View Full Version : Always feels like I am standing on a boat! Help!
Hi,
This is my very first post on this website. I have been suffering from anxiety disorders for 7 years now. Recently I've had a bad bout of anxiety for a couple months straight. However, there is this new and scary symptom that I have been feeling for a really long time. It always feels like I am standing on a boat. Even when I'm standing still I feel like the floor is slightly shifting beneath me. Sometimes I get lightheaded and it's terrifying. A trip to the ENT ruled out any middle ear problems and my doctor said I was "perfectly fine and it was all anxiety." I just can't seem to accept that anxiety can cause such a huge sensation. I have no idea how to stop it! It's terrifying because the sensation sneaks up on me from no where. I can't tell if it's all in my head or something real. I just don't know what to do. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any way to tackle it?
Thanks!
Shazamataz
11-01-17, 06:01
Yes! I had this for months when my anxiety was extremely bad. Have had bouts of anxiety for years but never experienced it until last year. It really does feel like being on a boat. My anxiety is a lot better and I don't get this any more so please be assured that while it's not nice it is very likely anxiety as opposed to a physical issue you need to worry about.
Thanks for the reply. It makes me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one.
insideout20
11-01-17, 08:11
Hi this is what I have had for a year do you ever feel pulled to one side when you walk also ? Or that you are rocking when you are sitting down ?
I am the total opposite I get the sensation that I have been on a boat and its the sickly feeling, was diagnosed with vertigo years ago, GP gave me 30 small tiny white tablets, took them whenever I had an episode and it disappeared. About 1 month ago it came back, just my input, but I have had the rocking sensation too (a few times)
I suffer with this too and they have never rally found out why i get it.... Sometimes i sit there and my head just sways and rocks its awful.
The thing is i have had vertigo in the past, which is something to do with the inner ear, but this swaying feeling is a totally different feeling than the world spinning when i tilt my head.
Nobody has ever figured it out why i get the horrible dizziness i have just been told it is my Anxiety as i do suffer pretty bad.
I have my theory i think its the way i breathe. I know i over breathe and i know this alone can alter the carbon dioxide in your blood making you feel dizzy.
All i know how horrible the feeling is and i get it daily Xx
Mine went away when my anxiety was under control.
My anxiety and horrible swaying feeling is back.
I've looked back at my previous posts from 9 years ago and my main concern is the swaying feeling.
It's crazy to see how many debilitating symptoms anxiety can cause.
I hate it xx
insideout20
11-01-17, 11:46
Hi,
I have had this for months and have an appt next Wednesday at the dizzy clinic, now i had an episode like this years ago and yes guess what it was when i was suffering anxiety and panic but this time it was different, i got the vertigo, swaying feeling, feeling like i am being pulled etc and i didnt have that before but the more i think about it now how anxious i have been the past 6 months im starting to think it is just anxiety although it is very strange
i am sure i have episodes of vertigo, i have felt the room spin a few times but mainly its a constant drunk, like on a boat feeling
i really wish there where more professional research done on anxiety and the symptoms it causes and why it causes them.
How did you get referred to the dizzy clinic?
My GP just says it's anxiety.
So is this vertigo? Or is vertigo the spinning feeling?
I stagger a lot of the time. So frustrating.
X
insideout20
11-01-17, 12:29
Hi,
well it started about 8 months ago, i would have days i would feel dizzy and a bit sickish, then i started to have these attacks for like 2 or 3 seconds where i thought i was going to die, kind of like a mini panic attack, it just lasted a few seconds like everything just went weird.
Then i started to get the boat feeling again more or less everyday, then i started to feel like i was being pulled to one side when walking and i had went to the docs and they said bbpv vertigo, they gave me excersises to do but it didnt help.
it was getting worse but sometimes it would go away for a few days only to return
i went back to docs again and they said they would send me there so i go on Wednesday, i am sure its anxiety although i wasnt sure it was for a while, i thought it was something serious because i always have a dull pressure on right hand side of head
who knows but will let you know how i get on
i did have this years ago and i was overweight at the time, once i started working out i got in great shape and never had it
Mine went away when my anxiety was under control.
My anxiety and horrible swaying feeling is back.
I've looked back at my previous posts from 9 years ago and my main concern is the swaying feeling.
It's crazy to see how many debilitating symptoms anxiety can cause.
I hate it xx
In my experience if you are anxious your mind will allow symptoms, whether they are self inflicted or not (just my opinion)
insideout20
11-01-17, 12:30
How did you get referred to the dizzy clinic?
My GP just says it's anxiety.
So is this vertigo? Or is vertigo the spinning feeling?
I stagger a lot of the time. So frustrating.
X
vertigo isnt always spinning, my doc said it can be swaying, pulling etc aswell
I thought vertigo was just a spinning feeling.
I must say, I wash my hair in the shower bending over and when I stand up again, I'm really dizzy!
I describe my mini off balance spells as mini panic attacks too!
Please let us know how you get on.
Good luck xx
I was told by my doctor that Vertigo only happens when the room spins round. He said its the feeling it leaves after that makes you feel swaying just because you have been spinning so it makes you feel awful.
Vertigo is is an inner ear problem (crystals) that have moved to the wrong place in the inner ear paroxysmal positional vertigo which is what i get.
Lightheadedness and a loss of balance is what you get after an attack.
Its the crystals breaking off that makes you spin. Its head movements that set it off. It confuses the brain and that is why you spin.
labyrinthitis can also make you spin....
insideout20
11-01-17, 12:52
thank you,
its not always spinning but most of the time it is, i only had the true spinning a few times, i get dizzy with stuff like that just now aswell, when my heads down then i put it up like if im playing a game on my phone
i will let you know how it goes and if they give me any tips for anxiety dizziness
Beckybecks
11-01-17, 16:30
Yes I had this at times when my anxiety was bad. I always felt like I was going to fall over when I walked. When I sat still often the room would look like it was swaying, or the furniture.
