View Full Version : How I'm dealing with dizzy spells
Over the past 18 years of anxiety I've often had dizzy spells. Yet each time I get them they send me into a panic thinking about what could cause them. Even though I've read so many posts about other people having them and I know that although I experience them when I have anxiety, they always go away - still I panic!
As I'm currently going through a period of anxiety and dizziness I've realised that I have to find a way to deal with this because it's driving me mad.
I've noticed that I'm more anxious in the morning and as the day goes on I get calmer until in the evening I feel quite normal again. The dizziness also follows this pattern.
When I feel normal I record it in my mind and the next day when the dizziness kicks in again I can then remind myself that it does eventually leave. This in turn relieves the anxiety and the dizziness becomes less.....
It works for me!
Brilliant - thanks for sharing, and well donex
lollypopgirl1981
08-10-10, 14:14
hi becky, i cant belive you have had to deal with this for 18 years, i could of wrote word for word what you wrote, but ive had it for 4 and half years...i had the dizzy feeling / swaying loss of balance and every time it happens and lasts for a week or two weeks then goes then back again two weeks later but every time i feel it im convinced its a brain tumor or infection from a tooth abbscess ive had forever but scared of dentist...im to the point of i hate it when i get dizzys and tend not to do much and stay home lots, its so hard as have a beauitful 22month old girl and shes so active i find it so hard...and my partner always wants to go out and walking round parks and carboots and i dont feel like it when have the swaying feeling....so just wanted to say thanks for your post as i can so relate....
I haven't had it constantly for 18 years but that's when it started - after I had my second child.
I've done alot of research and through trial and error and help from fellow sufferers I've learnt how to deal with most of the symptoms.
Mostly I really fight it and try hard to ignore it.
If your husband wants to go for walks etc - go with him. Do absolutely anything you can to take your mind off it. I find when I'm distracted it eases up. Exercise - the kind that makes you sweat - works really well. It's when I'm alone at home and doing nothing that I spend all my time concentrating on it - then it seems much worse.
But I know how you feel - I keep thinking about brain tumors etc and scaring myself and then I have to tell myself to stop it and get on with my life. By scaring myself I'm causing more anxiety and in turn causing more dizziness.
This morning I had really bad dizziness and felt like I wanted to fall over but I continued to work and now that it's mid afternoon it's completely gone. I don't think a brain tumor works like this, does it?
jothenurse
08-10-10, 21:30
No, a brain tumor would not act like that. Just sounds like anxiety, and as the day goes by, you tend to feel better, so the dizziness gets better.
MidnightCalm
08-10-10, 21:32
I had constant dizziness for a month, it was horrible, told the doctor I thought I had a brain tumour!
Eventually it let up, I didn't believe it ever would, I would read people on here saying it'll pass and I would sit here like "AS IF, I KNOW IT'S SOMETHING BAD, HOW CAN THIS JUST PASS!?" and I'd wake up every day dreading it still being there and it would, until one day when it just started fading! Weird.
Well done :) I get these sudden onset extreme dizziness and balance goes with severe swaying, mine can last anything from a minute to 10 minutes at a time. Its awfuly scary. I hate it. Does ne1 elses vision go funny when they get it too???????
Ive been seen by ENT (might be worth asking for referral just incase its inner ear!) but the doc said ive got loss of hearing slkightly in one ear but probably have fluid behind eardrum. Streroids did nothing so im guessing its just anxiety. But of course i think MS or stoke... I know i havent got a tumour as ive had a CT scan, but MS and stokes only show up on MRI's so this is my next quest lol.
I am also getting a heart scan on the 26th of this month to check if my sudden dizziness is related to a heart problem as i get palps and chest aches sometimes. Hoping its not but funnily enough i just want sum1 to find something so i actually have a diagnosis!!!!!!!!!!! its driving me mad not knowing what is wrong with me :(
Ive got lumps come up in groin and neck and im in a waiting game to see if they get bigger, as ultrasound showed they are enlarged lymph nodes. (of course im worrying about Lymphoma now!!) So im hoping they dont get bigger really... i get severe weakness in right arm and hand weakness that is very very intense and scary, which is why i think ive deffo got sumthing going on. all these things happening and then suddenly i get these big lumps come up.. just seems weird to me. I get blurred vision all the time and have to sit down alot as i get tired and im constantly stretching. Very strange i know lol.
