A month of Dizziness, Lightheadedness, and Anxiety
Posted , 23 users are following.
Hey Guys.
I'm posting here because I'm a bit lost and worried.
About a month ago I had 2 pretty severe Panic Attacks. I used to have them a lot when I was younger but learned to cope with them and I seemed to grow out of them. I've always have anxiety issues but once again as I got older the better I would cope with them.
After the panic attacks I started getting these spells of Dizziness and being a bit distanced. After doing some research it seems Brain Fog is what best describes my issues. Feeling like I'm out of touch with reality, dizzy, lightheadedness, panic-ey, and lately I've had a loss of appetite, I can feel that I'm hungry but the thought of eating doesn't sit right (could be from the stress) Sometimes it feels like my hands are a bit fumbly but I play video games fine and type at a very fast speed just fine. I also gave myself a Gait and Rhomberg coordination test to make sure something wasn't wrong which I did fine with. (read how to online)
The symptoms come and go but they are present more than not.
I finally got so worried I went to the ER. They gave me an EKG which the doctor said I didn't really even need to take. After waiting a few hours for the doctor he told me I had anxiety issues and something called Respritory Alkalosis caused by anxiety, Respritory alkalosis is caused from me breathing short and fast which deprives my blood levels of carbon dioxide and messes with the PH levels in my blood and is the casue of my dizzyness, lightheadedness, and small muscle tremors/tingles. He said I could breath into a paper bag to raise the levels in my blood but that doesn't seem to do much for me.
I make music and played a show last weekend and felt totally fine all night (expect for a few mini spells of slight dizzyness) but as soon as I got home I felt weird and out of sorts again. I usually feel okay if I keep busy or am doing something I like or hanging with friends.
My worry is he did no testing to make sure this was my issue and blew me off like I was compeltely fine.
I'm still experiancing these issues on a daily basis and the panic is the worst part. My brain is worrying me that I have some terminal issue and it's really getting to me. I have a Dr. appointment on Jan 3rd at a Primary Care physician but I'm worried something is wrong and I need to get it fixed sooner.
My biggest questions are: Are any of these symptoms worrying for a terminal issue?
Should I go back to the ER or wait until my Dr Appointment?
Everyone is telling me this is Anxiety but the panic is really getting to me and the Dr. blowing it all off didn't help and wasn't nearly as reassuring as I wanted him to be.
Everything I've read online says don't listen to your anxiety and listen to the Dr. but he could be wrong... and that's what's freaking me out.
Some insight would be awesome.
5 likes, 30 replies
karen68852 ImAnon
Edited
First, I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I've been an anxiety sufferer for 20 years and know how awful it can be. I am currently in the process of figuring out some potentially scary health stuff and my anxiety is horrible.
To me this sounds like very classic anxiety. Just the fact that there are times when you feel better (playing a show with minimal symptoms, hanging with friends and feeling a bit better) points to anxiety. A terminal issue would almost certainly not come and go with varying degrees of discomfort. "What if" thinking is also a sign of panic and anxiety and can make symptoms seem more acute and uncomfrotable (what if Dr. missed somehting, what if these feeling don't go away".
I hope your appointment ("only" 10 days from now) will give you some comfort and your PCP is able to offer some help and reassurence.
Until then be gentle with yourself. This stuff sucks and it's draining and you are doing the best you can.
icecool ImAnon
Posted
samantha2828 ImAnon
Posted
Hi ImAnon,
I can completely relate to all of your symptoms, and your health anxiety that feels completely perpetuated every new symptom bringing more anxiety! It's a viscious circle I feel! I too had doubts that it was just anxiety causing all my problems, docs said it, parents, friends, hospital after having panic attacks and being hooked up to ECG machines! But my Blood tests came back clear...It's so hard to believe that your body can have such strong physical problems, from a perpetual way of thinking.
I've been feeling lightheaded, trembling, palpitations, dry mouth, can't sleep properly, tingles and pins needles in hands, chest pains, even had my whole right leg go numb!?!!
