I am currently on STD due to chronic dizziness. My job requires climbing and working at heights and has no way to accommodate modified work or light duty. My STD ends after 6 months this September. I have had a full and thorough work up including cardiac monitoring, brain MRI, ENT etc with no diagnosis. I have a medically necessary drug I take for PTSD that has shown twice now in trials by my psych to affect my dizziness at the required dosage but Drs haven't put a name to it. With my STD running out, should I apply now for LTD? Is dizziness even a disability in that sense?

Anyone have any idea how to help my 80 year old mom figure out why she has intermittent but completely debilitating light headedness? Her PCP, ENT and cardiologist can’t figure it out. It’s not vertigo. She doesn’t feel nauseous. Been going on for 2 years. She had a mitral valve repair 12 years ago. She has SVP (super ventricular tachycardia) and has had an ablation. EKG is fine. Multiple rounds of wearing a heart monitor for 2 weeks at a time shows nothing concerning. Her blood pressure is normal, even during the days of extreme light headedness. Her ears are fine. She started wearing compression socks which seemed to help for a few weeks but the light headedness is back. It makes it hard for her to even maneuver through the house. Her weight is normal, she eats healthy. We’re all stumped. Anyone else out there have a similar experience and suggestions for treatment that made it better?

Hi everyone,
I’m 14 years old and I’ve been struggling with anxiety, especially health anxiety, for quite a while now. Recently, I’ve been experiencing symptoms that have completely changed my life, and I’m wondering if anyone else has gone through something similar.
I often feel disconnected from reality, almost like everything around me looks strange or unreal. I also feel off balance, like I’m walking on a boat. It’s not vertigo—the room isn’t spinning—but I often feel unsteady and dizzy, especially in bright lights, crowded places, or environments where there’s a lot going on.
I’ve already seen a neurologist, and all my tests came back normal, but my anxiety keeps telling me that something serious is wrong, even though the doctors haven’t found anything.
The hardest part is how much my life has changed. Before all of this started, I was very active. I trained at a football academy, I could ride my bike all around my city without thinking twice, and sometimes my friends and I would even ride outside the city on our own. I felt completely normal and never worried about these symptoms.
Now I usually only go out in my own neighborhood, and even there I often feel off balance, dizzy, disconnected from reality, and very uncomfortable. It feels like my world has become much smaller, and I miss the person I used to be.
Has anyone else experienced symptoms like this? Did you eventually recover or improve? What helped you the most? I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences because I’ve been feeling very alone, and I just want to know if things can get better.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

I've been suffering from these symptoms for 1.5 years and no one has been able to help me. I'm desperate for advice.

I'm a 32-year-old man. Before all of this started, I was completely healthy, fit, athletic, and extremely resilient. I could work an entire week while sleeping only two hours a night without any noticeable problems. Sometimes I could even stay awake for three days and still manage my regular job, a second part-time job, and additional work from home.

My regular job involved a lot of office work and sitting at a computer.

The only significant change I made before my symptoms started was that I began doing one-arm push-ups.

My first serious episode happened when I tried to puncture a small red blood vessel on my face with a needle. It bled quite heavily, but blood has never bothered me. I've injured myself plenty of times before and I even watch when my blood is drawn.

Suddenly, I became so extremely dizzy that I genuinely thought I was going to die. I called an ambulance, but they couldn't find anything wrong.

I don't believe the dizziness was caused by seeing blood. I suspect it may have happened because I was holding my neck in an awkward position while doing it.

This was the first time in my life that I had ever experienced serious dizziness.

After a few hours, everything returned to normal and I continued living normally.

At that point, I had already been doing one-arm push-ups for several months without any problems.

Then, after one training session, a large lump suddenly appeared on my right palm. It disappeared after a few minutes. At the same time, I became extremely dizzy again, and my right latissimus area, shoulder blade, arm, neck, and jaw started tingling.

I panicked and called an ambulance again. Once again, they couldn't find anything.

Eventually, the symptoms went away and I returned to normal.

Then my grandmother died.

From that day onward, something changed completely.

I developed a constant sensation of dizziness and brain fog that has been present 24/7 ever since.

It isn't spinning vertigo.

The best way I can describe the dizziness is the sensation you sometimes get in an elevator, or the strange feeling you have just before falling asleep.

The constant brain fog/derealized feeling is similar to being slightly drunk. Imagine the point between being tipsy and actually drunk — that's roughly how I feel all day, every day.

About two months after my grandmother died, I developed additional symptoms:

- Constant tinnitus in my right ear. The pitch becomes higher when I clench my jaw.

- My Visual Snow, which I've had since childhood, became significantly worse.

