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Avatar universal

Does anyone else have problems when out shopping etc?

Not sure if I'm going more mental as I get older or not......

I've got the old balance issues thanks to cerebellar lesions. One bad days I can't even walk through the house without feeling like toppling over. But on ok days around the house is fine.

The problem is when I go out. In particular in malls or supermarkets, where's there's lots going on. Even my small local shop sets me off.

I start off ok, but after a few metres the sense of disequilibrium starts, I always think I'm going to topple over (haven't yet). I frequently have to stop and lean on something. it's ALWAYS worse when I go down crowded supermarket aisles  - the more visual stimulation the worse..


Now my legs are getting weaker too which doesn't help matters.

But my main question is, why would it do this when out and not when I get home? Could I be panicking? I know I feel dread when it starts, which makes it worse, which confuses me - am I dreading it because it IS happening, or is it happening because I'm dreading it? if you get my meaning......

It's usually settled again to a tolerable level when I get home....

if anyone feels a bit mental like this, it;d be good to know....

Jemm
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Avatar universal
it could be you are home alone a lot and the difference  could make you kind of hyper. You feel safe at home and when you get out you see al these people and it can be upsetting. You might try getting out more lke church or see some friends.  pea14cha
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667078 tn?1316000935
These are really old posts.The posters might not even be around anymore.
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Avatar universal
You most likely have a semi-permanent disorder called Vestibular Neuritis. It is a disorder that affects the nerve of the inner ear called the vestibulocochlear nerve. This nerve sends balance and head position information from the inner ear to the brain.

If you notice that your symptoms worsen after a common cold or the flu, it's most likely due to the varicella virus (related to the chickenpox you had as a child) lying dormant deep in your your inner ear. When you get a virus such as a cold or the flu, the varicella in your inner ear WAKES UP within a couple of weeks AFTER your cold or flu is gone. This wreaks havoc with your BALANCE system and causes numerous problems some of which include dizziness, confusion, panic/fear, sensitivity to SOUND, BRIGHT LIGHTS (especially FLUORESCENT LIGHTS), HIGH PITCHED SOUNDS, CROWDS of PEOPLE, A LOT of MOVEMENT (e.g. heavy traffic wizzing by), etc.

There is no cure, and your symptoms will come and go for the rest of your life. You can control your symptoms with MECLIZINE HCI 25 mg daily, and VALTREX (valaciclovir) 500 mg daily to control the varicella in your inner ear when you have a severe bout or feel it coming on. TRUST ME, NO OTHER DRUGS WILL WORK AS WELL AS THESE TWO! I have been dealing with this for more than 25 years, and these two drugs are the only ones (as of January 2016) which will help you tremendously!
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Avatar universal
You most likely have a semi-permanent disorder called Vestibular Neuritis. It is a disorder that affects the nerve of the inner ear called the vestibulocochlear nerve. This nerve sends balance and head position information from the inner ear to the brain.

If you notice that your symptoms worsen after a common cold or the flu, it's most likely due to the varicella virus (related to the chickenpox you had as a child) lying dormant deep in your your inner ear. When you get a virus such as a cold or the flu, the varicella in your inner ear WAKES UP within a couple of weeks AFTER your cold or flu is gone. This wreaks havoc with your BALANCE system and causes numerous problems some of which include dizziness, confusion, panic/fear, sensitivity to SOUND, BRIGHT LIGHTS (especially FLUORESCENT LIGHTS), HIGH PITCHED SOUNDS, CROWDS of PEOPLE, A LOT of MOVEMENT (e.g. heavy traffic wizzing by), etc.

There is no cure, and your symptoms will come and go for the rest of your life. You can control your symptoms with MECLIZINE HCI 25 mg daily, and VALTREX (valaciclovir) 500 mg daily to control the varicella in your inner ear when you have a severe bout or feel it coming on. TRUST ME, NO OTHER DRUGS WILL WORK AS WELL AS THESE TWO! I have been dealing with this for more than 25 years, and these two drugs are the only ones (as of January 2016) which will help you tremendously!
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Avatar universal
i get the same thing and doctors dont seem to understand. I dread to go in a supermarket or a mall but as soon as i come out it subsides a bit.  What type of a life is this???? suffering for the past 2.5 years...wish the doctors understand our problems
Helpful - 0
293157 tn?1285873439
I don't get any days off anymore, wish I did.

hang in there
wobbly
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Avatar universal
It's a right pain isn't it. I have to do online shopping lately, but I ALWAYS forget things, then either have to bravely try to go into the local shop myself, or send my son in after school.

You know in January for some reason all my sx disappeared for about a month or more, 6 weeks I think it was.

I said to my son, not realising I was as good as normal, "JUst going to the shop". (He's 14, stayed at home on the xbox ) Three hours later my phone rang - "MUM!! Where are you?? I thought you must be dead!!"

