Hi All,

I haven't posted here before as I'm usually on the inner ear forum. Briefly, I got nailed with labyrinthitis (inner ear bug) that left me with an anxiety problem. I thought I had it sorted until I caught a cold 3 weeks ago. Colds and other viruses stir up inner ear symptoms. With that came some new anxiety. It just arrives without reason. Anyway, for me it tends to strike at night (when it does happen) and not during the day. So I'll wake up at 5 am all tight chested, agitated and just feeling crappy. If I sit up in bed and meditate for about 10 minutes the whole thing simmers down again only to return about an hour later. Needless to say, it makes for a tough day because I'm tired from such a lousy sleep. Concentration goes out the window too as does my short-term memory. A real pain in the a**. I'm already on an SSRI to control it but just a low dose. I'll probably have to crank it up again I guess. Is anyone out there getting hit just in the nights? Very weird.

Thanks in advance......Scott

I also had an Inner Ear Infection 15 years ago that left me with permanent vertigo. I have the same night time anxiety. My problem we found was a fluid build up in the inner ear when I put my head down on the pillow. So I take a half of an Anti-vert before bedtime and sleep with 2 extra pillows to elevate the head. Also Xanax helps to calm the inner ear system so you may want to try that... Good Luck!! Gina

Gina - that's a very interesting take on it and one I hadn't thought of. Maybe fluid does build in my ears through the night especially after I get a viral stir (herpes being the main culprit) and then sets it all off by 4-5 am. Could be. I also thought that maybe serotonin levels drop naturally through the night and when you're on a low supply anyway, it just might be enough to wind up the anxiety symptoms. I really would love to know the *exact* physiology of this thing. At least I could address it more accurately rather than playing hit and miss all the time. Last night I boosted the dose of the Cipramil I'm on by just a couple of mg and slept well last night. Not sure if it was the drug helping or just the end of the recent upset from herpes!!??

JRC - yes, I definitely had some other *real* factors of stress contributing to the bad week. I am having problems with a colleague at work who is an absolute ego-maniac nutter. Anyway, as hard as I try not to let these things bug me, they still did for 24 hours - enough to push me even further. That really annoys me more than anything. Prior to getting the inner ear thing I would easily get over such things but now they take longer to shake.

Oh well....back to some meditation.

Thanks.......Scott

Hi there! I don't have an inner ear problem, but my anxiety used to only hit at night, like when I would relax to watch tv or get ready for bed. I think for me it was because that was the point in the day when I did finally get to relax, and would think about my anxiety.