Anxiety and Stress Forum - Constant Dizziness For 12 Years


Constant Dizziness For 12 Years - Is It Anxiety?

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7ducks

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Re: Anxiety?
Posted: 12-10-07 19:27pm

pigsy wrote:

I have been dizzy for 10 years now. It varies from mild concussion like symptoms to full blown dizziness where I can't lift my head off the pillow. (although the room rarely spins). I could not count how many times I have felt that ill I was going to die. Drinking alcohol brings on my symptoms tenfold the next day. Before i got sick I could drink till the cows came home and still get up at sunrise, go surfing or do whatever i wanted. I am a shadow of my former self and dream about what it would be like to be healthy again. Does anyone have the same trouble after or while drinking alcohol??

Hiya pigsy
Absolutely worse. But I think it probably applies to a number of things that would normally upset the balance such as lack of sleep, caffeine, painkillers like codeine and so on. When I was on a variety of anxiety meds (none of which made the slightest difference to my symptoms), getting up and going to work was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. It’s not just the booze.

IMHO, it’s either because we start the night off already feeling hungover so by morning we’re that much worse, or because whatever is causing our symptoms makes us sensitive to ‘balance shifting’ stuff that would otherwise be felt but not be as much of a hindrance on our lives, or most probably a combo of the two. Take the eg of when you’re hungover (even without this daily crap we go through) – everything impacts more on you – sounds, coffee, motion, etc. When you feel hungover all the time … well … how crap is that.

We could stop drinking of course but life goes on. Wink

7ducks

yooitsdee

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Aniety? Posted: 12-12-07 14:31pm


this is kind of comforting because i feel the same way.. i think that im crazy sometimes because i feel so dizzy and sick. i used to not be able to go to school and the doctors told me it was because of aniety. sometimes i feel ike i am forcing myself to live my life and get through the day .. out of nowhere i feel like everything is spinning and i cant feel my legs. i havent had anxiety attack in a while but i constantly feel this way.

lognum

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Yooitsdee Posted: 12-12-07 15:52pm


have you read my post above? It may be of great help to you, as I thought I was going crazy too. The fight or flight reflex is hard to manage, when it's your eyes you can't get away from. Follow your instincts and don't let anyone tell you any different. If it is indeed "vertical heterophoria syndrome", then there "is" help. The rest is up to you.

rmac230

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Posted: 12-14-07 22:43pm


After reading about vertical hetraphoria syndrome, I am sure I have it. I had strabisums as a kid but grew out of it. Now I can hardly walk in public because I am so off balance and dizzy. I see one specialist is in Michigan. Do you perhaps know where the other two are located. I am in Florida, kinda wish there were more than three specialist. Thank You.

lognum

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Dizziness Posted: 12-15-07 12:31pm


Unfortunately, the other two are in Texas and California.

7ducks

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Posted: 12-16-07 04:07am

rmac230 wrote:

After reading about vertical hetraphoria syndrome, I am sure I have it. I had strabisums as a kid but grew out of it. Now I can hardly walk in public because I am so off balance and dizzy. I see one specialist is in Michigan. Do you perhaps know where the other two are located. I am in Florida, kinda wish there were more than three specialist. Thank You.

Don't worry .. I'm thinking it might be a go for me too and I'm 15,000kms away in Australia Wink

Paulk

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Familiar Stories...here Is Mine... Posted: 12-28-07 14:26pm


