Sudden brief dizziness, head rush and slightly faint feeling

Hi JJSshim and welcome!

Well it sounds like you have checked out medically, and due to your profession, I am sure that you received great care!... that is always a good place to start, and since it does not seem to be physical, then you can probably put the focus on treating the anxiety.

Did these symptoms come on before you started your meds? I just want to make sure that it is not a possible side-effect, rather than an anxiety symptom, as it can be hard to distinguish between the two sometimes..but it sounds like this has been going on for sometime, so assuming that it's anxiety, then I would recommend breathing exercises.

Not just occasionally, but twice to three times a day, plus more as needed. A lot of 'head' symptoms can be from hyperventilating, that you are not even aware of doing.

We have some breathing exercises is our Reource Guide, and I'll post my favorite here for you as well. It clears my symptoms up in no time:)

The Divided Breath:

Think of your lungs as having 3 equal parts: the top third, middle third, and bottom third. In one continuous breath, but divided into 3 parts, fill first the bottom and pause, then fill the middl/pause, and finally the fill the top third and hold if possible for a second or two. Exhale in the same manner, but reverse. Let out the top, then the middle, then the bottom third of lungs-remember to pause slightly after each part-finally pushing all the air out of the bottom third of your lungs to complete the cycle. Don't worry if you can't manage the whole cycle at first, it will get easier. The pauses will get more controlled, and you may be able to hold the breath for 3-5 seconds before the exhale, eventually.

This will prevent rapid/shallow breathing (hyperventilation) and put you in control of your breathing again, until your anxiety levels drop, and it becomes normal/automatic again:)

This has helped me through a lot of breathing episodes. Remember that breathing is an automatic response...until our anxiety gets in the way! Practicing these techniques will really help get it back to normal.

I hope that you will contiue to post with us...this is a great place for support and sharing!

Take care,

Scaredy Cat

Same Issue. Just logged on after seeing your post and this happening a second time in 2 months. It too happened after I was stressed. It felt like I had a "buzz" for about 5 seconds and I thought I was going to die. I am told it is anxiety.

Wow! I thought I was all alone with this frightening and debilitating symptom. I've had dizziness for 25 years, I'm now 50. Half my life plagued with never feeling, what I call, grounded. During my younger days, I guess I just dealt with it, because as of late, things have worsened. Like most of you, I've had an MRI, two CAT SCANS, an EEG, an EKG, prior to having hernia surgery, all are normal, except the neurologist told me, I have an empty sella, which is nothing to worry about and wouldn't be the cause of dizziness. I do occasionally get a head rush, that freaks me out, and basically bed rids me for a couple of days. Reading about others horror stories helps, because it makes you feel a little better to talk about it and to know, I'm not alone. Currently, we're trying a tryciclic anti-depressant, Nortriptyline. I've told every doctor I've seen, I'm almost convinced my problem comes from the back of my neck, which causes me tension headaches, which throws me out of wack, bigtime. I appreciate you all listening and this may sound stupid to some, but I say a prayer for all of you, I know what you're going through. God bless you all, and take care!

St.Kitt,

I am new to this forum so I'm hoping that this will post in the right spot. I wanted to reply to your post about the migraines. I too have been struggling with these same symptoms of what I describe as vertigo or off balance feelings. Immediately after though, I will go into a panic attack, especially if I am anywhere in public. Stress is high lately, too- It has gotten to the point within the last few weeks that I am afraid to go anywhere, esp by myself. I have been told in the past that it was anxiety after several tests came back normal. I have never agreed with that diagnosis alone because it is always a physical symptom that triggers it. Within the last year I went to an ENT and one of the docs told me that he thought it could be silent migraines and prescribed a med called Midrin. The only problem was, I didn't have the feeling often enough after that and never took the medicine, so I'm not sure if it would have worked. I was however taking Celexa for about 3-4 years- have been off now a year. Now that the feelings are back and frequent, I'm not sure whether to get back on the Celexa or try the migraine medicine- or both!
I was wondering what the doctors put your daughter on for the silent migraines, because the Midrin that my docs previously prescribed has been discontinued.
I hope you are able to get back with me. So thankful for finding this forum- makes me feel like there may be hope in ending these awful symptoms.

Hi and welcome!

As you can see you are in good company, and this is a common symptom among anxiety sufferers!

Have you had any therapy, or done any self-help management for your anxiety? I find that breathing exercises are really helpful for my dizziness. We have some great information in our Anxiety-Panic Resource Guide on our main page if you are interested.

We also have a migraine forum that you may want to check out. I believe that my dizziness is a combination of anxiety and silent migraines...sometimes it is a double whammy!

I hope that you will post often, and get the answers that you seek regarding your health and symptoms soon.:)

Take care,

Scaredy Cat

I get the dizziness and flushing feeling as well ... Mine usually comes on after a palpitation which I believe is a sign of panic and my body reacting to the feelings.. They are very scary but if I just try to relax it always go away although I'm left with anxiety of waiting for it to happen again usually get tired from these episodes and just want to lay down and sleep..

