A DRIVER who knocked down a cyclist at a ‘nightmare junction’, leaving the rider with fractured ribs and an infection in one lung, has been fined £2,000.

The Magistrate’s Court heard that Michelle Ann Le Blond (57) had been turning from the Inner Road into Rue du Galet, in St Lawrence, at 6.30am on 17 February when she collided with the cyclist, who was wearing a high-visibility jacket and had his bike
lights turned on.

Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, said: ‘He [the cyclist] said he was feeling excruciating pain.

‘He was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there.’

The man suffered seven fractured ribs and soft-tissue damage to his arm and shoulder, the court heard. The broken bones caused bruising and lacerations to one lung, which became infected. He was discharged by the fracture clinic in June.

Le Blond admitted a charge of causing serious injury by careless driving.

Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’

He added that the case had now been hanging over Le Blond for seven months and had been causing her serious stress.

Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz described the accident as ‘a very brief lapse of concentration with very unfortunate consequences’ and decided not to ban Le Blond from driving.

She told her: ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2023/09/18/cyclist-suffered-seven-fractured-ribs-after-being-knocked-off-bike-by-motorist-at-nightmare-junction/

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

A DRIVER who knocked down a cyclist at a ‘nightmare junction’, leaving the rider with fractured ribs and an infection in one lung, has been fined £2,000.

He’s been swizzled…for two grand he could have killed someone, had he been riding a bicycle.

You know the case I’m referring to.

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2023/09/18/cyclist-suffered-seven-fractured-ribs-after-being-knocked-off-bike-by-motorist-at-nightmare-junction/

--
Spike

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QUOTE: A DRIVER who knocked down a cyclist at a ‘nightmare junction’, leaving the rider with fractured ribs and an infection in one lung, has been fined £2,000. ENDS

In what way is this junction a "nightmare"?
Is it still a "nightmare" in the absence of cars?

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On 20/09/2023 14:52, Simon Mason wrote:

A DRIVER who knocked down a cyclist at a ‘nightmare junction’, leaving the rider with fractured ribs and an infection in one lung, has been fined £2,000.

What sort of "infection"?

Was the motor vehicle so dirty that tetanus was a danger?

The Magistrate’s Court heard that Michelle Ann Le Blond (57) had been turning from the Inner Road into Rue du Galet, in St Lawrence, at 6.30am on 17 February when she collided with the cyclist, who was wearing a high-visibility jacket and had his

bike lights turned on.

Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, said: ‘He [the cyclist] said he was feeling excruciating pain.

Had compensation set in?

‘He was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there.’

Lucky really. It could have been worse. He might have een disgorged from
the ambulance and had to wait on a trolley.

The man suffered seven fractured ribs and soft-tissue damage to his arm and shoulder, the court heard. The broken bones caused bruising and lacerations to one lung, which became infected. He was discharged by the fracture clinic in June.

Broken ribs in his shoulder?

What sort of hosptal was this?

Le Blond admitted a charge of causing serious injury by careless driving. Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’
He added that the case had now been hanging over Le Blond for seven months and had been causing her serious stress.
Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz described the accident as ‘a very brief lapse of concentration with very unfortunate consequences’ and decided not to ban Le Blond from driving.
She told her: ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2023/09/18/cyclist-suffered-seven-fractured-ribs-after-being-knocked-off-bike-by-motorist-at-nightmare-junction/

Couldn't they just ban chav-bikes (and chavs) in the Channel Islands?


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QUOTE: Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ENDS

What a bizarre assertion - what can be " very difficult" about a junction? Surely that's down to the poor skill of the drivers using it?

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ENDS

What a bizarre assertion - what can be " very difficult" about a junction? Surely that's down to the poor skill of the drivers using it?

If the junction is known to be a hazard:

Walk your bicycle round it

Go by a different route

Use public transport

By a car.

Cyclists, eh? Not the sharpest tools in the box.

--
Spike

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On Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 6:49:21 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ENDS

What a bizarre assertion - what can be " very difficult" about a junction? Surely that's down to the poor skill of the drivers using it?

Must be "dangerous driving conditions" that they have on the weather news all the time- - whatever that is.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 6:49:21 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult
junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ENDS

What a bizarre assertion - what can be " very difficult" about a junction? >> Surely that's down to the poor skill of the drivers using it?

Must be "dangerous driving conditions" that they have on the weather news
all the time- - whatever that is.

It’s a system designed to inform people on what the weather is likely to
be.

--
Spike

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The Driver has suffered stress in addition the Magistate comforted her with ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’
Let's be candid, she could have killed someone, certainly she hospitalised the cyclist for 4 days, hardly just a scratch, it is significant bodily harm.

If she had been stopped for drink driving, she would have been banned. The purpose of drink driving law is to prevent accidents. Drivers are banned because they potentially could have caused an accident, here the lady involved did cause an accident
seriously hurt someone and she is comforted by the magistrate!! The whole point of road traffic law is to prevent preventable accidents.

When it happens it does not act with significant force.
If we take the situation off the road and into a work or social environment we would be looking at a prison sentence and significant heavy fines for the injuries caused
Drivers are over privileged and seemingly over-protected when they injure, nearly kill or kill someone. A driving licence is a privilege based on the driver being capable of preventing an accident. But when they do cause an accident it is considered a
lapse of concentration.

Magistrate Sarah Fitz has sent a very clear message to the drivers of Jersey, cyclists are fair game, injure as many as you like, their pain and suffering is nothing of consequence, compared to your privilege of being able to drive.
Mr Boothman's statement 'Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ is not a defence but an admission that anyone who uses it, knows it requires more caution.
Your reporting indicates more concern was given to stress of driver and little or no concern for an innocent person who was significantly injured and will almost certainly suffer long term consequences.

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On 21/09/2023 00:49, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said: ‘It is a very difficult junction. Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ENDS

What a bizarre assertion - what can be " very difficult" about a junction? Surely that's down to the poor skill of the drivers using it?

Have you never heard of the (official) phenomenon of the Accident Black
Spot?

Not all (well-recognised) highway engineering principles can be met at
some junctions. Sight lines would be an example. Also the risks which
arise from poor or non-existent maintenance of vegetation, blocking
views even when sightlines are adequate.

Not that you needed to concern yourself with any technicalities like
that whilst swabbing the decks on the night shift at that factory.

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QUOTE: Mr Boothman's statement 'Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ is not a defence but an admission that anyone who uses it, knows it requires more caution. ENDS

SPOT ON - TELL THE IDIOT DRIVERS USING IT.

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On 21/09/2023 10:06, Simon Mason wrote:

The Driver has suffered stress in addition the Magistate comforted her with ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’
Let's be candid, she could have killed someone, certainly she hospitalised the cyclist for 4 days, hardly just a scratch, it is significant bodily harm.

If she had been stopped for drink driving, she would have been banned. The purpose of drink driving law is to prevent accidents. Drivers are banned because they potentially could have caused an accident, here the lady involved did cause an accident

seriously hurt someone and she is comforted by the magistrate!! The whole point of road traffic law is to prevent preventable accidents.

When it happens it does not act with significant force.
If we take the situation off the road and into a work or social environment we would be looking at a prison sentence and significant heavy fines for the injuries caused
Drivers are over privileged and seemingly over-protected when they injure, nearly kill or kill someone. A driving licence is a privilege based on the driver being capable of preventing an accident. But when they do cause an accident it is considered a

lapse of concentration.

Magistrate Sarah Fitz has sent a very clear message to the drivers of Jersey, cyclists are fair game, injure as many as you like, their pain and suffering is nothing of consequence, compared to your privilege of being able to drive.
Mr Boothman's statement 'Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ is not a defence but an admission that anyone who uses it, knows it requires more caution.
Your reporting indicates more concern was given to stress of driver and little or no concern for an innocent person who was significantly injured and will almost certainly suffer long term consequences.

There are so many issues at play there.

And you don't understand a single one of them.

A hint: people can choose whether to drink and drive. They cannot choose whether or not to make a mistake of perception.

A ten year old would understand that. But not May Sun.

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QUOTE: The Driver has suffered stress in addition the Magistate comforted her with ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’
Let's be candid, she could have killed someone, certainly she hospitalised the cyclist for 4 days, hardly just a scratch, it is significant bodily harm. ENDS

WELL SAID.

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On 21/09/2023 10:16, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: The Driver has suffered stress in addition the Magistate comforted her with ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’
Let's be candid, she could have killed someone, certainly she hospitalised the cyclist for 4 days, hardly just a scratch, it is significant bodily harm. ENDS

WELL SAID.

In what way?

Please explain.

Be explicit.

Now come on... the questions have been limited to words of no more than
three syllables...

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On 21/09/2023 15:29, Spike wrote:

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: The Driver has suffered stress in addition the Magistate comforted
her with ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think
disqualification will help anyone.’

Let's be candid, she could have killed someone, certainly she
hospitalised the cyclist for 4 days, hardly just a scratch, it is
significant bodily harm. ENDS

WELL SAID.

Most of that four days will have been spent under observation.

Everyone agrees: You've gotta watch these chav-cyclists.

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QUOTE: The Magistrate’s Court heard that Michelle Ann Le Blond (57) had been turning from the Inner Road into Rue du Galet, in St Lawrence, at 6.30am on 17 February when she collided with the cyclist, who was wearing a high-visibility jacket and had
his bike lights turned on. ENDS

The cyclist was not wearing a high powered arc lamp so it was his fault.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: The Driver has suffered stress in addition the Magistate comforted
her with ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’

Let's be candid, she could have killed someone, certainly she
hospitalised the cyclist for 4 days, hardly just a scratch, it is
significant bodily harm. ENDS

WELL SAID.

Most of that four days will have been spent under observation.

--
Spike

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: The Magistrate’s Court heard that Michelle Ann Le Blond (57) had been turning from the Inner Road into Rue du Galet, in St Lawrence, at
6.30am on 17 February when she collided with the cyclist, who was wearing
a high-visibility jacket and had his bike lights turned on. ENDS

The cyclist was not wearing a high powered arc lamp so it was his fault.

I can find the Rue du Galet, but there doesn’t seem to be a road called ‘Inner Road’ in St Lawrence, only roads having a junction with the RduG that have other names.

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Spike

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QUOTE: Le Blond admitted a charge of causing serious injury by careless driving. ENDS

Fessing up early doors led to no ban - standard SOP.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: Le Blond admitted a charge of causing serious injury by careless driving. ENDS

Fessing up early doors led to no ban - standard SOP.

But that’s what you have recommended on so many occasions. Are you saying you’ve changed your mind?

--
Spike

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QUOTE: Mr Boothman's statement 'Anyone who uses it knows it as something of a nightmare.’ is not a defence but an admission that anyone who uses it, knows it requires more caution.ENDS

It just gives free rein to the idiots to drive like lunatics and then put the blame on the road layout. Like the "low flying Sun" garbage.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: Mr Boothman's statement 'Anyone who uses it knows it as something
of a nightmare.’ is not a defence but an admission that anyone who uses
it, knows it requires more caution.ENDS

It just gives free rein to the idiots to drive like lunatics and then put
the blame on the road layout. Like the "low flying Sun" garbage.

So in your world no-one is ever blinded by the sun?

--
Spike

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QUOTE: She told her: ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’ ENDS

What about children, pedestrians, horses and other cyclists put at risk by this dangerous idiot?

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QUOTE: He added that the case had now been hanging over Le Blond for seven months and had been causing her serious stress. END

//The man suffered seven fractured ribs and soft-tissue damage to his arm and shoulder, the court heard. The broken bones caused bruising and lacerations to one lung, which became infected. He was discharged by the fracture clinic in June//
--------------------------------

Think of the "stress" the poor driver went through - the poor baby!

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On 22/09/2023 10:31, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: She told her: ‘You’ve learnt a very hard lesson and I don’t think disqualification will help anyone.’ ENDS

What about children, pedestrians, horses and other cyclists put at risk by this dangerous idiot?

What are you talking about?

[I'm being charitable in assuming that you know.]

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: He added that the case had now been hanging over Le Blond for
seven months and had been causing her serious stress. END

//The man suffered seven fractured ribs and soft-tissue damage to his arm
and shoulder, the court heard. The broken bones caused bruising and lacerations to one lung, which became infected. He was discharged by the fracture clinic in June//
--------------------------------

Think of the "stress" the poor driver went through - the poor baby!

Perhaps almost enough to make one jump off a bridge?

--
Spike

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QUOTE: The advocate said: "He said he was feeling excruciating pain. He was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there." ENDS

Not really going to challenge my 121 days in hospital, plus a broken left leg full of pus from MRSA infection and a deadly Fentanyl addiction. :-)

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QUOTE: The Magistrate’s Court heard that Michelle Ann Le Blond (57) had been turning from the Inner Road into Rue du Galet, in St Lawrence, at 6.30am on 17 February when she collided with the cyclist, who was wearing a high-visibility jacket and had
his bike lights turned on. ENDS

No "low flying Suns" as it was very dark at the time. That excuse would have been laughable if it was used in the trial.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: The advocate said: "He said he was feeling excruciating pain. He
was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there." ENDS

Not really going to challenge my 121 days in hospital, plus a broken left
leg full of pus from MRSA infection and a deadly Fentanyl addiction. :-)

What was the compo like?

--
Spike

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On 22/09/2023 14:05, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: The advocate said: "He said he was feeling excruciating pain. He was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there." ENDS

Not really going to challenge my 121 days in hospital, plus a broken left leg full of pus from MRSA infection and a deadly Fentanyl addiction. :-)

And yet, despite your suicide attempt, you seem to regard yourself as
something of an authority on so many things.

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QUOTE: Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, said: ‘He [the cyclist] said he was feeling excruciating pain.ENDS

Nothing compared to the "stress" the driver felt waiting seven months for the court case, apparently.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, said: ‘He [the cyclist] said
he was feeling excruciating pain.ENDS

Nothing compared to the "stress" the driver felt waiting seven months for
the court case, apparently.

One is inclined to wonder, considering your experience in the matter, that
with compo in the offing, experiencing excruciating pain isn’t a widely-experienced affliction.

--
Spike

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On Friday, September 22, 2023 at 8:05:13 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: The advocate said: "He said he was feeling excruciating pain. He was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there." ENDS

Not really going to challenge my 121 days in hospital, plus a broken left leg full of pus from MRSA infection and a deadly Fentanyl addiction. :-)

I remember having to sign a paper giving them permission to amputate my left leg as the sepsis was going to kill me.
Grim times.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

On Friday, September 22, 2023 at 8:05:13 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

QUOTE: The advocate said: "He said he was feeling excruciating pain. He
was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent four days there." ENDS

Not really going to challenge my 121 days in hospital, plus a broken
left leg full of pus from MRSA infection and a deadly Fentanyl addiction. :-)

I remember having to sign a paper giving them permission to amputate my
left leg as the sepsis was going to kill me. Grim times.

There’s an obvious rejoinder here, but I’ll forego making it.

--
Spike

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POOR LADY HAS HAD IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

When Diane Morley went on a cruise, the only downside seemed to be a ferocious storm that struck on the second night of the voyage.

But shortly after getting back on to dry land she was struck with debilitating nausea and problems with her balance – and she is still suffering three years later.

The grandmother is often taken for drunk because she keeps falling down or bumping into people.

After seeing a specialist she was diagnosed with mal de debarquement – disembarkment syndrome – a rare condition that causes the sufferer to feel a continuous rocking sensation or loss of balance.

Mrs Morley, 64, likens it to walking on a bouncy castle. Sleeping is difficult because she feels that she’s on a waterbed. Because there is no cure she can only hope the condition eventually goes away.

‘It’s just got worse and worse,’ she said last night. ‘Last year I had some surgery and had to go under anaesthetic and that made it worse.

'It’s 24 hours a day. It doesn’t come and go, it’s always there. It’s just awful – I still feel like I’m out on the ocean waiting to be rescued.’