I came across this forum (after many searches)...I as well have identical symptoms to 7ducks and a few others here...I work in technology and have been for the last 17 years...My job entails dealing with a high amount of job stress which I actually enjoyed for many years...I am an individual who likes to be challenged and somewhat of a adrenalin junkie in my personal life... My symptoms started about 4/5 years ago with only slight and periodic dizzy/lightheaded spells but nothing that would excessively impede my day to day life or job function. Also at the time, I found that the work stress that I've always enjoyed for many years was turning into negative stress (problems with my boss, long hours, etc...)...Three years ago I developed an inner ear infection with full blown vertigo...The ear problem was treated with antibiotics and the vertigo went away...What remained were the constant 7/24 hangover/lightheaded symptoms and frontal headaches that exist to this day...I was also a smoker, so year and a half after the ear infection (and not feeling so hot) I decided to quit smoking by going on the patch…My symptoms increased two fold with extreme feeling of floating/lightheadedness…I stopped the patch and started to chew nicotine gum which eased the symptoms to where they were before…I continued to endure the symptoms since one known side effect of quitting smoking is lightheadedness due to additional oxygen in your brain…8 months later the hangover/lightheaded/drunk/dizzy feeling still persisted. After some thought, I decided that maybe stress was the cause of all this and decided to leave work to take a year off. (That was 8 months ago). I currently lead a life of leisure living at my cottage, travelling a little, playing golf and skiing in the winter so I wouldn’t consider my life very stressful (with the exception of going through my savings)…My symptoms still persist. Three months ago I decided I’ve had enough and started to aggressively pursue a solution. I went to see my GP (whom I have some faith in and who knows my history). His first reaction was “anxiety”…I refused to believe him and insisted that the symptoms were physical and that we do some tests. He agreed to appease me. We started with the heart and an Echocardiogram (negative)…ENT was my next stop. I was cleared for sinuses (I’ve had some sinus problems in the past) and still waiting for some inner ear tests but my ENT is confident they will come back negative and also thinks it’s anxiety. Neurology is my next stop, however, doing more research I am finding that anxiety cannot be ruled out…Actually given my history I would be inclined to agree with my doctor. Here are some symptoms I have/don’t have. One thing to note is that my symptoms get worse when I stop nicotine intake. It seems that nicotine does a decent job of slightly masking the symptoms… I have Constant lightheadeness/hungover/one glass of wine, spacey type feelings with only minor variations from day to day. Frequent morning temple/frontal pressure or headaches. Some skin flushing on upper chest. Frequent agitation slight anger (could be due to feeling crappy all the time) Sensitive to light Diminished eye sight (at times) Symptoms get worse in busy places where there are many distractions. Symptoms are worse the next day after drinking red wine (Less so or not at all with beer or hard liquor). I have a drink or two per week. I have to do a double take on everything. (Like look twice before I back up in my car) I have to strain to concentrate. Only recently and very rarely tinnitus/fullness in my year (only for about 30 seconds). I don’t have Sudden anxiety attacks Depression (At least I don’t think so. I lead a pretty active life. Not a couch squatter.) No problem sleeping No social issues or phobias. (I like being around people, going out to bars, etc…) No problems with physical activities that require balance. My doctor asked me to try an SSRI (Cipralex)…I did for a week but the side effects were crippling so I stopped. I tried St. John’s Wort which had no side effects but I felt it just evened me out too much (not too high not to low…It kind of took my “drive” away which I didn’t like)…It did not seem to improve the symptoms after about 10 days. I just started to try Rhodiola (a natural supplement) which has shown some promise for anxiety…I figured I’d try it while waiting for my next doctors appointment…Only on day 3 but I will update on progress… I really feel like I want to get back to work. I like what I do for a living but have lost confidence in my ability to function at the professional level where focus is required. Has anyone tried Busporin for these symptoms? P

makin503

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Dizziness Posted: 01-21-08 17:19pm


Like everyone in this thread, I suffer from the same symptoms. I have been on Zoloft for years for depression and several years ago took Xanax regularly for anxiety. For the past 10 or 15 years I've only had to take Xanax for a specific panic attack here and there. Seven months ago I had a severe case of Vertigo. They did an MRI and discovered that I had had several mini-strokes over a period of time. The Vertigo is gone but now I suffer that constant "foggy" feeling and imbalance (have to use a cane for stability). It gets worse with activity. A subsequent MRI showed no new strokes, etc. If anone knows what causes all this grogginess I'd be very grateful to hear it. If I'm going to feel this hungover, I'd like to have the fun that usually precedes it. Good luck to you all with your symptoms. It's hard because others don't understand how debilitating this is.

makin503

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Dizziness Posted: 01-21-08 17:19pm


Like everyone in this thread, I suffer from the same symptoms. I have been on Zoloft for years for depression and several years ago took Xanax regularly for anxiety. For the past 10 or 15 years I've only had to take Xanax for a specific panic attack here and there. Seven months ago I had a severe case of Vertigo. They did an MRI and discovered that I had had several mini-strokes over a period of time. The Vertigo is gone but now I suffer that constant "foggy" feeling and imbalance (have to use a cane for stability). It gets worse with activity. A subsequent MRI showed no new strokes, etc. If anone knows what causes all this grogginess I'd be very grateful to hear it. If I'm going to feel this hungover, I'd like to have the fun that usually precedes it. Good luck to you all with your symptoms. It's hard because others don't understand how debilitating this is.

lognum

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DIZZINESS Posted: 01-21-08 21:20pm


MAKIN503, Did you happen to see my posts above? Type "vertical heterophoria syndrome" into a google search. The first site should be vision specialists of Birmingham. Check out the testimonials and symptoms and see if you can relate. I constantly had that drunk feeling. No longer, I am now cured.

djflex

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My Theory and research into this condition. Posted: 02-09-08 20:59pm


