very sudden dizziness followed by anxiety attack

[threesacharm]

has anyone here experience sudden dizziness that comes on like lightning out of the blue followed by anxiety attacks?  i can be sitting at my computer and all of the sudden just get a major dizziness attack...it only lasts for a couple of seconds and then goes away...after that though i get really bad anxiety from it because it scares the hell out of me...is this a normal anxiety symptom?  could it actually be part of a panic attack?  uggghhhhh....i hate having this.

[ms6ns]

I have been experiencing something similar, I could be driving, or just sitting in class, and I just start getting this out-of-body feeling like I am going to pass out and I feel like a loss of balance and like my coordination is off.  It is really hard to describe.  I usually freak myself out after that because I start thinking about what could be wrong with me.

[hollygcat]

if you get panic attacks, sudden dizzines is common.  An anxiety attack heightens all your nerves and is very depleting to your body physically.  From my experience, and I am no expert, I think the dizziness comes from the nerve endings settling down.  I had a panic attack this morning, then I had the strange dizziness walking my daughter to school.  I didn't think I was going to get her school which then just brings on more anxiety.  Horrible, vicious cycle!  I think it's part of the panic disorder.

nsuljic --- I replied to your post twice.  Take a look because you may just have a thyroid problem and not need anxiety meds.  Get it checked soon or you will need anxiety meds

[suzi-q]

Yes, I get that type of feeling also, followed by attacks.  It isn't often though, but it stinks just the same.

[Leah22]

I have had panic disorder for a while now, and for me, dizziness is very common. I will feel an attack coming on and I get very dizzy and sometimes it feels like I am going to pass out. It is not fun at all! But, yes, to answer your questions, dizziness is a common part of panic attacks. They can affect people in so many ways

[threesacharm]

thank all of you for responding so quickly!!!  this definately helps me a little bit.  it still scares me that it happens, but if so many others deal with it also, it makes me know that i am not alone.  thanks again...

[HockeyShark]

Are you on any Meds? I get a sudden "Rush" type sensation of dizziness that last just a second or two but is very intense, then the panic, etc.....

I was thinking it might be the meds?

[threesacharm]

actually, i am on zoloft....been on it for 6 years...

[Happy2girls]

I am on no medications and I also get that dizzy feeling plus balance problems.  I was going to have my sinuses checked out but I am thinking it's related to anxiety.  It can be scary, especially when it happens out of the blue, like when I am at church or in a mall.  Sometimes I think that the fear of it happening and me fainting in front of a room full of people brings it on.  Isn't anxiety grand!  

[HockeyShark]

Hmmmmm... I have been on Paxil (10+ Years) Then switched to Lexapro (Almost 2 years) and Klonopin. So maybe an SSRI thing?

I am actually relieved to see this thread, and know someone else out there gets these things. I get them randomly, sitting, standing, all times and places. Totally random. I have been told it might be the Meds, "Pre-Syncope" an 'almost fainting' type thing. I have been told it is anxiety, and I have been told I am imagining it.

Well, I can tell you it Procedes the panic, and it is real. I get about 1-2 a month, then they go away, then return. It has been that way for years.

Let me know anything you find out about these. They are indeed very hard to have to go through.

[threesacharm]

i am also relieved that i am hearing that other people experience this.  naturally when this happens to me i think right away that is it something horrible like a tumor or something.  the rush of dizziness is so intense that it actually makes me almost jump because it happens so fast.  I have been told the same things you have hockeyshark and it still scares the hell out of me...i am going to google some stuff and see what i can find.  (i know, "googling" is the worst thing for people with anxiety to do....but what are you suppose to do when you never get any straight answers from doctors????)

[rightnode]

Yep... and sometimes I get this fainting feeling. I also used to get the out of body experience feeling... that even happened just as I was falling a sleep.  I went with the  sensation and for some reason I no longer have that.  It precedes the panic because we ... panic. If you practice acknowledging them as nothing dangerous.. they will disappear.

[Elly 1]

I don't know if I suffer from panic attacks ie no doc has said it's panic but a few months ago I was out shopping and was on my way back to my car when I suddenly became aware that I was staggering back to the car. It was 10 am in the morning and I was afraid people would think I was drunk. It was awful, I could see my car in the car park but I felt like I just couldn't get to it. I was incredibly dizzy and my legs felt like they wouldn't hold me up, I actually sat on the floor in the middle of the shopping centre and not one person asked if I was alright! After a while I got up and staggered to the car, I had pain in my chest although my breathing was ok but I was shaking all over. Eventually I managed to drive home but felt awful. Since that episode I haven't been out anywhere on my own, I always engineer it that either my husband or 22 yr old daughter are with me although I haven't told them about the incident. Does this sound like any of your symptoms and could it be panic. I can't even go to the doc cos I do panic just sitting in a public place.

[tanguy1973]

Hey guys/gals...
I am a healthy 34 y/o male, no medical history at all. I workout and am in tip top shape. Then, about 3 months ago, I started experiencing dizzy spells, followed by what seems is anxiety. It happens everywhere, and sometimes out of the blue. I also experience this when working out. I have had 3 near snycope episodes since it started (dizziness, followed by rapid heart rate, "I can't breath" feeling, and an extreme fear of dying).
Now I get nervous when I go in public because I am afraid of th eembarrassment of fainting.
I have been through a cardiologist already, no heart problems were found.
It seems like everyone here is experiencing anxiety, and recently I had to sit myself down and accept the fact that this maybe nothing more than anxiety. After realizing this, I actually have been feeling better.

Does anyone have any additional self-help tips that helped them?

I am taking xanax and it helps.

Thanks!

