Hey just wondering if anyone ever feels sorta faint all day long?...or has ever felt that way... It's Weird today Ive been feeling off, but only as far as just feeling like a lightheaded might pass out type feeling...sorta like on the boarder of a panic attack all day long but never going full blown...it's freakin me out and of course it comes after a day of feeling half decent... just wonder if anyones felt anything similar..thanks. utah

Hi Utah...sorry to hear you're getting cr*ppy symptoms like that. While I don't think I ever felt faint, I did have many days where I was on the verge of a panic attack - all day! It really sucks man. That sort of stuff stopped happening for me once I got onto the meds.

Hope it stops for you SOON....Scott

hey utah,

i think you have "brain fog". i discribe it like living in a vivid dream on my bad days. sort of similar to you i guess. how long has this been happening for? it wont hurt you in any way, you wont actually pass out, its just a pain in the keister. lots of us have it here.

Captain,
My body hasa rule--never two good days in a row--it just won't allow it. Yes Ive had that feeling.

Hi Utah,

I feel like this most days. Although my neuro thinks my problems are inner ear, nothing had been proved and I feel like many of my symptoms come from my neck. Any neck extension or tension in that area or looking down makes me feel strange and lightheaded and like my head is floating off somewhere. Any exertion makes it even worse and yes I feel on the verge of a panic attack alot with this. Wish I knew what was going on. I sympathize - its not a nice feeling :(

Chris

Hi Utah,

Yep I get that feeling pretty much every day... for me it seems that I get that feeling more than any kind of hardcore dizziness. Basically I feel like i'm permentantly in a daydream, I get that lightheaded brain fog which I'd really like to say goodbye to one day!! If anyone knows how to get rid of it please let me know!

I also know the feeling very well. Sometimes I feel like I am in a glass jar looking around or that I am alien in my own body. I absolutely cannot handle these spaced out feelings! I just want to be back to my normal self again. I can't even consider working at my desk all day for 9 hours and I've been off for 3 weeks. When will this ever. Oh yeah and now my anxiety is so bad that I constantly shake or tremor. Does anyone else feel like they can just never relax?

Kendall

HI there,
i get the exact same feeling too. When i get it, it ussually lasts all day also. The faint feeling causes me alot of anxiety and I have panic attacks. You can also have a similiar feeling of unrealiness or being unattached just from having alot of anxiety. Nothing that can hurt you.... just frusterating, but you arent the only one.

Feels like Im always a little drunk or drugged or something...I know what you all mean and to say it sucks is a major understatement..... I hate the glass jar feeling..my vision does some funky tricks to me and I really hate it when it feels like my eyes and everything else are out or rythm.....anyway....dang it all

....Oh yeah and now my anxiety is so bad that I constantly shake or tremor. Does anyone else feel like they can just never relax?

Hi Kendal,

Yup, had this too and for a long time. I still get some very light buzzy/shakey feelings in my body but rarely now. I'm still aware of my heart beating when I lie down too...that's been constant for about a year now but it's easing more and more. Don't let it run you down for too long if that's what is happening.

Scott

I'm still aware of my heart beating when I lie down too...that's been constant for about a year now but it's easing more and more.

I know EXACTLY what you're feeling there, Scott. Whenever I try to lie down and relax that beating causes me to stir a bit. It may be because we are now so sensitive to movement that everything is perceived to be at a higher level.

Yes I get that feeling.

It's weird because some days I will feel completely lightheaded and out of breath. A feeling like I have to by lying down or I will pass out.
Then some days I get the feeling like everything is foggy and foreign. Two different feelings depending on the day. It is quite annoying.

That's exactly it krisdance, 2 different feelings....how do you function in your everyday life as far as work or whatever else?...very curious and interested. Utah

Hey guys!

I know exactly how everyone feels. I've had constant dizziness/Vertigo for the past 2 1/2 months. Its now got to the point where its making me feel sick. I feel like I'm gonna pass out at any moment but never do. I feel spaced out all the time. I've been to my doctor and because I've been suffering with ear problems since dec 2003, he says thats probably the cause.

I hope everyone is as well as can be.

