| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| yogaluz |
Posted - 12/11/2008 : 11:47:20
Sorry if this gets long. This is my first posting to the site though I've been following it for some time. I first diagnosed myself as having TMS about 13 years ago after suffering from years of debilitating back pain. I've managed to keep my back pain at bay for most of that time using Sarno's techniques. Then I began experiencing heart palpitations about 9 years ago which have grown progressively worse. I basically have an irregular heart rhythm most of the day and it is particularly bad with exertion. I've managed to maintain a fairly active yoga practice as my exercise but can no longer run or bike without sending my heart into painful irregular beats. I've been thoroughly checked out by MDs and Naturopaths and I seem to be in perfect health and have been told to simply ignore the palpitations which I try my best to do. Despite using Sarno's methods, they haven't gone away but I just live with them the best I can without letting it interfere with my life.
About 7 years ago, I was feeling so anxious about the palps, that I was put on Celexa to help with anxiety. I was one of those unfortunate souls that had a near psychotic reaction to the medication. I dropped 30 pounds in 6 weeks, couldn't sleep etc. but was told to stay on them because eventually they would work. After about 3 months, I started to feel "normal" again and then spent the last 7 years trying to get off the medication. My withdrawal symptoms were always so severe, I would go back on the medication but at a smaller dose.
This past spring, I started experiencing extreme dizziness. As always, I went in and had a thorough check up complete with MRI, blood work etc. Again, I'm in perfect health. My doc suggested going off all medications to see if I might be having a reaction of some sort. I went off everything, including vitamins and finally, those damn anti-depressants, and my dizziness subsided within 2 weeks.
The problem is that my dizziness has now returned with a vengeance and I'm no longer on the meds. I had gone back on my vitamins but am now in the process of going off of them again to see if there is something going on there.
Half my brain is telling me that this is a TMS equivalent and the other half is telling me that my episode and subsequent use of Celexa for many years has had an impact on my neurological processes in the brain. Along with the dizziness, I get these sort of brain zaps that are sudden and very sharp rather than the woozy dizzy feeling I have most of the rest of the time. I also feel a lot of pressure in my head which seems like a vascular issue. This is truly the most difficult symptom I've had to tackle because it effects brain function and my ability to think and logic my way through it.
Life has been extremely stressful my whole life and there are some stressful events that have just occurred and some that are looming (a potential move to yet another far away place where I would have to start over with friends, work etc. - I've moved around most of my life and feel very disconnected and lonely). I know there are plenty of reasons for a TMS type attack to be at play here but reading through some of the other posts on dizziness and in Sarno's books, I don't see any explanations of what the mechanism is for this. Is there vasoconstriction in the brain, or to the inner ear? What's the neurologic component and is it possible that I've suffered some sort of damage from the medication I took?
I know I'm an anxiety case but would so appreciate any books, stories, helpful insights wrt to the dizziness issue specifically and palpitations as well. Despite my best efforts, I'm not having any success in ridding myself of this on my own. |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| yogaluz |
Posted - 12/14/2008 : 15:52:11
Thanks for your responses. I've been trying to journal but nothing's really coming out. Yes, I'm worried about moving, yes, life feels overwhelming right now but so what? That's the way it is. We need to move for my husband's job so we can survive - I can't seem to muster any rage around that simple fact of life. I've spent years in therapy and processed my childhood stuff so I don't feel like revisiting that. I dunno. I'm stumped. This feels way beyond my control: why do I feel worse today than yesterday when nothing new has sprung up? why, if I continue to focus on the psychological, is my dizziness still hanging around? Maybe there's something buried in there but I can't seem to pull it out. Thanks again for your responses... I'll just keep chipping away at this |
| hottm8oh |
Posted - 12/12/2008 : 08:27:03
Seven years ago I went through several different anti-depressants during a really difficult emotional time in my life. The last drug I was on was Paxil. It took me several months to get off of the Paxil because I had very similar symptoms--dizziness/lightheadedness, jitteriness and a zapping sensations. I described it to my doctor as feeling like I was being electrocuted. I slowly got off of the drug, to the point that I was taking a half of a Paxil once every ten days. You would think that a low dose within a long span of time wouldn't be effective, but it was. It lessened the side effects until I could come off of the drug completely.
If you went cold turkey on the Celexa, you might still be experiencing withdrawl symptoms. You probably did not do any permanent damage to yourself from being on the drugs. Celexa is the type of drug that takes time to build up in your system to be effective, and it also takes time to leave your system.
Though I do agree with miz that you should address what's going on in your life--the stress, the anxiety, dealing with the constant feeling of not being mentally "with it". It's very stressful to not feel in control of your brain. I'm dealing with some severe abdominal pain from diverticular disease at the moment, and I've tried several medications, some of which made me feel "out of it". I decided that most of the time I'd rather tolerate the physical pain than feel mentally incapacitated. Sometimes things like brain fog, dizziness, blurred vision, "out of body" type of feelings are harder to deal with than the physical pain. |
| mizlorinj |
Posted - 12/12/2008 : 07:06:17
HI. What jumps out at me is what is going on in your life right now. First thing I'd be doing if I were dizzy is journaling about my fears (I have several books that equate dizziness with fear). Fear of moving, fear about new friends, explore that a bit.
Also, interesting tidbit I got from a TMS guy awhile back about heart palps: when you feel them check your wrist pulse. Chances are they are not in synch which means the palps are actually NOT your heart but the muscle around it. I thought that was very interesting! My brother developed what he thought were heart palps (and medically treated them as such) when he had a specific situation arise at work that he was furious about but had no control over. He made the emotional connection later, and even his doc suggested it was a stress issue. When he left that job, he stopped taking the drugs. No palps since!
Why fear if you've done damage from the drugs. You took them, it is over. Move to where you are now and what you can do to help yourself right now.
As far is the exact explanation as to what could be going on in medical terms, can't help with that! LOL Truthfully I don't usually delve that deep when I have a symptom. I focus on what I can do now to rid myself of the cause of the symptom (usually journaling).
You said you've been checked by docs and are in good health. So how about approaching it as a mind/body condition and start getting the feelings out by journaling. At least give it a try. It has worked for many people.
-Lori |
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