Anxiety Causing Vertigo Or Vice Versa?


Oct 15, 2014

trigger warning in case you are emetophobic or xenophobic

Wasn't sure to post this here or on the vertigo/dizziness board, but since I know I am diagnosed with anxiety, figured it'd be worth a shot.

From what I have read, my recent symptoms correlate with BPPV: recurring vertigo with nystagmus for about 10-30 seconds which happens when I move my head up/down/etc. Reading these articles I was certain this is what I have, but the causes don't really measure up. It's more common in older people, I'm only 21. It happens a lot in head/ear trauma or migraines, neither of which I have. sometimes BPPV has no real cause and just happens apparently as well

What I do have with absolute certainty, is severe GAD for over ten years now. Not severe enough to be hospitalized, but severe enough that I dropped out of high school. My anxiety attacks often are accompanied and even triggered by feelings of nausea and dizziness. I've been emetophobic all my life. This made me think maybe my fear of feeling dizzy and sick is part of this vertigo that seems to have no other cause. i mean dizziness has always been a BIG trigger for me. I don't like wide open spaces, can't go on planes, just thinking about being on a roller coaster makes me feel sick.

The vertigo attacks will occasionally last a few days to weeks, but often will just occur once and not happen again for some time. It feels like it flares specifically when I think i am having some clear weeks, anxiety wise. Then randomly I'll wake up and the room is spinning. this isn't lightheaded and faint, this is carousel holding onto walls dizzy.

i'm sure others with anxiety can relate to the worry that something is actually physically wrong with you and not related to your anxiety. I guess I'd just like to know something. BPPV isn't curable other than surgery and exercises (that have not helped). It would be nice to be able to just tell myself it's just my anxiety acting up, or to just tell myself I have vertigo and to grin and bear it til it goes away.

I've tried other things too: keeping very hydrated in case of low blood pressure, iron supplements, i count calories already so I know i'm not just hungry and dizzy, propping myself up when i sleep

is it possible to have such a severe reaction to anxiety like vertigo when it relates so closely to your trigger?

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Anxiety Exacerbates Vertigo?

I can see from your posts that most of you feel that anxiety exacerbates vertigo, but is not the cause.

I have had fairly severe vertigo for about six months now. It starts with double vision, then jumping eyes/nystagmus where the world is rapidly moving downwards - like a sideways film reel, and then the whole world pitches forward as well and I am sick. At this point it is severe - I can't recognise my own son, or even stand up. Sometimes it lasts the day but often it is gone by late lunch, when school run is over.

The ENT had my ears, balance, MRIs done and they're all clear. I have " undiagnosed recurrent vertigo" and there's little can be done.

It first presented itself last May at a stressful time and at the end of a mild virus which was probably the initial cause. It stayed for five weeks and drifted away over the school holidays (I'm a single mum so holidays are much lower stress). However last year was a hugely stressful one. I have Bipolar and for the first time had to go into hospital for it in late August. This was a traumatic experience and after a few days, the vertigo returned and hit me like a ton of bricks.

I have had it ever since..over six months. For me, the big trigger for it is not movement or lights - it's *having to leave the house*. It starts right before I have to go anywhere, and particularly in the mornings just before the school run. Sometimes closing my eyes helps, sometimes it doesn't.

In desperation some weeks ago I went back to a Physio specialising in vertigo, who had previously told me she couldn't help me. She listened to me and said she thought I had gotten into a vicious circle of anxiety with it. : I need to go out -> causes anxiety -> creates vertigo -> heightens anxiety. And so on.

I have to say it makes sense, and my bipolar makes me prone to anxiety anyway. Funnily enough over two weeks ago I hurt my back and while it was healing, my vertigo disappeared! It was bliss. But it came back with a vengeance last Thursday. Did it stop because my brain was diverted elsewhere?

I have booked myself in for CBT with a good practitioner starting next week, and I'm learning to meditate. If you're still reading, thank you.

Has anyone any similar stories to tell or advice to offer? I would so appreciate it. Life is on hold, my default star is frightened, and I am quietly desperate.

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In the next three months, the vertigo (spinning) stopped, but I was left with an off-balance sensation, like I was going to fall to one side. I also had a rocking/swaying feeling. 

Those symptoms almost went away completely for a week. However, the vertigo suddenly came back a few days ago. I am feeling off-balance again. I have not visited the doctor, but I am extremely on edge because I am worried that there is something seriously wrong with me. I keep waking up with jaw pain and tense muscles.

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Constantly Lightheaded - Is This Heart, Anxiety, Or Vertigo?

I am 24 and female. Lately, I have been getting lightheaded when I get out of bed in the morning, or lay down. Occasionally, if I am lying in bed reading or watching TV I will feel disoriented or lightheaded, near greying-out. I put my hand above my head, like putting my hair up in a bun, I feel dizzy. A few times, my friends or It's Always Sunny make me laugh really hard, I feel lightheaded. It is winter in New England and when I go indoors from walking outside, I feel like I could fall over. This also sometimes occurs in the bath or shower. If I am laying down and I adjust my neck, sometimes I get what feels like a headrush. I have minor jaw pain, that comes and goes, and is probably unrelated. I am overweight (I have always struggled to lose weight), but I am in good shape. I ran a half-marathon a few months ago. This isn't constant, I would say this happens about 60-70% of the time. I feel better when I push fluids, but it is markedly worse when I am menstruating. It's not debilitating, but it is worrisome.