Initially I had loads of tests and nothing was found except anxiety.
It's hard to believe that anxiety can do this, but it does!
Now that I know what it is , I ignore it when it happens and it doesn't scare me anymore.
This was my dominant symptom of anxiety. It was the first sign that something was wrong. Pretty scary, but it does get better if you are dealing with the cause.
skippy1707
11-01-17, 20:01
I have had labyrinthitis since 2013 and am having a horrible bout again now but labyrinthitis can trigger anxiety and anxiety can trigger labyrinthitis so it is a horrible double edged sword.
I get the walking on a boat sensation swaying, I get lightheadedness like I'm going to faint. I get nausea, I have floaters in my vision, ringing in my ears or a low humming noise.
The easiest test I ever had was to stand upright away from furniture. Put both hands by your sides, your feet together and close your eyes.....if you feel yourself losing balance - chances are its your ears playing tricks on you. If you stand perfectly still, its anxiety.
I have had a whole host of anxiety symptoms in the 17 years ive had them but the lightheadedness freaks me out the most.
I'm on medication now for the vertigo (light-headedness /dizziness - whatever you want to call it) called betahistine dihydrochloride.
Thanks everyone for the replies!
But sometimes when I'm sitting down and not even thinking about anxiety, I suddenly become really dizzy for like a minute. It looks like the world is crashing down around me and my panic flares up. It then subsides and turns into a weird lightheaded sensation. When I move my head to the side, it gets worse. This happened to me just now and I am not at home. Is this what they call an adrenaline rush or is it just another form of panic?
Megan
Snap!
I can be sitting down and for a split second feel like I'm going to pass out. I move and it goes.
I call this a baby panic attack.
X
insideout20
12-01-17, 10:01
Thanks everyone for the replies!
But sometimes when I'm sitting down and not even thinking about anxiety, I suddenly become really dizzy for like a minute. It looks like the world is crashing down around me and my panic flares up. It then subsides and turns into a weird lightheaded sensation. When I move my head to the side, it gets worse. This happened to me just now and I am not at home. Is this what they call an adrenaline rush or is it just another form of panic?
this is what i get, i dont know what it is
I get this as well, it really or at least it used to really freak me out, I would feel like I. was falling over dizzy etc, Until my husband said he gets the same feeling as well he has arthritis in his spine and is stooped forward. When I get it I go for a cold shower or as cold as i can stand and run it over the back of my neck and shoulders and that seems to ease it a bit. I think it's just the neck/shoulder muscles are so tense they can affect balance.
helenclaire
13-01-17, 14:33
Wow, I could of written this myself.
I am getting exactly the same thing, its been going on for months to the point where I am constantly on edge waiting for it to happen.
I am really struggling to leave the house for fear of falling and when I do go out I feel awful. its the same when I am home as well though so I never get any relief from it.
It literally feels like my brain has been shaken.
It sends me into panic so my anxiety is sky high because of it.
If it is anxiety then its the definitely the worse symptom for me.
I am sat here now getting in a state as I have to go out and I feel really lightheaded and off balance.
Every day is the same.
It is really getting me down.:weep:
It definitely my worst symptom too.
It makes me feel so vulnerable.
x
Cumberbatch75
13-01-17, 20:46
Hi everyone,i too have this feeling and other weird ones like if im sitting in a car it feels like it is moving but its not. ENT are useless and say nothing i wrong but i got sent to see an audiologist.He said i have a type of vertigo called BPPV.It can come on just by turning my head or looking up.I wake with it every morning and some times it can last a few minutes other times i am flat out for days.I believe that when we suffer from things like anxiety anything else that crops up is put down to that and not checked out. Ask your doctor to send you to the balance clinic and hopefully they will help xx
Hi,
well it started about 8 months ago, i would have days i would feel dizzy and a bit sickish, then i started to have these attacks for like 2 or 3 seconds where i thought i was going to die, kind of like a mini panic attack, it just lasted a few seconds like everything just went weird.
Then i started to get the boat feeling again more or less everyday, then i started to feel like i was being pulled to one side when walking and i had went to the docs and they said bbpv vertigo, they gave me excersises to do but it didnt help.
it was getting worse but sometimes it would go away for a few days only to return
i went back to docs again and they said they would send me there so i go on Wednesday, i am sure its anxiety although i wasnt sure it was for a while, i thought it was something serious because i always have a dull pressure on right hand side of head
who knows but will let you know how i get on
i did have this years ago and i was overweight at the time, once i started working out i got in great shape and never had it
Thanks for posting this thread I'm sorry you're suffering from this horrible symptom though. I say thanks because I've going out of my mind with worry and you've just put my mind at ease.. For now anyway until my decides too toss me back onto HMS Vertigo!
ive been suffering from this for months now.. Going to make a cuppa then like someone is pulling a rug from under my feet I'd then grab the worktops thinking i was gonna fall... Then walking back into the living room and exactly how you explain it "like walking on a boat" I've seen myself run and sit down just because i thought i was gonna fall down.. Horrible symptom.
Got gp on Tuesday hopefully get some answers..
And i hope it goes away for you Op and the rest of you aswell.
Hi Petesy
How did it go at the doctors?
x
helenclaire
04-02-17, 10:34
Still getting this feeling.
So fed up with it.
Hard to believe anxiety can cause it.
I have tried every thing that has been recommended but its still there.:huh:
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