24/7 dizziness ???

[Lightwise]

Hi everyone ... has anyone out there experienced 24/7 dizziness from there anxiety ?
I would describe my dizziness NOT as vertigo but as an imbalance while walking (accompanied by a heavy/drowsy head). Sometimes it feels like the ground is not solid.
Those of you who have experienced the type of dizziness I've described, was it all day/everyday or just when you panic ? Does it ever seem to go away or subside ? Also, is there anyone out there who had this symptom then had it disappear after their anxiety was under control or their stress relieved ?

[Pum]

yes I've had something similar.  It felt like a brief sensation of falling backwards also.  I think it can be due to allergies too ie something to do with the inner ear but anxiety makes you focus more on it plus the chest breathing leaves you a bit hyperventilated all the time.

And yes it completely goes away when the anxiety is fixed.  Any sensations of dizziness when you are mentally well are dealt with rationally ie ignored in the main.  If you actually faint that is a different story.

Good luck.

[sue-aloo]

I know EXACTLY what you are talking about.  I had it for approx 6 months straight with no relief at all.. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.  YES!  it was all due to anxiety and depression.  Went for MRI's on my head.  Went to allergists and Ears Nose Throat doctors.  NOthing physically wrong....finally a succumbed to the fact that is is depression and anxiety.  Started Meds.  Haven't felt that way (except for high anxiety situations) since meds kicked in.....Approx. 10 years now! I am on Paxil and Buspar.  BEST TO YOU.  SEE A DOCTOR.  IT DEFINITELY CAN BE RELATED TO ANXIETY...BUT ONLY A DOCTOR CAN TELL YOU FOR SURE.

[Lightwise]

I do take Paxil (6 weeks now). I have been to a number of doctors and specialists .... they have found nothing wrong. I will be tested for Lyme in two weeks.

So, you had dizziness 24/7, even when you were not anxious ? What other persistent symptoms did you have ? My dizziness has been going on for approx 4 months. I have other symptoms which have been going on longer. Any advice ? How much Paxil and Buspar do you take ? Thanks for yor help.

[sue-aloo]

My lightheadedness and dizziness was also accompanied by pressure in my head.  It just never went away.  If it subsided (which it did very slightly..and very rarely) I was left with a dull headache.  It was truly horrible.  I seemed to always be in the middle of a slight panic attack...and sometimes a full blown one!  I had the shakes and nausea constantly.  I felt I lost my life.  Everything was a chore.  I was tested for every disease under the sun..lupus, MS, HIV (by my request even though I was not sexually active!  That is what anxiety can do!)  I went to allergists, ENT doctors, and finally a neurologist who took a CAT scan of my head (swore I had a brain tumor) and then an MRI because I was not convinced.  I then started Paxil (at a low dose) and I was also on this med. called Depakote...a very powerful drug for those with other "mental" conditions. I was convinced I was totally nuts, but my doctor assured me that my condition was from depression and anxiety.  It calms your brain.  I don't know the exact thing it does, but I had to be monitored on it.  Then after a year, I was weaned off the depakote.  A few years after that my parents both passed away in a very short time.  Most of my symptoms came back because of the stress and depression in my life.  That is when I started on the Buspar.  So, now, a few years after that, I am on 50 mgs of Paxil daily and 30 milligrams daily of Buspar.  

I hope you are feeling better, please let me know if you have any other questions.  I will be glad to share what I know.

Hang in there.

[piggybuzz]

I have had this form of dizziness for over 2 years. It is not the vertigo type either but a constant bouncing feeling, pressure in the head and fatigue all the time. I have a terrible time falling asleep at night. I have also had every test under the sun done including an MRI and they cannot find anything physically wrong. I am also on Paxil which makes me even more tired. I am tired of feeling this way all the time. When it first started I wasn't feeling particularly anxious and even though I have been on Paxil for over a year, quit my job and try very hard to stay relaxed and rested I am still bouncy and foggy everyday. It is no fun and I have had enough.

