It's Official!

ICD 11, the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases, was released today, including within it Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness. It won't change anything necessarily for me or for other PPPD sufferers, but it's a validation of sorts.

Definitely talk to your doctor about it. You don't want him/her to use the diagnosis code for this until you are sure that your insurance will cover it. It may take a few months for them to catch up. But it is a little morale boost to know that this condition is recognized by the World Health Organization.

The Experts

© 2006 Alan Levine, Flickr | PD-CC0 | via Wylio

As I mentioned in my previous post, my first breakthrough in figuring out what was wrong with me was finding this article:  New Clues about Chronic Dizziness. The article seemed to be describing my life. The doctor who led the study mentioned, Dr. Jeffrey Staab, was said to be at the Balance Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Further research helped me discover that Dr. Staab and his colleague, Dr. Neil Shepard, were now at the Mayo Clinic and were the leaders in the field of chronic dizziness research. I learned that the condition mentioned in the article - Chronic Subjective Dizziness - had been changed to PPPD (Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness.) I later found that Drs. Staab and Shepard had been on the committee that named the condition for the World Health Organization and that PPPD is now on the draft of the next version of the International Classification of Diseases. 

The more I researched about PPPD, the more I knew that was what was wrong with me and I set out to find out more. I also called the Mayo Clinic and filled out the paperwork to get the appointment process started.

Here are some of the articles, podcasts and videos that I found that were helpful to me:

• Podcast about PPPD with Dr. Neil Shepard and Janene Holmberg, Physical Therapist who works with PPPD patients.
• Podcast about Visual Vertigo with Dr. Jeffrey Staab and Marisa Pavlou from King's College in London, the other leading institute on PPPD.
• YouTube Channel of Vestibular Disorders Association - Lots of good videos here.
• Mayo Clinic YouTube Channel - Helped me prepare.
• Patient Education Resources from Vestibular Disorders Association - Lots of good info here.