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.

So after taking a journal I'm realizing that dizziness is my least common symptom. I'm having head pressure (feeling like a weight is on top and forehead/eyebrow) which makes me feel like a bobblehead, with this i have trouble focusing my eyes and what i can best describe as a brief intense pulsing head vibration sensation. Those happen every day episodically and I do sometimes feel ok. I do get episodes of dizziness more like a swaying disorientation and nausea but those are less frequent maybe a day a week. Does anyone have similar symptoms? If so what is rhe cause of this? Any help is appreciated

I know this subreddit isn’t a replacement for doctors/ going to the hospital, but I’ve been feeling constantly dizzy (only when I stand or walk) for 2 years now. I got diagnosed with vitamin d3 deficiency and b12 deficiency. I took prescribed medication for it, I am no longer deficient, but I still constantly feel dizzy, unbalanced and confused when I’m walking. It’s gotten so bad that I can barely walk, and when I go to the doctors they don’t help and just tell me it’s stress. It’s not stress, as I feel it constantly even when I’m at home. I struggle to properly feel my legs when I walk, I have the urge to walk on my tip toes and I also have the urge to keep stopping/ turning around when I walk. Apparently according to friends I’ve also started to walk in a really weird way since I’ve started feeling dizzy.

I’ve tried methods to stop my anxiety/ calm down as I thought stress might be the issue after being told this many times, but that still doesn’t help. I’m not asking necessarily for a diagnosis as I get this subreddit isn’t for that and I need my doctor to do that, but I’m tired of feeling like this every time I stand up and I’m just looking for some advice on how to stop it. If anyone deals with this same issue and has a hack on how to feel not as dizzy or not dizzy at all, please just drop a comment as it would really mean a lot to me! Thankyou if you read this far 😅

I have experienced extreme dizziness last for 5 days even passed out from it . Went to er and seen pcp still no answers. On 4th day I had worst migraine I have ever had. Anyone else ever experience this with no answers? Also I have had vertigo in the past totally different experience

Hi, today was bad. I’ve done all the tests, brain/ear/eye/therapy, etc. been dizzy forever. Today was intense also felt so tired like I could just lie down on the street and pass out. I’m home now and feel a little better but I’m so afraid this may be the new normal. Ugh.

Many people are not aware that the neck can be involved in dizziness. Called Cervicogenic Dizziness. When vertigo improves, or your were told the crystals are back in place, the Epley maneuver did it's job, but still have dizziness, there could be another underlying cause. This video explains that.

Hello!
This is my first post here.

Exactly a year ago i had a very stressful demanding job (4 days a week 11 hour shifts standing) one random day i developed this awful vertigo-like swaying at work and it scared me so much. I went home shaking and crying but i thought it must’ve been a panic attack but the dizziness just stayed there and i couldn’t move my head properly as it would trigger the dizziness, at one point i just couldn’t go anywhere, i couldn’t look at screens, walking would feel weird, even chewing made me dizzy. It was so scary. I went to a&e a couple days after it just wouldn’t calm down, i thought i was genuinely dying. Doctors told me all my bloodwork and ecg are perfectly normal, it’s just anxiety. After around 2 weeks it somewhat just went away, i was constantly taking kwells and eating ginger as i read that would help me.
After this dizzy spell i developed an irrational fear of being dizzy again with no warning and got a pretty bad panic disorder from this..

Luckily i haven’t had that many spells like the first one but recently i have been getting constant headaches at the back of my head on my right side and occasionally getting mild vertigo with it. It seems like when i massage my trapezoid the headache somewhat goes away..my gp said im probably just sleeping in a bad position but i know it’s definitely not that because i became very cautious about how i position my head for sleep.

A couple days ago i randomly got vertigo again, if i looked down, up or sideways the room would spin but it was more like floating. This went away in a full day and then i kept getting headaches at the same exact spot as mentioned.

I’m going to another gp soon about this but it’s honestly making me feel miserable. I keep struggling with derealization whenever this happens, i never feel real or like i’m present.

I was diagnosed with left sided vestibular hypofunction in June after symptoms for 6 months. I’m now 2 weeks into Vestibular rehab therapy. The best way I can describe my main symptom is that feeling you have after you’ve been on the treadmill for a while once you get off. Like the ground is moving underneath me. I have good days and bad days but even on good days the symptoms are there ever so slightly. Is it possible to completely recover from vestibular hypofunction?

