where did you start?

[pronto11]

hi all, kinda new here just desperate for answers...ive told my story here before and wont go into it again (kinda lengthy)...i will however tell you my BIGGEST problem...the dizziness and light headed feeling almost all day!...i get to the point at sometimes throughout the day that im just gonna fall down or pass out for no apparent reason...(big stores like home depot or target are the worst, cause i feel like i have nothing to hold on to in order to keep my balance)...best way to describe is like being hungover w/out drinking the night before..like i literally feel like i have to concentrate on walking...so in saying that, i know light headeness and dizzyness are symptoms of anxiety, but im feeling like the dizziness and light-headedness is CAUSING anxiety...(anyone that had this feeling constantly would get anxious!)...its driving me bonkers, since ive never had anxiety in my life (im 31 years old) and this has seem to come outta nowhere...(about 6-8 months ago)

now in saying that, im trying to eliminate all physical possibilities...went to the doctor right away and they said it was probably anxiety and quickly threw some meds at me without even doing any other tests,,,well i wasnt happy with that so i decided to dig deeper, got a blood test (also checked my thyroid) and everything came back normal...also had the doc look into my ears (not sure that a quick look can tell that everythings fine, but he said they looked ok)...my question is, (i know your not all doctors)...but what else could possibly cause all this dizzyness?..

ps...ive been on mirtzipine (sp?) for about a month now (finally gave in to try something to get some relief) and it does nothing but make me tired and hungry...any suggestions for medications that treat the dizzyness directly would be great as well

any help would be great!

[1970]

Hi Pronto

sitting here reading your post if it didnt have a name to it i swear it was written by me, it describes the way i feel in detail

my biggest problem with anxiety is the fear of passing out and feeling dizzy and light headed i hate it so much, the head aches, hot flushes, tingling etc i can live with but the dizzyness i cant

i think in big stores it worse, i feel that i cant get out of there fast enough if i feel that way and dont want to pass out in there and cause a scene, all that just ups the feelings and makes it worse.

i did read that passing out is caused from low blood pressure, its a saftey system of our bodies to get our head lower so blood can flow to our brain, having an anxiety attack is the opposite it causes high blood pressure

i put a lot of it down to when in stressed or in a state of anxiety my shoulder, neck head and muscles tighten up and cause the feeling of dizziness, derealisation is a common effect of anxiety and its described in many ways for different people.

some say its like you are outside your body looking down, others liken it to feeling drunk without drinking and some describe it as if you are sitting in a movie theater watching a big screen but its happening to you.

do you find that fluro lights or flickering lights affect you or bring on the dizzyness more ? i know i do at time, have been tested for epilepsy but all came back clear, if you have had a barrage of tests that all came back clear i would be leaning to say that it is anxiety causing it.

from what you are saying its that cycle, if you are anxiuos first then it will bring on those feelings, if you are dizzy to start with then you would be associating this with anxiety and bringing on an anxiety attack, this might sound silly but if everyday say someone was to pinch you then throw a bucket of water over you , as soon as you felt the pinch your brain would know what is coming next, its the same with anxiety as soon as you feel anxiety then comes the dizziness, or as soon as you feel dizzy on comes the anxiety, thats the cyle we all have to try to break associating one feeling with another if that makes sense

keep at it and i hope things improve for you

[pronto11]

bright lights also drive me nuts!...but its getting to the point that i wont leave my house....im willing to try anything...have you tryed any meds with any success?...and i swear this mirtzipine is making it worse, basically makes you tired all day which seems to bring on more light-headness...i have a prescription for paxil but havent taken them (read alot of horror stories)...you hear anyone having success with that?

[1970]

its crap feeling like that i know
i take 50mg of zoloft a day, to be honest i dont know if its the tablet itself helping or in my brain just the fact that i am talking something for it, the placebo effect if you want to call it anything

but i still get these feeling often and still get the anxiety, to be honest with you i just put up with it all and push on, as hard as that is i really have no other choice, i feel if i stop doing things or just curl up in a ball it has beaten me and thats the end.

i havent had anything to do with the medication you are refering to so i can't really comment on them, hopefully someone on here will read this and be able to answer a few questions for you.

remember the list of side effects may not effect everyone or you may only get a few or none of them at all, everyone reacts different to different medication

are you eating properly im just thinking of the tiredness you are talking about, anxiety is very draining on our body , also maybe look at using vitamins to try and boost your energy levels, there is a write up on this site about magnesium, vitamin b and other vitamins some have had good success with.

sorry i havent really given you much of a definate answer i wish i knew that myself

[pronto11]

i dont exactly eat healthy or get much exercise, but i have lived like that my entire life without these symtoms..(basically came outta nowhere)...the tiredness is coming from the medications i was prescribed (mirizpine (sp?)...its med prescribed with people for insonmia and anxiety...i sleep like a baby, but its doing nothing for the anxiety, but it (at least what my doc told me) was the easiest to come off of when finishing the cycle, i was real hesitant to try paxil after reading soo many bad things about it online, but now im really considering trying it because living like this is making me crazy!....how does the zoloft work for you?...maybe ill ask my doc about that

[pronto11]

...i workout everyday and stay pretty active...so exercise is not the issue...so what else do i do?...like i said this came outta nowhere..(not a fan of therapy, may work for some...just not my thing)..and if could just shake it naturally i would, but walking around through life feeling like at anytime of the day you could just fall over for no apparent reason is pretty hard to deal with....im not against medication, i see no reason why, if your not feeling well and its affecting your life in a negative way, why not better yourself, life is too damn short to live like this...im just looking for some feedback on medications that deal directly with the light-headedness....


again, how has paxil worked for all of you?...mirtazipine?...any suggestions would be great