SBrown69

Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  Did you go cold turkey off of you Zoloft or wean off ?  When  a person stops Zoloft too fast a withdrawal syndrome may develop.  The sx you may experience  are nausea,  lightheadedness,  weakness, insomnia, and anxiety. These sx may last for 1-2 week or even as long as a month.

 

I am not famililar with withdrawal sx from Abilify as I have never used this medication. 

It is good to read that your common sx of anxiety have not increased. 

Kindly,

Kitt

This is so reassuring to know others have the same feelings and its nice to know I'm not the only one feeling awful :(
I'm finishing university and seem to be under a lot of stress, all though I don't feel that emotionally stressed I feel that over 3 years of having lots to do it has almost become a feeling I dont seem to notice or let it get to me like some do like crying and feeling like they want to pull their hair out!

Yet I am getting the EXACT same things described here, I suffer from heart palpitations which has been linked to my stress of finishing uni (says the doctor) but what I have got recently is when I am trying to wind down for sleep, maybe watching tv on the sofa, or reading on my laptop at night I get this very quick (about 5 seconds) rush, feeling like its coming from my chest of this dizzy falling feeling moving up from my chest, but then I sit up and try and almost wake myself up out of it as I'm too scared to see what would happen if I let this dizzy falling feeling take over me. Almost feels like I'm falling asleep but a fainting sleep.

I am guessing it is related to Anxiety now I've read all this forum topic, I will definitely try the 3 step breathing technique described tonight as I'm sure it will happen again.

Hi,
I almost choked when I read your symptoms - mine EXACTLY!! I am on a waiting list for some counseling: I just wanted you to know that I'm on a low dose of anti-anxiety meds now, and since. I've had only one minor episode; quite a relief cause those symptoms s**k!! (It's been over a month now)
I only read the first couple of postings so I hope you're doing ok now.

Sue

I have the same thing going on right now. I've had every test run in the book by medical doctors and then a naturopath recently discovered that I have adrenal fatigue syndrome which causes GI issues, liver issues, heart issue (due to immune issues and overworking), and of course anxiety. I'm having a difficult time getting it in check and have been having a lot of dizziness to the point that I nearly black out (with palpitations). My hands and feet will sometimes go numb, I have a terrible taste in my mouth and bad breath, i have persistent pains in my upper abdomen... my tongue will even go numb at times. I constantly have canker sores and now that I'm on an adrenal supplement, which takes up to a year to correct, I get fatigued. My muscles twitch such as my index finger constantly moves. My left cheek (on face) twitched for about a week straight. I sometimes see spots in my eyes or at times the color of something I just looked at gets stuck (i.e. looked at red car and now red color stuck when i look around for next few seconds). I have frequent chest pains, so of course I've had 5 EKGs, 2 chest x-rays, and a heart screening over the past year. I've also had ultra sounds, CT Scan, endoscopy (with biopsy), colonoscopy, hydascan, eye exam, and a lot of bloodwork. I recently pushed hard to understand natural remedies, so I started zapping and have had a huge release of parasites from the body, I've done two liver/gall bladder cleanses (hulda clark version) and had a bunch of stones pass, and I'm now on a myriad of supplements that cost upwards of $300 a month, but I'm actually starting to feel a little better; this is also how I found that my adrenal glands are malfunctioning. The test was consistent with a major stress point in my life a little more than two years ago which was probably the catalyst to everything I'm now dealing with now. It turns out that the adrenal function goes hand in hand with anxiety in many cases, so it may be more than just the emotional, especially if it's been lingering for some time as this can in turn cause the adrenals to malfunction which causes a vicious cycle.

Hi syz

Thank you for the informative post. I am sorry that you have gong through all of that you have with anxiety and its effects...but I am glad that you have found what is working for you, and now are on the road to recovery!

I wish you the best in getting everything back to working order with your immune and adrenal system.

Please post with us anytime regarding anxiety issues. We are here to support eachother, listen and help where we can.:)

Scaredy Cat

Hi Morne and welcome,

I am sorry that you are dealing with this symptom as a result of your anxiety, however, you seem to be on your way to recovery with the things that you have already done in terms of treatment...Great job!

As you can see, this is a pretty common problem, so know that you are not alone in experiencing this.

I believe that a lot of dizziness can be attributed to improper breathing. When anxiouus, we tend to hyperventilate...and no, not the obvious 'sucking wind' type...but simply rapid shallow breathing that is not even noticable.

This changes our actual blood PH, which then gets circulated to all of our systems and organs...it's no wonder we start to feel weird.

Breathing exercises can often reverse the problem. Even if you are already doing these as part of your therapy...try reallly focusing on them when you are symptomatic and see how it works.

At the top of this page I posted 'The Divided Breath', my favorite breathing tool. It is simple, effective and can be done anywhere.:)

Keep posting with us. It is helpful talking with others who understand what you are going through.

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy Cat

Hi Flipsake and welcome!

I have had similar visual trouble, and chalk it up to anxiety. I often get woozy when looking at a panoramic view (think the Grand Canyon) or looking up at something tall like a really tall building or tree.

What have you tried as far as anxiety management?

Keep posting with us...it is helpful to talk with others who understand. Feel free to start an introductory thread of your own in you like.:)

Scaredy Cat