Track dizziness severity, vertigo episodes, nausea, and balance confidence daily to see your Vestibular Score and whether your treatment is actually working.
You roll over in bed to hit the alarm and the whole room takes off like a fairground ride — ceiling sliding, stomach lurching, hands gripping the mattress until it stops twenty seconds later. Or it is the slower version: a low hum of unsteadiness that turns a grocery aisle into a tightrope and makes you map every trip by where the handrails are. Vertigo is hard to describe to anyone who has not felt it, and even harder to remember accurately by your next appointment. This tracker keeps the daily record: Dizziness Severity (0–10), Vertigo Episodes Today (0–10), Nausea Level (0–10), Balance Confidence, Treatment Status, Sleep Hours, and Sleep Quality. The result is a Vestibular Balance Score and a plain-language read on whether the ground is steadying under you.
The tracker applies to a range of vestibular conditions: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis, labyrinthitis, Meniere's disease, persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD), and others. The core inputs are relevant across diagnoses because the primary daily experience — dizziness, episodes, nausea, and balance — is shared.
Dizziness severity versus vertigo episodes — different dimensions of the same condition
The tracker separates Dizziness Severity (0–10) — your overall dizziness level throughout the day — from Vertigo Episodes Today (0–10), counting distinct spinning episodes. These two measures describe different aspects of vestibular dysfunction. Dizziness severity captures the chronic, background unsteadiness that many people with vestibular disorders experience between acute episodes. Vertigo episodes count the acute spinning attacks.
In BPPV, episodes are typically brief (under a minute) and position-dependent; the background dizziness severity may be low between episodes. In Meniere's disease, episodes are typically longer (20 minutes to several hours) and may include hearing changes; background dizziness can persist between attacks. In vestibular neuritis, the initial acute phase may resolve but background unsteadiness persists. Logging both metrics separately helps your vestibular therapist or ENT specialist characterize which pattern applies to you.
Nausea and the functional impact of episodes
Nausea Level (0–10) captures a symptom that significantly affects daily function during vestibular episodes. Nausea in vestibular disorders results from a sensory conflict — the vestibular system sends signals that do not match what the eyes and proprioception are reporting. Severe nausea during episodes can prevent eating, working, and driving, and in Meniere's attacks often reaches 8–9 out of 10.
Tracking nausea alongside episode count gives your care team a complete picture of episode severity. A person who logs 3 vertigo episodes with nausea of 2–3 is having mild attacks; the same episode count with nausea of 7–8 represents significant functional disruption that may warrant medication management of nausea alongside vestibular rehabilitation.
Balance confidence and the fear-avoidance cycle
The Balance Confidence field runs from Unable (cannot stand) through Poor (very unsteady), Moderate (some wobbling), Good (fairly stable), and Confident (steady). This is a functional self-assessment rather than a clinical balance test, but it captures something important: how confident you feel in your balance during daily activities affects how much you move, and reduced movement from fear of falls perpetuates vestibular deconditioning.
The fear-avoidance cycle is well-recognized in vestibular rehabilitation: dizziness causes avoidance of certain movements and positions, avoidance prevents the vestibular compensation process from occurring, and uncompensated vestibular dysfunction produces more dizziness and less confidence. Logging balance confidence daily makes it visible whether your confidence is improving (a sign of successful compensation) or remaining low despite time passing (a sign that vestibular rehabilitation exercises may need to be more systematically applied).
Treatment status and the role of vestibular rehabilitation
The Treatment Status dropdown includes None, Self-care and exercises, Vestibular therapy, and ENT specialist. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy — a structured exercise program administered by a trained physical therapist — is the most evidence-supported intervention for most vestibular disorders other than BPPV (which is treated with repositioning maneuvers like the Epley). VRT works by promoting vestibular compensation: training the brain to use other sensory inputs to reduce dizziness and improve balance.
The tracker's score for Treatment Status is highest for those in active vestibular therapy or under specialist care, reflecting the evidence that structured treatment produces better outcomes than time and self-care alone. If you have had vestibular symptoms for more than four to six weeks without specialist evaluation, your logs can help make the case for a referral. A documented month of daily vertigo episodes and balance difficulties is a concrete reason for an ENT and vestibular therapist evaluation.