[bowla004]

Wow this has sort of helped me. The thing that scars me is one doctor in the er said i had a panic attack and i did at that time. Now im constantly lightheaded and have a pressure in the same spot on my head. i have had a blood test for everything and they came out fine,i have had an upper gi, a cats scan which came out normal. I have had every test under the sun! The only thing they found wrong was i had ovarion ruptured cyst, but the doc says it's not serious and goes away. other than that all the other test came out fine  What gets me the panic attack is that during the day im so drowsy like i have no energy to do anything. But at late night im fine. During the day i feel like im dying of weakness and lightheadedness.  It's scars me because i can't even get out of bed and everybody is just telling me it's a panic attack and to get over it. Also that it's depression. i also feel like i can't breath. It just gets worse everyday.  And now it last till like 9 at night then im wired till 3 or 4 in the morning. My biggest fear is having a brain tumor! Even though i know it's anxiety im constantly like this everyday. I can't afford an MRI right now so i just tell myself to calm my self down that if the cat scan came out normal and every other test has come out fine then i must be fine. Yet even though i tell myself im fine i still experience the same symptoms everyday for the past 5 months. So if it is GAD like everybody including the doctors telling me this than how can i control it. Because obviously i have tried everything from distracting my self, taking xanax and telling myself im healthy and still i can not control it. Im seein a pshcologist next week. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to control GAD.

[iamfaithful]

I experienced this for days on end in the beginning, then it went away, then came back, on and on.  I was so terrified of fainting or blacking out I dind't know what to do.  I felt like the medicine was also making me tired/drowsy, but then I wasn't sure.  I'm on a beta blocker, medicine for gerd and Xanax when needed.    I got so confused I felt like I was losing my mind and losing touch with reality.  Anyway, once I started eating better and trying to stay calm and not panic as much it got better-but it hasn't totally gone away.  It is an AWFUL feeling.  I felt as if I was walking in glue somedays, or sometimes (and I still do this) I would hold onto something while I was walking for fear I would fall down!  It is crazy.  
I am telling you, stress is such an awful thing, it not only wreakis havoc on  your mind, but it starts to wreak havoc physically as well!!!
I have other symptoms too, but I won't even get into that :-)
I hope everyone feels better and SOON!!!

[lost_myself]

Even though this isn't my post i couldn't have described it better myself..today is really bad and reading this post helped me alot .Thanks to the poster and all who answered , your timing couldn't be better..Btw I am gaining control of my anxiety ,in part thanks to the Lucinda Basset program, this darn dizzy part is the hardest one for me to kick ..I have managed to get rid of alot of the other symptoms and am only taking beta blockers in a VERY low dose... Thanks again ..God Bless

[cal7902]

I have this too and it is probably the number one thing that bothers me.  It is like the floor is moving or there are low spots in the floor when I am walking.  I am weening off Klonopin and weened off Corgard (beta-blocker) completely.  It has gotten better than it used to be, but sometimes it feels like it will never go away.  I also get this unsteadiness type feeling sometimes when I am sitting, but I cant tell if it's the palps that are making me move.  But I must also say that my left leg feels really weak and I have some knee pain in that leg when I exercise now that I didnt feel before my panic attack.  I am really thinking that it's the meds causing this, but I had it right after the panic attack, so I don't know.

I am really hoping it will go away soon.  It just makes me feel uncomfortable and not confident when I am out and about.

[meghanfrommars]

THANK YOU!

I'm 18 years old and have been experiencing vertigo/unsteadiness for 19 months now. It began two summers ago when I started my first job and has persisted ever since! every day, no matter the time or atmoshere. After my first two weeks of dizziness I called my PCP and made my first appointment with him. I told him my symptoms, and be basically ridiculed me and blew me off. For months I kept feeling dizzy. I went back and demanded some sort of test. I had blood drawn, and eventually was sent to a neurologist who gave me an MRI and CAT scan. When all tests came back, I found there was nothing wrong with my brain/blood. I felt discouraged, but continued to live dizzy for the next few months. Later, after talking to friends and family and doing alot of online research, I returned to my doctor, who then referred my to an ear-nose-throat specialst, who blatantly told me a was crazy. I went back to the neurologist who prescribed motion sickness packages, which, in turn, dilated my pupils times 10 and made my vision even more blurry. I did more research. I thought that maybe I had poor blood circulation. I've always had it in my legs, why not in my brain? Maybe that was causing the dizziness? So I went to umpteen health stores and spent hundreds of dollars on blood circulating supplements that didn't help.

I've cried every day, I've quit my job, I've lost some friends, and I've come close to dropping out of high school during my senior year. But thanks to this blog, I have been given more hope. I'm going to call my PCP right now and make an appointment to confront him with this new information. Thank you all, so much.

