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what does it feel like?
Y'all ever have vertigo or panic attacks?
- Thread starter deeblondbuzz
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Well they're very different things. Panic attacks I get. Sux like nothing else you've ever fealt. Like you're going crazy and or are going to die. I have to leave wherever I am in a hurry. I usually get nausiated (often puke) and also get diarrhea.
It starts with a flood of heat washing over my shoulders and tingling in my arms and hands then my head spins, I have to look down and leave. Then comes the heart pounding so bad I think my heart is going to jump outta my chest, can't catch my breath then comes the tears.
Good times.
It starts with a flood of heat washing over my shoulders and tingling in my arms and hands then my head spins, I have to look down and leave. Then comes the heart pounding so bad I think my heart is going to jump outta my chest, can't catch my breath then comes the tears.
Good times.
:bowing:
Yeah puked last year at Soldier Field (Chicago Bears football stadium you Southern Bell you).....good times.:surrender:
I have had Vertigo 3 times this year. Everything is just spinning, sort of like if you get off of a ride in an amusement park too fast. I get nauseous as hell and it still feels like the wold is spinning when I close my eyes.
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I'm not having the spinning part, but objects moving when i'm sitting still....feels so strange. Did you every have any ear pain?
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I have anxiety pretty much on a daily basis; my heart races and I feel very uncomfortable...keyed up, I suppose? I've had one official panic attack and it was during that outpatient partial hospital program I did several months ago. It was horrible...I couldn't catch my breath, felt like I was going to pass out, sounded like I was hyperventilating. The only reason I knew it was a panic attack was b/c I could hear voices around me saying, 'panic attack!'*, lol.
I figured if I was going to have one, that was the best place to do so. And up until then I didn't know for sure if I ever had a panic attack! I guess I have mini-attacks, lol.
*ETA: the voices were the other people in the group/program, not the voices in my head!
I figured if I was going to have one, that was the best place to do so. And up until then I didn't know for sure if I ever had a panic attack! I guess I have mini-attacks, lol.
*ETA: the voices were the other people in the group/program, not the voices in my head!
Exactly. For me, it almost feels like an out of body experience. Like I'm just floating and watching myself, if that makes any sense. It's like your whole body goes numb, and the room seems to spin.
I had them very regularly last year when I knew I was nearing the time to put my dog to sleep. At the worst, it was rolling panic attacks....like 5 or 6 a day. It was like there was no escape, and I was accomplishing nothing in my days. Mind you, this only lasted for about a week....but it was terrible, though I hid it very well. Finally, one Saturday, I had to put my in-laws' dog to sleep...and a couple days later mine started refusing her food. That was my breaking point, and I called my GP. They got me in for a same day appointment, and gave me a prescription for Xanax. That provided immediate relief from the worst of the attacks. He also gave me Lexapro, which takes a few weeks to kick in. The next day, we put our dog down. Two in one week. It was awful. I took the Xanax for a couple of days and then didn't need it anymore. The Lexapro I took for about 2 months, but found that it gave me disturbingly vivid dreams...not violent, just very, very realistic. So, the doc weaned me off that over the course of a couple weeks. He did say that there were other drugs that might help but not have that side effect...I opted to start running again and took up yoga.
For me, the Xanax was the key. I needed something to slow down my body's physical response so that the rational side of me could see that something sad was happening....but that I was not under some sort of immediate attack. Not sure if that makes sense (and the kids are all over me now, so it's hard to be articulate!). I am very much one of those people who holds a lot of stress if I'm not engaged in physical activity. I'm just prone to being tense....seems like it's my wiring, I suppose. The way I control it now is with yoga. I can't say enough what a difference it makes...I've learned how to breathe and slow down my mind. And then there's the challenging physical side. It allows me to stay calm and healthy, but without drugs. It's been a godsend.
Last thing (and I know I'm being lengthy for a non-regular around here) is that I found a fantastic book I read and worked through....it's called When Panic Attacks. Author is David Burns. It teaches you to ask yourself a series of questions when the attacks start, and I find that it's a key to defusing tension and stress before it blows up into a full blown attack.
http://www.amazon.com/When-Panic-Attacks-Drug-Free-Anxiety/dp/0767920716
Everything moves when I have vertigo. I don't recall any ear pain but know I have felt sharp pain in my ears before. Not like an ear infection but holy crap that hurts type of pain.