How poor sleep amplifies vestibular symptoms
Sleep disruption worsens vestibular symptoms in several ways: fatigue reduces the brain's capacity for vestibular compensation, and certain vestibular conditions (particularly Meniere's and PPPD) are known to have stress and sleep-dependent components. The Sleep Hours and Sleep Quality inputs capture this relationship so you can see whether your worst balance days correlate with poor sleep nights.
The reverse is also true: vertigo episodes and nausea disrupt sleep, and position changes during sleep can trigger BPPV episodes in people with loose otoconia. Logging sleep quality with the specific framing of whether dizziness contributed to disruption (using the log notes) builds a bidirectional picture useful for both your sleep management and your vestibular care. Track your balance and sleep daily free — bring the documented pattern to your ENT or vestibular therapist.
How to use it
- Rate Dizziness Severity (0–10) at a consistent time each day — late afternoon often captures the full day's cumulative vestibular load.
- Count Vertigo Episodes Today (distinct spinning attacks, not sustained dizziness) and rate Nausea Level (0–10).
- Select Balance Confidence from the five-tier dropdown based on how stable you felt during ordinary daily activities.
- Choose Treatment Status and log Sleep Hours and Sleep Quality from the previous night.
- Review your Vestibular Balance Score and check the trend over days — improving balance confidence alongside declining nausea is a sign of successful vestibular compensation.
Who it's for
- Person recently diagnosed with BPPV — Logs vertigo episodes and dizziness severity daily after Epley maneuver treatment, documenting whether episode count drops toward zero within three to five days as the repositioning takes effect.
- Someone with chronic vestibular neuritis starting VRT — Tracks balance confidence and dizziness severity weekly through a 12-week vestibular rehabilitation program, providing the therapist with trend data showing compensation progress.
- Person with Meniere's disease monitoring for attack patterns — Logs vertigo episode count and duration alongside sodium and stress levels in the notes to identify whether dietary sodium restriction is correlating with reduced attack frequency.
- Individual with PPPD and persistent daily dizziness — Tracks dizziness severity and balance confidence across a CBT-based PPPD treatment program, using the score trend to see whether the psychological component of treatment is reducing daily severity.
Key terms
- BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo)
- The most common vestibular disorder, caused by displaced calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) in the semicircular canals. Produces brief vertigo with position changes. Treated effectively with repositioning maneuvers.
- Vestibular compensation
- The brain's process of adapting to a damaged or reduced vestibular signal by increasing reliance on visual and proprioceptive inputs. Progressive physical activity and VRT accelerate this process.
- Meniere's disease
- A vestibular disorder involving endolymphatic hydrops in the inner ear, causing recurrent episodes of vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus, and ear fullness.
- PPPD (persistent postural-perceptual dizziness)
- A chronic functional vestibular disorder characterized by persistent dizziness and unsteadiness made worse by complex visual environments, upright posture, and self-motion. Has a strong psychological component and responds to VRT and CBT.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between vertigo and dizziness?
Vertigo specifically involves the sensation of spinning or rotational movement — either you feel the room is spinning or you feel you are spinning. Dizziness is a broader term that includes lightheadedness, unsteadiness, and vague spatial disorientation. True vertigo indicates vestibular system involvement and warrants medical evaluation.
When should vertigo prompt an emergency visit?
New, severe vertigo accompanied by sudden severe headache, double vision, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech, weakness in limbs, or facial numbness requires emergency evaluation to rule out stroke. Vertigo without these features is much more likely to be a peripheral vestibular condition, but see a doctor promptly for a first episode to confirm.
Can stress cause vertigo?
Stress does not directly cause most vestibular disorders, but it can worsen symptoms in existing conditions — particularly PPPD, which has a significant psychological component, and Meniere's disease, where stress is a documented trigger for attacks. The stress level relationship in your log data may be informative.
How long does vestibular compensation take?
For simple peripheral vestibular conditions like unilateral vestibular neuritis, most compensation occurs over four to twelve weeks with active movement and rehabilitation. BPPV typically resolves quickly with repositioning. Bilateral involvement, central vestibular disorders, or conditions with ongoing active disease take longer and may not fully compensate.