The retired auxiliary nurse from Herne Bay, Kent, went on an eight-day cruise to Norway with her lorry driver husband Dennis, 69, in 2012, to see whether they would enjoy a longer excursion to the Caribbean.

When the storm struck it felt like they were being ‘tossed around in a washing machine’. After returning home Mrs Morley struggled to regain her land legs.

Chores such as ironing and vacuuming bring on queasiness and walking up steps or being confronted by bold colours or patterns leaves her struggling to stand upright.

Doctors initially thought she was suffering from vertigo and her husband thought she ‘was making an excuse for not doing something’.

Her GP had so little idea that he suggested another cruise to shake off the symptoms. But after a bout of sickness left her in bed for two days she was sent to a specialist at Kent and Canterbury Hospital who diagnosed her unusual ailment.

Mrs Morley was so ill she even contemplated suicide at one point but is now coming to terms with her chronic condition with the help of counselling. She has given up alcohol and coffee which seem to aggravate the problem. She also takes Valium.

‘I just felt like I had lost my life,’ she added. ‘It’s sort of a grieving process you go through. I wasn’t the same person who got on that boat. That person is still out on the ocean somewhere.’

She was diagnosed with the rare Mal de Debarquement syndrome, and became suicidal when she realised her condition is incurable

Strangely, the only time she feels normal is in a car or on bus. But as soon as she gets off the sickness returns and she has to spend ten minutes getting her bearings again.

She said: 'The only way I can describe it is when you're in a car and you can feel the engine revving up, I feel like that all the time.

'When I sit in the bath and or when I'm near any sort of water it just really wrecks my head, everything just spins and it really affects my eyes.'
MAL DE DEBARQUEMENT SYNDROME: THE EXPERT'S VIEW

Megan Arroll from the University of East London, said: ‘Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, or the "sickness of landing", is a condition characterised by persistent feelings of rocking and swaying, similar to those of being on a boat.

‘MdDS is usually triggered by long-haul air and/or sea travel but there have been cases where symptoms began after engaging in motion-based games and fun fair rides.

‘Additional symptoms can include nausea, headaches, fatigue and sensitivity to light.

‘Our research within the Chronic Illness Team at the University of East London has shown that these symptoms can last for years and impact significantly on individuals' lives, disrupting work, relational and recreational activities, which in turn can
lead to depression and anxiety.

‘This is an invisible illness - the person may not look unwell.

‘It can be very difficult to gain a diagnosis as there is still much uncertainty surrounding MdDS; we do not know the cause of the illness at present and it is currently a very under-researched condition.

‘There is no 'cure' for MdDS at this time although interestingly, those with the condition often find symptoms temporarily diminish during motion, for instance car travel, which differentiates MdDS from conditions concerning the inner ear.’

Mrs Morley, a mother-of-one from Herne Bay, Kent, has to wear sunglasses when she goes outside to block out bright sunlight and lighting.

She struggles with basic household chores and has given up alcohol and coffee which seem to aggravate the condition.

Even when she tries to sleep she finds herself wobbling and swaying, as if sleeping on a waterbed.

A spokesman for the MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation said: ‘MdDS is a rare, and often misdiagnosed syndrome even though it is recognised by many large teaching hospitals. Little scientific literature exists and research is woefully under funded.’

Mr Morley said he had also ‘found it really hard to cope’ with his wife’s condition. ‘I just couldn’t understand why she was saying she was ill all the time and why she couldn’t do anything,’ he said.

‘To be honest I felt a bit embarrassed by it all. I’m quite a private person so I didn’t like the fact that she would draw attention to herself when she would fall over or struggle with her balance.’ One trick Mrs Morley uses to dampen the
symptoms is to wear sunglasses outside to block out bright light.

Mrs Morley had previously been diagnosed with vertigo after losing her father, retiring and moving house all in the space of two weeks in 2010.

In 2013 she was diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Vertigo and was treated with regular Epley manoeuvres, an exercise carried out by medical professionals where her head is quickly moved upside down in a bid to balance out her ears.

But one appointment left her so ill she was in bed for two days - and it became apparent that she was suffering from something else.

A specialist at Kent and Canterbury Hospital eventually diagnosed her with Mal de Debarquement syndrome, which affects less than 1,000 people in the UK.

Mrs Morley is part of a group called the Mal de Debarquement syndome Balance Disorder Foundation which tries to educate people about the little-known condition.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3086252/Grandmother-felt-constantly-seasick-three-YEARS-going-cruise-feels-s-car.html

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Article is more than 8 years old.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3086252/Grandmother-felt-constantly-seasick-three-YEARS-going-cruise-feels-s-car.html

--
Spike

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While Michele-Marie Roberts was enjoying a two-week dream cruise to Hawaii with her husband and two sons, she had no idea that her world would be turned upside down when she stepped on to dry land.

"I walked down the gangplank and collapsed - completely blacked out. I got the flight back home and I was staggering all over the shop.

"I was slurring my speech - on one occasion I blacked out while chopping vegetables," she recalls.

The holiday ended in January 2008 but Michele-Marie still feels as if she is on that cruise ship. She's been seasick for five years.

"It's like the disorientating feeling you get after coming off a waltzer at the fair - all the time. It's horrendous."

When it is at its worst, even lying down doesn't help, she says.

Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS), as the condition is known, is extremely rare and very little is understood about why it occurs and what can cure it. Few doctors have even heard of it.

Michele-Marie, from Berkshire, was sent for an MRI scan and tested for multiple sclerosis and a range of other disorders before she was finally diagnosed six months after her cruise, thanks to doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital who recognised her
symptoms.

But not all sufferers are quite as lucky - many can spend years looking for a diagnosis.

Unsurprisingly, feeling sick and in motion every minute of her waking life has taken its toll. She says it ruined her marriage because she could no longer look after or home-school her two sons, who are autistic, leaving her husband to take on the role
of full-time carer.

After the divorce, at the age of 49, she had to look for a job for the first time in years, despite feeling physically and mentally drained by the persistent seasickness.

She was employed for a while but the experience was too draining so she decided to set up her own business - a dating agency called Wavelength for single parents of special needs children.

"I have days when I feel sorry for myself and there are days when I wake up and I wonder if it's gone away. But then it says, 'da-da - here I am'."

There are times when the syndrome can feel particularly debilitating, such as when she feels stressed, when shopping in supermarkets and using a computer.

Strip lighting can also aggravate the feelings of rocking and swaying.

Thankfully there are activities that alleviate the symptoms too, she says, including vigorous exercise, swimming and driving. She does at least two hours of exercise every day to help her cope.

"The more motion I am in the better," she explains.

"So I love Zumba, but when I stop it looks like I've consumed all the sherry in the trifle."

But she will never go back on a boat, despite loving the sea, because of the risk that her condition could get even worse.

Michele-Marie believes that she was susceptible to Mal de Débarquement syndrome because she was a women in her 40s who suffered from migraines - something suggested by a research paper from 2009, although the link is not straightforward.

She wants other women to be aware of her story so they can decide if they could be at risk too.

The same study found that MdDS was a disorder of brain plasticity, which means that the neural pathways in the brain are unable to change in response to changes in behaviour or environment.

In particularly rough seas during the cruise, Michele-Marie says that everyone was falling over and suffering from seasickness apart from her. Yet on dry land, she is the one slurring her words and being mistaken for being drunk.

"You think you're going bonkers when you have MdDs. You feel so isolated. The doctors did tests on me and there's very little they can do," she explains.

"I feel I was predisposed to it - and other women should know about it."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21786689

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Article over 10 years old.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

While Michele-Marie Roberts was enjoying a two-week dream cruise to
Hawaii with her husband and two sons, she had no idea that her world
would be turned upside down when she stepped on to dry land.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21786689

--
Spike

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Amanda Coronado wakes up every morning wondering whether she’ll be able to walk out of her bedroom.

It’s almost impossible on a bad day. The world is moving too much for her to keep her balance.

“I can’t just go for a run,” she said. “I can hardly find my feet.”

During the first week of August, Coronado took a cruise along the Mexican coast. Since stepping off the ship, that feeling of cresting, rolling waves has not gone away.

At first she thought it was funny.

Then a few days after her return from the cruise, a migraine struck. The swaying sensation intensified, and she could not walk. An emergency room doctor said she had mal de debarquement syndrome, a condition marked by a constant swaying sensation that
can last for months or years and has no cure.

When she walks down store aisles, she feels as though they are rising up to hit her. In the shower, she feels as though it might cave in on her. Looking at the ocean now is intolerable for the beach lover and Orange County native.

In motion, she finds balance. Her commute between her home in Corona and her workplace in Rancho Santa Margarita has turned into a calmative.

“I feel like I went from 29 [years old] to 80,” she said, eyes welling. “I feel like I could benefit from a cane, but I don’t want to walk around with one.”

Looking up her symptoms online, Coronado found the MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation. She connected with its 1,200 online members and learned about the first federally funded research at UCLA.

Though not a study participant, she has found hope.

UCLA visiting assistant professor Dr. Yoon-Hee Cha is researching what happens in the brains of syndrome patients.

“It’s like a normal phenomenon, but it’s not normal for it to go on for a long time,” she said.

The syndrome most frequently occurs in people who have been on a boat or ship, but airplanes and long drives can also bring it on, Cha said. A few people have developed symptoms without a known trigger.

Lanie Fagan, director of communications for Cruise Lines International Assn., said such illnesses stem from how the ship moves. Newer hull designs, more efficient propellers and the size of cruise ships minimize movement, she said.

“Cruise ships are a very stable platform due to all of the innovations and size and equipment,” Fagan said. “Although it would be difficult to claim that no one got this illness after a cruise, we believe it is highly unlikely.”

The syndrome intrigued Cha because MRI and CT scans look only at brain structure, not brain function, and do not show abnormalities in syndrome patients.

“There was nothing known about the scientific basis for this disorder,” she said.

Patients have flown in from across the United States and Canada to take part in the research, but Cha currently has funds to study only 15 people who have disembarkment syndrome and 15 who do not.

Foundation creator Marilyn Josselyn, 74, flew from Pennsylvania to participate in the study that the group has helped to fund. Twelve years ago, she and her husband traveled by ship from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Moscow. She has felt at sea ever since.

“I’d do anything to get my life back,” she said.

At UCLA’s Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center and Reed Neurological Research Center, Josselyn watched dots moving randomly on a computer screen. She donned goggles that at first showed the same images and later a “Lord of the Rings” film, her
choice, all while brain activity was monitored in an MRI machine.

In the last test, she was injected with a weak radioactive solution and her head held still for a scan that allows Cha to see how her brain metabolizes sugar.

Josselyn said she wishes more research could be funded and thinks cruise lines should warn passengers of this possible risk. Through the foundation, she has met many others whose lives are forever changed by the syndrome.

“This is not life threatening, but it is a debilitating syndrome and disease and life altering,” Josselyn said.

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-disembark-20101003-story.html

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On 23/09/2023 11:25, Simon Mason wrote:

While Michele-Marie Roberts was enjoying a two-week dream cruise to Hawaii with her husband and two sons, she had no idea that her world would be turned upside down when she stepped on to dry land.

"I walked down the gangplank and collapsed - completely blacked out. I got the flight back home and I was staggering all over the shop.

"I was slurring my speech - on one occasion I blacked out while chopping vegetables," she recalls.

The holiday ended in January 2008 but Michele-Marie still feels as if she is on that cruise ship. She's been seasick for five years.

"It's like the disorientating feeling you get after coming off a waltzer at the fair - all the time. It's horrendous."

When it is at its worst, even lying down doesn't help, she says.

Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS), as the condition is known, is extremely rare and very little is understood about why it occurs and what can cure it. Few doctors have even heard of it.

Michele-Marie, from Berkshire, was sent for an MRI scan and tested for multiple sclerosis and a range of other disorders before she was finally diagnosed six months after her cruise, thanks to doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital who recognised her

symptoms.

But not all sufferers are quite as lucky - many can spend years looking for a diagnosis.

Unsurprisingly, feeling sick and in motion every minute of her waking life has taken its toll. She says it ruined her marriage because she could no longer look after or home-school her two sons, who are autistic, leaving her husband to take on the role

of full-time carer.

After the divorce, at the age of 49, she had to look for a job for the first time in years, despite feeling physically and mentally drained by the persistent seasickness.

She was employed for a while but the experience was too draining so she decided to set up her own business - a dating agency called Wavelength for single parents of special needs children.

"I have days when I feel sorry for myself and there are days when I wake up and I wonder if it's gone away. But then it says, 'da-da - here I am'."

There are times when the syndrome can feel particularly debilitating, such as when she feels stressed, when shopping in supermarkets and using a computer.

Strip lighting can also aggravate the feelings of rocking and swaying.

Thankfully there are activities that alleviate the symptoms too, she says, including vigorous exercise, swimming and driving. She does at least two hours of exercise every day to help her cope.

"The more motion I am in the better," she explains.

"So I love Zumba, but when I stop it looks like I've consumed all the sherry in the trifle."

But she will never go back on a boat, despite loving the sea, because of the risk that her condition could get even worse.

Michele-Marie believes that she was susceptible to Mal de Débarquement syndrome because she was a women in her 40s who suffered from migraines - something suggested by a research paper from 2009, although the link is not straightforward.

She wants other women to be aware of her story so they can decide if they could be at risk too.

The same study found that MdDS was a disorder of brain plasticity, which means that the neural pathways in the brain are unable to change in response to changes in behaviour or environment.

In particularly rough seas during the cruise, Michele-Marie says that everyone was falling over and suffering from seasickness apart from her. Yet on dry land, she is the one slurring her words and being mistaken for being drunk.

"You think you're going bonkers when you have MdDs. You feel so isolated. The doctors did tests on me and there's very little they can do," she explains.

"I feel I was predisposed to it - and other women should know about it."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21786689

Did she take up riding the chav-bike as an attempt to recover?


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On 23/09/2023 09:44, Simon Mason wrote:

POOR LADY HAS HAD IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

When Diane Morley went on a cruise, the only downside seemed to be a ferocious storm that struck on the second night of the voyage.

But shortly after getting back on to dry land she was struck with debilitating nausea and problems with her balance – and she is still suffering three years later.

The grandmother is often taken for drunk because she keeps falling down or bumping into people.

After seeing a specialist she was diagnosed with mal de debarquement – disembarkment syndrome – a rare condition that causes the sufferer to feel a continuous rocking sensation or loss of balance.

Mrs Morley, 64, likens it to walking on a bouncy castle. Sleeping is difficult because she feels that she’s on a waterbed. Because there is no cure she can only hope the condition eventually goes away.

‘It’s just got worse and worse,’ she said last night. ‘Last year I had some surgery and had to go under anaesthetic and that made it worse.

'It’s 24 hours a day. It doesn’t come and go, it’s always there. It’s just awful – I still feel like I’m out on the ocean waiting to be rescued.’

The retired auxiliary nurse from Herne Bay, Kent, went on an eight-day cruise to Norway with her lorry driver husband Dennis, 69, in 2012, to see whether they would enjoy a longer excursion to the Caribbean.

When the storm struck it felt like they were being ‘tossed around in a washing machine’. After returning home Mrs Morley struggled to regain her land legs.

Chores such as ironing and vacuuming bring on queasiness and walking up steps or being confronted by bold colours or patterns leaves her struggling to stand upright.

Doctors initially thought she was suffering from vertigo and her husband thought she ‘was making an excuse for not doing something’.

Her GP had so little idea that he suggested another cruise to shake off the symptoms. But after a bout of sickness left her in bed for two days she was sent to a specialist at Kent and Canterbury Hospital who diagnosed her unusual ailment.

Mrs Morley was so ill she even contemplated suicide at one point but is now coming to terms with her chronic condition with the help of counselling. She has given up alcohol and coffee which seem to aggravate the problem. She also takes Valium.