Meghan

[sorryimshayy]

Hi Meghan, How are you doing with everything now??

[crzychick]

Don't know if this will help you guys or not.  Not if it's your meds or caused by Anxiety, but if it's a form of vertigo give this site a look.  Scrolll to the bottom of the page there is a picture chart, read it like a clock.  It's a 2 min Maneuver you do at home.  You'll know right away if it works.  Fixed me after 4 months of Dr. visits and meds.

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch080/ch080e.html

Hope it works.

If so and you see others on here having problems spread the word of this site.

[ianvpenguin]

Some say its vertigo, some say its anxiety/depression, blood pressure and all those ****...the thing is we are having difficult time dealing with this constant dizziness..n it seems thrs no end to it...everyday we live in the darkness, worrying about our environment...the thing is, we are healthy...coz most of us came out fine from mri scans, bloodtests n stuff...it must be smth wrong with our minds..we need to figure out whats causing all this...issit our mind playing with us, issit really a desease that doctor havent able to identify or smth else...drugs dont really work, it only make things worst, especially withdrawal stage...there must be something we can do to feel better...1 thing i agree is interacting with people who understands us, those who are sufferin from this annoying dizziness will surely understand us...so its best if we can  interact with them n support each other...thats the only way...1day we will c the light again...its hard...i know...its scary, coz i myself suffer from it...just have to go through each day slowly...and pray that 1day we all be normal again...

[emmagrace]

i am eighteen and due to this my life has become a compleate misery. i constantly worry, i feel if i do to much the dizziness comes and stays all bloody day. when i am sitting down or lying down i feel a swaying movement.. i am covinced i have a brain tumor and am going to have a brain hemorage any muinet. i live in fear of death.. antone else get that?? from morning till night its one worry after another.. WE NEED AWAY TO GET RID OF THIS ANXIETY SO THE DIZZINESS WILL STOP!!! would love to talk to someone of same symptoms. who else feels like they are driving them selfs insane?> and that watching everyday 'normal' people really makes them jelouse??> x

[pattig]

My 18 year old daughter too has dizziness, but they found the cause as being a damaged vestibular nerve (they think from a virus).  She went to vestibular rehab which helped  but she gets a lot of relapses.  The ENTs told her the rehab works like 98% of the time.  So she has been diagnosed with anxiety/depression due to this unresolved dizziness.  Also after a few months of the dizziness she started having horrible head pressure as some of you have described and trouble breathing.  She doesn't think she is anxious, stressed or depressed.

The tried celexa for 6 weeks and it did nothing, now she is on her second week of Cymbalta.  Waiting for it to kick in.  She is also going to start therapy.

[pendered212121]

i have been living with dizzy spells after having a cold i had a op on one of my eyes and one morning i woke up and felt like someone had hit me in my eye and to top that i had normal vision . i,ve had ct scans mri scans blood tests been spun on a table this way had that been to ent and been put on tabs for depression...i feel i became depressed from the dizzy spells not cause i was depressed...i,m married with 3 children and want to be a teacher so doing open uni from home...my life a mess just want to be normal again......kym

[jess990]

So, I have this dizziness thing too. I have been this way for the last 3 years, although it began 7 years ago. The last 3 years I have been dizzy every day, all day, with some relief here and there. There isn't a test out there I haven't had done. What I do know, is that with anxiety, dizziness is the last to come and the last to go. A good website and testimonials regarding dizziness is www.anxietycentre.com. Read it, it has some good information! Anyway, I feel the unsteadiness really bad in the am and the afternoon. it is always there to some extent. Sometimes it feels like I will pass out or black out, somtimes just off balance, sometimes whirling vertigo. Take your pick. My panic began 7 years ago, but was "dormant" for a few years then came back about 3 years ago. My panic is the worst is has ever been because of the way I feel. The thing is, I know it's anxiety, what else could it be. I just don't know how to get rid of it! i hate feeling this way! I can attest though that this is anxiety!