Sure, it wasn't the voices. I think those same voices are telling you that you need to rake my leaves. lol
Yeah hyperventilating......that's the word I was looking for. The last one I had was Easter morning. Once I puked, I was a little better but had anxiety the rest of the day and still do daily, but not terribly bad. I've learned how to nip it in the bud a little. Walking my dog helps a LOT. I still get very anxious when I start walking into a store, but push forward and it usually goes away quickly. I've only had to leave a store twice in a year.
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Thanks for sharing...and pffft...none of us are 'regular' around here! :snickers:
Geee...I would...but it's raining out. I'm sitting here trying to convince myself NOT to take a nap! :bowing:
Me too. I'm always tense.....for years and I don't know why. I don't work, my kids are in school, but every little things stresses me out.
I've seen that book on the net before.....mebbe I'll check it out.
Did your doc make you have a full physical before the Xanax?
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I had labrynthitis this spring, an infection of the inner ear. It started with a full feeling and an ache in my ears when I was outside. I thought that the wind was just bothering them. Later that evening, I started getting short dizzy spells when changing position and my ears were still plugged up, especially the right ear. The next morning, added full-blown vertigo. The world was spinning fast even when I was lying in bed. I couldn't do anything but lie still and try to sleep (and not throw up). I needed a lot of assistance to get to the bathroom, anywhere. All the doctor could do was to give me some anti-vertigo medication (which didn't work so well). It took about 3 days for me to be able to walk again on my own, and maybe 2 weeks to recover enough to where I felt I could drive, run, carry my preschooler, live normally. There is something similar called vestibular neuritis, which does not have hearing loss as a symptom.
I have some anxiety issues too (not really panic attacks) - not often with dizziness, though.
I have some anxiety issues too (not really panic attacks) - not often with dizziness, though.
I had one anxiety/panic attack. It happened when I was at working at home, late one night & reading work emails. Opened one from my then boss, he laid me off via email [the cowardly ****]. I was shocked, started having very bad dry heaves. Then it felt like someone dowsed me in gasoline & lit a match. It was awful. Took a few hours to calm down, by doing breathing exercises.
Called my doc at 7am & saw her a few hours later. She gave me a Rx scrip for ativan, which I took nonstop for a couple of weeks to keep the attacks away.
Haven't had another attack since.
I know that paroxysmal positional vertigo can sometimes be quickly alleviated by the slow roll maneuver.
Called my doc at 7am & saw her a few hours later. She gave me a Rx scrip for ativan, which I took nonstop for a couple of weeks to keep the attacks away.
Haven't had another attack since.
I know that paroxysmal positional vertigo can sometimes be quickly alleviated by the slow roll maneuver.
You STILL haven't had a check up?
I had 1 panic attack...we were on vacation a few years ago, took a cruise to the Bahamas =). We were at our last stop in Key West. Decided to go snorkleing. As soon as my body touched the ocean I started to FREAK OUT!!! Hyperventalating (sp?) and just getting really anxious. 1st off I dont swim well and I am sacred to death of sharks!!! They give you a very very VERY lightly inflated flotation device. They actually had to throw me a floatie to calm me down...DH stayed with me most of the time to calm me down, I really thought I would get over it...but I didnt. But I was able to let DH go off and leave me to do some looking around. No more oceans 4 me!!!
mrsmom, he just did a quick exam that day. And then he sent me for bloodwork to be done when I had the time. Prior to that, I think it had been probably 2 years since I'd seen him. I was very nervous to go...felt like I was going to get a 'crazy' or 'hypochondriac' stamp in my chart (kind of like Elaine got on Seinfeld for being a difficult patient). My doc and his nurses couldn't have been kinder. I'm very much not a pill type...but I truly needed something short term to help me break the cycle I was in. That said, Lexapro, the anti-depressant, did have benefits in that it absolutely helped reduce that 'baseline' tension I always have. Kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy all the time...but not in an eyes-glazed-over kind of way! I think it cost about $100 a month, though...when I realized I'd need to spend that on pills, I all of a sudden realized that I could take that $100 and put it towards a gym membership/yoga/personal trainer. Before, I felt guilty or spoiled spending $100 a month on fitness classes....but if the cash was going out the door anyway, I wanted to use exercise as my first line of defense and pills as second.
If your ears hurt and everything is spinning, you might have an inner ear infection. That is what happens to my husband when he has an inner ear infection. He gets them to the point where he had to have someone drive him home from work and stay with him until I got home b/c he didn't know what was wrong with him. He thought he was going to pass out and hurt himself. I rushed him to the immediate care and found out about the infection. Antibiotics helped clear it up. Hope that helps!
