View Full Version : constantly dizzy -please help!
expecto patronum
15-06-06, 23:17
I have been feeling dizzy for the last 2 1/2 months and its really scaring me. I just found this website today and I am was reading the thread on the same subject from 2003, and I was really relieved when I saw the messages from nomorepanic and sarah as you said that you had had the same thing but managed to get rid of it: How did you get rid of it? I am very aware that I need to stop thinking / worrying about it so much if it is ever going to get better but I don't know how I can when it is such an upsetting experience and it is affecting me constantly. Most of the people that I've read about on the internet seem to be scared that their dizziness was a symptom of a serious illness rather than psychosomatic, but for me I knew from the start that it was anxiety/'all in the mind' and that was what scared me and why it got worse; I felt some occasional unsteadiness at the beginning, I worried about it, then I felt it more often, I worried about it more and now I feel it all the time. When I walk it feels like the ground is tipping around, but I feel it when I'm sitting or leven lying down as well. The sensations vary; sometimes I feel floety, sometimes like I'm heavy with the weight tipping around. I am also having 'visual disturbances' which get worse if I focus on them; sometimes things look like they're made up of tiny dots/fuzzy like a tv screen, or I get imprints of the thing I just looked at, or sometimes I find it hard to focus. Before I got this I had already been having anxiety with difficulty brething and tension for about 6 years.
I know that if I could react more calmly to these things I could lessen their effect but I've been trying without any success. It feels like every day is a struggle and its all I can do to stop things getting worse, I can't take my mind off it whatever I do. I've gone from being fairly intelligent to finding it hard to grasp simple tasks or string a sentence together! Plus I'm really worried about all the people that are worried about me I feel really bad for them. Please help me!!
I'm seeing a cognitive behavioural therapist, but he's just telling what I already know, ie that I need to stop focussing on it, to accept the sensations and not fight them, to keep busy. Do you know of any medication that helps? Also I was wondering about hypntherapy, do you think it could help? I worry that if I let any negative thoughts about it getting worse or about new symptoms while under hypnosis I could make myself worse? Do you think it could be used to actually make the syptoms go away, or maybe it could just help me to deal with them?
Thank you!
HI there - I so understand what you mean. I have to stand up and grip the desk or counter int he shop whre I work as I feel dizzy if I stand still talking to someone. It panics me totally and I know its anxiety - thats all it is - so I need to relax, drop my shoulders and breathe calmly but I still feel dizzy and hyperventilate!!!! Good luck and use this site as it is a wonderful help to all of us. Love wenjoy x
Hi Rossie,
Welcome to the forum, you will get a lot of good advice here and make some new friends.
Here are some links on dizzyness, hope they help :
Spaciness (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2696)
Light Headed (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2951)
dizzyness (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3062)
Jules31 (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=310)
Light Headed (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2951)
Very dizzy (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3743)
help :( (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3742)
vertigo, diziness (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4877)
Vertigo type sensations (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5669)
New to this site and need some advice :( (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5961)
Is my head normal??? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6731)
Anxiety + Panic + Stress + Dizziness + some relief (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6338)
Dizziness - I hate it, any help? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6854)
Take care
Trac xx
'Live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten'
Hi Rossie
I am about to go to my first yoga class so that I can learn to breathe better - I know I breathe very shallowly and it sometimes makes me dizzy. Have you tried any yoga or relaxation exercise?
KatiePie
chucklehound
16-06-06, 16:02
Hi Rossie and welcome to NMP. I suffer terribly with dizziness and I was convinced I had a terminal illness. I went to the doctors who said I had to go to the hospital. After spending 5 days in a hospital bed and having no end of tests, they diagnosed me with anxiety/panic and discharged me. They put me on medication for the dizziness which was called stemetil. I took it for a short time because the doctors don't let you take it for long periods. The Stemetil didn't work for me personally and although I still get the dizziness now, I have acceptedthat it is the anxiety causing it.
Hope you start to feel better soon
Take care
Chuckle
xxxx
expecto patronum
16-06-06, 16:47
Hi, Thanks for the replies. I am doing yoga classes at the moment but they don't really seem to help as I am still in the vicious cycle of feeling dizzy/worrying about feeling dizzy/ trying to force myself to stop worrying about being dizzy when I am doing yoga (I actually sometimes feel worse, just because I am conscious that I am trying to do something to help with it!) but I am sticking with it cause I know I need to learn how to relax, however impossible it seems at the moment. I don't think it can be because of my breathing, as I have had the same anxiety-related breathing problems for 6 years and never had dizziness.