‘I just felt like I had lost my life,’ she added. ‘It’s sort of a grieving process you go through. I wasn’t the same person who got on that boat. That person is still out on the ocean somewhere.’

She was diagnosed with the rare Mal de Debarquement syndrome, and became suicidal when she realised her condition is incurable

Strangely, the only time she feels normal is in a car or on bus. But as soon as she gets off the sickness returns and she has to spend ten minutes getting her bearings again.

She said: 'The only way I can describe it is when you're in a car and you can feel the engine revving up, I feel like that all the time.

'When I sit in the bath and or when I'm near any sort of water it just really wrecks my head, everything just spins and it really affects my eyes.'
MAL DE DEBARQUEMENT SYNDROME: THE EXPERT'S VIEW

Megan Arroll from the University of East London, said: ‘Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, or the "sickness of landing", is a condition characterised by persistent feelings of rocking and swaying, similar to those of being on a boat.

‘MdDS is usually triggered by long-haul air and/or sea travel but there have been cases where symptoms began after engaging in motion-based games and fun fair rides.

‘Additional symptoms can include nausea, headaches, fatigue and sensitivity to light.

‘Our research within the Chronic Illness Team at the University of East London has shown that these symptoms can last for years and impact significantly on individuals' lives, disrupting work, relational and recreational activities, which in turn can

lead to depression and anxiety.

‘This is an invisible illness - the person may not look unwell.

‘It can be very difficult to gain a diagnosis as there is still much uncertainty surrounding MdDS; we do not know the cause of the illness at present and it is currently a very under-researched condition.

‘There is no 'cure' for MdDS at this time although interestingly, those with the condition often find symptoms temporarily diminish during motion, for instance car travel, which differentiates MdDS from conditions concerning the inner ear.’

Mrs Morley, a mother-of-one from Herne Bay, Kent, has to wear sunglasses when she goes outside to block out bright sunlight and lighting.

She struggles with basic household chores and has given up alcohol and coffee which seem to aggravate the condition.

Even when she tries to sleep she finds herself wobbling and swaying, as if sleeping on a waterbed.

A spokesman for the MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation said: ‘MdDS is a rare, and often misdiagnosed syndrome even though it is recognised by many large teaching hospitals. Little scientific literature exists and research is woefully under funded.’

Mr Morley said he had also ‘found it really hard to cope’ with his wife’s condition. ‘I just couldn’t understand why she was saying she was ill all the time and why she couldn’t do anything,’ he said.

‘To be honest I felt a bit embarrassed by it all. I’m quite a private person so I didn’t like the fact that she would draw attention to herself when she would fall over or struggle with her balance.’ One trick Mrs Morley uses to dampen the

symptoms is to wear sunglasses outside to block out bright light.

Mrs Morley had previously been diagnosed with vertigo after losing her father, retiring and moving house all in the space of two weeks in 2010.

In 2013 she was diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Vertigo and was treated with regular Epley manoeuvres, an exercise carried out by medical professionals where her head is quickly moved upside down in a bid to balance out her ears.

But one appointment left her so ill she was in bed for two days - and it became apparent that she was suffering from something else.

A specialist at Kent and Canterbury Hospital eventually diagnosed her with Mal de Debarquement syndrome, which affects less than 1,000 people in the UK.

Mrs Morley is part of a group called the Mal de Debarquement syndome Balance Disorder Foundation which tries to educate people about the little-known condition.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3086252/Grandmother-felt-constantly-seasick-three-YEARS-going-cruise-feels-s-car.html

Who rides the chav-bike, Mr Morley, Mrs Morley or Megan Arroll?

[NB: I have never come across that surname before except for the late
comedian and SNATLP compere, Don Arrol, whom I once met at my great
aunt's pub.]

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In August 2002, I traveled to Ireland with my then-fiancé and his family. My parents are from South America, so I had flown a lot in the past, but this time there was a lot of turbulence, and I was airsick for hours. When I got off the plane, I felt
really unsteady, as if I were on a boat, and my brain felt really foggy.

Twenty years later, I still feel that way, and for the longest time I had no idea why.

When I couldn’t shake that feeling for a few days after the trip, I went to my primary care doctor. He thought it was vertigo and put me on an antihistamine that alleviates motion sickness. That made me really tired, and it didn’t resolve my symptoms.
My next step was to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor, who put me through a lot of tests to rule out other conditions; I still didn’t get any answers. Meanwhile, I constantly felt as if I were rocking, bobbing, or swaying. Sometimes it felt as if
the floor were bouncing or as if I were putting my foot down on a turntable. The doctors kept asking me about stress. They seemed to think my symptoms were due to the fact that I was getting married soon. I was feeling anxious, but not about my wedding—
it was because I didn’t know what was wrong with me! It became a cycle: The anxiety made my symptoms worse, and then I felt even more anxious.

Over the next few years, I saw nine or 10 doctors, including a psychiatrist. But the only thing that really helped was being in motion. Any time I was in a car, as either a passenger or the driver, the symptoms would go away.

After about seven years, I read an article about Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS), a neurological condition that’s triggered by traveling on a boat or a plane, and I knew immediately that it was what I had. I made an appointment with an
otoneurologist in New Jersey who treats MdDS, and I typed up a list of every symptom I had and every test I had gone through. He read it, then turned to his medical student and said, “Well, it looks like she correctly diagnosed herself!” He gave me a
prescription for Valium—which made me feel as if I’d had 20 cups of coffee, so it didn’t work—but once I knew the name for my syndrome, I was able to find so much more help. Eventually, on the advice of a different MdDS specialist, I started
taking Klonopin, and that works well for me. I also found an online community through the MdDS Foundation where we support one another and share tips. That’s where I got the idea to buy hiking poles to use when I’m walking around my neighborhood.

Over time, I learned to live with the feeling of constant unsteadiness. I’ve raised a daughter and started a business as a photographer. Still, the symptoms are with me every day. There are good days and bad ones. Some things are really hard for me,
like walking down a hotel hallway with patterned carpeting or standing at a wedding cocktail hour. Supermarkets are hard, but at least I can hold on to the shopping cart to steady myself. I am constantly leaning on my husband for support (literally!),
and if he’s not there I lean against my car, a chair, or a wall.

The most important thing is knowing that I’m not alone and that other people live with these symptoms. There are researchers developing new treatments, and I hope to try them soon so I can get back to being the person I used to be.


Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) is a rare neurological condition that causes a constant sense of movement, as if one is on a boat. For some people, symptoms go away after weeks or months; for others, they can last years. Little is known about what
causes MdDS, but there is no evidence of damage to the brain, and research into treatment options is ongoing, says Joanna Jen, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology at Mount Sinai in New York City. What we do know: When we’re in passive motion (riding
on a boat or a plane, for example), our brains learn to adapt to or ignore the sense of movement. “Once we’re back on land, the brain is supposed to reset, but we believe that with MdDS, the brain fails to recognize that we’ve stopped moving and
doesn’t readapt,” says Dr. Jen.

Anti-anxiety meds such as benzodiazepines and SSRIs are helpful to some, says Dr. Jen. “In theory, an active lifestyle may enhance re-adaptive efforts, so I encourage patients to get regular exercise, prioritize restorative sleep, eat well, and stay
hydrated,” she adds.
Symptoms of MdDS include:

A sense of bobbing, swaying, or rocking that begins within 48 hours of traveling and lasts more than 48 hours
Temporary relief when in passive motion (as in a moving car)
Brain fog
Fatigue
Anxiety

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Article over 9 years old.

Article is US in origin.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Amanda Coronado wakes up every morning wondering whether she’ll be able
to walk out of her bedroom.

Many ladies have that problem on Sunday mornings.

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-disembark-20101003-story.html

--
Spike

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Do you suffer from an indescribable feeling of vertigo, dizziness and motion sickness? Chances are you could have Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS).
Key points:

Feelings of vertigo, motion sickness and dizziness may indicate Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS)
This rare disease most often affects menopausal women, with 10,000 people in Australia diagnosed with it
Passive motion exposure can bring on symptoms but there is no known cure

With 10,000 people in Australia diagnosed with this rare disease, it has doctors and researchers baffled. And although at this point there is no cure, there are tips for things you can do to help you feel better.

Brain Hub Academia held a conference in Sydney this week discussing diseases which affect our sense of balance, but less is known about how to treat the symptoms.

Experts and researchers came together with support groups and clinicians to talk about living with persistent dizziness diseases, like MdDS.

Lecturer in human anatomy with the School of Science and Health at Western University, Cherylea Browne lives with MdDS herself.

"MdDS is a rare central vestibular condition which primarily affects women," Dr Browne said.

"Patients usually report a constant perception of motion like rocking, swaying or bobbing."

There are associated symptoms such as brain fog, anxiety, and unsteadiness.

"You usually get it after passive motion exposure like being on a boat, but you can get it spontaneously or after non-motion events like childbirth and surgery," Dr Browne said.

Over the past few years research on the topic suggests there is a strong hormonal connection as women that contract MdDS have an average age of 49, meaning they are usually peri-menopausal or experiencing menopause.

"We think that the hormone imbalances that happen at that time are making women more susceptible to developing the syndrome, likewise women experience a drop in estrogen levels after childbirth," Dr Browne said.

Like a variety of medical concerns associated with women, misdiagnosis is common as patients are 'palmed off' with a diagnosis of depression or vertigo.

"Vertigo is about the world spinning around you, whereas Mal de Debarquement Syndrome is about a constant feeling of motion — so actually feeling like you are on a boat, swaying from side to side and bobbing up and down," Dr Browne said.

After being diagnosed with MdDS in 2015, Dr Browne started investigating the disease using her own lived experience to inform her research.

Despite patients being told there is no cure, neuroplasticity educators believe that your brain and body are constantly undergoing change, and therefore is quite capable of healing itself.

"When we are experiencing high stress, high anxiety, self-doubt, worry, depression and anxiety it's incredibly difficult to make use of this natural capacity we have to heal with neuroplasticity," vestibular audiologist Joey Remenyi said.

There are also treatments that help to reduce the symptoms such as the vestibular ocular reflex protocol, which is about re-establishing that bodily function.

"Patients sit in a chamber and lights get shone on the sides of the chamber and your head is moved by a researcher, so it's really strange, but it works," Dr Browne said.

As for how sufferers feel on boats or in planes, reports are mixed as unfortunately retriggering can be brought on by experiencing the real-time motion, and getting off the boat can be traumatic.

"Some patients report they feel great on a boat, but most are so petrified to go back on a boat that they haven't done it," Dr Browne said.

The conference gave patients and doctors alike the opportunity to discuss the little-known disorder in depth.

"As the disease is so rare it's nice to meet people who know what you are going through," Dr Browne said.

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Over 4 years old. Australian.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you suffer from an indescribable feeling of vertigo, dizziness and
motion sickness? Chances are you could have Mal de Debarquement Syndrome

<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-22/constant-dizziness-could-be-mal-de-debarquement-syndrome/11431308>

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You’re standing in a small boat tied to a dock, waves moving you back and forth, up and down, and side to side. Now, imagine that you feel this way all the time, even without the boat. In fact, you feel like you are still on the boat.

You can’t concentrate. Your head hurts. You’ve never felt so fatigued in your life. You don’t know what’s wrong and you need help.

Your diagnostic tests are all returning as normal. After several months of symptoms, you start to wish that you had a brain tumor just to have an explanation.

Nobody, neither you nor the physician, made the connection that your symptoms started after you returned from that last vacation during which you were in a boat all day.

Welcome to the world of someone with Mal de Debarquement Syndrome or MdDS.
What is Mal de Debarquement Syndrome?

As a neurologist and scientist who studies Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS), I have heard countless stories just like this.

Today, MdDS is rarely recognized immediately and is often misdiagnosed as Meniere disease, vestibular migraine, motion sickness, or even as a form of psychosomatic illness.

MdDS is literally translated as the “sickness of disembarkment”. It is a disorder of rocking vertigo and imbalance that starts after a period of motion exposure, such as going on a cruise, flying, or even a long car ride.

Unlike short-lived land-sickness, MdDS can persist for months or years.

MdDS is a brain disorder

The MdDS phenomenon is the natural result of the human brain adapting to environmental motion. It is, thus, a quintessential neurological disorder.

How and why the brain gets “stuck” in this entrained state is a question that researchers, including those in my lab, are trying to answer. There is evidence for brain connectivity to spatial processing areas as being altered in MdDS. Some of this
can be reversed with treatment.

This island of insight, however, is surrounded by a sea of unanswered questions that we hope to address with continued research.

For now, what we know is that if MdDS symptoms do not resolve within several months, the chances of remission get pretty slim. Medications such as benzodiazepines and some types of antidepressants can ease the symptoms. However, the development of
persistent MdDS often leads to other problems, including difficulties with

attention
emotional control
pain modulation, and
tolerance to sensory stimuli like light and sound.

Patients with MdDS often spends thousands of dollars on vitamins, diets, hyperbaric oxygen, induced altitude sickness, magnetic bracelets, chelation therapy, and antibiotics. Some have even had inner ear surgery to no avail. If you can name it, a
desperate person with MdDS has likely tried it.
What physicians need to know about MdDS

What physicians need to know to distinguish MdDS from other disorders of vertigo or dizziness is that affected individuals feel less of this internal motion when they are actually in motion.

Getting into a car or back on a boat is a temporary reprieve from the otherwise constant symptoms. They remain symptomatic when they are still, such as standing or even lying down. In other words, they are never quite able to rest.

It turns out that this under-recognized and understudied disorder affects thousands of people every year. Those affected typically and middle-aged women, although there are also a fair number of men.
Contributing factors may be triggers for MdDS

Research into MdDS has shown that factors related to the aging brain, hormonal changes, and stress contribute to the vulnerability of triggering an episode. One could take 15 cruises in a lifetime and have no problems, but the 16th one could trigger
persistent MdDS.

I once experienced a brief episode of MdDS myself after a flight from Boston to Los Angeles. After a week, it dawned on me that if the symptoms continued, my medical career would be over.

I was lucky that the symptoms eventually abated. The experience, however, showed me that MdDS could happen to anyone, even otherwise healthy, high-functioning, experienced travelers.

Indeed, as more and more people travel for work or leisure in an increasingly interconnected world, recognition of travel-related disorders like MdDS will be all the more critical.

Research funding and awareness of how everyday environmental stimuli, such as oscillating motion, can affect human health are needed in order to prevent disability from disorders like MdDS. We need greater insights into how motion disorders are related
to brain dysfunction and especially in how to treat them.

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QUOTE: Nobody, neither you nor the physician, made the connection that your symptoms started after you returned from that last vacation during which you were in a boat all day. ENDS

It took me a year to figure out what I had between 22JUN12 and 9SEP13.

It was after a ferry trip from Europoort to Hull.

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Article over four years old. American.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

You’re standing in a small boat tied to a dock, waves moving you back and forth, up and down, and side to side. Now, imagine that you feel this way
all the time, even without the boat. In fact, you feel like you are still on the boat.

<https://thedoctorweighsin.com/mdds-still-on-the-boat/>

--
Spike

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 24/09/2023 05:26, Simon Mason wrote:

Do you suffer from an indescribable feeling of vertigo, dizziness and motion sickness? Chances are you could have Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS).
Key points:

Feelings of vertigo, motion sickness and dizziness may indicate Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS)
This rare disease most often affects menopausal women, with 10,000 people in Australia diagnosed with it
Passive motion exposure can bring on symptoms but there is no known cure

With 10,000 people in Australia diagnosed with this rare disease, it has doctors and researchers baffled. And although at this point there is no cure, there are tips for things you can do to help you feel better.

Brain Hub Academia held a conference in Sydney this week discussing diseases which affect our sense of balance, but less is known about how to treat the symptoms.

Experts and researchers came together with support groups and clinicians to talk about living with persistent dizziness diseases, like MdDS.

Lecturer in human anatomy with the School of Science and Health at Western University, Cherylea Browne lives with MdDS herself.