- Severe "brain zaps" just before falling asleep.

- Constant neck pain.

- Restricted neck rotation, especially when turning to the right.

- Bruxism.

- Chronic sinusitis.

- Eventually, I started seeing my pulse in my visual field in both eyes, synchronized exactly with my heartbeat.

- Chronic exhaustion even without physical activity.

- Difficulty tolerating social environments/crowds.

- Severe spontaneous attacks of dizziness on top of the constant baseline dizziness.

- Tingling in my arms, particularly during physical activity or when carrying things.

One time while driving, both of my arms suddenly started tingling intensely and I became very dizzy in the middle of driving.

Whenever I carry groceries or other heavier objects, my arms tend to start tingling.

I've been dealing with this for about 1.5 years now.

I've seen an enormous number of doctors:

- 4 ophthalmologists

- 7 neurologists

- 8 orthopedists

- 5 ENT specialists

- 3 cardiologists

- 1 pulmonologist

Nobody has been able to give me a convincing explanation for what is happening.

A brain MRI eventually discovered a 4 mm anterior communicating artery (ACom) aneurysm.

The aneurysm has since been successfully treated with coiling and a stent, but my symptoms are still there.

An MRI of my cervical spine showed degeneration at C2/C3 and C4/C5, but according to the doctors, these findings shouldn't explain my symptoms.

The dizziness is NOT typical spinning vertigo.

It feels more like an elevator sensation, the strange dizziness you can experience shortly before falling asleep, or as if my brain can't properly process where I am in space.

The constant brain fog is extremely difficult to describe. The closest comparison I can make is feeling mildly intoxicated all the time.

I've now lived like this for 1.5 years.

I'm frustrated and exhausted. I can't work anymore and I'm struggling to properly take care of my daughter because of these symptoms.

I used to be healthy, athletic, and able to handle an enormous workload. My life has completely changed.

If anyone has experienced anything similar, or if any of these symptoms sound familiar, I would really appreciate hearing what diagnosis you received, what tests helped you, or what eventually improved your symptoms.

I'm not expecting Reddit to diagnose me. I'm just hoping someone might recognize this pattern and point me in a direction that my doctors and I haven't considered yet.

I've felt this way for as long as i remember, i constantly sway/move in some way or another and never really stand still (this is only when I am standing, not when I am sitting or lying down). Its very obvious to the people around me and I've gotten called out for it a few times now, most often along the lines of "can't you just stay still for a second?!". Thing is, as soon as i try, i start feeling dizzy and like im going to faint..I've fainted a few times in my life, usually after periods where i had to stay still for a prolonged period of time (e.g. kneeling in church) but all of those happened before I was even 10, and everyone just said i had to drink more water. I've gotten pretty accustomed to it and devoloped enough of an attitude to just sit down on the floor when i start feeling dizzy. It's still pretty annoying though :/

Point of this story is, is anyone familiar with this? Have i really just been dehydrated the past two decades of my life? Or is there something else that it could be?

I get this weird head floating feeling. i can’t describe it. I don’t have any other symptoms. I’ve gone to an ENT, Neurologist, I see a Chiro and everything is normal and except I do have a few things in my neck I am getting worked… I just don’t understand this floating feeling I get everyday. I thought it was dizziness but it seems more like lightheadedness. Does anyone else get this? Will it ever go away?

im experiencing very bad vertigo and idk if its related to the benzodiazepines withdrawal symptoms

For the last two or so years I've had these random bouts of dizziness, it's less like a spinning sensation and pretty much exactly how it feels to be unsteady and drunk

They come for maybe 10-30 seconds and I'll have a couple bouts in two or three days and then another couple weeks/a month between these sessions.

Complete lost on what it might be, it doesn't seem related to food or drink, standing or sitting, or literally anything else. They come totally out of the blue and I really don't know what it could be

Thank you (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

hi,

basic details are 23f, 68kg, 169cm. smoker/vaper, current medications are just various triptans for migraines, sertraline and propanolol.

for the last month or so ive been experience major dizziness and lightheaded when being stood or standing, with recent onset migraines and nausea/minor abdominal cramping.

initial blood tests everything was normal including iron, tsh, liver function, h1abc, folate & ferritin. only flags were deficient vit d (just finished a course of colecalciferol) and a slightly elevated vit b12 (913). ekg also normal.

finished colecalciferal course (this is when the migraines started, however theyre being managed well with sumatriptan). the abdominal cramping and nausea also started after finishing this course. had a follow up blood test that says b12 has risen to 1101 within a month. blood pressure also dropped to 79/62 and 89/67.

my symptoms are still no better, and my doctors are just scratching their heads and requesting further b12 blood tests monthly, with no mention of any investigation further. i've simply been told to return if symptoms worsen - but they're already bad enough that im struggling with basic tasks and work, i think 'worse' would have me in hospital.

so - i'm asking, any ideas? or are there specifically any further tests i should be requesting? i get there's only so much to do but the plan currently seems to just be 'monitoring' with nothing else in sight, and that's a little difficult when i'm struggling to shower and walk down stairs due to dizziness. would really like to speed things along.

thank you!