[gsjr03]

It is great to hear that someone else is going through the same  things.I am perfectly fine when sitting down but the moment I begin to walk out of work; I feel a little off balance and dizzy almost all the time. I am praying that God will take away this feeling. It is very distracting in my life. I have had a CT Scan (W/O Contrast) and nothing showed. I had a panic attack over a year ago and went to the ER. I thought I was having a heart attack. Over the past year I was constantly worried that I would have a heart attack or that something was wrong with me. I had theentire cardio vascular workup done, EKG, blood tests, stress tests etc....Once I had that test done I then began to think that something else was wrong with my body. Every little pain on my head intensifies and I think I have  a tumor.  I am scheduling an MRI with Contrast and I am almost sure everything will come up negative but this dizzy thing has me going crazy at times.

[Foggymind]

Hi all,

Does anyone still suffer from this? I had a car accident in July and a couple of months after I had a dizzy spell and two panic attacks, now I am constantly dizzy, my eyes can be sensitive to light and I sometimes feel pressure in my head... would really like to hear how people overcome this as I am getting fed up with feeling crazy and foggy. I am constantly worried something is really wrong...

[donna150]

hi ,i get dizzy and in balance and really bad anxiety,,i dnt go out much as i start worryin as soon as i think bout goin out in the car,,wen im reslly dizzy i hav 2 lay down 4 a couple of hrs,,then i vomit then i feel so much better,,,i really wish i can stop worryin as soon as i wanna go out,,,i cant walk far even tho i hold on as i become unsteady on my feet,,,im only 38,,feel like my life passin me by

[tattoostarr]

I too suffer from hardcore anxiety. It has gotten so bad i can barely deal day to day. I am 25 years old and had my very first really bad panic attack at work Aug 1st of this year. I litterally thought i was dying. It was so bad i didnt even recognize my own dad. and that scared me horribly. Since then i have bad dizziness everyday.Not like vertigo. Just dizziness Nothing seems to help unless i get angry about it and try hard to ignore it or i put myself in a good mood. Idk why it helps it just does. I was diagnosed with General Anxiety and boy is it living up to its name. I have had EVERY symptom under the sun and even put myself in a psych ward. The one thing i cant handle out of this battle is the dizziness...I feel like its keeping me in the Anxiety loop. I have accepted having anxiety i can deal with that...I CAN NOT DEAL WITH THE DIZZINESS ANY LONGER. I have read countless things about anxiety and panic attacks but no one has say what helps them....its always how they feel and what causes it....Maybe if we all ban together...Something that helps you could help someone else and something that helps them will help you......But i cant find anything on how people cope or what helps them day to day.....If anyone can help or wants to share stories and coping stratigies feel free to e-mail me @ Tattoo_gurl1986***@****

[faithhope245]

Hi I suffer the same thing no one seems to understand I just would like to find someone that goes through the same thing as me ...Ingrid

[bkoo22]

test

[bkoo22]

one more test - seeing if this replies to everyone.  

[bkoo22]

I've had this dizziness constantly for the past 3-4 months guys.  I feel the same way you do.  When I walk I feel imbalanced, swaying back and forth, sea sick.  When I sit sometimes I feel like I can't completely center myself.  After I jog and stop I feel very dizzy.  When I walk and stand still I feel like the ground is moving around me and I'm going to fall.  I've never actually fallen or fainted.  I did have anxiety and was on Remeron for months, I'm off all meds for the past 3 months.  I never had this issue PRE-anxiety attacks.  Also note, I've never had an anxiety attack for the past 6 months.  I've gone through an EKG, physical, CT Scan, Lung X-Ray, Cardio Stress test, Vertigo test, ears, throat, check for labyrynthitis from an ENT.  EVERYTHING.

Trust me guys, if you've done the works then this is from anxiety.  My ENT specialist said it could be hyperventilation syndrome which 25% of americans is the root cause of the dizziness.  Look it up, its just taking too many breaths per minute.  So do what you can to slow down your breaths.  Also, look up chronic subjective dizziness.  It can be that as well.

What we must do is take natural steps towards reducing our anxiety level to the farthest away from panic as possible.  I know its easier said then done.  But in all honesty 99% of this is in our heads.  I've come to that conclusion.  Its depressing, frustrating, debilitating, I know... but eventually it will go away.  You just have to find ways to relax.  Right now I'm doing acupuncture and just finished up some sessions with a psycho-therapist doing EMDR with me to help relax.  Be strong, I can' be weak minded too but just have confidence and focus on other things, eventually your body and mind will re-center itself and you'll be able to live and breath like you once did.