"MdDS is a rare central vestibular condition which primarily affects women," Dr Browne said.

"Patients usually report a constant perception of motion like rocking, swaying or bobbing."

There are associated symptoms such as brain fog, anxiety, and unsteadiness.

"You usually get it after passive motion exposure like being on a boat, but you can get it spontaneously or after non-motion events like childbirth and surgery," Dr Browne said.

Over the past few years research on the topic suggests there is a strong hormonal connection as women that contract MdDS have an average age of 49, meaning they are usually peri-menopausal or experiencing menopause.

"We think that the hormone imbalances that happen at that time are making women more susceptible to developing the syndrome, likewise women experience a drop in estrogen levels after childbirth," Dr Browne said.

Like a variety of medical concerns associated with women, misdiagnosis is common as patients are 'palmed off' with a diagnosis of depression or vertigo.

"Vertigo is about the world spinning around you, whereas Mal de Debarquement Syndrome is about a constant feeling of motion — so actually feeling like you are on a boat, swaying from side to side and bobbing up and down," Dr Browne said.

After being diagnosed with MdDS in 2015, Dr Browne started investigating the disease using her own lived experience to inform her research.

Despite patients being told there is no cure, neuroplasticity educators believe that your brain and body are constantly undergoing change, and therefore is quite capable of healing itself.

"When we are experiencing high stress, high anxiety, self-doubt, worry, depression and anxiety it's incredibly difficult to make use of this natural capacity we have to heal with neuroplasticity," vestibular audiologist Joey Remenyi said.

There are also treatments that help to reduce the symptoms such as the vestibular ocular reflex protocol, which is about re-establishing that bodily function.

"Patients sit in a chamber and lights get shone on the sides of the chamber and your head is moved by a researcher, so it's really strange, but it works," Dr Browne said.

As for how sufferers feel on boats or in planes, reports are mixed as unfortunately retriggering can be brought on by experiencing the real-time motion, and getting off the boat can be traumatic.

"Some patients report they feel great on a boat, but most are so petrified to go back on a boat that they haven't done it," Dr Browne said.

The conference gave patients and doctors alike the opportunity to discuss the little-known disorder in depth.

"As the disease is so rare it's nice to meet people who know what you are going through," Dr Browne said.

It sounds bad.

Again.

Does it ever make sufferers jump off high bridges?


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Mal de debarquement means sickness of disembarkment which refers to an illusion of movement felt as an after effect of travel. Sea travel is the most common starting point for Mal de Debarquement Syndome (MdDS). Symptoms can last for weeks, months or
even years.

What are the symptoms of MdDS?

The symptoms of mal de debarquement include the sensation of rocking, bobbing or swaying; along with unsteadiness, anxiety and loss of self confidence. The symptoms often increase when the person is trying to remain motionless for example attempting to
fall asleep or standing still. Mal de debarquement does not include other symptoms such as spinning, vomiting, ear pressure, tinnitus or hearing loss which are associated with vestibular disorders.

Who is affected by MdDS?

MdDS can affect anyone. Long lasting mal de debarquement, however, is often experienced by middle aged women more so than any other groups.

What causes MdDS?

It has been suggested that the syndrome is not in the inner ear but occurs somewhere with in the balance areas of the brain. It is thought that the brain adapts to a particular motion, for example, of a ship, however when the movement stops the brain is
unable to readapt to its former state. Another theory is that mal de debarquement is a migraine variant.

How is MdDS diagnosed?

It is diagnosed through characteristic history of symptoms, physical examination and conducting tests to rule out other possible vestibular disorders. For diagnosis there must be a history of a ship voyage or another new movement, when returned to a
normal environment then the symptoms would have started.

How are the symptoms of MdDS managed and treated?

There is no specific treatment for mal de debarquement syndrome so far. The standard drugs given for sickness seem to be ineffective. Some treatments that have been suggested include vestibular rehabilitation therapy. There are some helpful tips for
coping and managing the symptoms including reducing stress and getting a good night’s sleep. Additionally, when driving it may help if you move your head while stopped at traffic lights and look ahead for a few minutes before getting out of the car.
After the end of an activity with constant movement, take a walk and focus on the horizon.

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Illustrative cases

Case 1

A 46-year-old woman presented to the neuro-otology clinic with a chief complaint of dizziness. When asked to describe her dizziness, she responded, “It's like I'm drunk!” She had returned from a 7-day Caribbean cruise approximately 1 year prior and
had felt off-balance from the moment she stepped off the ship. She also had felt a constant swaying sensation since departing from the cruise ship. While on board the ship, she had had no such symptoms. Upon disembarking, she had felt as though the
ground was moving. This feeling had not subsided at all for the past year since the cruise ended. She did note that if she was driving in her car the self-motion perception improved a great deal. However, when she stopped driving and got out of the car,
her disabling symptoms would immediately return. She was continuing to work as a manager of an electronics store, but she felt that she needed to be constantly walking around while at work. She preferred not to sit at her desk because her symptoms
worsened when remaining still. She had seen several physicians and undergone extensive workup including various laboratory studies, brain MRI, videonystagmography (VNG), and audiogram. All studies were within normal limits. She also had been tried on
medications, including verapamil, nortriptyline, alprazolam, and methylphenidate, none of which provided any relief. She did find partial relief with diazepam as needed.

Case 2

A 40-year-old woman presented to the neuro-otology clinic for evaluation of “rocking motion.” She had a past history of migraine but no history of seasickness or car sickness. She related that she had begun feeling the rocking sensation the morning
after disembarking from a 7-day cruise to Puerto Rico almost 6 months earlier. She denied nausea and vomiting. Hearing was preserved. The rocking sensation was constant but worsened if she remained still. She tried meclizine, escitalopram, and
venlafaxine without any improvement in symptoms. She did have mild temporary improvement in symptoms when she took clonazepam. She tried vestibular therapy but found no relief. She was able to continue working as an engineer, but she felt as if she was
moving all the time. She had a CT of the head, audiogram, and VNG performed; all of the studies were within normal limits.
Clinical history

MdDS is defined by a persistent perception of self-motion that occurs following a period of exposure to passive motion.1 This is often seen following an ocean cruise. The syndrome is more common in women, usually in their 40s.4 The most common triggers
are boat and ship travel, but MdDS can also occur after airplane trips. As was seen in the 2 illustrative cases, the onset of symptoms is usually immediate after stepping foot on dry land. The symptoms are variable but all center on the concept of
movement despite not actually physically moving. Common descriptive terms used by patients to describe their symptoms are rocking and swaying.4 These patients usually do not experience nausea or vomiting and do not feel a sense of spinning. Hearing is
preserved. Patients with MdDS classically report that their symptoms greatly improve or even dissipate if they are re-exposed to the movement that predated their symptoms.1,4,5 For example, they feel markedly better if they return to a boat or cruise
ship and get back on board. They also report feeling much better while driving a car. However, once they stop driving or return to land again, their symptoms not only return but may also temporarily worsen.4 Typically, MdDS does not persist for an
extended period of time. Most patients experience spontaneous resolution of symptoms within days to several months. As a result, these patients are not usually the ones presenting to specialty clinics for consultation. For an unfortunate subset of
patients with MdDS, however, the symptoms do not remit within several months, and these patients may then be classified as having persistent MdDS. It is much more likely that patients with persistent MdDS will present to a clinic for formal evaluation.
Studies have shown that the longer the duration of symptoms, the less the likelihood of resolution.5 It is not uncommon for patients to develop anxiety and/or depression as a result of their persisting symptoms, especially if they have not been given a
definitive diagnosis yet. Finally, most patients with MdDS report that they have been prescribed antivertiginous medications for their symptoms but note little relief from any of them.4,6

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de debarquement means sickness of disembarkment which refers to an illusion of movement felt as an after effect of travel.

[…]

Missing attribution added:

<https://www.menieres.org.uk/information-and-support/symptoms-and-conditions/mal-de-debarquement>

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Illustrative cases

Case 1

A 46-year-old woman presented to the neuro-otology clinic with a chief complaint of dizziness.

[…]

Missing attribution added:

<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764463/>

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For Katy Breuer, the symptoms start as soon as she steps off a cruise ship. She feels dizzy and disoriented, can’t eat and can’t find her land legs. “It’s debilitating,” says Breuer, an executive coach from Vienna, Va.

It could be worse. For some travelers, the rocking never ends. They suffer from mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS), a rare and chronic form of reverse motion sickness. Instead of getting seasick on board, their illness begins when they hit dry land —
and it never ends.

Mal de debarquement syndrome — “disembarkation sickness” — is one of the least understood travel disorders. It’s also a topic of intense curiosity, particularly as travelers begin planning next year’s cruises.

“Mal de debarquement is a rare neurological condition described by some people as a continuous perception of self-motion and imbalance,” says Radhika Vij, director of international travel health services at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in
Baltimore.

Not everyone is as lucky as Breuer, whose illness was transient. Marilyn Josselyn got full-blown MdDS after a riverboat cruise in Russia in 1998. She had to quit her job as a court reporter because she couldn’t maintain her balance.

“I’ve been rocking ever since,” says Josselyn, who lives in Audubon, Pa.

Josselyn is working to raise awareness of her condition. She helped start the MdDS Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks treatments and a cure for MdDS. The organization maintains a private Facebook support group with more than 4,000 members
and publishes a list of physicians who treat MdDS.

“There’s an extreme difference between MdDS and not being able to find your land legs,” she says. “MdDS can last years and years.”

Common symptoms of mal de debarquement include the feeling of rocking, swaying or bobbing, lasting several weeks or more. Patients have complained of MdDS after roller coasters, flight-simulator sessions — even sleeping on water beds. Anyone can get
mal de debarquement, but women between ages 30 and 60 are most susceptible, experts say.

What causes mal de debarquement? Research suggests the problem doesn’t originate in the inner ear, which regulates balance, but in the brain.

“After a while, the brain adjusts to these new types of movements and in some instances is unable to readapt to its baseline patterns once the movement has stopped,” Vij says.

In the vast majority of cases, the symptoms of land sickness last only a few days. Heather Sykes took her first cruise last year to celebrate her 40th birthday. She knew she was susceptible to motion sickness, so she wore a scopolamine patch during the
eight-day Western Caribbean trip.

“I didn’t experience seasickness during the cruise,” says Sykes, a program manager with the federal government who lives in Alexandria, Va. “But when I disembarked and took off the patch, I developed symptoms that were similar to a bad hangover,
even though I had not had any alcohol and was well hydrated. The room was spinning, I was nauseous, and I was completely unable to focus on a computer or TV screen.” It took five days for her symptoms to abate.

“I will not go on a cruise again,” she says.

Although travelers most often experience these symptoms after cruises, doctors say, they can occur after any long journey. Consider what happened to Meredith Kulikowski, a government contractor from Laurel, Md. She took the auto train, round trip, from
Lorton, Va., to Sanford, Fla.

“I was okay going down,” she remembers. “But I felt awful when I arrived in Virginia.”

Once her feet were back on solid ground, she says, she felt seasick and hung over.

“My equilibrium was off, and I just felt nauseous the whole time,” she says. “The symptoms lasted for about a week.”

Because land sickness is something of a mystery, there’s little agreement on prevention. Some medical experts told me you might avoid the ailment by taking the same steps you do to prevent motion sickness. Those include avoiding heavy meals and alcohol
and — for brief boat rides — focusing on a fixed object in the distance during your journey.

Doctors may prescribe anti-seizure medications or antidepressants to treat mal de debarquement. But they’ll probably start your treatment by suggesting you reduce stressors in your life. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, a type of therapy that
stimulates the brain with magnetic fields, and a therapy called readaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which helps your eyes adjust to being on land, are among the treatment options being explored. But they have not been thoroughly tested,
according to the MdDS Foundation.

“It is a hard condition to treat, and options are limited,” says Vij, the Baltimore physician. “No one thing works for all.”

Some of the patients I interviewed about motion sickness on land said their post-cruise symptoms didn’t come as a surprise. They knew they were prone to motion sickness and weren’t shocked to feel as if they were still on the ship after making
landfall.

Rick Orford, a frequent cruiser, says he experiences symptoms whenever he steps off a boat. “My legs feel wobbly. It’s as if I can still feel the sway of the ship,” he says.

Orford’s partner, Andrea Spallanzani, is a general surgeon in Italy. He’s watched Orford suffer from this little-known travel malaise and chronicled their adventures on a blog called Travel Addicts. A little exercise and antidepressants can lessen
the symptoms of mal de debarquement, he says. “But there is no cure.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/for-some-unlucky-travelers-disembarkation-sickness-strikes-after-the-cruise-is-over/2019/11/07/c78158e0-fb5a-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html

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Article nearly four years old:

By Christopher Elliott Staff reporter
Saturday, Nov 16, 2019 5:03 AM


Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

For Katy Breuer, the symptoms start as soon as she steps off a cruise
ship. She feels dizzy and disoriented, can’t eat and can’t find her land legs. “It’s debilitating,” says Breuer, an executive coach from Vienna, Va.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/for-some-unlucky-travelers-disembarkation-sickness-strikes-after-the-cruise-is-over/2019/11/07/c78158e0-fb5a-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html

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I’m not ashamed to admit I was close to suicide. If it hadn’t been for my teenage son, I probably wouldn’t have carried on. I started taking antidepressants, which helped me to cope.

Nearly 20 years on, I’m still living with MdDS.

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WOW - POOR LADY. MUST BE A LIVING HELL.

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I was on a family holiday in Palma, Mallorca, in July 2001. One weekend we rented a motorboat and went cruising around the coast. I remember we were going fast, crashing over big waves. It was exhilarating, but also a strange feeling. I wondered if this
was how boxers feel: punch-drunk.

I began to realise something was wrong only when we got back on land. I was using the washrooms at the marina, and said to my sister-in-law: “Why are the sinks coming up to meet me?” We went for a meal, and I sat in the restaurant wondering why the
table was swaying. After I got back to the UK, the sensations of being on the sea increased. It made simple tasks impossible: cooking was a nightmare, all that twisting and turning you do when prepping food.

I went to my GP who told me I hadn’t got “my land legs” back yet, and gave me motion sickness tablets. But the feeling didn’t subside. I felt as if I was constantly walking on a sponge or trampoline, everything bobbing and swaying. It wasn’t
dizziness: the room didn’t spin. It was more as if my body had come back to land, while my brain was still at sea. I feel it from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep.

After several more appointments, I was sent for an MRI scan. I remember feeling disappointed when they didn’t find a brain tumour: at least that would have explained things. At one of my last appointments with the ear, nose and throat specialist, he
said, “I know there’s something wrong with you, Jane, I just don’t know what.” I felt that the whole world had collapsed. How was I supposed to live with this feeling, not knowing if it was ever going to go away?

I started to do my own research. In February 2002, I got an email reply from the Vestibular Disorders Association in the US to say that, although rare, it knew of a condition called Mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS). Most bouts last a few days or
weeks, but some cases can last years. It can be triggered by any sort of travel – by boat, plane or even train. Hearing the potential diagnosis, I could have cried with happiness; I’d started to think I was going mad.

I got a confirmed diagnosis from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. But they told me there is no cure, and all they could do was help me manage my mental health.

Certain triggers would set off particularly bad episodes, such as sitting at a computer for a long time without a break. For the first few years, just walking down a supermarket aisle, with all the visual stimulus coming towards me, could be overwhelming.

I’m not ashamed to admit I was close to suicide. If it hadn’t been for my teenage son, I probably wouldn’t have carried on. I started taking antidepressants, which helped me to cope.

Nearly 20 years on, I’m still living with MdDS. Some people find that benzodiazepines take the edge off. Others suggest hypnotherapy. I’ve heard of all sorts of weird and wacky theories, but nothing has worked for me. I never say that I’ve learned
to live with it because that gives the impression I’ve given up on finding a cure, or even some kind of medication to manage the symptoms. I hope something will be discovered within my lifetime.