I've of course, then get myself all worked up, thinking I'm diabetic, have some killer disease, think I'm gonna need leg amputated, heart attack, you name it, I've thought I've had it! So again went back to the docs and just had a break down. Telling them how overwhelmed I am with this constant health fear, the worse I feel the worse my anxiety gets and the doc decided to prescribe me some Sertraline medication.
I'm only on day 4 now but I have seen small improvements. I hated starting it, as the stigma with pills isn't something I ever wanted to be involved in, but I'm so fed up of my mind causing me such physical discomfort I'm ready to try anything if it helps me gain some control of my thoughts.
Reassurance from me, or others on here will help temporarily but come tomorrow or another day and you'll get a spell of a symptom and you'll be back thinking the worst, I know I was like that anyway.
Just please take comfort in knowing so many including me are going through the same or different symptoms of anxiety, as that is 99% what this all is, try to take control of your thoughts and if you find keeping busy helps take your focus off things then do more like that!
I won one of those stupid metal puzzles in a cracker yesterday where you have to get out the hoop from the puzzle, it took me hours but i swear the whole time I was trying to get that loop off I didn't have one symptom!
Have a lovely Xmas and try relax!
lana07071 samantha2828
Posted
Ahki samantha2828
Posted
Thank you so very much. This anxiety is horrible. I know now this is what it is but i can't create a "turn off" switch. It just comes from no where. But after reading so many entries, yours is the first one i read that mentioned leg numbness. I thought i was the only one experiencing that. It would seem realizing that now, it would just ease the mind instantly, but it doesn't Why not?
Needhelp_asap ImAnon
Posted
Hey there! I've been dealing with GAD and health anxiety for months now and I can assure you this is just your anxiety as I've experienced each and every symptom anxiety can cause and each time I'd get so freaked out until I finally realise it's all due to anxiety. It's a vicious circle and can be really exhausting to you and your body. The past days I've been having the same. I went out with a friend and was feeling dizzy/lightheaded and weak, as if my legs didn't want me to walk. I seriously felt like I was gonna faint multiple times and I was freaking out that I had something really bad with my health. When I came back home I still felt it and even had a little bit of fever (37.0 C which is no fever but I bet it was caused by anxiety) at night I felt better and more calm. I assure you it's just anxiety. As for the tingling and numbness, I had that in my head and my hands. Best of luck,you're not alone and I wish you to get out of this horrific state soon! You and all of us!
ImAnon
Posted
Thank you all for the kind words and reassurance.
To those suggesting an ECG, When I went to the ER the first thing they had me do was take an EKG.
The Doctor said everything was perfect and I didn't really even need to have an EKG done.
I'd be open to requesting an ECG but I'd hate to go through an annoying test for a pointless reason.
Most of my symptoms have been improving since I've been reminding myself it's all anxiety (thanks to this forum)
I started getting these little headaches and head pressures that come and go and that's been a big trigger for me lately.
But after reading more posts here about these symptoms being HIGHLEY related to anxiety i'm starting to feel better about this as well.
67man ImAnon
Posted
Just reading these posts helps me realise I'm not alone.Unless you have been through anxiety related symptoms,its hard to make others understand how it can take over your life and turn it into a living nightmare
I'm currently suffering major dizzyness ..mind fog
After a panic attack at work that came on with no warning reducing me to a quivering wreck,needing to attend hospital convinced I was having heart attack..Its my second attack in 3 yrs , after medication last time I had no recurrence and thought it was a one off.But it returned with a vengeance...its been a week im still suffering the after affects...I'm sure just like me its hard to believe that just the wrong thought process builds up to physical symptoms that can ruin your life
I'm to return to doctors today ..will proberly be medicated as its not settling down ...I don't mind anything to relieve the fog...
lana07071 ImAnon
Posted
I hope someone can identify with my problems and give advice. A month ago while at the computer (I am on for many hours a day), I felt an electrical buzz/zap in my head for a split second. I was slightly dizzy inside my head and when I moved my eyes right and left I was dizzier. SInce then I have had weird symptoms come and go RANDOMLY, during the day, very rarely while sleeping/lying down: heavy tired eyes, especially on the right side, which comes and goes randomly (I call it rock-cloud eye), lightheadedness and/or slight dizziness-not vertigo. Occasionally nausea. Neck is a bit achy and when I move my head in yoga circles, it makes a grinding noise, so I dont do that. I noticed that I clench my teeth a lot and lean forward in a stressful position while at the screen- as though I am about to head for combat or something! The weird thing is that sometimes I am just fine, think it is over and gone and then boom. Some days are really good, others bad, some mixed... I am wearing a neck sponge roll thing to see if it is from my neck.