[threesacharm]

Hi...i have been dealing with anxiety/panic for about 7 years now.  i will try and give you some tips, but i am still struggling myself...
1. anxiety sucks.
2.oh...you already know that...
3.anyway, you are not alone, what you have is exactly what i experience....  
Meds can defenitely help, you just have to find the right one for you...i found that zoloft works pretty good for me.  
Also, a really good book to read (what i am reading right now) is called Dont Panic by Reid Wilson.  It gives you lost of info about what a panic attack is, why it happens and it teaches you how to actually overcome them.  i haven't gotten to that part yet though, considering i just had a major attack yesterday.  i does seem like a really cool book though.  
when i have a panic attack i usually try and get outside if i can, to get fresh air and walk around.  i have been told that when this is happening your adrenaline is on overload and you need to burn it off.  Also, i do deep breathing exercises.  i actually learned how to do this by "googling" deep breathing.  there was an instructional website (yoga) that taught you how to breathe.  that seems to help slow my heart rate down a little.  i basically try and keep myself busy, to keep the panic symptoms out of my mind.  
what make panic attacks hard to deal with is that they come on so fast and out of the blue..its like it hits you like a ton of bricks.  i can be sitting hear fine and all of the sudden my heart will skip a beat and then start beating VERY fast and hard.. it really takes me be surprise and then at that point i pretty much feel like i am going to die.  i hate it.  i have also had some heart tests and everything so far is normal.  i am always thinking i have something horribly wrong, like a mitral valve prolapes, arrythmia problems, pretty much any heart problem.  
what we all have to realize is that panic attacks will not harm you...they will come on strong, reach a peak and go away, usually within minutes.  NOW, if you don't get yourself calmed down, you will keep peaking all day....
i know i am rambling but i am trying to think of everything possible that i try...
i am right here with you, experiencing what you do and so many others are too...you are not alone in this..
take care..

[hegs22]

To the women out there- i swear it's our hormones as well.  I notice more anxiety when i ovulate or a week away from my menstrual cycle.  I wouldn't wish anyone this "disease" we have.  It does suck, but all your stories gives us some relief and comfort.  I wonder if there's such a thing as anxiety groups to talk with other people suffering.  I heard yoga helps.... but i'm afraid doing those weird positions will make me dizzy!  

[threesacharm]

It is so weird that you would mention this.... i have been noticing that during ovulation and right before my period my anxiety is at its highest..  i get ALOT of palpatations and i notice that i have to take my ativan more often around these times...  i was just thinking to myself this morning how much i hate feeling this way.  i just wish i would wake up one morning and it would just go away forever!!

[ferilkid]

my whole life is a panic attack,,however i am getting better..I used to think all this was chiropractic..but that didnt help me..this all started when i did meth in the early ninties...i hate drugs..

[shadowcreeper]

well.... if you hear things it could be chemical induced schizophrenia.... and in that category there is paranoid schizophrenia.... just a side note...

[kristeen030]

Wow I just had another attack. Been having panic attacks and anxiety since my 2nd child was born. I am relieved to see that I am not the only one with these exact symptoms. I too wish everyday that I would just feel normal for a whole day and not have to worry. I seem to get them everyday after lunch. I work in a cell phone shop and usually it's right when a customer is here which makes it worse. I have been on SSRI's in the past but didn't like the way they made me feel...ie sleepy all the time so I have been struggling the past few years without drugs. I am wondering if there is anything natural a person can take to help eleviate these symptoms. Thanks.

[br2509]

I have experienced the same thing i get dizzy or lightheaded alot scares me because sometimes it interfers with my eyes and make me sick of my stomach.But it comes and goes but here lately i have been really bad headaches so i am guessing its from the anxiety/panic attacks

[Skelly88]

If you don't like the way traditional treatment (ssri's etc.) make you feel, you can take things like valarian root, or kava kava, valarian root was used hundreds of years ago to treat  anxiety, you can get a bottle of it from walmart for like 5 bucks, real smelly though, but no bad breath, I promise :)

Kava Kava, you'll probably have to go to a health food store for that, but...I never liked to hunt down a health food store, so I just bought mine off amazon.  

I hope that helps,  I just had an anxiety attack last night...but it was weird,  I just got dizzy all the sudden while on the computer, I got up walked around, i feel like I was going to fall over, then I tried to lay down to sleep, felt like I was spinning, then al the sudden i start to panic, and my whole body felt like it as on fire. so once again, I got up, made some hot tea.  and It was weird, I kept feeling like I was confused about what I was looking at, like....it didnt seem real.. i dont know that was scary. almost like I didnt know where I was kinda... :(  I thought iwas having a stroke or a heart attack, or some other heart / brain related issue... :( its so scary.. i'm only 20... so heart attacks, strokes, brain disorders, sound scary...

[jrphotog]

This is the exact same feels I get, then ofcourse I get an anxiety attack because of the way I feel.

[Skelly88]

Oh and in addition to all that... I felt very TIRED...but i couldn't fall asleep because i was in a state of panic.  i felt Delirious like i was REALLY REALLY tired.

[julez1234]

i have exactly that im fine one minute and a sudden dizzy attack can happen followed by an anxiety attack.  It leaves you feeling light headed with palpatations and shakes like you are going to faint then an really tired feeling to follow a really tight heavy head.  I think its all related to stress and anxiety. ive suffered anxiety attacks for years and have spells where im ok. Its a really unpleasant feeling but i think it will settle down eventually on its own, it is scary and makes you feel drunk after.  Im getting them again at the mo but have been through a stressful time.

[AO111]

Yeah that's been happening to me all week. I'll get a wave of dizziness and then go into a panic attack over it. I guess maybe the dizziness is just the start of the attack i dunno