For me, one way of coping has been to educate people about the condition. I’ve found fellow sufferers all over the world, and have set up a website and UK support group in the hope that no one else has to go through what I did, struggling to get a
diagnosis. I’ve even contacted Nasa, who told me it is aware of MdDS in astronauts.

One of the most peculiar things about MdDS is that it’s motion triggered, and yet motion – by car, train, plane or boat – can bring temporary relief. Some chronic sufferers become almost like travel addicts, craving that release.

I’ve continued to travel a lot – from Brunei to Disneyland, where I rode every white-knuckle ride there is, hopelessly trying to jog something back into place in my brain. But so far I’m still at sea.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/04/experience-i-get-seasick-on-dry-land

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Im not ashamed to admit I was close to suicide. If it hadnt been for my teenage son, I probably wouldnt have carried on. I started taking antidepressants, which helped me to cope.

Nearly 20 years on, Im still living with MdDS.

Low blood potassium levels can cause similar symptoms.

Eat more bananas…

=====WOW - POOR LADY. MUST BE A LIVING HELL.

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A mum-of-two told of how a Zumba class triggered motion sickness that has lasted for THREE YEARS.

Desiree Meyer, 35, has mal de debarquement syndrome , a rare condition that sees sufferers experience seasick-like symptoms, such as a rocking sensation, even when standing completely still.

The jewellery designer has battled through ten bouts of the illness since she was a teenager.

Each time, she has no idea how long the episodes will last – and the most recent, which she believes was triggered by doing a Zumba class and then going kayaking, has ruled her life for three long years.

"It's taken over everything," said Desiree, of Ellijay, in Georgia, USA, "The symptoms never let up.

"Simple things like sleeping, reading or holding a conversation are virtually impossible.
"It's like a constant a bobbing or rocking sensation, even when I'm standing still.

"And the off-balance feeling isn't just in the body. It's in the brain as well. It almost feels like being drunk – but I don't even drink."

Desiree's symptoms first began when she was around 17, following a long-haul flight to Germany from her native US.

She recalled "a weird sensation like she was moving all the time" for around a month after the flight, but at the time, had no idea what it was.

After developing it once, she believes she made herself more prone to the condition.

In the years since, she has battled through it nine more times, including after long journeys and the births of her sons Jerome, 15 and Nathaniel, six.

Eventually, she decided to seek medical help - but her journey to a diagnosis was a long one.

Initially, doctors believed she may be suffering from allergies, or that a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder was triggering her symptoms.

"Looking back, I was describing my sensations wrong," said Desiree. "I was telling doctors I felt dizzy, and so they were trying to investigate based on that.

"But that's not really how I feel. It's more a constant feeling of rocking and moving."

In time, Desiree was referred to a neurologist, who finally made the diagnosis of mal de debarquement syndrome .

According to the charity Meniere's Society, long lasting mal de debarquement syndrome is often experienced by middle aged women.

It is still unclear exactly what causes the syndrome, although it's been suggested that it's either a migraine variant, or an issue with the balance areas of the brain, which become unable to readapt to their former state once they get used to a
particular motion such as being on a ship or in a car.

Sadly, since her diagnosis, doctors have told her the only thing they can do for her is to send her to a rehabilitation centre, which isn't even guaranteed to work.

"At the centre, they'll try and rehabilitate my vestibular nerves through eye and head exercises," said Desiree.

"The success rate isn't great, but I have to try. If there's anything I can do to stop this once and for all, I will."

As a single mum, Desiree said the disorder has made everyday life a constant battle.

She continued: "I'll have the odd good day, but then things get so bad I can barely leave the house.

"Simple things like grocery shopping, or taking the boys to school – which is an hour's drive away - become really difficult, but I know I have to push through for the sake of my children.

"Driving actually makes things a little better, because my body is catching up with the movement in my brain.

"My sons are very supportive, they step up and help all the time, but I'm sad for them.

"I can't participate in normal parenting activities, like going to watch their football games because crowds and loud noises make my symptoms worse."

Desiree has also completely overhauled her diet in a bid to beat the disorder.

She strictly limits her salt and coffee intake, and ensures she eats lots of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as vitamins.

"I need to eliminate toxins in the body because they make it worse," she said.

"Before my most recent relapse, I used to be really fit and active.

"Then, I went to a Zumba class one day, followed by a kayaking trip. All of that motion – the spinning and twirling – triggered things and my symptoms came back with a vengeance.

"For a while, I was terrified to exercise again, but I'm slowly trying to reintroduce myself to it, and have just started going for walks with the aid of a stick."

Since being diagnosed, Desiree, who cannot even take medicine for her symptoms as it tends to worsen them, has taken to the Internet in search of support.

Through this, she's joined a number of groups and made friends with people who understand what she's going through.

Now, she is bravely sharing her story to raise awareness of the disorder, which she said is in dire need of more research.

"I wish there was more scientific understanding, and more funding to help others going through it," she said.

"For years, I thought I was alone with this, but I've now realised it's more common than I thought.

"When you've been sick for so long, people don't want to be around you anymore, so some of my friendships have suffered.

"But, through online support groups, I've made some great new friends.

"This disorder can drive you insane. You have days where you think, 'How can I go on living my life like this?' but they're always there to help you through and to remind you that, while you might be in a bad place right now, tomorrow could be different."

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

A mum-of-two told of how a Zumba class triggered motion sickness that has lasted for THREE YEARS.

[…]

Unattributed article from 28 April 2016:

<https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/mum-two-suffered-constant-motion-7851072>

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Almost any kind of prolonged motion can lead to MdDS, but doctors don’t yet understand what causes the condition. Many researchers believe it is caused by issues with the vestibular system. During passive motion, the vestibular system helps the brain
regularly update and process where the body is in space (known as proprioception). This enables a person to maintain their balance even while the surface they are on is moving, such as while on a boat or plane.

Doctors are unsure what causes the brain’s sudden inability to process and adapt in cases of MdDS. Typically, the vestibular system is able to compensate and recognize when passive motion has stopped. Most cases of MdDS occur following extended periods
of travel, but length of travel is not believed to contribute to its severity or duration.

People with migraines are more likely to experience mal de débarquement syndrome. The connection between these two conditions has not yet been established.

The most common symptoms of MdDS are persistent sensations of rocking, bobbing, and swaying. Some also experience confusion, balance issues like dizziness, difficulty focusing, and fatigue. In some cases, MdDS can lead to mood changes, anxiety, and
depression.

Symptoms of MdDS typically persist for more than 48 hours following a period of travel with prolonged passive motion, such as on a boat or plane. Many experience relief from MdDS symptoms when re-engaging in passive motion such as riding in a car.
However, in these cases symptoms typically recur once the passive motion is completed. In some cases, symptoms can worsen following additional passive motion activities.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Almost any kind of prolonged motion can lead to MdDS, but doctors don’t
yet understand what causes the condition.

[…]

Unattributed undated article from

<https://www.americanbrainfoundation.org/diseases/mal-de-debarquement-syndrome/>


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What are the Symptoms of Mal de Debarquement Syndrome?

A sensation of rocking or swaying that is present constantly or for most of the day.
Vertigo (or a spinning type of motion) is NOT associated with MdDS
Rocking sensations improve or completely disappear while you’re in motion (walking, driving, on a boat)
Anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and difficulty coping with stress
Difficulty concentrating, brain fog, fatigue
Possibly unsteadiness and difficulty maintaining balance


What Causes Mal de Debarquement Syndrome?

MdDS is viewed as a dysfunction of the vestibular system. Your vestibular system makes up the areas of your brain and inner ear that senses motion and helps you appropriately respond to changes in head position.

When the surface you are standing on moves or shifts, your vestibular system automatically works to keep you feeling stable. If the surface keeps shifting back and forth (i.e. sways), your vestibular system keeps adjusting itself to make you feel stable.
Over time, it adapts so well that you can barely perceive the swaying, if at all.

Let’s look at this vestibular adaptation with the classic example of MdDS after a stay on a cruise ship. In this case, when you first step onto the boat, you can feel the movement of the ship as it sways back and forth. You may feel dizzy and nauseous.
However, as your vestibular system adapts to the rocking of the boat, you begin to gradually notice less and less movement until eventually you feel as though you’re on solid, stable ground.

At the end of the cruise, when you disembark from the boat, the opposite happens and you’ll notice that the solid ground feels like it is moving. Now it’s up to your vestibular system to get you your “land legs back” and gradually adapt to a
stable surface again.

With MdDS, your vestibular system malfunctions and is unable to readapt back to a stable, non-moving surface after it had adapted to a moving surface of the boat.
Why does this error happen to our brain?

We still don’t fully understand the reasons why MdDS occurs but there is evidence of the following:

A similarity to the way the motion sickness works to affect the brain
A possible relationship to a specific type of migraine
Evidence of a role of hormonal imbalances (estrogen and progesterone)


Risk Factors for Getting MdDS

mainly affects women (90%) vs men (10%)
affects those aged 30 – 60 years of age but most commonly in the mid 40s
those that already have issues with motion sensitivity
previous episodes of MdDS

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

What are the Symptoms of Mal de Debarquement Syndrome?

[…]

Unattributed article from:

<https://cornerstonephysio.com/resources/mal-de-debarquement-syndrome/>

--
Spike

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When Cindy Balayewich sailed with her daughter Emily to Alaska last summer, the seven-day cruise rocked her world, she says. The trouble is, nine months later, her world is still rocking.

Ms. Balayewich, 50, says she can't walk down a long hallway or go into a mall without feeling dizzy. Horizons look like they're swaying and big open spaces make her head spin. Because she feels shaky on her feet, Ms. Balayewich had to stop lifting
patients in her job as a nurse at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver.

She went through months of tests before she was referred to the neuro-otology unit at the Vancouver General Hospital, a.k.a. the dizzy clinic. At last, she received a diagnosis: mal de débarquement.

The term - French for "landing sickness" - describes a rare disorder that gives people the illusion of being in motion long after they've stepped off a boat. Unlike the hours or days it normally takes to get back one's "land legs," mal de débarquement
may persist for weeks, months and years.

For sufferers like Ms. Balayewich, being in motion offers the only reprieve from the unnerving sense of bobbing and swaying all the time. "I love driving because then I don't feel this way," she says.

Despite increased fatigue and bouts of nausea, Ms. Balayewich is able to work. But others are debilitated by the disorder and become "absolute shut-ins," says Yoon-Hee Cha, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and one of the few
experts on mal de débarquement.

Dr. Cha is using brain imaging technology to study patients from a set of 250 people with the disorder. Besides sensations of rocking and tilting, patients may develop migraines, mental confusion, extreme fatigue and tinnitus (ringing in the ears), she
says. In some cases, "people have a hard time doing things like being on the phone or taking a memo."

Researchers don't know how rare the life-altering condition is or what causes it. But tests suggest it's not the same as vertigo or balance disorders associated with aging or problems of the inner ear, Dr. Cha says.

Rather, it may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation. After reorganizing neural networks to function on a moving vessel, the brain fails to readapt on firm ground, Dr. Cha explains. "It is definitely a
neuroplasticity problem," says Dr. Cha, referring to the brain's ability to form new neural connections throughout life.

Although it can strike adults of all ages, patients tend to be middle-aged women who took seven-day cruises. Other triggers can include riding in an airplane, train, car or high-speed elevator. But some people develop symptoms spontaneously and without
recent travel, Dr. Cha says.

There are no effective treatments or cure, says Marilyn Josselyn, president of the MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation - Mal de Débarquement Syndrome in Audubon, Pa.

Certain antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can take the edge off symptoms, and therapy designed for balance problems may help some people to cope. But medications for other forms of dizziness or motion sickness don't work for people with mal de
débarquement, she says.

The foundation has 1,300 members, and occasionally, Ms. Josselyn has heard of people rejoicing when their symptoms went away, she says. But usually, within a few years, "they're back."

Ms. Josselyn, 75, has felt like she's rocking in a boat for 12 years, ever since she took a Russian river cruise. Disequilibrium forced to her to quit her job as a stenographer, she says, and she is plagued by symptoms at all times, "unless I'm sleeping."

Only a handful of studies have been published about mal de débarquement. Since doctors tend to be unfamiliar with the illness, people with severe symptoms have had problems filing for disability insurance, she says. "It's a tough fight."

Brian Clark, a neuromuscular physiologist at Ohio University, says he had never heard of mal de débarquement until September 2010, when he examined an alumnus of the university who had symptoms.

He is now comparing the neuromuscular functions of a dozen patients with mal de débarquement with those of age-matched controls. New findings may shed light on ways to retrain the brains of afflicted people, he says, and help researchers develop a
diagnostic test. Until then, "it's completely a diagnosis of exclusion."

Dr. Cha says she's hoping to find a marker for the disorder. She is using functional MRI (which measures blood oxygen changes in relation to neural activity) to look at differences in brain connectivity and positron emission tomography (PET) scans (
nuclear imaging) to see whether part of the brain is using too much sugar because it's too active. Since brain scans of patients haven't found any structural abnormalities, she says, "it really has to be a functional problem in terms of how networks of
neurons are behaving."

But until the illness is better understood, sufferers are in the same boat as Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, who in 1796 became the first physician to document that after long voyages on land or at sea, "the rattling noise of the coach, as
well as the undulatory motion, haunts us."

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/imagine-being-seasick-for-years---on-land/article4264313/

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MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”

That explains a lot…


Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

When Cindy Balayewich sailed with her daughter Emily to Alaska last
summer, the seven-day cruise rocked her world, she says. The trouble is,
nine months later, her world is still rocking.

Ms. Balayewich, 50, says she can't walk down a long hallway or go into a
mall without feeling dizzy. Horizons look like they're swaying and big
open spaces make her head spin. Because she feels shaky on her feet, Ms. Balayewich had to stop lifting patients in her job as a nurse at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver.

She went through months of tests before she was referred to the
neuro-otology unit at the Vancouver General Hospital, a.k.a. the dizzy clinic. At last, she received a diagnosis: mal de débarquement.

The term - French for "landing sickness" - describes a rare disorder that gives people the illusion of being in motion long after they've stepped
off a boat. Unlike the hours or days it normally takes to get back one's "land legs," mal de débarquement may persist for weeks, months and years.

For sufferers like Ms. Balayewich, being in motion offers the only
reprieve from the unnerving sense of bobbing and swaying all the time. "I love driving because then I don't feel this way," she says.

Despite increased fatigue and bouts of nausea, Ms. Balayewich is able to work. But others are debilitated by the disorder and become "absolute shut-ins," says Yoon-Hee Cha, a neurologist at the University of
California, Los Angeles, and one of the few experts on mal de débarquement.

Dr. Cha is using brain imaging technology to study patients from a set of
250 people with the disorder. Besides sensations of rocking and tilting, patients may develop migraines, mental confusion, extreme fatigue and tinnitus (ringing in the ears), she says. In some cases, "people have a
hard time doing things like being on the phone or taking a memo."

Researchers don't know how rare the life-altering condition is or what
causes it. But tests suggest it's not the same as vertigo or balance disorders associated with aging or problems of the inner ear, Dr. Cha says.

Rather, it may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in
learning and adaptation. After reorganizing neural networks to function
on a moving vessel, the brain fails to readapt on firm ground, Dr. Cha explains. "It is definitely a neuroplasticity problem," says Dr. Cha, referring to the brain's ability to form new neural connections throughout life.

Although it can strike adults of all ages, patients tend to be
middle-aged women who took seven-day cruises. Other triggers can include riding in an airplane, train, car or high-speed elevator. But some people develop symptoms spontaneously and without recent travel, Dr. Cha says.

There are no effective treatments or cure, says Marilyn Josselyn,
president of the MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation - Mal de Débarquement Syndrome in Audubon, Pa.

Certain antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can take the edge
off symptoms, and therapy designed for balance problems may help some
people to cope. But medications for other forms of dizziness or motion sickness don't work for people with mal de débarquement, she says.

