Today i managed to drive to work a bit scary but i did it and off and on for most part i haven’t been too bad. taking a bit of valium of course but i don’t get it why we have so many ups and downs from hour to hour.
I took a tiny drive since that’s the scariest thing to me right now and i did okay but i still feel funny when i get in the car. Still can’t tell if anxiety or motion of the car. It’s so strange that’s all i can say. It’s hard because i used to drive sooooooo much and loved it sooooo much. past ten years have been very strange.
Well several people at work today with colds - i wish they would stay home that’s the last thing i want right now on top of this. I get frustrtated when they come in but i know that sometimes we have obligations and have to. :x I’d rather get one now than for Christmas though. Don’t want to be sick then for sure - i need to cook and i have time off and want to enjoy it.
I just don’t understand what i have and why it is the way it is sometimes but it seems like we all go through it off and on. :?
now i feel a bit dizzy/jumpy from going outside i used to always blame it on the pollen but it’s cold out today but the wind is blowing. Maybe this is MaV and no pattern to it at all and maybe the meds will help once i get a chance to take them (soon)
yesterday for the most part was a good day even managed the driving without too much trouble except a little dizzy but today driviing in i got dizzy and started shaking and even when i drove into work parking lot and turned a corner i started shaking like crazy and still am - i feel awful again. Must be a big anxiety component to mine or something. i may get brave tomorrow and start the celexa as much as i doon’t want to i can’t live like this. i am barely typing now. I have a meeting at 8 so i have to be here if after that i feel awful i can go home but i’m so sick of this - i get one “normal” day about once a week which i’m grateful for and then it all turns to crap again.
chris
sorry - just venting. i hate myself for all my fears and stuff
Hi Chris – what your describing is the nature of this when it’s totally “unplugged”. Your brain is just constantly cycling in and out of attacks. Driving is probably a trigger at the moment with the the motion, visual and multi-tasking it involves.
I would start on the Cipramil (Celexa) asap if I was in your shoes (I assume your doc gave you a script and clearance). Go with 5 mg for now. Expect that you may feel slightly strange at first on it while your body adjusts. This is normal and nothing to fear. You may also feel an instant calming from it as I did.
Chris - what you’re describing is kinda what happened to me shortly before I ended up at my neurologist’s office. However, I got the crazy creepy tingly numbness along with it, just enough to almost make me think I was having a stroke… before the horrible dizziness and then the mother of all headaches began. That’s when I just knew in my heart that I had migraines. Yep, I agree with Scott… low dose Celexa is worth a spin.
Gail
Hi Chris,
MAV is a wacky thing!
It morphs like crazy and mimics so many other illnesses.
I’ve been cycling for years and it has done some wacky unpredictable stuff. Get use to it doing one thing and BANG! it throws that out and adds something new. :twisted:
Crazy Sh#t this MAV.
My new meds are a " Fab" bandaid and it will happen for you one day as well.
The quicker you grab this thing by the B*#lls, the better and more likely and the more stable your recovery.
Don’t let it morph and cycle for too long or it grows into a viscous monster.
Whoa, Chris… Jenny makes an excellent point… That was exactly my personal experience with MAV - the longer it goes untreated/mistreated, the worse it actually becomes. Mine certainly got worse over a 3 year period - went from occasional afternoon dizziness to full daily onset life-altering MAV. Good point, Jenny. So glad to hear you’re doing much better as well. The improvement stories have been so important to me looking back before I actually even got an appointment with my neuro. You guys were the final catalyst.
Gail
Crazy Sh#t this MAV.
My new meds are a " Fab" bandaid and it will happen for you one day as well.
The quicker you grab this thing by the B*#lls, the better and more likely and the more stable your recovery.
Don’t let it morph and cycle for too long
— End quote
Wow Jen… I love your attitude to this! Most days I try to live my life as normal, determined not to let MAV stop me. However I’ve had a bad few weeks and it’s been too easy to just sit at home, letting my life pass and wonder “why me?!” The great thing about this forum is that the people here do show that having MAV is not the end of the world. Now I’m determined to get back to living my life, no matter how I feel this week and to look forward to when I get back to my normal level of mild dizziness. Right…I’m now off to walk to work in the lovely snow that’s arrived this morning and to make a mini snowman in my front garden
Hey JennyD
Thanks so much! Yes, I am much improved in a “short” period of one month, though I’m discovering that for MAVers it can be a an “action-packed” turbulent compressed period of time, as it has been for me. Managed to pack in two major dizzy migraine meltdowns and bronchitis all before Thanksgiving during my one month Topamax trial. However, I just gotta say this is so much better than most of my previous functioning over the past 3 years. I was in and out of 3 retail stores the other day and it didn’t dawn on me until I got home that I hadn’t melted down over the lights, music, shoppers with kids & carts. I do still need to watch it, though and had a bit of overload/triggered day yesterday. Do you also monitor food/beverage triggers??? That remains a source of frustration for me…
Gail : )
This thing is sooooooo strange - yesterday was pretty awful all day long - today i worked at home - so less stress but went to grocery store (drove) afterwards - no valium all day - i don’t get it - i felt almost normal again - getting a few better days than i used to a while ago so i’m grateful.
