Off balance and dizzy

[lesleya]

I get the same symptoms too and ive been told its perimenopause as well, it can be really scary especially the dizzy heads and palps. I think all of the other symptoms ive had in the last 2 years are all caused by menopuase too...overwhelming feelings of tiredness, headaches, occassional mood swings, hot/cold sweats, anxiety/panic attacks are all menopause related.
Wish it would go away as quick as it came.
Hope your monotoring is going ok sharon.
Take care.
xxx

[BasilCat]

Another thing I forgot to add is the fact that I am probably menopausal as well. I am 52 years old and I am tired a lot of the time and have mood swings as well.

Shirley

[R.S 31]

Thank you everyone for taking your time and sharing your issues. Not that it helps but its “good” to know that I’m not alone with this manner. Before I continue, I must mention that I’m coming from a foreign country so please forgive me if I have some typos and/or grammar mistakes.
I’m even not sure how to name it. I’m not sure that dizziness/vertigo are the best ways to describe my feeling. I don’t feel that the world is spinning around me and I’m not being confused or disoriented.
I guess the best way to describe it is that I’m feeling that I’m walking on a boat, a feeling of being off balance. This creates a very inconvenient feeling which affects the quality of my life. It all started 9 months ago while I was at work. All of the sudden without any reason I felt that the surface that I was walking on didn’t feel the same. I immediately sat down since I was so scared and had the feeling that I was going to fall. It felt like I was standing on a boat or being in an elevator. I went home hoping it will disappear. Since it didn’t go away, I went to see my doctor who advised me to run some tests. I did blood test, urine test, EEG, and C.T.
Thanks God, all tests were normal. However, the problem remained so I took it to the next level and went to see a neurologist who recommended M.R.I. Thanks God, again, all results were normal.

The next step was meeting with an ENT (Ears, Nose & Throat) since I had the feeling it was coming from my ears. We ran couple of tests but everything was normal.
The last wrote me prescriptions for 10mg of Amitriptyline which I took for 3 months. Then, I doubled the doze to 20mg per day but it brought no results.

In that point, you can imagine how desperate I was. No one seemed to diagnose my problem so obviously no one could help curing it. I decided not to give up and I tried some alternative health options such as acupuncture, reflexology, and body manipulation but unfortunately they were no help either.
I must mention that it only appears while I’m walking. It doesn’t happen while I’m sitting, driving or lying down.
It doesn’t affect my vision, appetite, falling to sleep, sleeping or any other functions. As mentioned, it only kicks me while I’m walking.
If anyone feels the same symptoms and have any comment or suggestion, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you, God bless you all.

[ann01]

I too am really struggling with the lightheaded feeling 24/7 I really struggled at work today but managed to stay, I feel lightheaded within my head and feel like i am swaying, and movement in my head, the room doesn't spin or anything, but this symptom is really scary, I am too scared to go out on my own at the moment, and when i do it brings on a panic attack, anxiety is an horrible illness and it is unbelievable the symptoms that it does bring. I think that why it is so hard for us to convince ourselves that it is anxiety take care Ann

[headlight]

I too am really struggling with the lightheaded feeling 24/7 I really struggled at work today but managed to stay, I feel lightheaded within my head and feel like i am swaying, and movement in my head, the room doesn't spin or anything, but this symptom is really scary, I am too scared to go out on my own at the moment, and when i do it brings on a panic attack, anxiety is an horrible illness and it is unbelievable the symptoms that it does bring. I think that why it is so hard for us to convince ourselves that it is anxiety take care Ann

The lightheaded feeling is not nice but you will be fine, I know because I have been lightheaded/dizzy for 15 years now. I've learned to live with it.

For me it started when I was 21, I started having a strange feeling when I was walking, like I was being gently pushed in the back. Then one day when I was sat down having lunch I had a massive wave of lightheadness/dizziness come over me. I was in the Army at the time, so just got up and left the mess hall in a frenzy of panic. Since that day I have never been the same, I would say that I lost my real personality at that moment. I went from being a happy care free person to a quiet and insular character.

The first major symptom I noticed after the wave of lightheadness, apart from the lightheadness, was that I would get awful, out of proportion hangovers. I was a fit young man and had never suffered a hangover in my life, but from that day onwards I would literally feel like death if I drunk too much the night before.

Then all the other symptoms started: Nervousness, I get nervous of everything, if I have to give a presentation in 6 weeks time, I am nervous for 6 weeks. Sensitivity: I'm very sensitive to being criticized personally or about my work. Negativity: I've become a glass is half empty type of person etc, etc, you get the picture. Along with the mental symptoms, along come the physical ones, bowel problems, stiff neck, crunching neck and shoulders, clenching jaw on so on.