Take Care

Kelly

Well, Captain, that has been a major problem for me over this past year. I am a student in college and I work as a dance instructor of all things. So you can imagine how much I've missed work because of this. It's impossible to go and dance w/o being dizzy so it's been very hard. I actually feel like giving it up because I have so much anxiety about it. We are starting the season next week and I don't think I can start for another while yet. My other job is at a restaurant and, although it is uncomfortable on the foggy-headed days, I can get through it as long as things aren't really spinning fiercely. As for the lightheaded and pass-out feeling days...I don't function. That is a major problem because the feeling comes and goes as it pleases and I never know when I'll have a good day. Actually around April was the first time I had the pass-out feeling and it lasted for about 7 days straight. I missed so much school right before finals and of course I missed work the whole time. Whether or not I would have actually passed out, I don't know, but it certainly FELT like I would whenever I got up from laying down. Even while sitting I felt faint, lying down was my only help so I spent the whole time at home. I guess my condition got worse over the months from September to April because at first I would just get dizzy/spinny and foggy headed but never nauseous or faint. Now I just have it ALL! This inner ear thing is making my whole body ill and it is driving me out of my mind...literally! I have also developed severe OCD besides the common anxiety that inner-ear sufferers experience. Sorry to have gone off on a tangent Captain. So I guess my answer is that when I'm foggy-headed I can get through school and work uncomfortably, but I can do it. Then go home and lay down. As for the days when I feel like passing out...I am too afraid and insanely uncomfortable to even chance getting out. If this keeps up I seriously think I will have to give up being a dancer/dance instructor because it is hard enough trying to get to school and do school work in this haze. I really feel for all of you here on this board because I know that everyone has important lives and family, and I certainly know how this condition has effected my life/family in a horrible way. It's about quality of life and this just isn't cutting it. So sorry for the less-than positive post. But it's true that this is the worst non-life threatening beast out there and I really feel for all of you here and have you in my thoughts. I hope I answered your question Captain...probably not the answer you hoped to hear. If you wouldn't mind, please let me know how you deal with these feelings as well. I am very interested also. And the very best of luck to you!!! *hugs*

Morning Board!

This was a very interesting read here for me - Krisdance describes it well:

"...It's weird because some days I will feel completely lightheaded and out of breath. A feeling like I have to by lying down or I will pass out. Then some days I get the feeling like everything is foggy and foreign. Two different feelings depending on the day..."

When I first started having these symptoms, the most scariest and unnerving symptom was feeling faint, feeling "too light", and feeling 'weak'. Those sensations sent me into almost daily panic attacks - I felt like I was having one-long-drawn-out panic attack for months on end. The never ending panic attack: it was pretty bad.

I still get those fainty feelings on occasion, and with that comes a feeling of weakness and breathlessness. I also feel the need to be quiet and lie down; like everything is an effort. I feel like even talking is an effort during those times, dramatic as it sounds.

My symptoms vary, and I'm not sure what to attribute that to most times. But I have different symptom days as well, although almost every day I have that familiar sensation of moving when I'm not, or my environment is moving when it's not.

I used to have Severe Foggy Head when I first started having my symptoms - even my handwriting during that time was foreign looking to me; it looked more like child's handwriting. It was difficult to concentrate on or think about anything, much less to be able to do much comfortably.

Looking back, I can now best describe that foggy headed feeling as trying to put my arm through a sleeve with no opening. I KNOW my arm needs to go through there, but no matter which way I try, I can't find the opening.

I still have foggy head, but it's tapered now to being forgetful or absentminded (when noticeably symptomatic) during conversations and/or reading. I also think some of my foggy head feelings are headache related.

The forgetfulness is awkward to deal with moreso when I am at work, because sometimes I tend to - just stop - for a moment when I am in conversation or thought, which is awkward at times when dealing with customers. It makes me sound a bit ditzy, and I am not!

Hugs to all today. xo

hey wowwweee,

U hit it perfectly on the head. I just woke up one day I and felt as if I were flaoting through time. Almost as if if I looked ahead of me, it felt like I was on a conveyor belt moving in a straight line. I have now been going though all of this for 3 weeks. I can't work or walk for very long and they don'tr know what wrong with me yet b/c I just had my ENG. The worse part of all of this is the constant anxiety and panic along with the surrealness of the world. I continually look around at once familiar things and try and remember what my connection is with them. I have lost all connection with the world it seems. My eyes are tthe very worst part. I have floaters in my left eye and it's hard for me to focus or see in the dark. When I wake up in the morning my heart races because I feel as if I'm blind because it takes my eyes so long to adjust. Did u feel that also? I used to be very well spoken and now I find that I struggle to find certain words and I also stop mid sentece because I forgot what I was saying. Please tell me that there is hope in this. I seriously feel like I'm having a nervous breakdown. I can't think of anything else and it's eating me alive. I just want to be me again, will I ever? I'm so scared!

Kendall :eek:

littlemiss,
Thanks for the support, do u still feel surrealness all the time? What is your diagnosis? If my eyes are blurry and I have trouble focusing due to the inner ear, do u know if knew glasses will help me. I heard that you can't compensate until your vision is fixed? I really just need the eyesight back to normal?

Hugs

Kendall

littlemiss-

What year of your ailment are u on? Have you gotten any better, and has VRT really helped your vision?

Kendall you probably are one of the closest descriptions of myself I heard since I went on this board, but I know we all have one thing in common-fustration.

dback,
how long have you been this way? what is your diagnosis? Have you got any good advice for me on the vision thing? Anything would be appreciated.