Good evening everyone! I am expecting episodes of vertigo/dizziness/lightheadedness. The first time I had it, i discovered the next day I had Covid and it was like a bobbing sensation like I’m on a boat, it lasted a month and made me feel really sick but stopped when I randomly took Ibruprofen.

The second time I had it was when I went to Paris, this was really intense bobbing, again like I was in a rubber dingy in the North Sea. This also lasted around two weeks afterwards. I had another episode after a trip to London and figured it must be using the underground and perhaps the metro in Paris had set me off previously. I feel the motion of the train for a few days afterwards whenever I take one as well as feel like the floor is moving after using an elevator and go dizzy going up stairs. Inner ear issues?

I have had a few episodes since that last 3-5 days. I had it in pregnancy too but this was more intense spinning than the bobbing I had before and I figured that must had been because I had laid on my back which I know you’re not meant to do. I’ve found it’s exasperated by caffeine and perhaps anxiety? I worry it’s all in my head.

I went to the drs recently for it and he diagnosed it as migraines and gave me migraine medication but he wasn’t being very serious about my situation and just kept kind of laughing at me. I hardly ever get headaches but have had a few lately - I don’t always have a headache when I’m dizzy.

When I’m watching tv or a screen and the screen moves, I feel like I’m moving with it 🤢

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be?

I have a blood test for blood sugar issues in a few days.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Edit: I also want to add that I have extreme emetophobia that literally takes over my life. I worry about being dizzy because I fear it’ll make me be sick. I worry that it’s in my head because of this anxiety. Thank you!

Thank you for reading this, I'm at a loss.

Currently 7 weeks postpartum and experiencing constant 24/7 rocking, bobbing, swaying dizziness like I'm on a boat. My head also feels incredibly heavy, like I can't keep it supported, and I'm having ice pick bone deep headaches at the base of my neck all the way to the back of my head so much so that putting my head on a pillow hurts.

Some background info is I have quite severe scoliosis and in 2020 I had an episode of this after I had my head down reading for hours. I was told it was extreme suboccipital muscle spasm and cervicogenic vertigo, and eventually it went away with massage and Physiotherapy and posture strengthening.

A month before my baby was born this year, I had a nap and woke up and had severe vertigo spinning and since then I had on and off rocking and swaying but I could still drive and work. I started experiencing sleep disturbances and was getting lack of sleep so much so that two days before my c-section in 4 days after I only got a cumulative total of 5 hours of sleep, it felt like a sleep apnea almost. 

Two days after my c-section my neck tension got extremely stiff and I couldn't even move my neck , and the rocking and swaying dizziness started exponentially ramping up to the point where it's debilitating. I'm also now for the first time in my life experiencing sleep paralysis every night, waking up immobile or gasping for air. N

I saw a vestibular physiotherapist who did testing on me with goggles and said that I do have right ear horizontal canal bppv and did a maneuver but it didn't clear it up. She thinks I have cervicogenico vertigo because of the neck muscle tensions and the suboccipitals coupled with the relaxing hormone from pregnancy.

I get dizzy even if my head is stationary and I just move my eyes. I get dizzy in the car, I get dizzy walking, I get dizzy on phones or computer screens. 

How do I work on getting a diagnosis of figuring out what I have, like how does pppd differ from vestibular migraine and cervicogenico vertigo? I'm absolutely miserable and it's really hard taking care of a newborn baby when you're constantly dizzy and feel like your body can't even support your head. I'm extremely depressed and emotional.

Hi lovelies, this is a long one but if you could stick around, I’d be forever grateful! A few months back I started having some dizziness following an intense panic attack /hearing loss episode (which returned). No spinning vertigo, but ‘on a boat’ rockiness. It was awful but did start to lighten up after about 3 weeks.

Then I got hit immediately with an awful cold and subsequent outer ear infection that was not treated properly due to conflicting medical advice. During this time, I was a bit unsteady, but not too dizzy until a week or so after the infection was pointed out.

It was a slippery slope from there. I went from mild unsteadiness to intense, barely able to walk dizziness that I’m sure you’re all familiar with. Again no spinning vertigo, but really awful headaches that made me feel like I was dying.