For me though the worse symptom of all is the lightheadness, some days I hardly notice it (although it is there), some days it is almost debilitating. It makes me tired, sad, gives me a foggy head, sometimes scares me (not that often anymore), pisses me off. Its something no one else can understand unless they suffer from it.

I don't notice the lightheadness when I'm running or exercising. I notice it less when I am on holiday. It gets worse with stress. But it never goes away and much like a lot of people on here and other forums I have tried everything and spent a lot of money.

It has not stopped my life though, I have got married had 2 kids, move to Australia and forged a fairly successful career. I do feel as though I have been cheated out of a better quality of life though.

Good luck to everyone suffering similar symptoms, I really can feel your pain.

[Panikki]

Hi
I too suffer the daily dizziness and off balance...feel like i'm constantly hungover and even sense of staggering its awful . I also have the sensation that some-ones pushed me ..its really odd..i often think i've got some-thing awful like MS but probably just anxiety as many of you seem to suffer from the same..i do let it get in the way of life as i hate this feeling when i go out so i dont go out much and if i get it when i'm at home on my own i start to really panic..I just cant win! Gald i'm not alone with it though Jodiex

[headlight]

Hi
I too suffer the daily dizziness and off balance...feel like i'm constantly hungover and even sense of staggering its awful . I also have the sensation that some-ones pushed me ..its really odd..i often think i've got some-thing awful like MS but probably just anxiety as many of you seem to suffer from the same..i do let it get in the way of life as i hate this feeling when i go out so i dont go out much and if i get it when i'm at home on my own i start to really panic..I just cant win! Gald i'm not alone with it though Jodiex

What I have come to realize is that there is a very fine line between feeling awful and feeling well. During my 15 years of lightheaded / dizziness I have had brief (maybe only 30 seconds - 1 minutes) spells of feeling normal. When one of these spells happens I feel so good I could cry, I smile and feel happy, then they go again. This is what made me realize that it is very unlikely that I have anything very wrong with me, and that my body / mind is just slightly out of sorts.

The problem I have is determining whether my symptoms are the cause or the effect of my illness. What I mean is, is the stress, anxiety, nervousness etc caused by my lightheadness or has the lightheadness been caused by the stress, anxiety, nervousness etc. I'm pretty sure its the later as my symptoms do improve in stress free situations and they do get worse when I'm stressed.

Good luck to everyone, it would be nice if one of these threads actually ended in good news once in a while and did not just peter out over time.

[ecb]

I can also fully empathise with this feeling of lightheadedness/not feeling with it/chronic fatigue. Its difficult to know if the meds cause it or the anxiety. I am trying to slowly come off my meds to see. It is very scary living in fear of passing out at any time. As I am sure we will all agree, it never actually seems to happen though. We need to reassure ourselves with this x

[headlight]

I can also fully empathise with this feeling of lightheadedness/not feeling with it/chronic fatigue. Its difficult to know if the meds cause it or the anxiety. I am trying to slowly come off my meds to see. It is very scary living in fear of passing out at any time. As I am sure we will all agree, it never actually seems to happen though. We need to reassure ourselves with this x

I've never taken any meds for this, so I know thats not the cause for me. In the first few years I was also in constant fear of fainting / passing out, I never have though. I remember standing in a queue or sitting around the dinner table with my extended family feeling very lightheaded then starting to sweat out of fear of passing out, I never did.

Changing the subject slightly, does anyone else with this constant lightheadness crave sugar or have the need to eat more often than usual. I need to eat something at least every 3 hours or the fatigue worsens considerably. I've had my bloods done loads of times and my blood sugars fall into the normal range (as does everything else). I've also noticed that if I totally cut processed sugar out of my diet, my symptoms subside somewhat. They don't go away, but I have never actually been able to stick to the no sugar diet for more than a couple of weeks, my willpower simply gives up.

[imsoscared]

please please help me. this is my first time ever being in a froum like this but i need help. i am a twenty year old man who has been diagnosed with panic and anxiety attacks i have them frequently and by frequently i mean all the time. i am currently having one and want to go to hospital but i aint cause evvery time i go they tell me the sam,e thing and i just want the help. now i am always dizzzy perhaps from the medicine i have bouncy vision and objects tend to move on me if i stare at them. i just always think that maybe this time its something worse is this normal has anybody else felt this and i will get tis quick rush of lightheadness like i am about to faint i hate it what can i do it happens to much i dont even go out anymore i am 20!!!!! please help thank you....travis