The foundation has 1,300 members, and occasionally, Ms. Josselyn has
heard of people rejoicing when their symptoms went away, she says. But usually, within a few years, "they're back."

Ms. Josselyn, 75, has felt like she's rocking in a boat for 12 years,
ever since she took a Russian river cruise. Disequilibrium forced to her
to quit her job as a stenographer, she says, and she is plagued by
symptoms at all times, "unless I'm sleeping."

Only a handful of studies have been published about mal de débarquement. Since doctors tend to be unfamiliar with the illness, people with severe symptoms have had problems filing for disability insurance, she says. "It's a tough fight."

Brian Clark, a neuromuscular physiologist at Ohio University, says he had never heard of mal de débarquement until September 2010, when he examined
an alumnus of the university who had symptoms.

He is now comparing the neuromuscular functions of a dozen patients with
mal de débarquement with those of age-matched controls. New findings may shed light on ways to retrain the brains of afflicted people, he says,
and help researchers develop a diagnostic test. Until then, "it's
completely a diagnosis of exclusion."

Dr. Cha says she's hoping to find a marker for the disorder. She is using functional MRI (which measures blood oxygen changes in relation to neural activity) to look at differences in brain connectivity and positron
emission tomography (PET) scans (nuclear imaging) to see whether part of
the brain is using too much sugar because it's too active. Since brain
scans of patients haven't found any structural abnormalities, she says,
"it really has to be a functional problem in terms of how networks of
neurons are behaving."

But until the illness is better understood, sufferers are in the same
boat as Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, who in 1796 became
the first physician to document that after long voyages on land or at
sea, "the rattling noise of the coach, as well as the undulatory motion, haunts us."

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/imagine-being-seasick-for-years---on-land/article4264313/

--
Spike

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Mal de debarquement syndrome frequently develops after a cruise or water travel. It can also develop after:

Air, train or automobile travel
Riding an elevator
Walking on docks

Although most cases of MdDS occur after an episode outlined above, some cases appear without a motion event. Secondary factors that can cause your symptoms to reappear include:

Stress
Fatigue
Flickering lights
Moving fast
Being closed in
Playing video games

Risk factors for mal de debarquement syndrome

Although mal de debarquement syndrome can affect men and women of all ages, it is more prevalent in women between the ages of 30 and 60.
Symptoms of mal de debarquement syndrome

If you have mal de debarquement syndrome, you may feel like you are constantly rocking, swaying or bobbing without a reason to feel this way.

Secondary symptoms of MdDS may include:

Depression
Feeling confused or having anxiety
Fatigue
Difficulty focusing

Symptoms may subside when riding in a car or a train, but they may come back when you stop moving.
Diagnosis of mal de debarquement syndrome

Mal de debarquement syndrome is a rare condition that may take time to diagnose. In order to rule out other conditions, your doctor may order the following tests:

Blood tests
Hearing test
Brain scan
Nervous system exam

Patients who have experienced symptoms for more than a month without any clear diagnosis may be diagnosed with mal de debarquement syndrome.
Treatment of mal de debarquement syndrome

If you are younger, symptoms associated with mal de debarquement syndrome may go away on their own. For other patients, mal de debarquement syndrome is challenging to treat.

Treatments may include:

Brain stimulation therapy — new therapy that uses electrical signals to transforms how the brain works.
Medications — used to treat secondary symptoms such as depression, anxiety and insomnia may be effective in some cases.
Vestibular rehabilitation — exercises that help you feel steadier on your feet.
Lifestyle changes — exercising, managing stress and resting can help relieve symptoms.

ALL USELESS.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de debarquement syndrome frequently develops after a cruise or water travel.

Treatments may include:

Brain stimulation therapy — new therapy that uses electrical signals
to transforms how the brain works.
Medications — used to treat secondary symptoms such as depression, anxiety and insomnia may be effective in some cases.
Vestibular rehabilitation — exercises that help you feel steadier on your feet.
Lifestyle changes — exercising, managing stress and resting can help relieve symptoms.

ALL USELESS.

MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”

That explains a lot…maybe while those treatments proved useless in your
case.

For example, Brain Stimulation Therapy means you need a brain to stimulate.

--
Spike

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Treatments may include:

Brain stimulation therapy — new therapy that uses electrical signals to transforms how the brain works.
Medications — used to treat secondary symptoms such as depression, anxiety and insomnia may be effective in some cases.
Vestibular rehabilitation — exercises that help you feel steadier on your feet.
Lifestyle changes — exercising, managing stress and resting can help relieve symptoms.

ALL USELESS.

There is no "cure" - all futile.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Treatments may include:

Brain stimulation therapy — new therapy that uses electrical signals to
transforms how the brain works.
Medications — used to treat secondary symptoms such as depression,
anxiety and insomnia may be effective in some cases.
Vestibular rehabilitation — exercises that help you feel steadier on your feet.
Lifestyle changes — exercising, managing stress and resting can help relieve symptoms.

ALL USELESS.

There is no "cure" - all futile.

MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”

‘Glitch in the brain’ might give you a clue as to why the cures failed.

--
Spike

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Mal de Debarquement, which is French for “sickness of disembarkment”, is a common feature of many sea-travellers who return to land and feel a prolonged sense of illusionary motion or “rocking”. Normally, this “sea-legs”sensation will subside
within days. However, for some people the sensation continues for more than 1 month, at which point it has become chronic, and may be titled Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS).

MdDS was first mentioned in 1881 yet only described clinically in 1987. It is a rare disorder, predominantly in females of ages 40-50 years old, and refers to the false perception of movement, usually as an aftereffect of motion, such as travelling on a
boat. MdDS can be classified as motion-triggered or spontaneous, which is non-motion triggered.

One theory around the cause of MdDS is the theory of VOR (vestibulo-ocular reflex) maladaptation. The VOR pertains to the ability to maintain a stable image whilst the head is moving. It is thought that whilst the brain’s VOR is able to adapt to motion,
such as the motion of a boat, it is sometime unable to re-adapt back to normal when returning to land. It is thought that this lack of re-adaptation results in MdDS.
Symptoms of MdDS include:

Gravitational pull
Visually-induced dizziness
Anxiety
Constant sense of self-motion, with fluctuating symptoms
Migraine
Photophobia
Depression

When testing for vestibular dysfunction, it is common that MdDS sufferers will exhibit NORMAL findings on the typical vestibular test battery. Essentially, everything seems normal, but the symptoms are there. One important diagnostic finding in MdDS is
that symptoms often feel better during passive motion, for example, when moving in a car. If symptoms are not better during passive motion, it is possible that the person is suffering Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD).

Science is currently investigating the role of the female hormones in MdDS due its high prevalence in females of ages 40-50 years old, with researchers showing particular interest in estrogen.

There is evidence for optokinetic therapy for MdDS patients, which involves exposure to a visual stimulus in the form of moving lines. The graduated exposure can improve postural stability and the reduce the perception of movement, with the theory being
that the visual stimulus during a head-roll promotes re-adaptation of the VOR.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Debarquement, which is French for “sickness of disembarkment”, is a common feature of many sea-travellers who return to land and feel a prolonged sense of illusionary motion or “rocking”.

[…]

Unattributed article from

<https://brainbalanz.com.au/conditions/mal-de-debarquement-syndrome/>

--
Spike

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The ceaseless operations of these information channels help us negotiate each leg of our daily travels. Working together, they let us know when we arrive at our destination and enable us to stop and exit the vehicle. But what if this this complex system
fails to recognize an end to the motion? It’s a disconnect that’s all too real for people who develop mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS), a sickness of disembarkation in which patients feel that they’re still in transit—that they’re never
standing on solid ground.

The feeling may be at least somewhat familiar to a lot of us. For example, I recently had to steady myself on a railing after stepping off a water taxi. I could still feel the water swelling beneath my feet even as I walked on dry land—a sensation
colloquially known as “sea legs.” As is typical with sea legs, my symptoms were non-pathological and subsided after a few minutes. In mal de débarquement syndrome, however, the feeling of instability doesn’t go away. Instead, it continues
relentlessly—in some cases becoming so debilitating that it interferes with work, family life, even basic activities of daily living.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS) — which means, “sickness of disembarkation” — is a rare condition that makes you feel like you’re moving, even when you’re not. “Disembarkation” is a word to describe getting off of a boat or aircraft.
This can cause a change in your stability or balance.

MdDS commonly occurs after boating or sea travel, though it can happen after air travel, extended land travel and even sleeping on water beds. In some cases, MdDS can occur after non-motion events (like surgery or childbirth), or for no known reason (
spontaneous mal de débarquement syndrome).

MdDS is a vestibular disorder, meaning it affects your body’s balance system. Vestibular disorders typically originate in your brain or inner ear. Experts believe that MdDS has to do with your brain’s ability to readapt to your surroundings once
unfamiliar movement (like sailing on the water) stops.
Who does MdDS affect?

Anyone can get MdDS, though 85% of cases affect women and people assigned female at birth ages 30 to 60. MdDS is also more common in people who get migraines.
How common is MdDS?

Mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS) is rare. Some studies suggest that approximately 150,000 people in the United States have the condition.
Symptoms and Causes
What are the symptoms of mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS)?

MdDS symptoms typically include:

Rocking, swaying or bobbing sensations.
Unsteadiness.
Balance issues.
Confusion.
Anxiety.
Depression.
Brain fog.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

The ceaseless operations of these information channels help us negotiate
each leg of our daily travels.

The website that published the longer article
from which this excerpt was taken,can be found at

<https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/leader.FTR2.26122021.46/full/>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”.

--
Spike

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS) — which means, “sickness of disembarkation” — is a rare condition that makes you feel like you’re moving, even when you’re not.

Article url:

<https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24796-mal-de-debarquement-syndrome-mdds>

Depression.
Brain fog.

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”.


--
Spike

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When you head out to sea on a cruise ship, your brain and body have to get used to the constant motion. It’s called “getting your sea legs,” and it keeps you from crashing into a wall every time the ship bobs up or down.

When you get back on shore, you need time to get your land legs back. That usually happens within a few minutes or hours, but it can take up to 2 days. With mal de debarquement syndrome, though, you can’t shake the feeling that you’re still on the
boat. That’s French for “sickness of disembarkment.” You feel like you’re rocking or swaying even though you’re not.

It can happen to anyone, but it’s much more common in women ages 30 to 60. It’s not clear if hormones play a role.

People who get migraines may be more likely to get it, too, but doctors aren’t sure how the two conditions are linked.
What Are the Symptoms?

Mainly, you feel like you’re rocking, swaying, or bobbing when there’s no reason for it. You might feel unsteady and even stagger a bit.

Other symptoms include:

Anxiety
Confusion
Depression
Feeling very tired
Having a hard time focusing

Your symptoms may go away when you ride in a car or train, but they’ll come back when you stop moving. And they can get worse with:

Being in a closed-in space
Fast movement
Flickering lights
Stress
Tiredness
Trying to be still, like when you’re going to sleep
Intense visual activity, like playing video games


What Causes It?

It happens most often after you’ve been out on the ocean, but riding in planes, trains, and cars can lead to it, too. It’s even been caused by water beds, elevators, walking on docks, and using virtual reality.

While almost any kind of motion can cause it, doctors don’t know what’s really behind it. In most cases, you get it after a longer trip. But there’s no tie between the length of your trip and how bad the symptoms are or how long they last.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

When you head out to sea on a cruise ship, your brain and body have to
get used to the constant motion.

Unattributed article can be found here:

<https://www.webmd.com/brain/mal-de-debarquement-syndrome>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”.

--
Spike

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I call this “Floating Away,” as I am constantly feeling that I am floating or bobbing in water, or floating on clouds. I have had MdDS three separate times, with my current episode occurring right now. I am on the 6th month of this episode.
Floating Away, hand-drawn illustration by Alexis Dolgoff. “The calendar and squiggly lines represent the anxiety and mental chaos due to how long I have suffered with this condition. Getting through each minute, each day, each month. Always wondering
each day, when will it finally go away? While I try to maintain a calm mind set with uplifting thoughts, meditation, and vagus nerve stimulation for positive neuroplasticity, it is still extremely hard to deal with the anxiety and mental destruction that
MdDS creates.“

I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy and I have been writing a medical book to go into details of all vestibular disorders but especially MdDS and my entire experience with it. The whole truth of it. My hope is to not only increase the recognition of MdDS
but to also bring knowledge, comfort and strength to those suffering with MdDS.

I am grateful for this opportunity to be creative and express what I feel on paper, since putting it into words is sometimes so incredibly difficult. ~Alexis Dolgoff, DPT

https://mddsfoundation.org/2023/06/08/floating-away/

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Mal de Débarquement is characterized by a feeling of movement or motion sickness that does not stop when not in motion. It is most often caused by exposure to an unfamiliar movement and then the removal of that movement, like after sea travel, but can
also occur spontaneously. Unlike some vestibular disorders, it is thought that the problem is not in the inner ear but rather in the brain. Currently, there is no specific diagnostic test, and treatment options are limited.

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome is a rare central vestibular disorder that typically arises following exposure to passive motion (i.e. boat, airplane, automobile, train, etc.). ‘Mal de Debarquement’ is French for ‘sickness of dis-embarkment’ 1. This
term originally referred to a short-lived sensation of movement felt as an aftereffect of travel on water by ship or boat 2. For some individuals, these sensations do not improve, and after one month of experiencing these symptoms it is suggested that a
patient has Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS).

The characteristic symptom of MdDS is a constant sensation of rocking, swaying and/or bobbing. There are a multitude of associated symptoms which are typical of most vestibular disorders, such as imbalance, unsteadiness, cognitive slowing, visual-motion
sensitivity, brain fog and anxiety.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

I call this “Floating Away,” as I am constantly feeling that I am floating or bobbing in water, or floating on clouds.

https://mddsfoundation.org/2023/06/08/floating-away/

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”.

--
Spike

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Débarquement is characterized by a feeling of movement or motion sickness that does not stop when not in motion.

Unattributed article in full here:

<https://vestibular.org/article/diagnosis-treatment/types-of-vestibular-disorders/mal-de-debarquement/>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”.

--
Spike

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Mal de Debarquement or "MdDS" is a type of vertigo and imbalance that mainly occurs after getting off of a boat. The usual situation is that of a middle aged woman who has gone on a cruise. We use the abbreviation "MdDS" because it is currently
favored over the simpler MDD as it has been pointed out that "MDD" can be confused with other disorders. Note that we have moved the "mdd" page to "MdDS", and the latter will be updated in the future.

There are several recent reviews of MdDS-- including Van Ombergen et al (2015), and Hain and Cherchi (2016), as well as efforts made to differentiate it from other dizzy symptom inventories such as vestibular migraine and PPPD. (Cha et al, 2020; Beh
et al, 2021)

To our knowledge, the first potential reference to the syndrome was made by Erasmus Darwin, in 1796. He wrote:

"Those, who have been upon the water in a boat or ship so long, that they have acquired the necessary habits of motion upon that unstable element, at their return on land frequently think in their reveries, or between sleeping and waking, that they
observe the room, they sit in, or some of its furniture, to librate like the motion of the vessel. This I have experienced myself, and have been told, that after long voyages, it is some time before these ideas entirely vanish. The same is observable in
a less degree after having travelled some days in a stage coach, and particularly when we lie down in bed, and compose ourselves to sleep; in this case it is observable, that the rattling noise of the coach, as well as the undulatory motion, haunts us. "
(Darwin, 1796).

A similar observation was made by Jack London in his book, Sea Wolf (1904), who discusses "This was the startling effect of the cessation of motion. We had been so long upon the moving, rocking sea that the stable land was a shock to us. We expected
the beach to lift up this way and that, and the rocky walls to swing back and forth like the sides of a ship; and when we braced ourselves, automatically, for these various expected movements, their non-occurrence quite overcame our equilibrium."

