I have a golden retriever who will he 15 in november. she had ivs very acutely in april but made a fantastic recovery considering the vets advised putting her to sleep.  Over the past week we noticed she was falling over a lot so took her to the vets who put her back on the tablets she had in april.  She responded great but now occasionally her head shakes badly and after talking to the vets they've extended her course of steriods. Has any one else come across this and could give me some advise. 

Not direct experience but a friend's dog had it and she found this article very helpful
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_vestibular_disease.htm

Im glad its helped someone. how is your friends dog now

My last dog, also a golden retriever, had this when she was 14/15. She was really bad and we feared the worst - she couldn't walk without falling over, her eyes rolled and she had a bad head tilt. She was put on steroids and made a slight improvement over the first few days, but was still very wobbly. I took her back to the vet, thinking they would suggest that we had her PTS but he said to give it a bit longer on the steroids. If I remember rightly she began making a slow improvement and after about ten days we realised we were over the worst. I can't honestly remember how long we carried on with the steroids, but it is suffice to say that she made a full recovery, with no recurrence, and lived to the grand old age of 17.

Thats loverly to hear. abby had her attack in april and made a great recovery. considering shes 15 in november shes very active and this hindered as well as helped her recovery. Our last golden lived till she was 9 so were on new ground now. can i ask what she died of eventually.

I've just got back from hols and seen your reply - hope Abby is ok.
We had Rosie put to sleep in April and I suppose you would say it was just old age. She seemed tired and and became disorientated to the point where she didn't want to go outside so it seemed like the right time. Healthwise, other than arthritis, she was in fine fettle and could probably have gone on for ages. We were so lucky to have had her for so many years though.

I count my blessings every day with abby. Im still amazed that rosie lived to age 17. Abby is now on a low dose of steriod indefinatly and to be honest i can live with that.