At first it caused me to panic as I did not know when these symptoms would happen, and if I would suddenly faint and worse... I cannot study as I should and am way behind in my research.
I saw my internist, an eye specialist and a neurologist. They were not impressed, Neuro felt there was no need for a CT scan. He told me to take valerian to be calmer. I go to an ENT on Sun evening. I am sick of this, want my life back and scared and worried.
Edit
michael32821 lana07071
Posted
Hey Lana,
I just read your post and it resonated in a huge way with me. I have had a lot of the same symptoms. My strongest symptom is a feeling like I am rocking on a boat all the time. Basically every little headache, shooting pain or anything else I feel, I fear the worst. I have been to the ER and had an EKG, blood work and a chest x-ray, all normal. I just recently saw an ENT and he also did not seem impressed and basically they all think it's anxiety related. I go in for my follow-up with the ENT on wednesday after a VNG so I will keep posted on whats up.
Have you been able to find any relief? I just want you to know you are not alone! I have been battling depression as well, so I am sure that's not helping the situation.
Best of luck :D
lana07071 michael32821
Posted
edie87712 lana07071
Posted
You have pretty much described my issues- from random head pain, tired eyes, dizziness, anxiety. I also have job that keep me on the computers all day. Some days I feel fine, other days feels like my life is slipping away. I have had heart tests. My primary doc says it is anxiety. Just so frustrating. I been reading a book lately by Elizabeth Stanley, called Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma. She talks about anxiety and these bodily symptoms and sensation. We try to rationally talks ourselves out of feeling what we feel through our rational brain but that does not work. We need to access our thinking brain and our survival brain. I am about to read it again. I read it once but need to read it again and again. It is a dense book. More than any other book that talks about using mindfulness to help with anxiety, her work and research address bodily symptoms and sensation.
Just wanted you to know I understand and you are not alone.
christine88468 ImAnon
Posted
Recent years Is a lot of research on these things.. for me it helped a LOT reading books. How to be happy in the 2010/2020s by Victor Hagen was the most important one for me. Read whatever works for you
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YY2400 ImAnon
Posted
Hello ImAnon,
I'm sorry about what you are going through and I'm writing because it all sounds familiar to me. Have you looked into MCS or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity? I started having these symptoms for the first time this year. I was having brain fog, confusion, lack of appetite, nausea. My sensitivity was to my new car's interior. It took me a month to figure out what was wrong with me. I quickly sold the car but I researched this condition and learned of all the other things that could trigger these problems such as new carpeting, pesticides, cleansers, solvents, new furniture. There's even the condition of electrical sensitivity to things such as cell phones, computers, and power lines.
More recently, I was feeling brave and test drove another car, this time I was sick for 3 days. First, I almost passed out. I then experienced bouts of crying for the first few hours, memory loss, anxiety and depression like no other I have felt before, and a weird pressure feeling on my forehead. I also experience problems with articulation and coordination. It's awful and scary and I feel disabled and am unable to work. All in all it took about 10 days to feel like me again just from a 15 minute exposure to the toxins in the car that I am sensitive to.
Please look into this condition and research what may be chemical triggers in your environment. I don't want anyone to have to suffer from this.
Best wishes to you.
erin_63969 ImAnon
Posted
I too have had all these symptoms. It helps to know I'm not alone, but I hate to think of another person suffering like this. It has taken over my life lately, it comes out of nowhere. I don't even feel stressed & suddenly I'm light headed, feel faint & nauseus. I've had ekg's, mri's, cat scans, I've seen specialists. None of them can give me an answer. Last appt at ent he suggested MdDS. Now I'm waiting for vestibular physiotherapy. Hoping this helps a little.