Dizzy ALL the time!

[Mrs2B]

So sooo sick of feeling dizzy anyone have this ALL the time making my life a freakin mysery how do I overcome it?

[Bam77]

I and a lot of people on here also have this. Some say it has to do with breathing which could be the case. Im beginning to think its more of a neck tension issue. Im on the computer a lot and have bad posture. Ive also noticed I tend to tense my neck a lot. Have you had tests done? Are you taking anything?

[solta]

I had the same exact thing about 6 months back. Went to see the doctor and got prescribed with some muscle relaxants. Took those for two weeks and went to get a proper massage. The constant dizziness went away and hasn't reappeared since. It was all due to the tension I had in my neck. I was told the massage needs to be very thorough since neck tension can be caused by things like having a back problem. Maybe this could be the solution for you, too :)

[Bam77]

Hey solta, how long did you have it? Mines been going on for almost 3 months now

[solta]

I had it for about three weeks or so. It got pretty bad and made the anxiety a lot worse for me. Tizanidine was the type of drug I was prescribed with. It took a while but after I had the massage done I felt so much better. After a week the dizziness was gone. Neck problems can be quite complex but I bet that's what's causing your dizziness. It won't be there forever, trust me :)

[laurentellez]

I also have been told its due to posture. When ur on your phone constantly or computer, iPad its actually pushing your discs together. Its very annoying. And I was to the point where I was lightheaded all day.. until I caught myself and corrected the way I would sit. If I'm in bed on here reading through the forum instead I lay down ...


Here's a posture test; stand up and back all the way against the wall... if your posture is good , your head will touch the back of the wall including shoulders and so on... if this doesn't happen to u guess what ?? This means your shoulders are too far hunched over.. correcting bad posture in neck starts in ur shoulders... if your dizzyness was like mine, I was lightheaded 24/7 my head hurt on right side of head in back almost everyday.. (which sent me into a panic and I went to er twice thinking brain tumor) silly huh?? Just for my doctor to tell me my posture was bad... please consider all this. I think this may be a key to your problem.
Also, hyperventilation is another reason.. for as long as I have dealt with anxiety I always said that's BS. I know how I'm breathing.. well think again.. cause as soon as I gave it a try.. I layed down took deep breaths slowly and sat up.. it was gone.. amazing the things we don't actually realize about our body.. hope this helps you :)

[raggamuffin]

I've had it 24/7 for months myself. Thought it was first due to antibiotics i was on but my posture hasn't been good. I work on a PC all day. The only time I get relief from this is usually when i'm lying down. I guess much like with correct breathing, correcting your posture requires practice daily.

Ed

[laurentellez]

Raggamuffin:

It really does take time because if u think about it, you having to re-position your body in a way you probably been sitting for years..

[raggamuffin]

Lokoing into it apparently physical therapists have a method called strain counterstrain which proves effective. I've been looking into neck stretches to being with to see if I can help myself over the next week or so. But failing that I might give PT a go and see how if it helps.

Ed

[raggamuffin]

This might help...

http://www.ehow.co.uk/way_5669483_home-neck-muscles-cause-dizziness.html

Ed

[Mrs2B]

Thanks everyone, very interesting about posture have never heard that before, would be great if thats what it is I can sort it
Thanks for advice :-)

[rhar]

Yes!!! I have suffered from constant dizziness for the past 18 months. Has got better since I have been learning how to control my anxiety. I used to feel faint ALL the time and the more I feared it, the longer it stayed and the worse it got!!

It's debilitating but all part of anxiety!!

[raggamuffin]

Controilling via acceptance and not responding emotionally to symptoms? That's what I've been taught in CBT but I suppose it needs practice.

Have you found other methods that proove effective rhar?

Ed

[rhar]

Controilling via acceptance and not responding emotionally to symptoms? That's what I've been taught in CBT but I suppose it needs practice.

Have you found other methods that proove effective rhar?

Ed

Yes learning not to react to the physical symptoms so much ragamuffin. It's a lot easier said than done. It's taken me a year and a half and I still have my moments.

