New here - so dizzy

[vitamin]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here but not new to health anxiety. I'm 26 and have had many health fears all my life. Summer of 2010, I was convinced I had MS, but it turned out to be a herniated disc that was causing numbness in my neck.

Now, I have been suffering from dizziness for a few weeks and this week has been bad. I realized that my noise-canceling headphones were adding to the dizziness, so I have since stopped using them, but I still "feel" dizzy.

I know my panic about this is adding to the dizzy feeling. I feel dizzy and then I panic because I think I have MS and then I feel more dizzy.

Any help would be great. I see a doc and have had blood tests and such recently, but I have never had a brain MRI, only a spine one. I'm just really scared.

[nikkinik]

Ditto!

I went last year and saw a locum doctor, as he was new(!) he took me seriously and didnt just brush it all under the 'its your anxiety' excuse.. He had me laying down and moving my head from left to right, standing on one leg etc, he touched me all down each side.. he went through the lot. He said it wasn't a stroke, but I couldnt face saying 'do you think its MS' as Im paranoid and don't want to seem neurotic as Im already at the doctors pretty much every month! I also have that thought.. Oh, I wonder if I should have an MRI and find out!

Mine comes and goes, I can only assume it is anxiety, and obv the more it happens, the more Im anxious and vice versa.

I do think the same as you 'OMG it's MS'. I joke about it with my fiance, but deep down I am actually worried, almost convinced I have it sometimes.. he just laughs it off! I just convince myself that its just beginning.. then I do my usual and imagine myself years down the line and what mess I'll be in then!!

It is hard not to think about it.. For example, if Im walking down the street and a car passes by, if I look at the car passing as Im walking, it will send me right off balance - that freaks me out! If I turn to quickly I'll get dizzy.. It is awful.

If it helps, Im sure MS would come up as the #1 worry with ppl and health anxiety!

You arent on your own xx

[countrygirl]

Did you know that having a herniated disc in your neck can cause you vertigo and dizziness as can just sheer muscle tension in neck from anxiety!

I have herniated disc and bad arthritis in neck and my first symptoms 15 yrs ago were vertigo and pins and needles in neck- brain tumour/ms etc etc:D I have had numerous brain and spine scans and I do not have brain tumour or ms so you can relax.

Neurosurgeon explained it as follows - the muscles and bones of your neck send signals to the balance mechanism in your ears so any dysfunction of the neck and the signals can go wrong causing vertigo and dizziness.
I had about 10 yrs of feeling as I was walking on a bouncy castle all the time or a ship in a slight swell!! I also get sudden severe vertigo where I have to hand on to something or sit down and wait for it to pass - not good with health anxiety BUT I would not believe the neuro until my poor husband started with neck trouble due to wear and tear and guess what he goes dizzy

[vitamin]

Nikki - I totally know what you mean! I'm always questioning health professionals and they think I'm crazy! Like everyone I saw for my herniated disc (an emergency doc, an orthopedic surgeon, and a neurosurgeon)... I asked them ALL if they thought I had MS!! haha they were like "what?"... it was terrible, I got 2 shocks down my spine and even though that was 8 months ago now and I never got them again, I completely lost control! So I really tried to stop the MS thing for awhile as I was back in school (or "uni" as I think you guys call it :) But after 8 months it has erupted into a few vertigo spells, which I think I always had and then these random days where I just sit trying to do work and I feel like I'm on a moving boat. I'm glad you know your dizziness is from anxiety too... it seems like the more I think of dizziness, the more dizzy I feel. Does that happen to you?

Countrygirl - I had NO idea that my disc could contribute to the dizziness! I'm really glad to know that, but I still dont know why the dizziness took like 8 months to show up (<-- I know I'm crazy). The explanation from your neurosurgeon does make alot of sense though bc the neck and ears are so close to each other. I'm so glad all your brain scans were clean. I'm scared of getting a brain scan because I have heard that sometimes there will be like one tiny small dot and the doctor will tell the patient that they are 99% sure that it is not MS, but I, of course, would NOT be able to handle that assurance. Plus I'm scared I would ask for the brain scan to study it myself at home. I'm nuts like that. Also, I have talked to a woman who actually DOES have MS, like for real, and she said she never gets dizzy. But yet when I google dizziness, MS is the first thing that pops up! :doh: So I take that to mean that MS is like the main cause of dizziness.

You guys have really helped me! Thank you so much! Maybe I'll actually be able to get a few hours of sleep still tonight!

[Deekon]

Same thing here vitamin. I have been dizzy now for months on and off and I was convinced I have MS. I did get the brain MRI's and they were clean and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I don't have MS symptoms, I am just dizzy. I talked to a doctor friend of mine and he said that 99% of people who think they have MS don't have it. I understand the worry though. So far I have briefy convinced myself that I have MDDS, migraine associated vertigo, MS, acoustic neuroma and Parkinsons and I don't have any of those things. The only thing I can't convince myself I have is anxiety. But I am working on it.

[jo h]

I am dizzy most mornings too ...today its lasted a bit longer ...I feel spaced out is the best way to describe it ...I am not convinced its anxiety but I guess I have to believe the docs :( xxxx

[vitamin]

Thanks Deekon and Jo!

I agree with what you said Deekon, that most people who think they have MS do not really have it. I was one of those people last summer, but this dizziness is really messing with my mind. I am always thinking about it too which just makes me get even dizzier. I guess I should go get a brain MRI, but I really dont want too! All the anxiety associated with that will seriously cause me a meltdown.

Plus, I have heard of people being diagnosed with "possible MS" from a brain MRI who do not really have it in the end and then I can waste years of my life thinking that I have it when I dont.... but I guess that is what I am kinda doing now anyway. Ugh!

Anyone else with dizziness or any other advice? I have been giving myself balance and coordination tests to try and "prove" to myself that I dont have MS... but you know that only helps a little.

[Mic]

Hi Vitamin yes Iget dizzy too I get strange feelings too in my eyes, feel odd!! I had bad derealization for weeks which isn't too bad at the minute, what makes it worse is that I had 3 very good weeks feeling a bit more like my old self then bang!! my eyes went odd bright lights etc and here I am again thinking brain tumour ms and allsorts.I take vitamins and try and eat regularly and healtyly!! My anxiety started 5mth ago and has ruled my eyes and dizzy spells along with the rest of it but these seem to be the things that have stayed the longest but also are the things I worry about most!! in every book I have read it says these symptoms stick around the longest!!! :weep: it is awful.

[ladyj]

Welcome to the sight one small piece of advice i notice from your post you googled you dizziness please please stay away from dr google it will always tell you the worst, Type in any symptom and google will never say you have anxiety no it will be Some awfull disease enough to worry you even more than you are all ready try and stay away from what is probably your worst enemy ,,,, Dr google

[Ali-1983]

Hi guys,
Teading this is like reading something i posted. I get diziness which comes and goes without warning. I lso get pains in my eyes and blurred vision. I kept thinking its a brain tumor.......i went to the doc and he said it tension in the neck and my anxiety doesnt help it.
He suggested better ways to sit at work......making sure my matress in my bed is a good one and getting massages. I got a massage the other day of my missus and it helped..............i'm considering getting a professional swedish massage now.