Thanks
Kendall

Hi Kendall,

I read the anxiety and worry in your post. Yes, I understand about the constant anxiety and panic that results because of these symptoms. I became literally housebound for a while simply because the sensations that I was experiencing made me feel so unreal, so foreign, so strange, that movement caused me to panic, and that panic bled into all areas of my life. For a while I couldn’t bear to be left alone (not even to shower), I stopped going out, and stayed close to home. I didn’t trust my body with these bizarre symptoms to do much, so even a short walk or going to the grocery store threw me into a very highly anxious state. I had to be accompanied everywhere by a family member or close friend, and even that was tenuous for me.

Don’t worry about the eye floaters. Everyone has them to some degree and they are not a sign of anything horribly wrong with you. You are probably noticing them more now because of your highly anxious state. Just an FYI that as people get older, they sometimes will notice more eye floaters. I have them too, to the point where they were noticeable enough for me to contact my eye doctor. He explained exactly what causes them and why humans have them. Again, eye floaters are nothing to worry about. Mine actually make me think that sometimes I see a bug on the wall!

For anyone having any type of disequilibrium problem (which could include feeling floaty or disconnected), it’s normal not to be able to feel that you are walking normally and sometimes you may NOT walk normally depending on how much your balance is affected by the symptoms you’re having – and it’s also normal not to be able to navigate well in the dark. If your balance symptom is out of whack, so are you. And if your vision is also affected, that makes walking or doing tons of other simple things, even harder.

Sometimes I describe it (for me) as my eyes having to catch up to the rest of me. It sounds like when you wake up, your eyes are slower to wake up than the rest of you (so to speak)! Also, if you have some disequilibrium symptoms, maybe they are worse when you get up after having your head down after sleeping. My eyes sometimes feel that they “roll away” from me, and it takes me a little time on occasion to get my vision in tune with the rest of my head. But remember, if you look around, even on your worst symptomatic days, you can still see; you are not going blind. Remember to remind yourself of that when you thinking along those lines.

Your heart races as part of the anxious thoughts and feelings that you have. Feeling like this is a lot to deal with. It’s scary, strange, and can sometimes even make you and your body feel out of control because nothing feels right. Add to that just trying to do your usual routine, and finding that it’s too hard, well, of course you are going to have a racing heart. This is probably on your mind 24/7, so the first thing you think about when you wake up is your body and how it’s feeling and how it’s not working as well as you know it can. Yes, that can make anyone feel like they are having a nervous breakdown.

Yes, I also have trouble getting the words out. In the beginning with these symptoms, anything and everything was tedious. Now my symptoms have tapered down so I still have word finding difficulties in mid-conversation, as well as forgetfulness of using the right word for how to describe something. I also tend to have forgetfulness in general, moreso when I am very symptomatic. It’s very bothersome at work especially because I will either stop in mid sentence or forget my thought. I am extremely well spoken and smart as a whip, so this is difficult for me because I feel that this makes me appear ditzy!

I have had my symptoms for a very long time. I am still not formally diagnosed. Sometimes it’s difficult to diagnose inner ear or disequilibrium conditions. That is so frustrating. It’s easier to deal with what comes your way if you know at least what you have. I desire that so much – just a name to my symptoms.

My advice for you RIGHT NOW is to find a way to cope with the anguish and anxiety that your symptoms are provoking. In part, that means trying to be less afraid of them. And it’s VERY scary, I know. You may want to try to do something every day that scares you because it feels funny or awkward now. Like walking. Every day, walk. It doesn’t have to miles or even around the block, but it’s important for you to realize that even if everything doesn’t feel normal, that your body can still function. Walking for me was VERY scary because it made my symptoms worse. But I took it slow, and tried to get past the weird physical sensations. Pushing past the fear was difficult, but it was liberating as well because that allowed me to be calmer when things physically felt bad for me. I called it “practicing calm”.

Also, (and check with your doctor first), what helps me a lot is taking 500 mg plain aspirin and mixing it with a teaspoon of Children’s Liquid Benedryl (antihistamine). Just a thought, and it’s not for everyone.

The better you are able to maintain a calmer attitude towards what you are currently having to deal with, the better you will be emotionally, and that DOES help towards dealing with these symptoms. Easier said than done, I know. It took me a while to get a better handle on how I was reacting to my symptoms. It was one of the biggest trials of my life.

You may want to try some counseling (seriously) to help you find better ways to react and cope with your symptoms. I sought out some outside guidance because I really needed to deal better with myself when it came to things like my symptoms.

You ask if you will ever be yourself again? I’m sure with some time and patience (dealing with these symptoms takes p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e), you will feel better. There are still things I will never be able to do (amusement park rides), and sometimes there are things that I postpone doing during rougher times (like movies), but it’s how you decide to live your life WITH symptoms that makes the difference. That may be hard for you to understand right now, but truly, if you can deal with this, you can deal with anything. I have found that dealing with these symptoms makes everything else (so far) seem like a cake walk. I don't mean that in a sarcastic way at all. It truly takes a strong person to persevere through their trials, and THIS is a trial.

Big Hug. xo