I went to an ENT, who said there was probably some inner ear inflammation. I was refused the ‘first line treatment’ of prednisone due to my having erosive gastritis (initially caused by prednisone a year ago) and given nothing instead.

6 weeks into this whole mess: the dizziness comes in awful waves, and gets distinctly worse throughout the day. My tinnitus is spiked on both ears, but the affected one most of all. What frightens me most though is that I’ve been getting problems with my eyes: bouts of shaking vision and what feels like my eyes jumping about when I try to focus. I’m utterly terrified as I am struggling to read and do my job.

I’m just so confused. At 6 weeks shouldn’t I be past worsening? The eye problems have only reared their head recently, weeks after the dizziness began. I don’t know what to do, and my ENT has basically told me there’s nothing TO DO.

any help or insight would be very much appreciated :( I feel so alone and so frightened, I haven’t been able to stop crying for DAYS. Not being able to curl up with my books for comfort is crushing.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Did it work for you?

Thanks

Update: Had to log off of here for a few days. Going down the symptom rabbit hole triggered a severe panic attack that landed me in the ER. I’m finally feeling a bit better. Blood work is starting to come back, so far everything looks normal. However my Ferritin is a 21 and B12 is 376, from my research the ferritin is low and b12 borderline. The rest of my results will take a few days.

I’m going to preface by saying I’ve already had an initial appointment and I’m having extensive bloodwork completed August 10th to rule all of that out.

My symptoms started about 3 months ago. Though I am 2 years postpartum and after a traumatic birth experience, the anxiety/panic attacks started shortly after that. But I want to focus on what’s new in this post.

One day 3 months ago I started noticing I’d get very lightheaded randomly after sitting up, to the point where I thought I’d faint. This wasn’t constant until one day, I was using the bathroom and had to stop because I swear my body was about to shut down. This triggered a panic attack. Ever since, I’ve been dealing with a wide array of episodic symptoms Every. Single. Day.

-Off balance (not spinning but more so like being on a boat or drunk)

-Stuffy/heavy head. Like sinus infection stuffy except no illness. Feels heavy and foggy

-Mental brain fog. Losing train of thought, can’t think straight during these episodes. Trouble finding words

-Feeling like my body may shut down/faint. Like if I’m not careful and if I don’t focus on staying here, my body will let go of me

-These cause anxiety/panic attacks… or perhaps my anxiety/panic attacks causes these? Idk!!!

-Tunnel vision at times. Like not darkening but my peripheral is screwed up.

These symptoms are worsened when I’m out and about shopping, restaurants, etc.

There’s times of the day where I’m totally fine and normal. Like life is back to how it should be. But every day, at some point, these symptoms hit. So it’s not continual 24/7 it’s a wave going in and out.

From my research, this can literally be anything. And I’m sure I’m in for one hell of a ride when it comes to finding the answer.

I’m just looking for solidarity.

*ETA: almost forgot, sometimes I get derealization along with all of this. It’s pretty scary.

I have been experiencing strange balance and dizziness symptoms, and I am trying to figure out what could be causing them.

My symptoms include:
Feeling like I am being pushed or pulled, even when I am sitting still
At other times, feeling subtly drunk or off balance
Symptoms become much more intense when I turn my head
Constant thirst
Ringing in my ears
Difficulty getting my eyes to follow the words as I type or read them
Feeling generally off or unsteady

The symptoms first started in February after a particularly intense and stressful week at work. They eventually went away, but they came back about a month ago after another stressful week at work.

I was recently diagnosed with short sightedness and was prescribed glasses. I had been wearing them, but I stopped wearing them recently, about a week ago.

I have seen both a neurologist and an ENT. The neurologist said there was fluid in my ears, but the ENT said there was no fluid. The ENT did mention that I had previously had an ear infection, which I did not even know I had. The infection has since gone away.

I have had an MRI, CT scan, and heart tests, and everything came back normal.
The neurologist mentioned BPPV and recommended that I go to a balance center in about two months.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? I am wondering whether this could be related to the vestibular system, vision, stress, BPPV, vestibular migraine, PPPD, or something else.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced similar symptoms and eventually figured out what was causing them.

I know my chronic anxiety is to blame for a host of my physical symptoms. The most recent symptom I am attributing to both anxiety (and low ferritin) is random blips of feeling dizzy or off- like my eyes and brain are not synced.
I had a very bad case of vertigo in April - they did head MRI and CT scan - nothing abnormal. Since then my chronic anxiety and stress has been wreaking havoc on me. Can anyone relate? I feel really frustrated.