Medication to stop Dizziness?

[skipadee]

iv had dizziness for around 2 years now,and iv had loads of tests at the hospital that have all came back normal.mri,ecg,eeg,adrenal test,bloods,ear tests etc.im currently on 100 mg sertraline,150mg pregabalin with im cutting down to 75 mg per day as docs think it could be side effects from pregabalin and cinnerazine(anti sickness).Is there any medication to stop me having this dizziness 24/7?.its like a random rush through my head.i allso feel really weak and my visions bad all day,yet i had a eye test and they said iv got 20/20 vision.Could this sertraline that iv been on for over a year not be the medication for me?

[Robbed]

Did the dizziness start when you started sertaline? If so, I would take this as a DEFINITE sign that the sertaline is causing your dizziness. However, if the dizziness started MUCH later, it could still be caused by Sertaline or another medication you are taking. Remember, dizziness is a COMMON side effect of a wide variety of different medications.

[skipadee]

well i had the dizziness for around 6-8 months before i started sertraline,but i havent noticed a difference from when i start sertraline and iv been on it for like a year.

[DaneV]

I too suffer from chronic dizziness... Its my most disturbing anxiety symptom by far.
What works for me is calming down, but for someone with an anxiety condition this is easier said then done.

What also helps for me is Piracetam. After a couple days of usage my dizziness was allmost gone. Unfortunately piracetam is anxiogenic for me, so i dont like using it. But this certainly isn't the case for everyone so i would say its worth a try.

Do you feel that your anxiety levels and mood are improved by the sertraline ?

[skipadee]

I too suffer from chronic dizziness... Its my most disturbing anxiety symptom by far.
What works for me is calming down, but for someone with an anxiety condition this is easier said then done.

What also helps for me is Piracetam. After a couple days of usage my dizziness was allmost gone. Unfortunately piracetam is anxiogenic for me, so i dont like using it. But this certainly isn't the case for everyone so i would say its worth a try.

Do you feel that your anxiety levels and mood are improved by the sertraline ?

no i dont feel that sertraline has helped my mood and anxiety tbh going to ask my doctor if i can change to lexapro or something like that.

[DaneV]

no i dont feel that sertraline has helped my mood and anxiety tbh going to ask my doctor if i can change to lexapro or something like that.

Hmm so you have been on sertraline for a year now while its not doing anything for you? Did you tell your doctor its not working? If you did and he still wanted you continue the drug i would stronly doubt his abilities to help you.

I would taper down from sertraline slowly (with supervision of a competent dr) and then switch to another drug. If psychotropic meds dont work after 5 weeks you should drop them and switch until you found a drug that suits you. I would definately go to a psychiatrist for this medication, family doctors know to little about this.

The dizziness is very likely to be caused by anxiety. Its a pretty common symptom actually.

[skipadee]

i know staying on it for a year wasnt clever.But before i started it i was so ill i just wanted a way out,i was offered sertraline and took it like i was told.iv been in denial about if my symptoms are anxiety based or another cause like brain tumour or something,so i carried on takin my meds and went down the hospital route to find the cause.as now iv had basicly everything done its gota be anxiety.Thats why now im looking at medication.thank you so much for takin the time to reply dane it means alot :)

[notmyself30]

Hi Dane V and Skipadee. I have recently picked up this "dizziness" I call it my symptom of the month. I am not on current meds, although my doctor would like me to be on Prozac. I take Xanax .25 as needed. I got pretty good at ignoring most symptoms. I have also had all the test like Skipadee has. I am healthy! This dizziness stuff though I can't shake it. What is Piracetam?? What does it do for dizziness?? Thank you for you post and your help!!

[DaneV]

@skipadee It is so common for people with anxiety issues to think that they have some kind of disease. Which is not weird at all because anxiety disorder can throw so many intense and scary symptoms at you, even at times where you`re not aware of any mental anxiety so the thought of a disease actually makes sense. But once you had the test to rule this out, there comes a time you have to accept that it`s just the anxiety and work on that. We live in 2011 and if you really had some disease, they would have found it out. I also thought this for a long time and when i feel bad, these thoughts still go trough my head even though i now rationally know the only thing that can be causing this symptoms is anxiety.

Anyway now that you`re sure it`s anxiety you can start doing something about it. The first thing i really recommend listening to are the audio recordings of claire weekes. She was a brilliant australian doctor who went trough the same thing we are going trough now. You can listen to it at the following URL: http://www.junior-anxiety-depression-exchange.org.uk/relax.html
You can also go to anxietycentre.com and get a membership there. Its pretty cheap andj the site providers allmost all information there is about anxiety disorder. For me this is pretty helpful, because they really explain what causes your symptoms. Understanding about anxiety is the first and maybe most important step in recovery.

