and I felt strange in my head. I was so affected that I didn't feel safe driving home.

A brain MRI performed afterwards was normal.

What happens now

The strange head sensation is still my main symptom.

The best way I can describe it is that my brain feels overwhelmed or hyper-aware. It's much more than ordinary light-headedness.

When this happens:

• My tinnitus usually becomes much louder.
• My vision feels different.
• I feel disconnected or "off."
• Movement makes everything significantly worse.

One thing I've noticed is that the tinnitus and head symptoms are very closely linked. On good days I barely notice my tinnitus. On bad days it becomes extremely loud and the head symptoms follow shortly afterwards.

My biggest trigger

Movement.

Not just walking.

Getting dressed, bending over, reaching up, doing the washing, gardening or walking around a shop can all trigger it.

The strange thing is that the symptoms build over several minutes rather than happening instantly.

Once they've built to their peak, stopping doesn't make them disappear.

It's almost like climbing a hill. Once I reach the top, I stay there for an hour or sometimes several hours before the symptoms gradually settle.

Heart symptoms

I also have episodes where my heart rate increases much more than I would expect with activity, along with ectopic beats.

My cardiologist has found no structural heart disease.

ECGs, blood tests and oxygen levels have all been reassuring.

I'm on 2.5 mg bisoprolol, which helps control the heart rate response.

What makes this confusing

My symptoms fluctuate enormously.

Some days I can barely walk around the house.

Other days I can drive, walk 6,000-7,000 steps and spend hours out with very few problems.

That variability makes it difficult to understand what's happening.

Tests

So far I've had:

• Normal brain MRI
• Normal cardiac investigations
• Normal hearing tests
• ENT haven't found an ear problem
• Neurology haven't identified a cause (but have noted possible VM)

My question

Has anyone with vestibular migraine (or another vestibular disorder) experienced anything similar?

Especially:

• sudden onset,
• altered perception rather than spinning,
• tinnitus flaring with symptoms,
• movement making symptoms progressively worse,
• symptoms lingering for hours after activity,
• and normal investigations despite feeling extremely unwell.

I'm open-minded and genuinely interested in hearing from people with similar experiences.

Thank you for reading.

So today I received an council tax court summons for non payment of council tax for this tax year (April 2026 -)

Background:

Wife is a full time student. She is exempt from paying council tax. We have notified the council and they have sent an exemption notification to her and changed the property to single occupancy (25% dicount). Ive been off sick for 7 months from work due to a dibilitating neurological issue and Im currently undergoing investigations. For this reason Ive been on sick pay. I only have a 12 hour contract so Im low income. We are under Universal Credit - however as a married couple UC use my wifes student finance in our calculation. In turn the council is also using the same calculation. They are using my exempt wifes student finance on our income. She is exempt - our council tax is single occupancy. Im also on ver low incme (£380 a month). As UC are using both SF and my income the total monthly amount falls just outside the threshold for payment. This is now going to change as Im taking a career break at work to focus on health. My income will drop to 0.

What I did: I filled out council tax help form for myself when I applied for UC in March when we exhausted all our savings. I noted that I was on UC. I heard nothing. 4 weeks i recieved a payment reminder for non payment. I called up the council to find out what was going on. They told me that It was reviewed and rejected on the grounds that my exempt wifes student finance makes our income to high. Thing is they didnt notify me of this decision at the time. The first note that I recieved following the application was the letter of non-payment. Shes exempt though - its a single occupency council tax.

I tried explaining all this to the person I spoke to. We have received a hearing at a magistrates court in a few weeks. Im lost at how all this has come about. We cannot afford the £130 per month they are asking for and I dont undertand how an income of £380 and soon to be 0 means I have to pay the full council tax.

The question - Who's in the wrong? Is the judge likely to side with me during the hearing. We've worked really hard on building and maintaining our credit rating and history. Once the wife graduates we want to buy a house - we dont want a CCJ. I dont understand whats going on. As someone who suffers with a diagnosed severe anxiety disorder this is somewhat sent me spiralling. I dont use it as an excuse. Until falling ill - I work hard and studied hard at university.

Edit to add. I have applied for a capability to work add-on for my UC. This was done at the start but takes months to go through. The hope is whatever it is is treatable and ill be able to return to work in the future after ive had all my tests and begin treatment.

For as long as I can remember the consensus has always been sealed over graded cards. Sealed depreciates in availabilty over time whereas slabs appreciate in availabilty. In the modern market graded is vastly outperforming sealed - in some cards its considerable. Sunbreon, magikarp etc all $5k plus in a PSA 10. Its not just in isolation either - its happening across the board. You look at Sword & Shield booster boxes - gains are small in comparison. Youve got a celing of 2.5k atm on Evo Skies but many many PSA 10s from the last few years now in the multiple thousands.

My main position is in sealed as thats always been the safest bet but is the modern market majority for graded cards?

Or even for those who are working towards getting better. It's ruined my life for the best part of 15 years but recently its 100x worse than it used to be. I darent get my HR above 100 as it puts me into a major melt down. I really need to. My weight is the worst its ever been. I dont eat poorly and I dont overeat but I dont burn it off. Its miserable. My anxiety is the worst its ever been. Its causing massive cognitive issues aswell as severe debilitating dizziness. Brain scans have been normal as have other testing. CBT has been a failure. Its too broad. Needs to he targeted and focused. Nothing helps. Ive been off work since October and likely im about to lose my job. Im a nurse. I help people yet im failing to help my self. Ive been down very dark paths. To the pount where it was so severe my wife has had to call for help. Its been bad (im downplaying how bad as teigger warnings). Ive just been diagnosed with autism that actually was started by my cardiologist during my ablation (which has done nothing) and also suspected ADHD. I was diagnosed with GAD 12 years ago. Id love to hear those who are recovering. How? Maybe the replies will help those who are also struggling.