Neway, just thought id let u know that its worth getting checked by ENT, even if its anxiety at least u can know for sure. Inner ear can cause so many problems!! xx
MidnightCalm
09-10-10, 13:41
crazyhayz I have a lot of glands up as well! Some of them are up a lot!
Doctor said I probably had a virus, that was 3 months ago though when I first noticed them, they still don't seem that worried and nothing's grown since then.
I've even got a random one about 2 inches left from my left nipple but it's not changed at all either.
I have had diziness for the past year now, i hate it and it really does stop me from doing things.
It did get better for a while but then 12 weeks ago i had sudden diziness and its been with me ever since.
I have episodes where i feel like im in the sea bobbng up and down on waves, it can last anything from 15 minutes to the whole day!
I also have days where i feel like im drunk, and like i cant even walk straight.
I went to see the ENT last week, he said my ears were fine.
I did mention to him that for a while now i've had bad pains at the bottom of my head on the left side, and also in my shoulder.
He said that he thinks this is causing my diziness as the muscle tension can restrict blood flow to the brain.
He did say that anxiety can definatley add to this and make the diziness worse.
He has given me some exercises to try and said i have to follow this programme for 3 months - its called vestibular rehabilitation.
I have to do strange exercises with my eyes and head, he said it retrains your central balance!
Im going to give it a go!
I understand how you all feel, diziness is the worst symptom for me and by far the scariest! xx
you can find more of this passage in 'symptoms' on left of screen
""You feel suddenly light-headed, woozy or dizzy. This is sometimes accompaniedby a feeling that you might faint or pass out. It also may feel as though youare walking on a boat, or that the floor seems to move up and down and it's hardto balance. You may also have difficulty placing your feet because yourperception of the ground or floor may be wrong. In some cases it may seem thateven though you are standing on a firm floor, the floor may be vibrating ormoving.
This is a very common feeling that most sufferers get. It's usually as a result of hyperventilation but also of intense fear and the adrenalin hit.""
:hugs:
june
I'm still dizzy and it's been almost two months I think.
It's not all the time but I do notice that it's worse when I've been very anxious the previous day. Trouble is the dizziness also causes anxiety and then it becomes a cycle and I think this is why alot of us have it for so long.
I have to keep reasoning with myself - "you've had this before many times and it always went away eventually - so it'll go away this time too"
I'm doing ALOT of talking to myself lately.
This is not for cissies.
you can find more of this passage in 'symptoms' on left of screen
""You feel suddenly light-headed, woozy or dizzy. This is sometimes accompaniedby a feeling that you might faint or pass out. It also may feel as though youare walking on a boat, or that the floor seems to move up and down and it's hardto balance. You may also have difficulty placing your feet because yourperception of the ground or floor may be wrong. In some cases it may seem thateven though you are standing on a firm floor, the floor may be vibrating ormoving.
This is a very common feeling that most sufferers get. It's usually as a result of hyperventilation but also of intense fear and the adrenalin hit.""
:hugs:
june
Thankyou - I'm going to print this and stick it on my wall - everytiume I read it I feel reassured and I calm down
becky000
please look at the rest of that quote -
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms/
june
Thanku june thats saved me it rly has, i never fort my symptom of balance cud be anxiety as its not severe and sudden (when im not even anxious usually too, but obv i am subconciously!)
thanks again for posting x
No Probs:yesyes: this is the main problem with panic and anxiety - it NEVER shows up the same way twice:blush:
If you have a cold you have a runny nose
If you bump your arm you have a bruise
there are no hard and fast rules about anxiety.
The address i gave you i have read many many times and yet when axiety strikes I panic.
DO I THINK TO CHECK THE SYMPTOMS LIST:mad:no!!!!!
I even have it printed and in my bag.
Best wishes
June
:hugs:
Ive been dealing with dizzy and light headed feelings for a year. Since I just let them wash over me, they are fewer and some weeks nothing. The scary ones for me now are when I get bad ectopic beats and they make me feel like I dived under water
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.