How Does Your Dizziness Manifest Itself?

[Peak]

The last few days I've been going through a bit of a bad patch where I'm feeling dizzy 24/7. I've had this before but not often as constantly as this or for as long and it has got me thinking. If you do a search for dizziness you will find thousands of websites describing the various forms of dizziness and the thousands of possible causes, anxiety being one of the leading ones. I've been trying to work out what form my dizziness is and wondered if anyone else has the same or, if not, what form theirs takes.

From what I've read there are essentially two different forms of dizziness, Lightheaded and Vertigo.

Lightheaded is, according to what I've read, where you feel like you are about to faint. Sometimes this can be accompanied by 'seeing stars', other times vision can become blurred. Lightheaded is something we all experience from time to time where for example you stand up too quickly and feel like you need to hold on to something in case you fall over.

Vertigo is, again according to what I've read, the sensation of the room spinning or the sensation of when for example you are moving, come to a sudden halt, but your head feels like it's still moving.

I have also read that some people define a 3rd group which sits between Lightheaded and Vertigo this being disequilibrium which is really just a sense of imbalance like you could fall over when walking.


I've been trying to work out which of these three groups my dizziness falls into and the best I can come up with is 45% Lightheadedness with 35% Vertigo and 20% Disequilibrium.

The best way I can describe it is like this. Have you ever been so tired that you keep falling asleep but you don't go to bed like when watching a film late on TV. Instead you stay up and try and make it through to the end of the film but you keep nodding off and eventually you get to the stage where you are so tired that when you wake up again you feel very woozy like your head is on the sea and your vision can't quite focus. It's not that everything is blurred like an out of focus photograph just that you can't seem to focus your attention on one specific point in order to stabilise the view. I also have a slight feeling of pressure in or behind the eye, again a bit like when you are very tired, and a feeling like I need to keep rubbing them in order to clear my vision. I also feel like there is a slight pressure at the top of my head, just above my forehead which gives me a feeling of being foggy headed.

Does anyone else feel the same or if not how does your dizziness feel to you?

[raggamuffin]

I think most people with dizziness ar ein the same boat. Try some neck tension exercises/stretches. Every few hours every day for a week or so. Keep hydrated.

Vertigo would be the most alarming and would denote an inner ear condition. I think most people here have the light-headed/spaced out feeling that lingers. It can go on for quite some time. Days/weeks/months. The more you fixate or worry about it the longer it will last. I know it's easier said than done to ignore it but you need to allow it to happen. your body is just showing you it's succumb to a ot of stress recently and needs to repair itself.

It's very likely to be down to anxiety, if you start convincing yourself it's something else then you will also be agitating the symptom/fear and it will probably continue for longer.

Hope you feel better soon.

Ed

[bonehead]

a very common cause of dizziness is a blood sugar imbalance.

[raggamuffin]

Wholegrain foods and avoiding processed sugary food is the best start. Not sure if a full fledged hypoglycemic diet would be necessary but so long as you avoid the junk food and sweets you're on the right track. Just manage fruit intake if too much sugar does make you go a bit doolaly

Ed

[acetone]

I get the sensation that the ground beneath my feet is moving up and down. Highly disturbing.

[rhar]

I get the sensation that the ground beneath my feet is moving up and down. Highly disturbing.

Me too!!!! It's hideous

[yurmom]

I've been trying to work out which of these three groups my dizziness falls into and the best I can come up with is 45% Lightheadedness with 35% Vertigo and 20% Disequilibrium.

The best way I can describe it is like this. Have you ever been so tired that you keep falling asleep but you don't go to bed like when watching a film late on TV. Instead you stay up and try and make it through to the end of the film but you keep nodding off and eventually you get to the stage where you are so tired that when you wake up again you feel very woozy like your head is on the sea and your vision can't quite focus. It's not that everything is blurred like an out of focus photograph just that you can't seem to focus your attention on one specific point in order to stabilise the view. I also have a slight feeling of pressure in or behind the eye, again a bit like when you are very tired, and a feeling like I need to keep rubbing them in order to clear my vision. I also feel like there is a slight pressure at the top of my head, just above my forehead which gives me a feeling of being foggy headed.