No, not dead, just going completely mental with glee in a mall because I couold walk normally for once with no  balance / dizzy / anything issues.....it was GRAND!

Of course it didn't last, but it was fun while it did! Three days in a row I hung out in the mall just enjoying the fact that I could! My son thought I was mental.

Now I'm back to the same old horror, and I've got the same old anger and resentment toward those humans who can walk fast and normally and don't topple over. I see them in the mornings when I drive my son to school , out walking their dogs etc, and I feel like screaming at them. It's so frustrating.

I also got to thinking, I wonder what is worse: being born unable to walk and never having that joy, or being able to one week, then not the next, back and forth, having it then it being taken away again. I expect the person who has never been able to walk would slap me! But I still think it's incredibly frustrating/annoying to be able to some times, then WHAMMO!! No more walking happily for YOU for a while now!

Hmmmmm....take care back at ya!

jemm
Helpful - 0
293157 tn?1285873439
I get the same thing as you do.  This past weekend, my hubby and went to a grocery store to shop.  I held onto the cart like I always do.  I usually can push it when he puts things into the cart, I can't reach up or bend down, without feeling off balance, and if there are people around I have to stop and let them clear the area.

it's never bothered me before, I also cannot stand loud noises, or changes in the floor pattern, carpet, lino. etc.  

this week, I am having more difficulty with walking, and I couldn't make it through the store, my hubby had to do the shopping and I waiting in the car.

I hate not having my life, like it used to be a few years ago. and I don't like the idea of my hubby having to live this way either.. sorry for going on...
take care
wobbly
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Avatar universal
hi,

>>The problem is when I go out. In particular in malls or supermarkets, where's there's lots going on.

yes, this started some years ago for me when i was in Bay Area. really freaked me out and drained me. doctors then, VA & non-VA, attributed it to "panic attacks". i always argued that point due to they didn't feel like panic attacks.

it would also happen when waiting n long lines like the post office.

about this same time i started getting claustophobic which i had never been before. loved tight places to explore underwater, small bunks, small planes to jumb out of, that never bothered me before until these strange episodes at big grocery stores, crowds, lines, etc.



>>I start off ok, but after a few metres the sense of disequilibrium starts, I always think I'm going to topple over (haven't yet). I frequently have to stop and lean on something. it's ALWAYS worse when I go down crowded supermarket aisles  - the more visual
stimulation the worse..

could not expplain it any better than you have. that is exactly what i tried to convey to doctors back then.

i also, at that time could ahve these flares at home. this really drained me and increased anxiety as to what the freak was going on.

at the time, no diagnoses, except for the typical "its in your head" thing.


>But my main question is, why would it do this when out and not when I get home?

dont' know, often times that same happened to me but as i mentioned above, sometimes at home too.


>>Could I be panicking?

not qualified to say. for me, i always felt the "problem" came first, then the "panic".  i'm certain i know the difference just from comparing other past areas of my life.


as most on this forum know, i was eventually diagnosed with MS and some neuro issues from spinal disease/injury.

i still avoid crowded places and when i feel it coming on somewhere i just leave. the frequency of these episodes lessened over the years but they still appear from time to time.
Helpful - 0
338416 tn?1420045702
The lights in those big stores are the worst - the fluorescent tubes hurt my eyes, and make it hard to think clearly.  I always get a cart and push it like a walker.  And take a list!
Helpful - 0
1168718 tn?1464983535
Hi Jemm,
My dr. told me that it is a type of panic disorder.  I get the same thing, especially if I have alot to do, and I am by myself.  I take Zoloft for it and and depresion, and it seems to be helping.

There isn't really anything that can help me otherwise, I have tried, and I find sometimes it is the noise that makes me just as bad., while at home, the noise levels and confusion aren't the same because we don't have people everywhere, banging into us, or hitting us with purses, and such, or just in a line with you and a cranky baby.  Those things set me off too.

Hope you can get some relief.

take care,
Candy
Helpful - 0
1493284 tn?1294875712
Hi Jemm-

I get what you're saying about shopping-- for me the issue is cognitive-- I think it's that everything becomes more magnified you know? From a physical-space/balance perspective, suddenly there's more more going on, heights are different, lighting is different,lots of people to be aware of, etc.  I find myself disoriented by all the motion, noise, and decisions. At times my thinking slows down and I feel like I'm watching it all happen from farther away. Very strange.

Best,
Sadie
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Avatar universal
I totally get what you mean Jemm, I think for me it is to do with large spaces if that makes sense (I definitely get more mental as I get older:))

My Physio Therapist has explained it to me but I can't remember everything she said, it's to do with perception I think she said.

The weird thing is it really helps to have something on my left when I am walking, either a wall or a person. If my partner walks on my right I feel I will fall over!

Mand
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