dread experimenting with meds but gotta do it prob tomorrow !!
Good on ya Chris. Grab the bull by the horns because sure as the sun rises in the East, it’ll flare up again and you’ll be wondering what you did wrong again – when, in fact, you’ve done nothing but drive a car. You’ve been in the trenches for far too long.
thanks scott - dreading it big time but at such a low mg maybe i won’t do too bad. hope it doesn’t cause more anxiety and dizziness and stuff - that’s my biggest fear. i’ll give it a try for a bit. if it’s really bad i’ll quit and try something else maybe even hormones or something.
everyone is telling me a little weight gain would be good - i agree - a LITTLE. not a lot
Chris, just remember that Denial is a great place to visit but at one point you just can’t live there anymore… Scott is right, you’ve been in the trenches/denial too long. I’ve been on hormones for 3 years… Listen dear, it only helped with a few other things but never touched the dizziness. That’s not to say that they can’t work for you, but MAV is hardly the same as menopause… It’s twenty times as nasty and much more devastating. In a few months you will kick yourself for not trying the Celexa and moving on. You just do not have a reference point to work with yet concerning MAV treatment. Do it, girl!
Gail
MAV is a crazy thing!! since I was 11, ! would have dizzy spells and not be sure what brought them on. I started to notice triggers but would randomly get it and had no clue what the heck it was. Fast forward to the present, I am now 29 and finally so thankful to know what is! Although I am rocky everyday, I am just thrilled to know what is wrong with me. Go for it Chris! Stick with it and try it out. Don’t overthink it and analyze it or you’ll start to "make things up.‘’ I had to make sure I wasn’t freaking out about starting the new drugs. Try to stay busy and here’s hoping it helps you!
Hi Chris,
Prothiaden has taken away my sex drive, it also gave me tension type headaches for the first week with a little dizziness, but that could have been due to effexor withdrawal.
That soon went away.
I sleep like a log on the stuff, so take it at night (75mg)
I’ve just started taking HRT, so I’m giving it a bit of time to kick in.
The HRT has calmed my “brain waves” down better than any antidepressant ever has, so lowering the prothiaden may be an option soon.
I had NO idea I had such a hormonal problem and just put all my symptoms anxiety ect: down to the Mav, but now it’s obvious that this just wasnt the case.
So hard to know when it such a slow progression to peri meno madness! :shock:
As far as weight gain goes, I have been on a diet as the effexor made me gain heaps of weight, I was on prothiaden before and didnt gain that much , but I was younger and working 6 days a week.
Agreed on the HRT calming effects, Jen. Chris, I probably overstated that HRT wouldn’t solve some of your problems… in fact, it can be quite helpful and some women do report dizziness due to hormonal problems. In some respects, maybe that should have been your FIRST line of attack to see how your body responds, then attempt to rule that out as a possible cause of dizziness. You never know. For me, didn’t touch it but has helped sleep some, etc. My problem with hormone, as with EVERYTHING else, is that I don’t tolerate much beyond a small maintenance dose of bio-identical progesterone…cannot tolerate estrogen/testosterone either due to headaches and weight gain, etc. In fact, I experience my very first classic migraine on the dinosaur Premarin back in 1990… Gross. However, as always, don’t listen to just my experiences since they do seem to be off the charts. Hang in there - can’t wait to get your Celexa report.
Gail : )
Hey, Chris… probably the only thing that would ever overshadow your fear would be the overwhelming discomfort and disabling dizziness and neurological impairment the comes with continuing MAV. I think the rest of us hit that point, and maybe it’s just not that bad for you. But, Scott’ analogy of being in the trenches is a good one… you can’t really fight this thing if you don’t come out. However, given your fears, I’d recommend you get in to see a doctor that will work with you on peri-menopause symptoms (you’re too young to be menopausal, right?? ). If you get some relief from that, then you don’t have to deal with meds!!
Gail
stay sane.