St. Louis Mom Finds Relief After Years of Unexplained Dizziness

Cayla Kranz, a 35-year-old fitness and nutrition coach from St. Louis, Missouri, experienced a severe dizzy spell while driving with her two young children in October 2025. She described the episode as a sudden darkening of vision, a heavy head, and an overwhelming light-headedness that forced her to pull over and seek help. The incident was the most intense of several prior “off” moments that she had previously attributed to contact-lens issues or strenuous workouts.

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Kranz pursued urgent-care visits, an EKG, cardiology panels, and multiple specialist appointments—including ear, nose, and throat, ophthalmology, and optometry—yet every test returned normal results. A later MRI also showed no abnormalities. The breakthrough arrived when a client who works as a physical therapist recognized the symptom pattern as consistent with a vestibular issue. After researching “vestibular migraine,” Kranz learned that the condition can cause balance disturbances, vertigo, nausea, sensitivity to light, smell and noise, and severe headaches, often without a classic migraine headache.

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According to Johns Hopkins University, vestibular migraine is difficult to diagnose because dizziness may not coincide with other migraine symptoms, and its underlying causes remain incompletely understood.

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• “Suddenly I felt my vision darken, [my] head became very heavy, and [I felt] lightheaded like I was going to pass out,” — Cayla Kranz

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• “I experienced constant shaky and floaty vision, lightheadedness, derealization, heart palpitations, anxiety—which I had never experienced before—and I eventually got stuck in fight or flight,” — Cayla Kranz

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• “Lately I have been experiencing more better days than not and am hopeful I will continue to progress on this journey,” — Cayla Kranz

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Kranz emphasizes that vestibular migraine is not curable but is treatable. She reports experiencing “more better days than not” and remains hopeful about continued progress. Highlighting the emotional toll of prolonged uncertainty, she urges others in similar situations to remember they are not alone and that “better days are possible.” Her experience underscores the value of interdisciplinary insight—here, a physical-therapy perspective—in uncovering hidden neurological conditions.

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