I know it seems a while since anyone has added to this thread but in the hopes that someone else out there stumbles on this article i would like to add my own research to the thread. In October of 2007 i was on holidays in New Jersey USA (Im an Aussie), whilst sitting at my laptop and trying to solve a few web server issues and occasionaly glancing over at the Discovery channel. I suddenly felt slightly odd, detached and somehow dizzy. I then felt as though i was going to die or have a heart attack out of the blue. *Trust me this is related to this thread* I got my friend to rush me to hospital and they ran every check possible on me including 'The Machine that goes PING!!' You see im a 38 yo bodybuilder in perfect health drug free and dont smoke. I was sent from the hospital with the Doctors conclusion its just a panic or anxiety attack. Now i have never had an attack and have been through some of the most stressfull situtation you could imagine. Having been a bouncer and traveled the world on my own the last thing i thought was Panic attacks. This leads me to somthing that had happened prior to this. for the previous few years i found that rolling onto my right side in bed would trigger the worst spinning sensation that would last only for a few seconds. The doctors dismissed this as mild vertigo or a ear infection. I also noticed the a years before i attended the Indy car race and found that as soon as the flew past the front of my grand stand i would clutch my head in pain. It bothered me that no one else reacted the same as i did (obviously there is a very high pitch on F1 cars). Now getting back to it after i returned to Oz i found i suffered more and more attacks on a daily basis. To the point i found it almost impossible to walk or even socialise....Now whats this got to do with this forum?? My Theory is this, if one has some kind of inner ear problem as stated in the previous posts .... perhaps... just perhaps it is possible that this sensation has the ability to trigger panic or anxiety attacks. You see the feeling of being normal one second and suddenly being thrust into a whole new sensory existance EG: dizziness, neck pain, detachment has the abbilty to freakl out someones subconcious mind enough to start pumping adrenlin and thus triggering thoughts of the worst possible scenario like "Am i having a heart attack?" Its not as a far out theory as most would suspect, at least not in my first hand experience. Some individuals may experience the vertigo but no panic whislt others prone to anxiety (mild or severe) may enconter a combination of both vertigo and panic. I would like to hear other people oppions on this as this is a theory that im explorign and feedback would great assist me in defining wheather or not ear infection play appart in panic attacks. look forward to hearing all feedback *IF You are reading this and have somthing to contribute PLEASE login free and add your message***

lognum

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djflex Posted: 02-11-08 08:36am


Your theory describes the anxiety associated with the "fight or flight reflex", which is triggered by your eyes. You were working on the computer. More importantly, you were "looking" at what was going on in the screen, then most likely looking up, which sends you into the spins. You can't get away from the sensation, (flight or fight reflex), you are in a public place and don't want undue attention drawn to yourself and thus the anxiety kicks in and away you go. Does that make sense?

tinamarie_barbie

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SAME THING!!!!!! Posted: 02-20-08 22:53pm


alright so im 17, and i been feeling the same thing for about a week i used to get it only when i was overly tired. and i when i got panic attacks. my panic attacks started when i first tried marijuana i have not smoke it or been near it for about 7 months now but i realize when i get angry..or get really upset i feel the dizziness and the fatigue and everything else a lot. many times when i crack my neck i feel the awkward feeling sometimes i almost pass out. but when im in a crowd with a lot of people i don't know i start to flip out and feel the panic attack coming on but often i try to blank it out and i just get really dizzy and i can't concentrate...its almost as if my brain is completely separated from my body(thats how it feels anyway) i feel as though its like a flash back from smoking weed or something..i dunno its very scary though..i don't want it for the rest of my life!!!!!! but my eyes are SUPER sensitive...i have the dizzy feeling right now at the moment. and i feel as though im gettin a lot of butterflies but its uncontrolled... like i can't stop it real bad anxiety all the time...maybe it IS from stress though. i don't think its something you can just result in taking medications for!!!! i think lots of rest and relaxation may help..i hope...im going to try it..and see how it works out. although i am young, i still have a lot of stress...going from one continent to another...CULTURE SHOCK...it gets to you..then your family splitting up every where..and dealing with a mother yelling at you all the time from being stressed creates the problem...like i said...im going to try relaxing and resting a lot to see if it helps. and i'll come back on here to let you all know the results.

AZY

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I just give up sometimes Posted: 04-29-08 10:53am