Does anyone else feel the same or if not how does your dizziness feel to you?[/QUOTE]

That is very similar to how my dizziness feels. It's so difficult to explain and very frustrating. Some days it's mild and some days it's all day. I know it's probably anxiety but I can't get over the thought that it's something else. It's been 8 months since I had the EKG and blood work and I can't decide if it's worth the money to go back to the doctor and insist on more testing.

[Peak]

I've been trying to work out which of these three groups my dizziness falls into and the best I can come up with is 45% Lightheadedness with 35% Vertigo and 20% Disequilibrium.

The best way I can describe it is like this. Have you ever been so tired that you keep falling asleep but you don't go to bed like when watching a film late on TV. Instead you stay up and try and make it through to the end of the film but you keep nodding off and eventually you get to the stage where you are so tired that when you wake up again you feel very woozy like your head is on the sea and your vision can't quite focus. It's not that everything is blurred like an out of focus photograph just that you can't seem to focus your attention on one specific point in order to stabilise the view. I also have a slight feeling of pressure in or behind the eye, again a bit like when you are very tired, and a feeling like I need to keep rubbing them in order to clear my vision. I also feel like there is a slight pressure at the top of my head, just above my forehead which gives me a feeling of being foggy headed.

Does anyone else feel the same or if not how does your dizziness feel to you?

That is very similar to how my dizziness feels. It's so difficult to explain and very frustrating. Some days it's mild and some days it's all day. I know it's probably anxiety but I can't get over the thought that it's something else. It's been 8 months since I had the EKG and blood work and I can't decide if it's worth the money to go back to the doctor and insist on more testing.[/QUOTE]

Like you I had loads of tests over the years, numerous EKG's an ultrasound of my heart, I've been seen by two different hospitals and various doctors and every test has come back clear (although I do have raised BP - normally only slightly above normal - my cholesterol is also a bit on the high side and I am very much over weight which is something I'm trying to address). It all started because I was getting heat palpitations (ectopic heart beats) but after being referred to the hospital and having numerous tests the consultant at the hospital said "we don't know why you are having them, some people just do. There's nothing wrong with your heart so just ignore it". I've always had anxiety over my health and this just made the anxiety worse and in the end I had to have CBT. I know I'm not over my anxiety but I did think I had it under control and the fact that this episode has come out of the blue has made me feel anxious again as my thinking is "if I had anxiety under control it's not anxiety therefore it must be something wrong with my heart which then causes anxiety". So did anxiety cause the dizziness which then made really feel anxious or did I feel dizzy first which made me feel anxious?

What I will say which may help you decide whether or not to go back for further tests yourself if this. For the last 48hrs I've felt the dizziness that I've described every single waking minute of the day. I do archery which I find relaxing but which also requires total mental concentration and last night I went to my club for a couple of hours. During that time I was only briefly aware of feeling dizzy a couple of times. When I got home the dizzyness didn't really return and this morning it's only there slightly, it's reduced by at least 60% I would say. This does make me think that by doing something that completely absorbed me and took me mentally and physically out of the state of mind I've been in the past 2 days that it was able to break or at least alleviate the cycle of anxiety. Equally it could also be that a mild bit of physical activity may also have helped. Perhaps when or if you next experience dizziness you could try something similar? From my experience and through talks with my CBT counselor it has to be something that totally absorbs you and for me that means mental and physical as my whole brain has to be filled with this new activity otherwise I'll still have the processing power to worry about other things.

[str8trippin]

My head related symptoms, including dizziness, are by far the worst as far as fueling my health anxiety goes. What's frustrating, as others have mentioned, is that describing my dizziness is very difficult because it's not full blown room-spinning dizziness. It comes and goes...if I move too quickly or turn my head quickly the dizzy feeling increases and makes my stomach go on edge. Sometimes it feels like I'm on a boat, but the best way I can think to describe it is being on a carnival ride that spins (like the Tilt-o-Whirl)...you are okay but then when it whips around the wave of dizziness comes and your head and stomach feel like they are in two different places. I don't even know if any of this makes any sense! I've had blood work done (CMP/CBC/Thyroid/Lipids) and that was all normal, and am now waiting on results from a second round of blood work that rechecked my thyroid and checked my adrenal function. I've also had neck x-rays to see if something is out of alignment that could be contributing to the tension headaches, etc. I've also seen an audiologist for a hearing test where my hearing was above normal, and my middle ear and ear drums were clear. BEYOND FRUSTRATING!