I did not mention the paxil in my other thread you are not crazy! I was taking paxil a few years ago when I was going through a divorce, and it helped soooo much with my nervous stomach. However, when the time was right, and I no longer wanted to be dependant on the med, ( it kind of made me blah) the withdrawl was like nothing else in the world. It actually felt alot like I do now. The question that I have is why would something like xanax help with the dizziness so much? Also do you have problems reading and focusing without getting really dizzy?

Hey DG,

I'm glad you stopped taking Paxil. I hear that for some people it can cause more harm than good - I am sure your withdrawl was difficult.

I don't know too much about these types of medications because I chose long ago not to take them, so I am not "up" on them. As I mentioned before, I did trial a medication called Amitriptyline with great results on alleviating my woozy symptoms.

But I did call my pharmacist about your question, "why would something like Xanax help with the dizziness so much"? Paxil and Xanax are not commonly used to treat dizziness; they are used to treat anxiety and depression. Paxil is a long-term medication, meaning that it needs to stay in your body and build up in order to work over time. Xanax is more of a "quick fix" medication, meaning it takes up to about 30 minutes for it to hit your system and start working.

It is not known exactly how these two medications work on suppressing anxiety and depression. However, it is known that they effect the way the neurons in your brain work. When a person becomes anxious, the neurons in the brain produce a chemical. These medications suppress that chemical, in different ways.

The pharmacist said that perhaps the Xanax helped you calm down faster (because it works faster), and that might have suppressed any dizziness you had RELATED to anxiety.

BUT, because these medications react differently for different people, it could have suppressed your dizziness in general.

And yes, I have problems reading and focusing without getting really dizzy. This could mean (for me) anything from jumpy eyes, to bouncing words, to not seeing clearly, to twitchy eyes, to my eyes feeling like they are not tracking....when I first had my symptoms, my eyes would roll back in my head when I tried to look at something up close. Awful.

I stopped wearing contacts because it felt like I was seeing "too sharp", if that makes sense. Totally threw me off. Thank goodness I still look cute in glasses. HA HA. :)

Hi dizzygirl,

I don't know your exact history, but if you have lab, then xanax makes you feel less dizzy by suppressing the signals coming from the inflamed or damaged vestibular nerve. Unfortunately because it suppresses the signals, it also hinders compensatin (your brains ability to learn to work in tandem with the damaged nerve.) For this reason people are encouraged not to take these drugs apart from in the initial acute vertigo phase that some experience.

best,

hbep.

Thanks Guys,

I feel like I need constant reassurance in the whole matter. Keep the good honest advise coming.

Hi Dizzygirl,

Just to add - the drugs I'm referring to are from the benzo family - xanax, valium etc... Many people on here have taken other anxiety drugs (not benzos) which can help them compensate. Too much anxiety can stop this happening. Thought I better clarify that. Depending on your inner ear condition, some people are given benzos by their doc, different conditions require different treatments.

hope you're doing well,

best,

hbep