If we look at both of these descriptions from the perspective of current definitions of MdDS (see below), neither mentions the duration and in particular, neither one documents a month of symptoms. So while they may document land sickness, they may
not actually be about MdDS.

Some Cases:

A 50-year-old woman went on her first ocean cruise. She had some motion sickness on the cruise, which responded to transdermal scopolamine. Immediately after returning from the cruise and getting onto solid ground, she developed imbalance and a
rocking sensation, accompanied by fatigue and difficulty concentrating. This persisted for months. She felt better however when she was driving. Her description was “Imagine feeling like you are on rough seas 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

A related case ? An avid cross country skier noted that after she would come home from a day of skiing, she developed a sensation as if she was still skiing until she went to sleep. She was always fine in the morning. Many patients with MdDS or
rocking symptoms say they have "motion memory" meaning that they feel as if they are moving after driving, or sometimes even just riding on an elevator.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Debarquement or "MdDS" is a type of vertigo and imbalance that mainly occurs after getting off of a boat.

Unattributed article can be found here:

<https://dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/central/MdDS.html>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”.

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Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (or MdDS) is an imbalance or rocking/swaying sensation often both “felt” and “seen” by the sufferer that occurs after exposure to motion (most commonly after a sea cruise or a flight). Although other forms of travel
have been known to trigger it.

After alighting or “debarking” (debarquement) the traveller continues to feel “all at sea”, unable to get their land legs back. Although most travellers can identify with this feeling and do actually experience it temporarily after disembarking,
unfortunately in the case of MdDS sufferers it can persist for many weeks, months, even years afterwards.

The symptoms are with you constantly, they never leave, nor can they be alleviated by any anti-motion sickness drugs (eg Stemetil, Serc etc)

“Like trying to constantly walk on a mattress or trampoline”

is a good description of the main symptom, which is usually most pronounced when the patient is sitting still, or inactive. It is unique among balance disorders in that re-exposure to passive motion, such as driving, decreases the internal motion
perception rather than increasing it.

https://www.mdds.org.uk/

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (or MdDS) is an imbalance or rocking/swaying sensation often both “felt” and “seen” by the sufferer that occurs after
exposure to motion (most commonly after a sea cruise or a flight).

https://www.mdds.org.uk/

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”, which could explain a lot in certain cases.


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Conclusions More than double the number of previously reported cases of mal de debarquement syndrome were identified by this study. The syndrome usually occurs in middle-aged women following an ocean cruise. Symptoms are often refractory to vestibular
suppressants as well as physical therapy.

MAL DE DEBARQUEMENT (MDD), literally "sickness of disembarkment," refers to inappropriate sensations of movement after exposure to motion. The syndrome typically follows a sea voyage, but similar sensations have been described following extended train
travel, space flight,1 and experience within a slowly rotating room.2 Symptoms usually include vague unsteadiness and disequilibrium or sensations of rocking and swaying, but not rotational vertigo.

Mal de debarquement is distinguished from motion sickness, airsickness, simulator sickness, or seasickness (mal de mer) because subjects are predominantly symptom free during the period of motion. Mal de debarquement is distinguished from "landsickness"
or postmotion vertigo by duration. Landsickness typically lasts less than 48 hours.3,4 We, like most others reporting on MDD,5-7 define it almost exclusively as a syndrome that persists for at least 1 month. Some authors4 refer to the common short-lived
postmotion vertigo as MDD, and the longer duration form as "persistent MDD."

To our knowledge, only 20 subjects with MDD as defined above have been described in the literature.5-7 However, this syndrome is probably more common than the literature7 might lead us to believe. We undertook a patient survey to better define MDD, to
understand the etiology or mechanism of this disorder, and to seek better prevention and treatment options.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Conclusions More than double the number of previously reported cases of
mal de debarquement syndrome were identified by this study. The syndrome usually occurs in middle-aged women following an ocean cruise. Symptoms
are often refractory to vestibular suppressants as well as physical therapy.

The full report of this study from the last century can be found here:

<https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/509503>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”, which could explain a lot in certain cases.

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The most prominent symptoms associated with MdDS are the subjective feeling of rocking, swaying and/or bobbing. Hain and colleagues reported rocking in 93 % of the patients and swaying in 81 % [25]. Other symptoms include disorientation [28], postural
instability, imbalance [25], fatigue [19], impaired cognition and kinesiophobia [19]. In one study, the following symptoms were also associated with MdDS (in order of how frequently they appeared): ear symptoms (non-specified), tilting, nausea, headache,
jumping vision, blurred vision, perioral tingling, spinning (vertigo), diplopia, vomiting, eye twitches, fuzzy-headed/woozy, pulling/numbness in foot or lower leg [25].

It has to be noted here that these are symptoms that MdDS patients reported when filling in questionnaires from a survey in 27 patients. It does not necessarily mean that all these symptoms are associated directly with MdDS. In the same study, a high
occurrence of otological symptoms (fullness, tinnitus, hyperacusis, otalgia and decreased hearing) was found [25], which is not in accordance with the findings in other studies [13].

MdDS is a debilitating condition and therefore, it inevitably has an impact on the psychosocial and economic status of patients suffering from MdDS.

An important factor contributing to the debilitating effect of the disease is the long duration between the start of the symptoms and an actual accurate diagnosis, which can take up to several years [13, 25]. This has also been reported as a catalyst to
secondary mood disorders such as depression and anxiety [13].

One study investigated the socio-economic burden in a retrospective analysis in 101 patients and they found that MdDS negatively impacts quality of life (QoL) in these patients and in addition, that it also imposes a significant economic burden [20]. On
average, 19 visits to a healthcare professional are necessary before receiving a diagnosis of MdDS [20]. This is consistent with a direct cost of $2997 ± 337 per patient and this does not involve other indirect costs that might be associated, such as
for example the loss of an income due to the incapability to work [20]. Up to 31 % of the respondents assessed by Hain reported a change in occupational status due to MdDS [25]. Another retrospective study focused on the stigma and illness intrusiveness
of MdDS and they found that MdDS is associated with a high level of intrusiveness as well as reduced QoL [21].

Hain and colleagues also assessed the scores of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory and found an average of 45.6 (SD 20.8) and demonstrated that the DHI score was related to the number of symptoms and to the presence of certain symptoms such as headache and
imbalance [25]. The DHI score was also negatively correlated with the disease duration [25].

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

The most prominent symptoms associated with MdDS are the subjective
feeling of rocking, swaying and/or bobbing. Hain and colleagues reported rocking in 93 % of the patients and swaying in 81 % [25].

Sounds like the aftermath of an evening spent in a garage pit swilling home brew.

The full article can be found here:

<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-015-7962-6>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”, which could explain a lot in certain cases.

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Conclusions More than double the number of previously reported cases of mal de debarquement syndrome were identified by this study. The syndrome usually occurs in middle-aged women following an ocean cruise. Symptoms are often refractory to vestibular
suppressants as well as physical therapy.

MAL DE DEBARQUEMENT (MDD), literally "sickness of disembarkment," refers to inappropriate sensations of movement after exposure to motion. The syndrome typically follows a sea voyage, but similar sensations have been described following extended train
travel, space flight,1 and experience within a slowly rotating room.2 Symptoms usually include vague unsteadiness and disequilibrium or sensations of rocking and swaying, but not rotational vertigo. Mal de debarquement is distinguished from motion
sickness, airsickness, simulator sickness, or seasickness (mal de mer) because subjects are predominantly symptom free during the period of motion. Mal de debarquement is distinguished from "landsickness" or postmotion vertigo by duration. Landsickness
typically lasts less than 48 hours.3,4 We, like most others reporting on MDD,5-7 define it almost exclusively as a syndrome that persists for at least 1 month. Some authors4 refer to the common short-lived postmotion vertigo as MDD, and the longer
duration form as "persistent MDD."

To our knowledge, only 20 subjects with MDD as defined above have been described in the literature.5-7 However, this syndrome is probably more common than the literature7 might lead us to believe. We undertook a patient survey to better define MDD, to
understand the etiology or mechanism of this disorder, and to seek better prevention and treatment options.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Conclusions More than double the number of previously reported cases of
mal de debarquement syndrome were identified by this study.

op cit


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Mal de débarquement (MdD) is a rare otorhinolaryngological disease characterized by a persistent sensation of motion such as rocking, swaying, tumbling and/or bobbing following a period of exposure to passive movement, usually an ocean cruise or other
types of water, train, automobile or air travel and less commonly other movements (like sleeping on a waterbed). Onset may be spontaneous in some patients.

Manifestations begin shortly after the stimulus, persist for 6 months to years and may be associated with anxiety, fatigue and impaired cognition. Symptoms are often accentuated when in an enclosed space or when attempting to be motionless (sitting,
lying down or standing in a stationary position) and are relieved when in passive motion such as in a moving car, airplane or train.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de débarquement (MdD) is a rare otorhinolaryngological disease characterized by a persistent sensation of motion such as rocking,
swaying, tumbling and/or bobbing following a period of exposure to
passive movement, usually an ocean cruise or other types of water, train, automobile or air travel and less commonly other movements (like sleeping on a waterbed).

Sounds like the aftermath of an evening spent in a garage pit swilling home brew.

Unattributed article can be found here:

<https://www.orpha.net/consor/cgi-bin/OC_Exp.php?lng=EN&Expert=210272>

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People often feel a sensation of movement, called Mal de Debarquement, after they have finished boating, surfing or a sea voyage. The symptoms usually disappear within hours, but in some people, and more frequently in women, symptoms can continue for
months or years, causing fatigue, insomnia, headaches, poor coordination, anxiety, depression and an inability to work. Known as the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS), the rare condition is marked by continuous feelings of swaying, rocking or bobbing.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

People often feel a sensation of movement, called Mal de Debarquement,
after they have finished boating, surfing or a sea voyage.

Unattributed article in full here:

<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140807163557.htm>

Generally, note that MdDS “…may be due to a glitch in the brain pathways involved in learning and adaptation”, which could explain a lot in certain cases.


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Mal de Debarquement Syndrome is the persistent sense of motion (often described as a rocking sensation) usually following prolonged exposure to travel (such as being on a boat or long train ride). It generally feels worse while at rest and improves while
you’re in motion. MdDS is often accompanied by anxiety and can significantly impact your quality of life due to its constant, unrelenting nature.


What are the Symptoms of Mal de Debarquement Syndrome?

A sensation of rocking or swaying that is present constantly or for most of the day.
Vertigo (or a spinning type of motion) is NOT associated with MdDS
Rocking sensations improve or completely disappear while you’re in motion (walking, driving, on a boat)
Anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and difficulty coping with stress
Difficulty concentrating, brain fog, fatigue
Possibly unsteadiness and difficulty maintaining balance

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome is the persistent sense of motion (often described as a rocking sensation) usually following prolonged exposure to travel (such as being on a boat or long train ride).

Unattributed article in full can be found here:

<https://cornerstonephysio.com/resources/mal-de-debarquement-syndrome/>

It doesn’t add anything to the previous 30 original posts on the topic,
which consist in the main of personal stories.


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Mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS), which implies concretely “landing sickness” in French, is a rare neurologic condition of prolonged subjective perception of self-motion from 3 days up to several years that occurs after exposure to passive motion,
in most cases accompanying sea travel, or rarely spontaneously.1,2 The common presentation of patients with MdDS includes symptoms with a continued sensation of motion and imbalance in the forms of rocking, bobbing, and swaying. MdDS is a diagnosis of
exclusion and currently has no conclusive treatment. Confirmation of the diagnosis requires a neuropsychiatric history, clinical examination of all systems, and vestibular function tests and brain imaging to exclude other structural causes. The
therapeutic options for prolonged symptoms include benzodiazepines, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, stress reduction, and physical and vestibular therapy.3 We present the case of a man who presented with these symptoms and whose follow-up was
complicated by psychiatric comorbidities.
Case Report

A 30-year-old man presented to the neurology clinic with episodes of dizziness and poor balance. The patient stated his chief complaint as, “I felt like I was in a boat and had twitching of both arms, legs, and toes.” The neurologic examination
showed no findings indicating central vertigo, vestibular neuritis, or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The electrodiagnostic tests showed mild carpal tunnel syndrome. The neurophysiologic examination showed that the patient manifested 0.2 Hz of
rocking and 0.5 Hz of sway, with an amplitude of ± 20 mm in static posturography frequency and 0.67 Hz of rocking in mimicking movement frequency. His cranial and cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans excluded intracranial tumors,
vestibular schwannoma, neurovascular conflicts, and demyelinating and inflammatory lesions such as in multiple sclerosis or cerebellitis. This clinical picture led to a high-grade clinical suspicion of MdDS due to stress-induced vertiginous symptoms.

One month after symptom onset at the neurologic outpatient visit, he was prescribed amitriptyline 25 mg daily. After 6 months, the patient underwent optokinetic stimulation over 4 days in a neurology clinic and responded well, as no post-treatment static
posturography frequency was detectable.

However, the alleviation of symptoms with amitriptyline diminished after 2 years of treatment, for which a follow-up visit at that time was arranged. At the follow-up visit, the patient reported multiple complaints including constant vertigo, ear pain,
mild tremors in both upper extremities, tightness in the neck, numbness, weakness of the left arm from shoulder to elbow, “constant buzzing” of both feet, and chest pain. In addition, he complained of weight gain of 22 lb, which was determined to be
a side effect of amitriptyline, and dysphoric mood, for which a change of medication was suggested. These diffuse neurologic symptoms were not related to a central sensory or motor deficit. The episodes of vegetative and thoracic symptoms and unspecific
paresthesia were evaluated clinically as anxiety attacks. The neurologic examination was normal at the time of the visit. Referral to the psychiatry clinic and vestibular rehabilitation were recommended through the evaluating neurologist.

Five months later, the patient presented to the psychiatry clinic with depression and psychomotor agitation and a constant sense of motion and intermittent anxiety. The patient took his medications regularly and received outpatient physical and
vestibular therapy. Amitriptyline was discontinued due to weight gain. Venlafaxine 37.5 mg daily was prescribed for anxiety and the depressive component of his symptoms, as he had previously taken a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor with minimal
benefit. Clonazepam 0.5 mg nightly as needed was prescribed for severe anxiety and panic attacks. He was provided psychoeducation and recommended to start cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The patient responded well to the combination of venlafaxine
and CBT. Anxiety and the depressive component of his symptoms remitted. He tolerated the episodes of panic attack well and was prescribed clonazepam 0.5 mg to take during those episodes at the suggestion of his prior neurologist. The patient denied side
effects from venlafaxine or clonazepam and was recommended to stay in neurologic follow-up for the episodes of constant sense of motion. No further psychiatric follow-up visits were required as of this writing.

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Mal de débarquement syndrome, commonly referred to as MdDS, is a rare condition marked by a feeling of self-motion and imbalance. Self-motion is the subjective sense that one is moving, despite standing, sitting or lying in an objectively still position.
Most often, MdDS patients describe this perceived self-motion as rocking or swaying.

The French phrase “Mal de débarquement” translates to “sickness of disembarkment,” and–as the name suggests–the syndrome typically materializes after disembarking from a moving vehicle. It is experienced most often by those who have traveled
by boat, but occasionally occurs after a journey by a plane, train or automobile.

While MdDS typically resolves itself within a few days, it occasionally persists long beyond that point. Because it is so rare–and because MdDS symptoms may be similar to other disorders–anyone experiencing self-motion for longer than a few days
should visit an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor. The team at Sierra Nevada ENT specializes in properly diagnosing and treating conditions such as Mal de débarquement syndrome.

When individuals are exposed to repetitive, passive motion–such as the rocking or swaying of a cruise ship–for an extended period of time, they may feel unsteady or experience periods of imbalance when returning to land. This is not uncommon, and it
typically resolves itself within 24 to 72 hours of disembarkment.