Hi Rossie
The dizzy symptoms you describe sound just like I was for a couple of months at the start of the year. I felt like it all the time - standing , sitting and in bed. I also felt heavy and as though I was walking on jelly.
It scared me silly until I read the Claire Weekes books which said it was due to muscle tension and I also saw a cbt therapist and he also said it was muscle tension in my head and neck affecting the balance mechanisms in my ears.
Once I'd accepted that it was just due to muscle tension, I kept telling my self that was all it was and gradually it went, first in the day and then at night. I still get it from time to time when I'm stressed and tense, but I know now its just my body telling me to relax and slow down a bit. Its taken about 4 months though to get to this stage.
If you haven't read the Claire Weekes books I'd definatly recommend you get hold of a copy.
Love Helen
expecto patronum
16-06-06, 16:55
chuclehound, I know this is a hard question to answer but how do you accept the dizziness, because I keep telling myself to accept it but I don't seem to be able to? My doctor didn't examine me properly or send me for any tests.
Do any of you also experience the effect that it seems to have on the ability to focus on other things, do you almost feel like its changed who you are, it feels like my mind is full of barbed wire (metaphorically speaking) and like I'm going mad!
expecto patronum
16-06-06, 17:05
hi helen I just read your post, I was really relieved as ur the 1st person I have found who got over this symptom so quickly (if at all). I get what u mean about the muscle tension, the only thing is, I've had tense jaw/shoulder/neck/head muscles for about 6 years (I used to get headaches). Do u know if the dizziness can appear as a new symptom after a long period of muscle tension? Glad u managed 2 get rid of it in the end. But there must have been a period of time after u realized what it was when u were still have the dizziness a lot but were managing to take it more calmly? how did u do that?! it feels like the worry about it is constantly attacking my brain even if I tell myself "its just because of" anxiety/ tension/whatever.
PurpleRain
16-06-06, 18:12
Hi Rossie,
Ive suffered really badly with dizziness and it was after reading a Claire weekes book that has really helped me to accept it is caused by anxiety,knowing this took alot of the fear away which helped me to become more relaxed....resulting in less dizziness. Anxiety does interfere with the balance mechanisms in our ears.
I would highly recommend reading a claire weekes book if you can,she will help you understand anxiety and all these scary symptoms anxiety causes.
Take care xx
Hi Rossie
Its taken about 4 months for the dizziness to go. Once I stopped being scared it just seemed easier to deal with. I just told myself it was only muscle tension, thats all, did some shoulder stretches and carried on with what I was doing. As soon as I started thinking oh god I'm feeling dizzy, I switched my thoughts to I'm fine its just muscle tension. I also had to stop myself analysing how I felt all the time especially in the morning - I'd wake up and start wondering if I was going to feel dizzy and guess what - I did! It was really hard at first but the more I accepted it the easier it became.
You'll get there too, just stick at it!
Love Helen
Hi Rossie
I have a massage every four weeks or so to get rid of knots in my back and shoulders - that really helps altho it's a bit sore afterwards!!! I've also tried something called Spinal Touch (very gentle massage all over your back) which is fantastic! I didn't believe it could make the difference it did but after a few sessions my knots and aches went. I have to do it every four/five weeks or so (have it with a massage) but it is def worth it. Every time I get in my car after a session I end up having to completely reset the rear view mirror by a few sentences! It makes me much straighter and I breathe easier too.
KatiePie
I had this a couple of summers ago for about 2 months and in the end it was not focussing on it at all and trying not to care that seemed to work.
I do still get odd patches lasting a few days or a week but I think because I am no longer so scared of it it passes that much quicker.
Not funny though is it and makes walking about outside a bit of an adventure.
Love Piglet x
"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.
Sounds like a basic medical check up would reassure you for starters.
Get a blood sugar check and a BP check if they haven't already been done. Then when you know all is well medically set to work to overcome this. Very few anxious people get away without the dreaded dizziness appearing at some point.
Take good care of yourself especially breathing and in the summer hydration and stable blood sugar and find yourself a mantra that you feel comfortable with that you can grit your teeth and repeat ad nauseum.