Hi all.. i dont know where to start n what to say coz i simply give up.. i am 27 years old and ive been feeling dizzy since i was 7... my parents use to think that i was playing too much or i was tired.. if i go to doctor n describe dizziness they dont understand what im trying to say.. let me just say... my world is not stable.. it feels like you are on a boat or a ship which is either going through a storm or sometimes it just rocks.. i hate wallking as i get more dizzy.. i hate lying down or looking under things as that triggers it more.. i hate looking down from heights.. above all.. watching tv or using computer for a lil while starts it.. i am a financial analyst.... i deal with numbers and require alot of concentration.. and hate that i am more worried of how to take care of my dizziness then finishing my projects.. i have seen 4 neurologist, 3 ENTs, many blood works, MRI, ct scan, tube through my nose to check for any mucus issues, cold air in the ears which made me go crazy let me ask this.... who wants to feel more dizzy so they can check ur eye movements.. gone through rotary chair test.. which made me feel like that my heart was gonna explode, ive tried anti depresants, valium, nasal sprays, some excersices for inner ear crystal issues, which made me feel more dizzy when performing... now i just wonder that i got alllllllllll this done and still i remain at a point that there is no cure.. i am married and soon will be a father to a baby girl.. and i dont know how i will be a good father to her when i cant walk arround that much, play, or jump aside from allllllllllllllll of this what my suggestion to all u out there is if u have stress that will add on to your problems trust meeeeeeeeee on that. Ive told my family to keep my away from any issues.. if i dont have money to take care of a bill.. i rather pay late fee then go crazy and stressed for my payments, i try staying calm and try to live a day as it comes.. the more panic youll get the more dizzy ull be.. Its better to move on and try distracting yourself when dizzy then to be more worried that you hate your life or why arent you normal like other millions of ppl. sorry guys.. i wish i knew the cure to our problems.. ive given up on these doctors

crispy

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My experience Posted: 04-30-08 07:14am


I like this thread. May I add my own experiance. I'm 51 yo male. I've suffered a lot of stress a lot of it real and a lot of it brought on by myself, because I think I'm an easily stressed person. I tend to worry about things a lot whereas other people 'appear' to cope better with lifes tribulations. My symptoms are very similar to what other posters have described. I have a pressure in my head most of the time, not really a headache as such more a feeling like my head might explode at any minute. I've taken a job which is quite easy and straight forward to do, but occasionally I realise I've missed something and right a way my heart speeds up, my skin creeps up the back of my neck and over my head and I go into panic mode. I recognise this now and just wait for it to pass. I cant stop it happening. If I get up from my desk and walk the 30 yards to the photocopier I feel as though I'm going to black out, faint, fall over, sometimes think I wont make it, but I always do even though it's a struggle. Recently I've been getting sever pains in arms and chest, thoughts of impending heart attack, panic. I've been and had all the physical tests like everybody else, all negative of course except for one area which I think may affect me. Several years ago I was diagnosed with sleep apnoea. This came to light because my wife complained of my snoring. I mentioned it to my GP and after some tests at the sleep centre they said I should use a CPAP machine. However I've never really used it much because its uncomfortable. Recently I have been referred to have polyps removed from my sinuses. I knew I had these but only now are they offering to remove them. These things block my breathing through my nose and means I breath only through my mouth. Possibly why I have difficulty with the cpap. These combined problems probably mean I'm not getting proper sleep. Getting up in the morning has always been a struggle. Feeling crap all day probably adds to my stress levels. Vicious circle stress causes stress which causes stress. I dont have any answers, but I intend to give the cpap another go and I will report what if any effects it has. At the moment lack of sound sleep is my best guess.

Stepaside

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My Story. Posted: 05-02-08 02:51am


Hi, My story began in March 2007 whilst on a holiday in Ireland. I woke up one morning with the 'hungover', 'dizzy', 'heavy head' symptoms that other have spoken about. I thought no more about it but it just didn't go away. 1 week later I decided to go to my doctor and after explaining the symptoms I was sent for some tests (CAT, Heart Echo, Bloods etc) which all came back perfectly fine. After many months of tests I was sent for CBT as the doctor was convinced I was suffering from anxiety. I had 6 sessions with a very good doctor but it made absolutley no change to my physical symptoms. I have been feeling the same now for 14 months and the symptoms just will not go away, every second of every day I feel so dizzy and confused it is really starting to affect my work. I'm a very positive person who enjoys life which makes the whole thing even harder to understand. If only someone could tell me exactly what the hell is wrong with me!!! Just one last thing, my syptoms are at their worst when, (1) Driving my car. (2) Walking around Supermarkets. (3) If I have an argument with someone. Can anyone please help?

dogboy1

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Hang in there! Posted: 06-11-08 21:02pm


I've been lightheaded and foggy for a year. I've also had all the tests and the best the doctors can say is it might be related to migraines. My symptoms hit me suddently after the gym one day. It's like a fullness in my head, and my vision seems weird and affected in bright lights. I'm a really healthy person and nobody seems to have any clue about this.... The anxiety is the worst bit. Some days I just wanna give up. People find it very hard to understand and doctors can be very insensitive. Hang in there fellow sufferers. Best.

AdrianM

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Hi Posted: 06-25-08 11:38am


Hey there all my dizzy fellows! I've been dizzy about 5 years now, I'm 21 now. I also had and have concentration,memory problems and i feel very tired all the time. I also sleep about 12 hours a day. I was diagonesed with major depression and receive treatment for about 2 years now. But my problems did not go away and i think i have overcame my depression. I was intrigued by the fact that no one talked about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Constant Dizziness For 12 Years - Is It Anxiety?