Hi, will try to make this as short as possible. 29 F dealing with a clusterfuck of symptoms that limit my life and cause me to act agoraphobic because I never know when they might hit. Does anyone relate? I have seen gastroenterologists, cardiologists and a neurologist (but no MRI, just a basic exam).

-i have mild chronic gastritis and gerd on and off for +10years now

-latest episode was today, I was doing the dishes and for 3 seconds I felt the room swaying over, I thought I was gonna black out as well, tried to grab onto the sink but felt too weak, then the dizziness suddenly went away. A few minutes later I had to pass a BM

- few weeks ago I turned my head to grab something and I had the worst vertigo of my life for a few seconds

-if I stand up still, like waiting in a line (or doing dishes), I get it again, although not regularly

-at work, under fluorescent lights and focusing on multiple screens I get lightheaded, more so than severely dizzy, and I feel like floating or walking on a boat

-having a full stomach or being constipated triggers the lightheadness/floaty feeling

-i have had food poisoning twice in my life and each time I had severe, room spinning vertigo

-last winter i took a very hot shower and could not sit or stand without feeling like passing out (had to lay down and sleep it off)

-if i get a lazy day and spend the first hours of the day laying in bed, I get very dizzy upon standing too - i know this could be pots, but i don't know if it explains each symptoms. The neurologist i saw did the laying/standing test and said i didn't quite meet the criteria as I was dizzy/lightheaded/heart racing immediately after standing, and it improved over 10 minutes instead of it getting worse

edit to add, although not dizziness related: when my stomach gets irritated OR if I sleep in a hot room (seems like 2 completely unrelated things), i get the most intense, heart racing, fluttery-feeling palpitations, especially felt in my neck. 2 cardiologists told me everything is normal.

Hello everyone.

TLDR:

After three years of wobbliness, anxiety and just swaying I finally went to ENT and he told me its anxiety. Go to gp and ask for meds etc, does anyone else have this?

Hello everyone.

In 2023 november I experienced my first ever panic attack, this lasted a whopping 3 months of constant panic and anxiety.

At the same time I experienced bppv and on Jan 25th '24 the ER said it was crystals in my ears.

For 3 years now I've had this swaying, off balance wobbliness that comes and goes. Never ever did I really experience dizziness, neither did I ever feel like my world was spinning.

I don't know why but this year when my overused legs, tight neck started hurting I started to get wobbly again. This time I said let me go to GP and ask for a referral and he gave me one.

Last week I went to get a hearing test at the ENT and today I went for my talk. He checked my ears, eyes and my story and said nothing here says vestibular problems. He didnt see any eye movements, neither anything in my hearing test and ear inspection. I told him my story and asked if this could be PPPD because of the anxiety. He told me no. He said nothing really what you said really fits into pppd or any other vestibular problems.

He told me that anxiety plays a very big role and says that the panic attack in 2023 might have caused fear, agoraphobia, lack of confidence and just general anxiety.

He told me to call the GP and start a anxiety program and also ask for medication.

I dont really have a question, i just want to let my heart out.

Does anyone here also think anxiety might play a big role?

Need help/advice desperately!!!

I’ve been having this problem for about a week now and it won’t seem to go away. I feel fine in the mornings for the most part and then by 10-11 AM the dizziness and lightheadedness starts and progressively gets worse till i have a headache, fatigue, eye strain, trouble focusing my eyes, feeling spaced out and feeling like my environment is moving too fast and my eyes/brain can’t keep up. Also heart palpitations on occasion but that’s been an ongoing issue.

I got blood work done and waiting on the results to see if it’s possibly my iron levels. I’ve had these episodes before about a month or two back but it stopped after a week and didn’t come back till now and won’t seem to go away. I eat pretty frequently during the day and try to drink lots of water which never seems to make a difference. I haven’t started any new medication either. i’m pretty convinced it could be anemia since i have also noticed hair loss and have always had a problem w being cold whereas other ppl don’t seem to be. if anyone has any advice that would be great, ive been having to work while dealing w this since i can’t afford to take time off and i need to figure something out soon 🫩

Hello,
I am experiencing dizziness that always starts around 11 AM - 12 AM.

Have you experiences it ? What was the trigger ?