I went to see a nurse practitioner and she ran a few blood tests - iron, metabolic, and thyroid - they all came back normal. She also listened to my heart, and told me that sounded normal. My blood pressure is typically in the 103/61-64 range. The NP wants me to see an ENT, but I do not think it is vertigo.

(I have always had strange bouts of medical mysteries that have all be chopped up to anxiety. As a child, from about nine to ten, my earlobes, throat, and feet would swell for seemingly no reason. At seventeen, my left pupil would hyper-dilated. Never figured out why any of that was happening. Last summer, I was admitted to the ER for having chest and left arm pain. That was determined to be muscle spasms.)

Does this sound like anxiety, or something else? I'm sure it is nothing, but my mother is a nurse and she is decidedly concerned. Thanks for any help.

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24 Hours After Masturbation :: Anxiety, Shaking, And Vertigo Attack

19 year old, white, male.

This is kind of long. But I’m desperate and I need help. Thank you for your time!

First of all, a brief history of my medical issues.

6 years ago, I started having chest and back pains.

* Visited many doctors: Cardiologist, General Physicians, Chiropractors

- Figured out it was skeletal issues

* Found an osteopath who was able to "adjust" me every few weeks. Good temporary relief.

Began seeking out a more permanent solution.

* Heard of The Yardley Institute - a specialty chiropractic center that focuses on the Atlas bone

- Turns out my atlas bone was twisted 5.5 degrees, and was pinching my spinal cords, causing all kinds of pain

- They were able to adjust it, making me feel normal again.

- Unfortunately, the adjustments haven't really been holding, and I've been having to be adjusted every week or so.

Naturally, this has caused me some stress. I am constantly tired and unmotivated to do anything. I find myself short of breath, and in pain when simply standing. I loose balance, as if I were out at sea - my legs feel like they’re swaying underneath me. It’s difficult to walk very far because of this.

A month or so ago, I began having these strange attacks:

- Heart rate elevates significantly

- Excessive shivering/shaking. (Feels like adrenaline throbbing throughout my entire body.)

- I get clammy and cold to the touch

- Short of breath

- Pressure in head, like blood isn't escaping

- Pressure in chest and shoulders

- Naturally, very fearful of death.

- Absolutely no energy. I can barely move without being exhausted.

- Very dizzy + a lot of vertigo.

The first time it happened, I went into the ER, fearing heart problems again. They tested heart, blood, lungs, and did X-rays. Everything came back perfectly fine. They gave me some anti-anxiety medicine via IV in the hospital which seemed to calm me down and made me feel normal again. They dismissed me from the hospital without any medication because they didn’t want to say it was anxiety without more proof.

A few weeks later, I saw my life-long physician. He seemed to think it was anxiety, and gave me some minor anxiety medicine: Fluoxetine Tablets USP (10mg). I take these once a day, and they seem to calm me down overall, but do not prevent the attacks.

ALSO, I think the attacks I’m getting now that I’m on Fluoxetine are different than the attack I had which put me in the ER, even if they were extremely similar.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed something a bit concerning. Exactly 24 hours after I masturbate, one of the attacks happen. I notice that it originates in the back of my head, right where my neck connects to my skull. It always happens as I’m trying to fall asleep. Everything tenses up, and I feel as if I have to clench every muscle in my body in order to relieve this throbbing, dizzying sensation. It hits hard at first, causing me to jolt up, as if I wasn’t in control of my muscles, and then settles into the shaking, pressure, and clamminess. It comes in waves, each wave lasting 5+ minutes until it works it’s way all the way through my body after 3-5 cycles. I often have to hold someone’s hand or have physical contact with something sturdy in order to feel stable.

It is absolutely miserable and terrifying.

The last time I felt one of these attacks coming on, I was able to stand up, clench a pillow, and walk around for 4 hours, which prevented the full attack from kicking in. I was able to sleep eventually, but as soon as I woke up, all the symptoms came back, and the attack hit me. It’s was like I was able to hold it back long enough to sleep, but it HAD to get through my system, so it did so as soon as I was conscious again.

As far as diet and exercise: I do cardio nearly every day as well as take multi vitamins, fish oil, D, and C. I haven’t had alcohol or a smoke since my ER visit, but I hardly ever drink or smoke anyway. I’ve also avoided caffeine except for the occasional soft drink. I eat healthy, especially of late. I try to limit cheap, processed food, as well as sugar, just because I feel like it only makes my symptoms worse. I have been tested for allergies and anemia, both of which came back negative.

Some more - possibly helpful - information:

1. Throughout all these skeletal issues, I have had my neck cracked and twisted in many ways by doctors and myself. I try not to crack it, but sometimes, It helps reduce tension that builds up.

2. Occasionally, I get muscle twitches. My tricep, under my eye, my neck, etc. They don’t go away until I wake up the next morning.

3. For the last 6 months, I have been trying to find work and a car. On top of this, I am hung up on a girl. I want to ask her out, but I am unable because of all these physical and work/car issues. Spiritually, I am constantly terrified and confused. Basically, I have major worry about my future, and I can’t fix it.

4. My anxiety and symptoms always get worse near the end of the day. Sometimes, I can’t focus on anything during the evening’s without feeling vertigo/dizziness.

5. I’ll often wake up with symptoms, but they’ll go away as soon as I eat breakfast.

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symptoms:-

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