Feeling of weakness triggered by loud noises

I am wondering if anyone has ever heard of this- I get this very unpleasant feeling that is usually triggered by my being startled by a noise or narrowing missing an accident, etc.  I used to feel this occasionally whenever I had not had enough sleep (I had sleep apnea) and attributed it to this but now I get plenty of sleep, I have lost weight and my apnea is gone, and this is happening on a regular basis now. I'm not sure how to describe the sensation, but it starts at my head with a feeling like vertigo or light-headedness and it sweeps down my body in a wave, lasting about 2 seconds.  It is not actual weakness, in that I don't fall or drop anything but if I'm standing up at the time it feels like my legs might buckle under me (although they never have).  It almost feels like if the earth shifted under my feet.  It is an extremely unpleasant feeling and some days it is almost continuously happening.  I asked my regular doctor about it and he had never heard of anything like this and thought it was an anxiety reaction.  I do not feel any anxiety when this happens other then that the feeling is an unpleasant one.  I am just wondering if something is really wrong that I need to have checked out.

[Quixotic1]

Absolutely I have heard of the reaction you are describing.  Inner ear dysfunction, which is a main cause of vertigo, is often linked to sound sensitivity, especially percussive sounds.  There is actually a diagnostic test for it called "Postural Destabilization" where various sounds of differing decibel levels are placed into the ear and the patients eyes are monitored for abnormal movements.  They are also monitored for loss of balance.  As a sufferer of severe vertigo I know this firsthand.  When my otoneurologist first did the test on me I fell backward and crashed to the floor.  That led him to do an exploratory surgery on my left ear where he found a large fistula (hole)leaking fluid from my inner ear into my middle ear.  He patched the leak and greatly improved my symptoms.

It is not an anxiety reaction!  I would suggest that you go to the VEDA (Vestibular Disorders Association) and search their specialist database for a neuro-otologist near you.  Regular neurologists and ENT's often seem woefully ignorant of the complexities and vast manifestations of vestibular (inner ear) dysfunction (with apologies to the Dr's monitoring this forum).

The other link between faintness, feeling weird, nausea or falling to loud sounds is the vagus nerve.  The vagus nerve is the one responsible for most common fainting.  It is part of the automonic nervous system.  There is a branch of the vagus nerve, called Arnold's nerve, which goes to the ear.

See, you're not crazy.  I hope you see this answer since you posted your question some time ago.  Good luck.  Quix