There is no medication to help so its down to positive comforting self messages , distraction, accepting and practice and not allowing it to limit you.
The visual disturbances and pulling to the side etc is all part of it.
walking funny, head rushes and dizziness (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3610)
feel like world is moving (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5827)
moving floor (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6056)
Christmas (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6788)
Does anyone get these symptoms please? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7503)
Visual disturbances
Visual Disturbances (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2128)
eye trouble with a difference (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3069)
I am so glad I found this forum (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3513)
sparks in your vision (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2364)
Difficulty focusing (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4083)
white flashes im scared (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4816)
Vision (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5408)
my eyes!!!! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5419)
It's back!!! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5491)
VISION?! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5568)
weird vision (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5874)
Burning eyes! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5935)
eye tic (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6657)
Stupid me - need reassurance (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6927)
Visual trail..... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6967)
Big pupils (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4970)
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
proactiveness, positivity, persistence, perseverance and practice = progress
expecto patronum
17-06-06, 21:29
Thanks for the responses; just knowing that there are people who've had the same thing and come thru it is really good. Someone gave my mum the claire weekes book to give to me, it makes a lot of sense and I know I have to somehow lose the fear, but I'm really having trouble with this as I try to tell myself that I'm not afraid of it, but I know I am really! how do you stop yourself being afraid of something that you really hate and that could potentially debilitate you?
chucklehound
17-06-06, 21:38
Hi Rossie, It is a difficult question to answer hun... Well I suppose if, when you get the dizziness again, try to keep telling yourself that it's just the anxiety and not a terminal illness that you have. Given time you will begin to accept it and with me it slowly but surely started to ease.
I hope this answers your question Rossie.
Take care
Chuckle
xxxx
Hi Rossie, I suffer with dizziness, i have vertigo, diagnosed 20 years ago, i have been on different meds for it, it gets worse when I'm stressed, due to muscle tension in the neck as people have said. i don't take meds anymore, i do special exercises that release the tension and help retrain the brain to used to the dizziness and so you feel normal again. i saw a balance therapist 4 years ago and he gave me the exercises to do. Now when i feel the diziziness i start doing the exercises again and it goes.
Take care
Daisybun
'This too will pass'
Hi Rossie, dizziness was the biggest part of my anxiety after suffering for so long with it i went to the doctors who i have to say were very good.
she advised that i start to take ginger you can by it in any health shop or on line i take mine in tablet form also she advised violet leaf oil i dab a bit on my wrists and a drop behind my ears it take a few days to work but it helped me alot.
i only need to use them on the odd stress days the total cost for both is about £10 and should last you around 2 months.
take care hun
Love & Light
Sam:D
I've had ginger for dizziness before, it helps with the nausea side of things too
Take care
Daisybun
'This too will pass'
I feel for you hun....Dizziness is how my panic started too and I thought I was dying. You know what though I did find one thing that did help....I had all these expensive tests run and nothing came up, Well I decided just for the heck of it to go to the eye doctor....Seems my lens perscription actually got better and my astigmatism got worse which made me EXTREMELY dizzy all the time. I still have some dizziness and spacey( I am in a movie feelings that come with panic but it isn't as much as it used to be. I hope this helps.
worrying is alot Like a Rocking Chair It is something todo but it won't get you anywhere
PanickyPolly
19-06-06, 16:57
<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">I have been feeling dizzy for the last 2 1/2 months and its really scaring me. I just found this website today and I am was reading the thread on the same subject from 2003, and I was really relieved when I saw the messages from nomorepanic and sarah as you said that you had had the same thing but managed to get rid of it: How did you get rid of it? I am very aware that I need to stop thinking / worrying about it so much if it is ever going to get better but I don't know how I can when it is such an upsetting experience and it is affecting me constantly. Most of the people that I've read about on the internet seem to be scared that their dizziness was a symptom of a serious illness rather than psychosomatic, but for me I knew from the start that it was anxiety/'all in the mind' and that was what scared me and why it got worse; I felt some occasional unsteadiness at the beginning, I worried about it, then I felt it more often, I worried about it more and now I feel it all the time. When I walk it feels like the ground is tipping around, but I feel it when I'm sitting or leven lying down as well. The sensations vary; sometimes I feel floety, sometimes like I'm heavy with the weight tipping around. I am also having 'visual disturbances' which get worse if I focus on them; sometimes things look like they're made up of tiny dots/fuzzy like a tv screen, or I get imprints of the thing I just looked at, or sometimes I find it hard to focus. Before I got this I had already been having anxiety with difficulty brething and tension for about 6 years.
