Sudden vertigo/no balance! not anxiety!!!! pledase help :(

[crazyhayz]

PLEASE i need all of your help/opinions, im so worried, i feel sick with fear :(

I was at college and walking along with a friend when all of a sudden out of nowhere I lost all my balance/everything was spinning round, floor was moving and swaying and i couldnt walk. I sat down and tried to focus but couldnt see anything, vision was that blurry! floor was moving and felt like i was being pulled from side to side, it was literally like just cominhg off the waltzers at a fairground!! I then got weak right arm that i could barely feel. I had to be led to first aid room. Once i got in there i started having the biggest panic attack (which obviosly i know makes it all worse lol) and i eventually calmed down but the severe vertigo wouldnt fade. It lasted about 15 mins, and then wet but i was left with funny blurred vision, and tiredness/achey jaw n muscles alllllll day :( I went to my GP that day and he said he wants to wait to see what my results are for my Echocardiogram on 26th October. (i get bad palps with dizziness so GP wants to investigate it). Ive had normal ECG's but my doctor said ecg's arent a reliable source for heart problems, this worried me a bit, so i asked my cardiologist for an echo. Hes said if the heart scan comes back normal then he'll refer me to a neurologist but because im not having fits or fainting then he doesnt think its serious and that it could take a few weeks to see a neuro :( I just want to know whats going on im so scared, i worry everytime i get in the car (even though this sudden vertigo has only ever happened 3 times and always when im walking) but im just so scared all the time :( Nothing brought it on, i had eaten/drank and was just merrily walking along chatting to my friend, and BAM it just hit me :( Why is this happening?!! What could this be?!! Its deffo NOT anxiety, anxiety doesnt just make it go BAM like that, so sudden, and i wasnt anxious whatsoever when it happened. Im so petrified, i keep thinking a heart problem or MS (sudden balance issues are common with both of these)

PLEEEEEASE HELP IM ACTUALLY CRYING :(

[mwone13]

Hiya, ok now calm down.... Good news, you've got vertigo(nothing life threatning) it's horrible I know, I've had it for about 15 years now. But the good thing is it does'nt lead onto anything else and is safe. I remember my first attack was terrible came out of the blue like you and I was sick, could'nt lay down sit up walk anything. My first attack lasted approx 2 weeks in total, but worst period was a couple of days. I went to the doc who sent me for some tests( all normal), diagnosed vertigo. I was told that the first attack is usually the worst and after that it should calm down. They will always be there and come and go, but I find I can manage them fairly well now and I only have one maybe once every year or so..... I hope this helps I hate to think of you crying over this... I know where your coming from and how tormented you can get, but do try to relax and you'll be fine... Take care

[Ella_Jayne]

I've had sudden onsets of Vertigo and I don't know if it's anxiety related but put it this way before i started having panic/anxiety I never had vertigo... NEVER. I've been standing in a shop, looking about an then all of a sudden I'm clinging onto something as I fear I would fall to the floor with dizziness. Even though I haven't been anxious when these onsets happen I still think it has something to do with anxiety and stress.

Your doctor doesn't sound too professional telling you ECG's aren't reliable enough for heart problems, not exactly something you should to say to someone with health anxiety now is it? He's wrong as well, obviously an ECG can't SEE the function of the heart but if the heart function was abnormal the results on the ECG would 99% of the time be too and since you've had sooooo many of them It's pretty clear you don't have a heart problem.

I hope your ECHO gives you the reasurrance you're looking for, I'm sure it will come back normal. As for the dizziness, I honestly believe it's just benign vertigo.

Hope I've helped in some way

[crazyhayz]

Yes thanks ella. Yes i never ever had sudden vertigo before my anxiety, but ive had anxiety now for 10 months and only JUST started having these seriously bad 10-minute balance issues! Why is it so sudden i just dont get it :( Neway, im hoping my echo is normal and then i can be referred to a neuro, i just want every test going at the moment but i spose thats what all we ha sufferes a re like isnt it, i feel ridiculous but my GP is supportive and understands i am suffering, so is prepared to refer me. I was worried when he said ecg's arent always reliable but i know this anyway, my grandad had normal ecgt's and when he had echo it showed enlarged heart and couldve 'dropped dead at any second' according to his cardiologist! (he now has pacemaker blessim). I just wanna know that my HEART and BRAIN are fine. I also want a smear test to check for precancerous cells as my auntie has just been told shes got them, and breast and other cancers are in my family. so are heart problems. I just keep thinking MS as i have soooooooooo many of the symptoms, although i know anxiety and MS are so similar in symptoms lol. I never ever know why i get symptoms, thats the thing, if i knew id know it was anxiety, but whenever i get them i KNOW im not anxious! im out busy doing things or sat at home with my fella having a nice evening.. it just hits me thn totally ruins my night!! I hate it :( If i find out that i DONT have anything wrong with my brain or heart and i dont have cancer, then i know or a fact that it is all anxiety, and i will take the strongest meds onthe market coz i actuslly cant take another second :(

thanks guys x and thaks ella you always a great help to me xx

[Ella_Jayne]

That's terrible about your Grandad, thankfully he was sorted before anything really bad happened.

My anxiety started 13 months ago and I didn't start getting Vertigo until just after christmas, I went to see my doc and he just said 'benign vertigo'. He explained that anxiety and stress can cause it. I'm not saying this is the same as you but it's a suggestion. I'm sure like all of us you get those anxious thoughts everyday, some you can ignore and others you can't, subconsiously you could be getting anxious and it presents itself by you feeling dizzy and off balance without you thinking that you were feeling anxious... If that makes any sense!

You WILL be okay, you're far too young to be having heart problems and you've been checked loads. I know you don't trust ECG's but for every bad story you hear about them there are 1 million others who were diagnosed with heart problems by just using an ECG. Just because your grandads problem was missed doesn't mean that all of your ECG's aren't legitimate.

Your ECHO isn't too far away now, hopefully when you get your results from that you can stop worrying. You've come a long way and were feeling great not so long ago, if there was something truely wrong with you it would have been constant and getting worse.

I'd bet my life on it that it's just anxiety. I think you know deep down that it probably is too.

[Dizzyr]

Just FYI, all of these symptoms can also be symptoms of withdrawal from SSRI drugs such as Zoloft and Effexor. I had the same thing--started walling crooked and got very dizzy-couldn't stand up straight or walk. Also had nausea and just a general feeling of being out of control. It freaked me out until I looked up the withdrawal symptoms from zoloft, which I am tapering myself off of. All those symptoms are there...and a lot more.

[crazyhayz]

Funny u shud say that Dizzyr as I havent had the bad dizziness/vertigo spells for a good month now, but I think my citalopram might of been the cause. Although cant be sure. To summarise, ive been on 20mg citalopram since february, first 8 weeks were hell but then was fine for months, then about 3 months ago started getting dizziness, vertigo and depersonalization really bad during the day.. ive been cutting myself down from my citalopram gradually (i cut it in half now, so only 10mg a day) and i dont get the vertigo and constant lightheadedness anymore. well, i obv wont hold my breath coz i know wot anxiety can be like!! lol!! But yes, i think meds have had alot to do with it. I am waiting to see a Neuro though, as i get weakness and numbness in right arm and other parts of me. So we'll see. But all my tests have been clear so far (bloods, chest xrays, abdominal ultrasound, ct brain, echocardiogram, ecg's, eye scan, ENT tests...) LOL. I am worried mostly about cancer coz i have various enlarged lymph nodes in my neck and groin, and i havent been unwell or anything, theyve been up for 5 weeks and are still the same its scaring me so much. I also worry about MS. Dam anxiety.....