Medication can help, especially when your symptoms are too severe to function in daily life. I do not agree with some people saying medication is all bad and you should avoid it by any means. I would try to stay off the benzodiazepines though, because they are very habbit forming and stop working over time. 1-3 weeks is fine, but really no more then that.
Antidepressants are a better solution, but unfortunately you sometimes have to try a couple of meds until you find the right one. I personally hate SSRI`s, but they work well for other people. Personal experience is worthless regarding antidepressant medication because no two people react the exact same way on a certain drug.

Of course medication is not a cure, but masking your symptoms can be very beneficial for people who really can`t live their normal lives anymore. Not being able to function causes a great deal anxiety by itself, and if medication can help you with that USE IT. But while on the medication, continue to work on yourself!

@notmyself30 Piracetam is a nootropic that enhances brain function. It is proven to be effective in dizziness aswell, because it improves the communication between your left and right brain brain hemispheres. Its very nontoxic, cheap and comes with no side effects for most people. Certainly worth a try for dizziness.

[skipadee]

yeh i only want meds to help the symptoms go so i can deal with my agoraphobia and anxiety better.when i was working my anxiety was getting so much better and i even started going to pubs and stuff,but then i lost my job it went down here.i think going to work every day kept me out there and helped.but i have such bad symptoms right now i carnt even do daily things like housework etc so iv got no hope of going out dealing with it right now.thats why i want some meds to help me for now if you know what i mean.coming off pregabalin atm to see if the side effects are making me worse,been having a hard time coming off it so iv been givin diazepam to help me for a few weeks with the withdrawlal.is this a good idea?

[DaneV]

.is this a good idea?

For a couple of weeks, sure. But dont use it for to long or you get withdrawls from that also.

[skipadee]

For a couple of weeks, sure. But dont use it for to long or you get withdrawls from that also.

ok thanks,by the way whats ur personaly opinion on the best anti depression for GAD.i dont think i have depression,maybe a little bit but mainly its anxiety,constant worry and fear.I really hope im changed to lexapro as from what iv read it seems to be great for GAD.spoke to him and he said he doesnt want to change my medication via phone and would rather i went and see him,which could be a few months :(

[DaneV]

ok thanks,by the way whats ur personaly opinion on the best anti depression for GAD.i dont think i have depression,maybe a little bit but mainly its anxiety,constant worry and fear.I really hope im changed to lexapro as from what iv read it seems to be great for GAD.spoke to him and he said he doesnt want to change my medication via phone and would rather i went and see him,which could be a few months :(

Its so hard to tell what medication is the best for someone. The only way to tell is by using it unfortunately. Personally, the best drug there is in my opinion is Stablon (tianeptine). I've been researching alot about how the brain works and used most of my energy of the last year doing just that. I have to admit, it became a little bit of an obsession for me, allthough i rather like to call it a survival mechanism. I lived a crappy life due to this disorder so my one and only priority is/was to get better. I don't want to brag but my psychiatrist admitted I probably know more about my condition then she does.

Anyway theoraticly speaking stablon is the number one drug to try because:

- It's proven to induce neurogenisis ("brain healing") in areas of the brain that are damaged by stress. Other antidepressants do this aswell, and it is now believed it might be there sole mechanism of action. Stablon however does this in a stronger degree.

- Stablon doesn't mess with your monoamine transporters or responders. It does enhance the reuptake of serotonin (opposite of an ssri) and thereby increasing dopamine by a small amount. This means stablon has hardly any side effects, if not none. It doesnt cause agitation in the first weeks, it doesn't cause sedation, it doesn't cause sexual side effects and it doesn't cause cognitive problems.

- Stablon lowers cortisol levels where SSRI's higher them. Cortisol is one of the reasons we get anxiety symptoms.

- Stablon doesnt cause dependance or withdrawal effects.

- Stablon's toxicity is extremely low. Some people have taken over 60 amounts of the recommended dose without serious problems.

- Stablon usually starts working a little faster then SSRI's. For some people in less then a week. The long term benefits however take time.

So why its not available in the US? I garantuee you the only reason is money. For detail about this story and more info on this drug, look at the independant website tianeptine.com. I ordered it from the internet, and while i dont recommend this without really researching this drug i'm glad I did. I'm on it for 2 weeks and i begin to notice the first subtile changes, especially regarding mental clarity and a slight decrease in depression and anxiey. My pdoc knows i'm using it, and she's understanding. She admitted this drug seems like a very good one and also agrees about the reason it is not available in some countries.