[RAIDER805]

I've also have been feeling light headed/off balance / dizzy for about 3-4 months now . I was recently. Told about psychogenic dizziness , anyone else ever heard of this ? I think I'll try a message , it wouldn't hurt ;-)

[raggamuffin]

I haven't heard of it, but I think it's best to not think you have a condition other than anxiety. When I had stomach pains every hour of every day for 3 months the Gp's I saw and Dr's at hospital all said IBS again and again. Tried 5 different medications for it and nothing worked. I finally said to myself, "No this isn't IBS, this is my anxiety acting up" and within 48 hours of truly accepting it was anxiety and getting about my business the pains disappeared entirely.

I think the same approach should be used for dizziness. Accepting it's anxiety, your body is tense and tired and this is the cause. It should help a lot

Ed

[shelley15]

I have had dizziness on and off for a year and a half it seems to be worse in the winter. I do stare at the tv and my phone and computer a lot can that cause dry eyes and eye stain? I hate the dizziness every time I go outside I feel off balance than I panic that I've got something really bad wrong with me so the dizziness gets worse as when I gave birth to my son I nearly fainted due to losing to much blood so now when I feel dizzy I instantly think I'm dying. I'm doing CBT I was slowly working for a few weeks then I had a bad spell and don't find it's working.

[raggamuffin]

CBT does work but you have to practice it a lot. There simply is no overnight cure for anxiety or depression. Anxious people have dug themselves into a way of thinking. The fight or flight response kicks in at the drop of the hat and day to day life is ful of anxious, fearful and paranoid thoughts. This takes time to undo.

Ed

[rhar]

Yep Ed is right, you need to retrain your thinking.

I have had severe anxiety for 18 months, dizziness all day long which would trigger panic attacks all day long. Once you take away the fear it will get better. You have to accept it will take a long time and there will be set backs. However, setbacks mean you're on the road to recovery!!

[gemma1788]

I am often dizzy a well, and it's not until after I have stopped thinking and obsessing over the dizziness that I realize it has actually gone away, it's very distressing but I am assured that it is very much anxiety

[bonehead]

Dizziness (and anxiety) could be due to an Iron deficiency (are you a vegetarian? are you a women with heavy periods?). If you're low on Niacin (B3), you can experience all kinds of strange symptoms- dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea, canker sores, mental disturbances, etc.

[Peak]

Yep I'm another one who gets dizziness. I don't really know what it was that caused me to start having dizzy spells as sometimes I'm not sure when I have them it's always caused by the same thing. It started off a few years ago when I was diagnosed with slightly raised blood pressure. This diagnosis was what started my anxiety because it wasn't really explained very well to me and I was just terrified that I was going to have a stroke or heart attack any minute. I was put on a low dose of an ACE inhibitor but I reacted badly to it and I got really, really lightheaded. So much so in fact that I almost passed out in my GP's surgery. My knees went from underneath me and if it wasn't for the fact that I was half leaning against the examination bed I would have ended up a heap on the floor. I was immediately taken off this drug and put on another and instantly felt better for it but I still get dizzy spells from time to time.

The one thing I have noticed though is that I'm almost guaranteed to get these dizzy spells when I'm on a diet. I've been dieting on and off for a couple of years trying to get my weight down in order to get my BP under control but whenever I do, after week or two of being on the diet I start to feel dizzy. The dizziness I can only describe as being that feeling you get when you've stood up too quickly and 9/10 I only get these dizzy spells when I do go from sitting to standing but occasionally like yesterday and today I can feel dizzy almost 24/7 regardless of what I'm doing. The only other thing I've noticed but I don't know how relevant this is, but when I feel dizzy quite often I also feel tired or to put it more accurately, I'm more tired than I realise. Like now for example, I'm feeling dizzy and I wasn't aware that I was particularly tired but then a few minutes ago I started to fall asleep whilst at the computer. Whether the tiredness is causing the dizziness or whether the dizziness is making me feel tired I can't tell and it's all hampered by the fact that I never get enough sleep as I'm up every day at 5:30am and don't usually get to sleep much before midnight 5 days a week so I'm always feeling tired!

[raggamuffin]

If you do think it's a deficiency get ablood works done at Dr's to find out if you're deficient. But that isn't really needed if you maintain a healthy diet. DCut out the processed foods and you can help reduce your anxiety. Look into wholefoods rich in the minerals you need.

Ed

[rhar]

On top of dizziness I get a huge range of symptoms including;
Feeling off balance
Feeling like I'm leaning to one side
Feeling like I'm falling backwards when sitting
Not being able to sit still, fidgeting
Sweating
Trembling
And a weird one is that sometimes I can't even look at myself in the mirror!!!!