I know that if I could react more calmly to these things I could lessen their effect but I've been trying without any success. It feels like every day is a struggle and its all I can do to stop things getting worse, I can't take my mind off it whatever I do. I've gone from being fairly intelligent to finding it hard to grasp simple tasks or string a sentence together! Plus I'm really worried about all the people that are worried about me I feel really bad for them. Please help me!!
I'm seeing a cognitive behavioural therapist, but he's just telling what I already know, ie that I need to stop focussing on it, to accept the sensations and not fight them, to keep busy. Do you know of any medication that helps? Also I was wondering about hypntherapy, do you think it could help? I worry that if I let any negative thoughts about it getting worse or about new symptoms while under hypnosis I could make myself worse? Do you think it could be used to actually make the syptoms go away, or maybe it could just help me to deal with them?
Thank you!
<div align="right">Originally posted by rossie - 16 June 2006 : 00:17:47</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">
Rossie what meds are you taking? Sounds like you are having nasty side effects as I also have this problem and I faint too. Am going to ask to come off Citalopram as it's making me ill.
expecto patronum
19-06-06, 19:14
I am taking Efexor Velafaxine (anti-depressant) but I have been taking it for 2 1/2 years and didn't have dizziness before. Also I can feel that it happens because I think about it, if u know what I mean? I'd be really relieved if it did turn out to be the medication tho'!
PanickyPolly
20-06-06, 10:17
Ah right I see. Might not be the meds then. Bloody annoying though isnt it? No matter what the cause.
basicly, u feel dizzy ur thinking u feel dizzy, u feel dizzy and on and on and on, even tho u dont think ur thinking ur dizzy, try this. think of something nice to think about ,ur kids ,a memory, put an alastic band round ur wrist and as soon as u think bout bn dizzy pull the elastic band and flick it so it hurts,,, keep doing this everytime u think bout bn dizzy and ul find after a while u wont think of bn dizzy coz ur brain will associate it with pain. and it should stop the dizzyness.
p.baxter
hi rosie,
its all anxiety
i have loads of these dizzy spells, they are horrible, but in time you will learn that it is just anxiety
hope you feel better soon
love
ruthb1
I am also feeling constantly dizzy and know without doubt that it stems from anxiety and stress as I have gone through a really bad time lately.
One thing that sometimes helps me is listening to Jon Kabat Zinn. He has made a cd called mindfulness and although things like this does not normally appeal to me, I find him pleasant to listen to and find that it works, especially when he talks about just being in your body. Perhaps it will give you the tools you need to be able to deal with the dizziness. I have not yet seen a GP about mine and find it helpful that you have been told that you need to just accept the symptoms but I will see my GP on Monday as this is driving me crazy.
I try to drink plenty of water too. Do you remember that?
hi all
just reading back on a few posts is it not vertigo i have?
i didnt have any symptoms for years and have always been anxious but last year felt dizzy and it hasnt really gone since
my doc gave me some pills which actually made me worse but ive never been told its all in my mind but maybe it is
expecto patronum
12-06-10, 20:54
Hi I thought I recognised that thread name!! I want to reassure anyone suffering from this symptom that it does go away when you accept it; I almost never get this anymore. I had six months of having it constantly and being convinced that I would never get rid of it and would be obsessed with it forever. The idea of accepting it seemed unthinkable, and even when people on here assured me that they had had it, but it had eventually stopped upsetting them and then gone away, I felt a bit reassured but didn't really believe I could get to that point. Then I'm not sure how, but I just started to enjoy things again without constantly focussing on the dizziness, and then I gained confidence that I could have a good day even with the dizziness there, and after a few more months it stopped bothering me at all. Now if I feel dizzy, as I occasionally do when I'm tired, I just think "yeah right, like I'm going to let that scare me again". Please believe that you will feel like this about it too in time, even if it seems impossible right now.
expecto i dont think about it constantly i do try and do other things but the dizziness stops me i feel sick dizzy and ont want tog out as ive fallen over with it before
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