I feel for ALL of you, as I have been dealing with these symptoms (wooziness/spaciness/balance problems) for oh, gee, 11 years now. I have seen the gamut of doctors and happily, I am healthy, but still very symptomatic. I have been told it's benign positional vertigo, allergies, stress, migraines.....but no definitive diagnosis yet. I have several posts on the Inner Ear Boards.

These symptoms have left me a completely different person; phobic, scared to try new things, scared to do much. The wooziness/spaciness/disconnected feeling causes me to panic and not enjoy life very much.

One doctor thought I might be having migraines without the "usual" migraine headache pattern. He put me a 12 mg of an older prescription medication called Amitriptyline (one pill at dinner-time). The pills were 25 mg, and I cut them in half. This medication is primarily used to be used for treating anxiety, however, because it works so well in treating headaches, this is how this medication is used now.

Anyway, I took 12 mg every night at dinner, and within three days my daily headaches disappeared for the entire time I was on this med. This included getting rid of the wooziness, which plagues me more.

A common side-effect of this medication is a racing heart beat, so after a yer, I decided to stop taking it because I didn't like to feel my heart beat so fast. My cardiologist and regular physician said that it wouldn't hurt me, but I just found it unsettling. Within the year, my headaches and wooziness came back. The other side effect was that it made me drowsy, but that was nice because I took it at dinner time, so by the time the pill kicked in, I was ready to go to bed anyway. I slept well! And didn't wake up feeling groggy. But best of all, no headaches and NO wooziness.

I see so sufferers on here - maybe this may be a route for someone to try with their doctor's help. I hope this information helps someone out!

Also, I have recently been looking into some conditions that can cause these unsettling and scary symptoms:

- Mal De Debarquement (a feeling of motion when you are not moving).

- Migraine Vertigo/Migraine Equivalent (a type of migraine headache where the majority of the symptom is dizziness rather than the headache). This also may be caused by a lack of oxygen to the inner ear, which can cause imbalance feelings.

- Deafferentation (I am sure that I spelled it wrong). This is a condition where the electrical “synopsis” of the cranial nerves don’t emit signals properly, causing sensations of imbalance. This poor electrical wiring (so to speak) can carry over into other bodily areas, so you may have a feeling like you can’t swallow properly (which I have from time to time).

These conditions can be treated through Vestibular Rehabilitation (Physical Therapy) and medication. I have located a physical therapist in my area who is familiar with these conditionsso we'll see what happens.

If anyone wants to e-mail me, feel free. Today I am woozy-woozy. I know how it feels to have your day dampened by this. Take care.

jbovitz@veramark.com

Hi Everyone

Well I tried my first dose of chlorotimeton. I took the 12 hour dose last evening at dinnertime. It really spaced me out and after 20 hours I still can feel it. Whats up, am I just over sensitive to this stuff? I can't affort to take anymore because I am very busy the next two days with lots of driving. Maybe I should try the 8 hour dose and take it right before bed. Cut-Throat...any suggestions? White Sneakers thanks for your post. I am really interested in following up on the migraine idea, especially the Amitriptyline. I need to find a new Neurologist in the Philly area.

[This message has been edited by JoyceAnne (edited 04-24-2002).]

Hi
Last Night(Friday) I tried a 4 hour dose of C-Trimeton.I feel better, not so drugged but the lightheadedness is still the same. I will try this dose for a few days and see if it makes any difference in my symptoms.

White Sneakers, Could you tell me more about Amitriptyline. How much did you take, when did you take it and how long did it take before you started to feel better. Do you have any ideas why it worked? I seem very sensitive to drugs and often have worse side effects than my disorder. Did the Amitriptyline make your symptoms of lightheadedness feel worse at first?

Everyone: Are your symptoms seasonal or all the time. Mine are all the time with daily fluctuations in intensity.

White Sneakers

Thanks for getting back to me. I am sorry that just when you found something that helped with the problem, the side effects were to hard to take. This must be very frustrating for you. Do you think if you cut way down on the amitriptyline dossage you would still get the benefits and but not the side effects. I really sympathize with you because I also have a lot of trouble with medications. Im sure I give up on things too soon but the side effects are sometimes worse than the problem. I have an appointment with my regular doctor in two weeks and I will suggest the amitriptyline to her. I also want to check out diabetes, thyroid, allergy and hypoglycemia as these things can also cause the same symptoms. In the mean time I am going to contiue with the C-trimeton. I have been taking the 4mg. 2 times a day for 3 days. I want to give it a fair amount of time. Thanks for your help and good luck to you. Keep in touch.