And of course, medication alone will note cure you. But combined to therapy and/or coping stategies it can be a very useful tool.

[skipadee]

Its so hard to tell what medication is the best for someone. The only way to tell is by using it unfortunately. Personally, the best drug there is in my opinion is Stablon (tianeptine). I've been researching alot about how the brain works and used most of my energy of the last year doing just that. I have to admit, it became a little bit of an obsession for me, allthough i rather like to call it a survival mechanism. I lived a crappy life due to this disorder so my one and only priority is/was to get better. I don't want to brag but my psychiatrist admitted I probably know more about my condition then she does.

Anyway theoraticly speaking stablon is the number one drug to try because:

- It's proven to induce neurogenisis ("brain healing") in areas of the brain that are damaged by stress. Other antidepressants do this aswell, and it is now believed it might be there sole mechanism of action. Stablon however does this in a stronger degree.

- Stablon doesn't mess with your monoamine transporters or responders. It does enhance the reuptake of serotonin (opposite of an ssri) and thereby increasing dopamine by a small amount. This means stablon has hardly any side effects, if not none. It doesnt cause agitation in the first weeks, it doesn't cause sedation, it doesn't cause sexual side effects and it doesn't cause cognitive problems.

- Stablon lowers cortisol levels where SSRI's higher them. Cortisol is one of the reasons we get anxiety symptoms.

- Stablon doesnt cause dependance or withdrawal effects.

- Stablon's toxicity is extremely low. Some people have taken over 60 amounts of the recommended dose without serious problems.

- Stablon usually starts working a little faster then SSRI's. For some people in less then a week. The long term benefits however take time.

So why its not available in the US? I garantuee you the only reason is money. For detail about this story and more info on this drug, look at the independant website tianeptine.com. I ordered it from the internet, and while i dont recommend this without really researching this drug i'm glad I did. I'm on it for 2 weeks and i begin to notice the first subtile changes, especially regarding mental clarity and a slight decrease in depression and anxiey. My pdoc knows i'm using it, and she's understanding. She admitted this drug seems like a very good one and also agrees about the reason it is not available in some countries.

And of course, medication alone will note cure you. But combined to therapy and/or coping stategies it can be a very useful tool.

well im english so i live in the uk,so hopefulyy it mite be available on the nhs.what confuses me is the difference between SSRE and SSRI's.so one lowers serotonin and one highers it.thats confusing to me as surley the higher or lower it is the worse it is :S

[DaneV]

Well if you buy into the stories pharma companies spreaded since the launch of prozac, it is confusing. For a long time after the launch of prozac, there was this theory that anxiety and depression is caused by low serotonin levels. Over a lot of research however, this correlation isn`t at all proven and most likely wrong. There are some things that make pretty clear that depression is not just low serotonin because:

* SSRI`s let the serotonin levels rise within hours of administration. The antidepressant and anxiolytic effects however, take weeks to be noticable.
* Drugs that lower serotonin (yes, like tianeptine) don`t make depression or anxiety worse. They even make it better to the point of remission for some people. They also do not induce depression in healthy people.
* When the neurogenisis effects of antidepressants are inhibited in rats (with x-rays) the drug loses all effictiveness. For me this is a strong argument for the theory that neurogenisis plays an important role on how antidepressants work.

These are just a few points. If you want to read a more in depth article about this, take a look at: http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/serotonin.shtml

The fact is that nobody is 100% sure how antidepressants work, but the neurogenisis theory is really getting solid grounds. We know depression/anxiety causes minor brain damage, and we know antidepressants help restore this brain damage (at least to a certain degree). It doesn`t mean your brain can`t heal without antidepressants, but they can help the process.

[skipadee]

like you said tho its all about money,thats what the goverment are like,thats why a cure for cancer hasnt came out,because the population would be to much,and there wouldnt be enough supplies for everyone.thats probley the best medication out there yet they wont release it because all the other companys would go down .... makes me laugh

[Reza Nejad]

Hi DaneV,


I found your very intersting forum statements on stablon. I know take it for nearly two months; and started to take 1-0-1 (12,5 mg) for nearly 2-3 weeks.
I begin to realize a slight improvement, even more notable than ever on other ads like citalopram or effexor.

Are u still taking it and what are your experiences.

Recently, the French agency limited its prescription upt to 28 days because of the danger of dependency. There were some cases of it in its history.


I hope this message gets to you
Would be great to hear of you!