Hi all,
I was just wondering whether there is anyone on here who has MAV but did not suffer with anxiety or stress (whether diagnosed or not) prior to having MAV?
I have noticed that most people with MAV also seem to suffer with anxiety (I don’t mean anxiety as a result of MAV but anxiety as a condition on its own) and I wonder how much the anxiety is actually the first main trigger for MAV?
Thanks,
Char
I wasn’t anxious or stressed before getting MAV, I was always a pretty laid back and philosophical sort of person.
I found the anxiety kicked in a few weeks after getting MAV - firstly more for situations that would cause a trigger in vertigo (e.g. driving or shopping) but more recently a more general anxiety level. It’s odd as my vertigo symptoms have pretty much 90% gone now but I still get daily headaches and feel much more anxious than I used to be.
stewjay what meds do u take? yup i have had generalized anxiety disorder my entire life and was probably borderline ocd. since getting mav my heart pounds nonstop and i get chest pain from the nonstop anxiety. people on here make the argument that mav happens to super anxious worrying overachievers but there are tons and tons of those people out there who never develop mav. i personally think its just random.
I’m currently taking Nortriptyline, been on it about 2 months now. It’s really helped with the dizziness and visual vertigo but the headaches are still pretty bad.
It’s odd as I thought the dizziness and anxiety went pretty much had in hand but now I’m of the opinion that the dizziness, headache, anxiety, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, nausea and low mood are independent symptoms of the condition. That said when I do get moments of zero headache all the other symptoms disappear.
do u have any unsteadiness walking and does the nori help with that? what dose are u on?
My anxiety was kicked off from the vertigo and assault on my vestibular system. At first the effect was purely physiological and then when I wasn’t getting better I began fretting bout the situation myself. Gone now.
I believe the more the experts find out about migraine (in all its forms) and anxiety (the kind that is clinical and life altering), the more the two will be connected with the same parts of our brains and the chemicals, etc.
I have had panic disorder since age 15 and used to have this weird floating weird feeling starting at age 4. One seems to feed the other now. I had the MAV big bang just over 2 years ago but have very few days when I don’t have either anxiety or dizziness. I feel like the constant “self checking” makes my anxiety worse. Stresses I used to be able to handle in stride are now triggers for dizziness which leads to more anxiety and so on.
I pretty much have zero anxiety. I’ve had some anxiety but most of the time it was purely situational and not long term. I do believe that anxiety is a huge trigger for MAV and that’s why it’s good for those that have it to get it under control with an SSRI. It’s a vicious cycle isn’t it?
I was also not anxious before I got Migraine I’m very laid back and don’t get phased easily. I got anxious after about three weeks of having migraine, I had the headaches first and then after about 2-3 weeks I got MAV, MAV left me after about 4 months of having it. It generally just gradually improved till I no longer had it. I have never suffered with MAV since. I no longer suffer with anxiety, I suffered with bad anxiety for about 4 weeks during the worst of my migraine. I’m back to my normal laid back self. However, I suffer with pins and needles continually in the base of my skull, no pain and pressure in my nose and left cheek which comes and goes. I no longer think I have migraine but have occipital neuralgia (I.E a nerve has got compressed somewhere under the muscle) which is often caused by migraine. I could probably live with the symptoms I have. It doesn’t stop me from doing anything I want to do and I live a normal life. I don’t drink tea/coffee or eat chocolate. I think low or high levels of seretonin can cause anxiety and migraine effects the seretonin levels in the brain and stomach. I have never had a bad migraine since April/May of this year.
julia do u think it got better on its own or do u think the propanolol knocked it out? are u still on the drug? wow i cant imagine having zero anxiety lol- i think i would literally have to be dead- and im talking pre-mav here. i think i was anxious from birth!!!
mavprincess did u get anxious when it seemed like the effexor wasnt working as well? did u end up making any med changes? how r u feeling now?
scottt it sounds like the paxil isnt working perfectly bc u mentioned u had a spin and fell over before and u were looking to try propranolol. do u get anxious when things like the spinning and falling happen? i think this crap is the scariest thing on earth basically u guy are amazing not to get anxious over it.
I think I just got better on my own. I took propranolol for about 4 months and then discontinued it around November and have not been any worse/better since. I’m now on amytriptyline 25mg since around the 4th of December and I am no different on it, no worse or no better. Anxiety is a hard thing to have to deal with. I sometimes think the anxiety part of migraine is harder to deal with than the migraine itself.
Thanks everyone it’s good to know that there are some people with MAV who weren’t anxious before. I guess even though I’ve got all the info and the explanation from the doctor when I’m telling people I have MAV I can tell they just think I’m crazy or a hyperchondriac or something. All because I suffered with a little anxiety first. Oh well 2014 is a new year and I don’t care what they think anymore!! 
why even mention the anxiety to people at all??? its not relevant to why you are unwell- you have a neurological disorder, and leave it at that.
I have only told my close family, friends and work colleagues about my dizziness. They already know about my anxiety. As I’m sure you can appreciate anxiety can be hard to hide!
I haven’t had anxiety at all… either before or after becoming symptomatic. There was a period after I became progressively worse that I experienced some situational depression. I don’t have that anymore and have come to terms with my issues. It’s hard to imagine someone not becoming depressed to some degree when their life changes so dramatically…
but how can the symptoms not make one anxious i dont understand it???
I ask myself this question often! I never thought I had anxiety. My MAV hit during a very stressful time at work and I think I did develop symptoms of anxiety about going into work due to an abusive boss. Things are much better now but I still have similar symptoms. My heart does race and I do feel anxious during an episode. I get disappointed in myself like it is something I am causing or can prevent. When I think it through though I ask myself how could I not be anxious when my ears are ringing, hearing is going in and out, I’m seeing things tilted and feel like I’m moving when I’m not. It’s hard to stay cool as a cucumber when my vestibular system is taking me on an adventure–especially at work…
siomav is the propanolol helping a lot? i cant even imagine working with this crap i dont think i could handle it although i already had bad anxiety before any of this crap started. are you able to work full time still? i really admire anyone who works with this issue i think it is amazing!