Occasionally, however, this phantom sense of self-motion can last for months or even years. There is evidence that females between the ages of 40 and 60 are at the greatest risk for developing persistent Mal de débarquement. Researchers are still trying
to determine why that may be and identify the underlying cause(s).

Most researchers do agree that MdDS is a vestibular disorder. “Vestibular” refers to the intricate network between the inner ear and brain that processes sensory cues and controls balance. As you move, so does the fluid in your ear, sending messages
to your brain about spatial positioning. When this process is disrupted, balance problems–vestibular disorders–can occur.

Prolonged MdDS symptoms can negatively impact daily functions, and individuals suffering from this disorder may experience confusion, fatigue, anxiety or depression, in addition to other issues.
What are the Symptoms?

Phantom motion is the most common symptom of Mal de débarquement syndrome. This is typically described as a feeling of rocking, swaying or bobbing. These feelings often lead to imbalance issues or result in an unsteady gait. MdDS may resolve
spontaneously or persist over a long period of time.

Symptoms of MdDS tend to:

Occur after exposure to repetitive motion
Improve when moving–e.g. returning to a boat, driving a car or walking
Worsen when sitting or lying still
Worsen when under stress

MdDS symptoms typically do NOT include:

Vertigo
Nausea
Hearing loss

However, symptoms such as vertigo and hearing loss are often associated with other vestibular disorders, so if a patient is experiencing any of these in conjunction with phantom motion or imbalance, it is still important to visit a qualified ear, nose
and throat (ENT) doctor.

The experts at Sierra Nevada ENT specialize in vestibular disorders. They can provide a proper diagnosis, which is crucial to understanding the cause of your symptoms and determining an appropriate MdDS treatment plan.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS), which implies concretely “landing sickness” in French, is a rare neurologic condition of prolonged
subjective perception of self-motion from 3 days up to several years that occurs after exposure to passive motion, in most cases accompanying sea travel, or rarely spontaneously.

Unattributed article, No. 31 of a continuing series, can be found here:

<https://psychiatrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/22cr03278.pdf>


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Whether riding in a car or traveling on a train or boat, you encounter passive motion on a daily basis. For some people, the sensation of movement may continue after disembarking.

It can be normal for this feeling of motion to continue for a few seconds or up to 3 days after exposure. However, when the rocking or swaying continues for months or years, it may be due to a condition called mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS).
What is mal de debarquement syndrome?

MdDS syndrome is a rare disorder affecting the vestibular system that controls your sense of balance. It is sometimes referred to as “land sicknessTrusted Source” when it occurs only for shorter periods of timeTrusted Source.

People with MdDS may feel like they are in motion when they’re not. It usually occursTrusted Source after a person has been on a boat, plane, or an environment where they were exposed to passive motion, for example, a water bed or exercise equipment.

The persistent feeling of rocking and self-vertigo with MdDS can last for months or yearsTrusted Source after the event that triggered it. People who have the syndrome say they feel as if they are walking on a boat or rocking and swaying when they are
sitting still.

It’s also possible to develop “mixedTrusted Source” MdDS, also known as “spontaneous” MdDS. This form doesn’t have an initial triggering event. ResearchersTrusted Source think it may be related to migraine disease.
What are the symptoms of mal de debarquement syndrome?

The main symptom of MdDS is a continued feeling of motion, particularly rocking. The feeling is not a spinning dizziness but unsteadiness. It’s important to note that these symptoms happen even if a person’s head is not moving, which may help
separate it from other similar disorders.

Other symptoms may include:

feelings of imbalance
fatigue
confusion and brain fog
changes in mood

Symptoms may be more noticeable when a person is sitting or lying still. They may also be triggered by flashing lights, fast motions, and busy visual environments, like grocery store aisles.

Symptoms may temporarily get better when you experience passive motion again, for example when riding in a car.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Whether riding in a car or traveling on a train or boat, you encounter passive motion on a daily basis.

Unattributed article No.33 can be found here:

<https://www.healthline.com/health/mal-de-debarquement-syndrome>

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The symptoms of MDDS usually involve a sense of rocking or swaying like the individual is still on the ship. It is normal for any individual to feel this way for a few hours or days after leaving the ship. However, people with MDDS usually have a long-
term persistence of the symptoms lasting weeks to months or years.

Symptoms may be experienced while sitting and standing still and sometimes while walking. Symptoms often settle while moving and while in a moving vehicle such as a car or on a boat. In more severe cases, the disequilibrium may affect mobility.

Generally, MDSS symptoms settle within 1–3 months. In some cases, it may persist for longer. MDSS is more common in women.

I HAD MINE FOR 15 MONTHS.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

The symptoms of MDDS usually involve a sense of rocking or swaying like
the individual is still on the ship. It is normal for any individual to
feel this way for a few hours or days after leaving the ship. However,
people with MDDS usually have a long-term persistence of the symptoms
lasting weeks to months or years.

Symptoms may be experienced while sitting and standing still and
sometimes while walking. Symptoms often settle while moving and while in
a moving vehicle such as a car or on a boat. In more severe cases, the disequilibrium may affect mobility.

Generally, MDSS symptoms settle within 1–3 months. In some cases, it may persist for longer. MDSS is more common in women.

I HAD MINE FOR 15 MONTHS.

There are two different medical conditions mentioned above, twice each:
MDDS (properly, MdDS) and MDSS (properly, MDSs). The inexperienced could
easily confuse the two.

Which did you have for 15 months?

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MdDS, also known as “Sickness of Disembarkment”, is a neurological disorder of perceived motion. The interesting thing about MdDS is that individuals who have it experience their symptoms when they are not moving, unlike many of the other vestibular
disorders that are worse when we move our head or eyes. So, when someone has MdDS they actually feel better while they are in continuous motion such as while being in a moving vehicle (as a passenger or driver).

The earliest known description of MdDS in Western European literature comes from 1689 with William III of Orange who describes how, after crossing the English Channel from the Netherlands to England, the soldiers experienced severe ‘dissiness’
described as, “‘the very Ground seem’d to rowl up and down for some days, according to the manner of the Waves,’.” 1
With Mal de Débarquement Syndrome Here Are Some Of The Common Symptoms:

A persistent sensation of rocking, swaying, and/or bobbing.
Difficulty maintaining balance.
Impaired cognitive function.
Anxiety and/or depression.
Fatigue.
Headache (including migraine).
Symptom intensity is highly variable among patients and for some can be quite disabling.
Patients are usually relieved while in motion (i.e. riding in a car). 1-4

Presently, there is no one test that can provide a definitive diagnosis, but it can be diagnosed by a primary care provider, neurologist, or otolaryngologist (ENT) if there is a history of:

Symptoms or rocking, bobbing, or swaying, etc (non-vertigo); starting immediately after travel by boat, train, plane, or car; that persists for more than 48 hours.
Feeling of rocking, bobbing, or swaying that improves when the affected person is in continuous motion (i.e. in a moving car).

Along with ruling out other medical problems.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

MdDS, also known as “Sickness of Disembarkment”, is a neurological disorder of perceived motion.>

Unattributed article No.34

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Mal de Débarquement syndrome (MdDS) is persistent dizziness, disequilibrium and rocking sensation (like being on a boat) on return to a stable environment (land) following motion adaptation. Sea legs or land sickness is a common sensation after being
aboard an ocean liner. Most people adapt from sea to land within several days which is normal, but some people do not adapt, and we call this Triggered/Prolonged Mal de Débarquement syndrome.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Débarquement syndrome (MdDS) is persistent dizziness,
disequilibrium and rocking sensation (like being on a boat) on return to
a stable environment

Unattributed article No.35

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Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) commonly occurs after sea voyages and is primarily characterized by a sense of rocking, swaying, and bobbing (“sea legs”). Generally, these sensations may only last for minutes to days. However, for some travelers
these sensations can last for months to years. This is so-called persistent MdDS. If this occurs, the primary symptoms of rocking are usually accompanied by a number of equilibrium, cognitive, and psychological dysfunctions, which may severely reduce a
person’s quality of life and ability to work. Although MdDS affects all ages, the average age is at middle 40s. More women than man are affected by this syndrome.

Until now, there has been no known treatment for this syndrome.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) commonly occurs after sea voyages and
is primarily characterized by a sense of rocking, swaying, and bobbing (“sea legs”). Generally, these sensations may only last for minutes to days. However, for some travelers these sensations can last for months to years. This is so-called persistent MdDS. If this occurs, the primary symptoms of rocking are usually accompanied by a number of equilibrium, cognitive, and psychological dysfunctions, which may severely reduce a person’s quality of life and ability to work. Although MdDS affects all ages, the average age is at middle 40s. More women than man are affected by this syndrome.

Until now, there has been no known treatment for this syndrome.

Has anyone tried jumping off a bridge as a cure?

Unattributed article No.36

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A UK patient perspective on Mal de Debarquement Syndrome.

Although it is coded as an inner ear condition, Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) is now considered to be a rare neurological condition. It is usually triggered by disembarkation from planes, ships, trains or any other moving platform, including
treadmills and elevators. The main symptoms are a sensation of rocking, bobbing and swaying but people report other symptoms including ataxia, cognitive impairments, nausea, insomnia/excessive sleepiness, migraine (sometimes ‘silent’, sometimes not)
and gravitational pull. Like any long-term health condition, MdDS can result in situational depression and anxiety since many of us lose our careers, our ability to study, our ability to fulfil family roles or maintain friendships, our ability to do
basic household chores and our financial independence. Unfortunately there are still some health professionals who put the cart before the horse and attempt to gaslight patients into believing that anxiety and depression cause the symptoms and it is
regrettable that this happens for people with other rare conditions too. Anxiety/depression may be a predisposing factor for developing MdDS for some of us but there are many others, including; genetics, a history of head/neck injuries, a history of
operations, being born with a ‘lazy’ eye/lack of binocular vision and mineral and vitamin deficiencies.

An interesting feature of MdDS is that many patients report that most of the symptoms go away when we are re-exposed to passive motion eg when we are on trains or driving/being a passenger in a car, although we often feel worse after the journey is over.
For some people MdDS is episodic (I was fortunate to get lots of remission time in the early years) whereas for others it is permanent. It is more common in women than men which often means that it is harder for men to get diagnosed and one man in the UK
group reported that his diagnostic odyssey left him with ‘mental scars’ due to the way he was mistreated by health professionals.

Compared to the last two ENT consultants I’ve met (who were lovely), the one who diagnosed me was very unpleasant but at least I was lucky to be diagnosed remarkably quickly after a second onset from a motion trigger. For some people with MdDS it can
take many years, many doctors and many misdiagnoses (persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, known as triple PD, being a common misdiagnosis) before they are accurately diagnosed. I was also lucky because – although I wouldn’t wish this condition
on anyone – my elder sister had experienced similar symptoms for 2 years (long before I did and without getting a diagnosis) so I had family understanding and support (including financial support) which a lot of us lack.

Although initially the researchers focussed on motion-triggered MdDS, more recently they have been looking into onset of MdDS symptoms from injuries and operations, including c-sections and the rare occasions when MdDS presents out of the blue, known as �
��spontaneous’ onset. I try not to have favourite case studies but repurposing is important in the rare conditions space so although I was motion-triggered I found this case study about the treatment of a nurse with spontaneous onset very interesting.
I’d hope that our National Health Service could be able to provide something more sophisticated than a repurposed garbage bin but if not, we’ll take what we can get 🙂 https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/…/11-12/e775/4999175

There are many environmental factors that can alter MdDS symptom levels for better or worse (such as changes in barometric pressure, audio-frequency changes, altitude changes, exposure to bland/busy visual environments, exposure to open/enclosed spaces,
lux level changes, flickering lights and screens etc) and hormone fluctuations also have a big impact so I am delighted that this has been studied now and further investigation into this aspect of MdDS is warranted.

When I joined the support groups at the request of our family GP, few of us dared to hope there would be treatments available for MdDS in our life-times. However our awesome researchers have done wonders and there are now two treatment options and more
in the pipeline. I find it interesting that some of the MdDS researchers (two of whom have or have had MdDS themselves) also study the effects of space flight travel on the brain since MdDS can make us feel that gravity has gone AWOL, along with our
internal global positioning systems. One lovely GP I met said ‘MdDS presents like concussion’ so it doesn’t surprise me that some of our researchers also research concussion.

Although the UK is behind with the research, I hope that treatment trials of the opto-kinetic stimulation protocol devised by the late, great Dr Dai and his colleagues, will start soon. There are many rare neurological conditions and MdDS is described as
the ‘quintessential neurological disorder’ by Dr Cha, one of our lead researchers. Times are hard for many of us at the moment but if you can contribute to the crowdfunding campaign for MdDS, people with MdDS throughout the world – and our
wonderful researchers – will be very grateful 🙂 Here’s the link: https://crowd.science/…/research-into-the-pathophysiology

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

A UK patient perspective on Mal de Debarquement Syndrome.

https://crowd.science/…/research-into-the-pathophysiology

37 posts on the subject:

36 Unattributed, 1 Attributed

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Spike

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Individuals with MDDS complain of dizziness and imbalance after
returning from being on a prolonged voyage, such as after taking a
cruise (also can occur with long plane or car rides).

Symptoms:
• Dizzy and off balance once back “on land”
• “Rocking” or “swaying” sensation
• May last weeks to months (years in rare cases)
What are possible causes of MDDS?
• Vestibular (balance) system in inner ear does not adjust once back
on land
• Form of migraine syndrome
• Heredity / Hormonal cause (occurs more often in women than men)
• Inability to disregard our body’s reactions that were developed to prevent falling

A person is diagnosed with MDDS by ruling out other causes of
dizziness and unsteadiness. The onset of dizziness is usually
associated with recent pro- longed travel. It differs from motion sickness because people with MDDS feel better in a moving car, plane or boat.
Some people with MDDS say that their symptoms feel better when they
board a ship again

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Individuals with MDDS complain of dizziness and imbalance after
returning from being on a prolonged voyage, such as after taking a
cruise (also can occur with long plane or car rides).

38 posts on the subject:

37 Unattributed, 1 Attributed


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Spike

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Mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS) is a rare neurologic disorder characterized by a persistent false sense of motion, often including sensations of rocking, bobbing, and swaying. The exact cause of MdDS is not yet known, but symptoms are thought to
stem from issues with the vestibular system.

Symptom onset usually comes after a period of prolonged passive motion, such as a cruise, a flight, or a long car or train ride. Mal de débarquement syndrome takes its name from a French term, meaning “sickness of disembarkment.” Many people with
mal de débarquement syndrome describe the persistent sense of motion as like being on a boat even when sitting still. Some experience dizziness, confusion, and anxiety as a result of this condition.

Almost any kind of prolonged motion can lead to MdDS, but doctors don’t yet understand what causes the condition. Many researchers believe it is caused by issues with the vestibular system. During passive motion, the vestibular system helps the brain
regularly update and process where the body is in space (known as proprioception). This enables a person to maintain their balance even while the surface they are on is moving, such as while on a boat or plane.

Doctors are unsure what causes the brain’s sudden inability to process and adapt in cases of MdDS. Typically, the vestibular system is able to compensate and recognize when passive motion has stopped. Most cases of MdDS occur following extended periods
of travel, but length of travel is not believed to contribute to its severity or duration.

People with migraines are more likely to experience mal de débarquement syndrome. The connection between these two conditions has not yet been established.

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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS) is a rare neurologic disorder characterized by a persistent false sense of motion, often including sensations of rocking, bobbing, and swaying.

Sounds like the aftermath of an evening spent swilling home-brew while in a garage pit.

39 posts on the subject:

38 Unattributed, 1 Attributed

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Spike

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On Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 8:52:19 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote: QUOTE:

A DRIVER who knocked down a cyclist at a ‘nightmare junction’, leaving the rider with fractured ribs and an infection in one lung, has been fined £2,000. ENDS

Has he paid it all in full yet? It's been a while.

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