Light headed????

[andy27]

I think I had a panick attack Aug 9 Saturday. It has been 4 days today and I still feel like my head is just floating? Is this normal and how long could it last?? What could help me? I'm anti-meds at this point, but if this last to much longer I have Citoroplam that was subcribed to me? Please Respond

Thanks

[nursegirl6572]

OK....first of all....you're getting WAY ahead of yourself trying to "pinpoint" the cause of your sensations.  I don't BLAME you, and that is pretty common...but at this point...you're just driving yourself bonkers.

Dizziness os one of the most common anxiety symptoms.  It is VERY common, and unfortunately, it can be persistent.  Now, the fact that you actually PASSED out, as in "lost consciousness" is actually pretty UNcommon with panic attacks.  People FEEL as though they will pass out any second, but normally the body doesn't "allow" it per se.....

The fact that you've had a pretty thorough work up is great...it tells you that pretty much the big and bad stuff has been ruled out.  I would suggest that you follow up with your doctor.  Did they assess you for "Orthostatic Hypotension"?  That is where a person's blood pressure drops significantly after a position change (lying-standing, sitting-standing, etc).  The bathroom scenario makes me suspicious of that.  

You may be one of the rare cases that actually DOES pass out during a panic attack...but again..I am skeptical, and feel that something else, prolly something very benign caused your syncopal episode.

As for the dizzy feeling you are having...now THAT absolutely can be attributed to anxiety.  The medication you have been prescribed is an SSRI antidepressant, it doesn't seem like you are aware of how to properly take it?  It should be taken every day 9at the same time), regardless if you feel good or bad.  It takes 2-4 weeks, or longer for it to start really making a difference where you would notice a significant improvement.

These meds DO have a tendency to make you feel worse before you feel better, and often times a doc will prescribe a temporary regimen of an anti-anxiety medication, like Xanax, or Ativan....to help ease the symptoms a bit while you wait for the med to start working and for the symptoms to subside (which they generally do after a week or two).

Bottom line here...is you need to sit down with your doc and discuss what the actual PLAN is for addressing your anxiety....cuz it sounds like you really don't have a solid plan yet.  Also..inquire about looking into the Orthostatic hypotension as well.  MOST likely you were worked up for that already (if the nurses took your BP in several different positions....that would be an assessment for that).

Caffeine is definitely something worth staying away from if you can.  It can exacerbate anxiety symptoms.

Hang in there.....it will get better....you just need an official game plan.

[andy27]

I have been getting dizzy before I would fall asleep at night. That would happen once a month at best for the last 4 years, thought nothing of it. Since then I have been to the ER 3 times do to waking up in the middle of the night feeling dizzy and anxious? My doctor had me go and get a scope done of my esophigous and found I had GERD(Esophigitis). They gave me a steroid called Flovent to take for 6 weeks, and also my MD had proscribed me Prilosec 20mg 2x a day. Two weeks ago I got out of bed in the morning and went to pee, felt a little dizzy. Then I went to wash my hands and blacked out. The next thing I knew was that my wife was asking me if I was all right. I told her to call 911. They kept me over night, did a ekko of my heart, a cat scan of the brain, a stress test and took lots of blood. Every thing was Negative, by the way I had an MRI of the brain last year and nothing. So the MD at the ER diagnosed me with Panick Attack. So he gave me Proxetine to take. I took that for two days found out my Ins. did not cover that. So they gave me Citoroplam. I took that the morning of my boys big B-Party with a cup of Green tee and felt like death the whole day. Did not eat or drink the whole day. So I decided to stop caffein all together and stop all the pills thinking they were causing the light headedness. It took a week to feel better. I felt good on Thursday and Friday. So I decided on Saturday am while I was washing the car I wood have a cup of coffee. I drank 1/2 of it and started getting dizzy and hot flashes. Went inside and felt like fainting. Since then I have been light headed 4 days after??? I'm trying supplements tomorrow and going to give that a try for a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will help? Do you think these meds. could be still running through my body? Its been 4 days off of everything?? Sorry for the book I wrote, but does any body have any opinions???

Thank You

[snoozies43]

It doesn't seem right that the feeling should last for 4 days...ie: the floating.

Can you describe what happened a little more?

Also you doctor has prescribed an anti-depressant. Is this used to treat your "possible" type of anxiety? If he has explained to you what type of anxiety...that would also be helpful for you to know.

Let us know more.