Hi from a dizzyhead!

[Frog]

Good Morning

I was delighted last night when I found this site! I am an almost permanent lightheaded 43 year old female from Ireland. In the past 7 years I have given birth to 3 boys, our first in 2005 and our twins in 2009. I was diagnosed with PND 6 months after our first boy was born. I was prescribed Lexapro for 6 months and all was grand again. Two years ago after a very tough 2 years after having our twins and losing my father to a terrible sudden death I became very very anxious, down and had terrible sleep problems. I recognised the symptoms again and went back to my gp.

Can I say at this point that I KNOW I suffer with Health Anxiety. I am constantly worrying about this , that and the other. I get White Coat Syndrom when I visit the GP and so my BP is regularly high when he reads it so he tends not take a reading too often, instead, I get a 24 hr monitor done every few years...last time was 3 months ago and all was ok.

For the past 2 years or so I have 'suffered' with intermittent lightheadedness. Initialy my GP prescribed me with Serc 16 for Vertigo. With time the symptpms went. At the moment, I can feel myself slip into a 'drepressed' state of mind again and the lightheadedness is with me all of the time. I dont know is my lightheadedness causing me to feel down or is my emotional state of mind making me lightheaded...Christ I sound like a mad woman!!!:roflmao:

Last night, I read the Thread about MS...I couldnt believe what I was reading because I am convinced that this is what I have. I have mentioned this to my gp in the past....he has completed a few clinical examinations and suggests that stress/anxiety is the underlying factor. I am considering CBT at this stage to see if I can become a more positive person. I cannot waste another Summer of my life worrying that I may have a serious Nurological condition when I may not have.

Anyway...in a nutshell, that's me.
Thanks for reading....that's if you are still with me!

[hanj16]

Hi Frog :D

A big welcome to the site. I hope you find it as full of help and support as I have in the short time I've been on here. I don't have much knowledge of health anxiety as I suffer from social anxiety but the cbt sounds like an interesting route to take. If it can make you think more positively and in turn get on with your life then you should go for it. It's something I want to do myself, because like you I feel like I'm wasting precious time. We're all alittle mad on here so you've come to the right place :)

Best Wishes
Hannah

[Laura1989]

Welcome to the forum!

I understand about the lightheaded-ness, I suffer from vertigo but the doctors don't know what kind of vertigo at the moment (I've had it for about 2 years now) I also take serc-8 but it doesn't seem to be helping at all. They've bumped me up to 16mg so we'll see if that has an effect!

I had cbt a few months ago for anxiety (some related to my dizziness) and post traumatic stress and it helped no end. I feel more like myself now than ever before, it's definitely worth a try to see if it can help you!

I hope things sort themselves out for you, keep us all posted (and feel free to PM me if you want to chat!) :)

Laura (a fellow dizzy-head!)

[Mark13]

Glad to have you with us Frog.

I've found a great deal of support and guidance since I've been here.

I'm sure you will too.

I think you'll find a lot of us with GAD and / or HA have feared a diagnosis of MS at some point. Symptoms of anxiety can mimic those of more serious conditions.

[Frog]

Many thanks to you all for your kind welcomes. :)

[Frog]

Almost one year on and I am back again and nothing has really changed. I am still experiencing light headedness and anxiety brought on by the worry of not knowing whats causing it.

I have spoken with my gp on a few occasions about it and he really feels that there is no foundations for the light headedness I have. He is putting all of this down to anxiety. We talked before Christmas about the possibilities of me taking Lexapro for a while again. I returned to him today to take him up on his offer. He said that to put my mind at ease that I could go for a brain scan and a scan on my inner ears but when I asked him if he really felt I needed to go for these he said no, but that perhaps I needed to go for them to prove to myself that my symptoms are more than likely anxiety related. I have decided to opt to take the Lexapro and see what happens. I will return to him in a month for an update. I hope to God that I am feeling less anxious and not light headed.

Anyone else ever experience light headedness with anxiety????

Thanks in advance.
Frog

[MRS STRESS ED]

Oh yeah god all the time it can be so debilitating ,there is not aday goes by were Im not dizzy ,I suppose I can cope with it better now ,I keep myself busy so im not focused on my symptoms xx

[squirrel77]

Hi frog I myself suffer from anxiety have all the symptoms some scarey- internal shaking, vibrations, twitches, hands and feet tingling sometimes painful, over the past few months I read lot of things on the internet about my symptoms all of which pointed to MS, I was so so scared which made of course my symptoms get worse. Until I had a MRI which came bck normal in august 13 and a neuro who laughed when I mentioned what I thought I had , I then thought listen to these people they know!! Now I am taking 10mg citalopram and hope over the coming months my past 6 months of dreadful worry will ease. Its amazing what stress can do to you, we are all here for u hope this helps x

[CeeCeeCee]

Hi, I am having bad light headed/dizzy feelings too. Also had painful lumps on my head for weeks now which I keep thinking are linked. My Citalopram was upped to 20mg last week so was wondering if it was a side effect of that. Last night I had a terrible panic through the night, I was asleep then woke up as someone's alarm went off due to power cut and I started to feel so sick with a fear feeling in my stomach.

I have had this several times of late and have no idea why. It cant be a bug so it worries me a lot. I was totally panicking until I took some anti sickness tabs and they made me sleep. Feel less sick today but still going dizzy?

[cjbudders]

Hey.

I cant say I suffer with dizziness when I panic. I have low blood pressure so sometimes I get pixels in my eyes if I stand up too fast. So that way yeah I get dizzy. Could it not be from the medication? With any antidepressant/anxiety pill I think its a outcome of taking the pills.

Sorry. I'm just assuming you are taking the medication still. If not. It could be with your anxiety or panic attack your heart rate picks up higher than usual and you get dizzy or light headed. Where I have low blood pressure so may be thats why I dont? You got me curious about my own attacks now. Just remember to take a seat if you get dizzy or let someone know to keep an eye on you or stop what you are doing and fake a few deep breathes and exhale slower than inhalation for about 60 seconds. Could be a good little distraction for you too.

I hope you get passed the dizziness Frog and everyone else. I cant imagine it being nice with all the other symptoms of anxiety. Just another 1 to add to the list. Bet I get dizzy next time having thought about it and read about it. :winks: