Balance issues and anxiety

Ok, I just returned from a 2 week European vacation and I am determined to find out why I am having so many balance issues. I thought I'd reach out to the world here and find if there are people with similar issues. Generally, I feel fine. I sleep very well; eat well, financially solid, great family life. I am 62 by the way. Not overweight but could stand to lose a little belly fat of maybe 10 pounds.

Here is the problem that is increasing over the last year of so. I get really off balance sometimes. I've been cataloging it and it usually happens in the mid to late morning. After breakfast and some coffee, I'll start to feel a little light headed and floating sensation and off balance. No other symptoms. It hits me mid-day and than tapers down to non-existent by 6pm or so. Is this the anxiety kicking in everyday on me oncce I get going? Then when I am having dinner and maybe a drink, I've calmed down and I am safe at home not anxious about what is next?

Now I have noticed this is extremely aggravated in large department stores and grocery stores. Sometimes I have to leave the grocery store because I feel I am going to fall over. Shortly after leaving , it subsides.
While on vacation, I was having to walk some streets in London with narrow sidewalks and traffic buzzing by. This put me close to the walls and sometimes they were also curved walls. I was going nuts! It's really scary because you just don't know what is going on. Its been such a part of my life for the last year that I actually don't allow it to escalate and treat it as a temporary thing because it does go away as soon as I get out of those situations.

I think I am generally fit and exercise and eat very well.
I do have anxiety and one major panic in my life and GAD is probably in my genes.
Is this balance issue tied to that GAD? Or is it my inner ear? I may seek the help of a balance center here in town. Any comments about BBPV or if this could be what I experience?
Any feedback would be helpful from those that have similar feelings /issues and had success in combating.
Thank you.

Post Edited (TPA Balance) : 8/5/2015 11:50:16 AM (GMT-6)

I am having the same problem and yes it is very scary. I also feel worse in shops and waiting in queues. Sometimes very light headed and l do suffer from anxiety at the moment. I saw my doc a few weeks back and to my surprise she said my ear was infected. After anti biotics lm just the same. This is 3 weeks later. I also feel like lm leaning to the left.
You are not alone
Kind regards
Margaret

I

Thanks to those that replied so promptly - that's assuring .
I read once that the stimuli in grocery stores/department stores and high ceilings like a Lowes or Home Depot can be a cause due to the over stimuli of colors, narrow aisles, and the lighting used on large stores - florescent mainly. Does anyone share that explanation?

I take an occasional Xanex to calm myself and that seems to work well...maybe it also contributes to better breathing.
I know breathing is in fact an issue with me because at the height of the anxious moments I feel my diaphragm tightening which leads to a little known condition as costochrondritis. This is where the muscles between your ribs swell and cause pain (to the touch) warm feeling but dull ache to the left and under of the pectoral muscle.

Any information on that linkage?

This is all self diagnosed - I know that is stupid but I do a lot of reading on these subjects and they do sem to be linked.
Comments?

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/costochondritis/basics/definition/con-20024454

Hello TPA I also have floating sensation,unsteady ground moving feeling for 2years,but mine is constant 24/7 that's why I do not believe that in my case anxiety the cause,but if you have only epizodes of it and it's not constant so I guess it's anxiety.

this is the first time I've seen 'the grocery store' mentioned. Basically, this chronic subject dizziness explanation was at the end of the Mayo Clinic list of why people get dizzy.....essentially, if all else is ok, this is what you got! They just don't know :)

Chronic subjective dizziness. This is a specific clinical syndrome characterized by persistent nonspecific dizziness that doesn't have an obvious medical cause. Chronic subjective dizziness is associated with hypersensitivity to one's own motion. This type of dizziness is made worse by complex visual environments (such as the grocery store), visual motion (such as a movie), visual patterns and precision