Hello, I am new here and have found this site to be a life saver. Thank you very much for sharing your stories. I was hoping someone coudl help me with a question…
If I am taking Verapamil 180 mg for two months, and still feel a fuzzy dizziness in my head along with surges of dizziness, should I take .25 mg Xanax as needed during the day. Never more than three per day. Is the xanax making my dizziness worse? Should I be on a sedative at all? Should I be on anti-depressant such as Effexor? I have been diagnosed with MAV for two months. An ENT Dr. told me today not to take Xanax at all because it would make me more dizzy. He said I should do PT therapy. I had a good MAV Dr. in Ca. that I have trusted, but I had to leave the state and am now in AZ. so I had to find another Dr. is just and ENT and does not understand MAV
I take xanax as needed and take .5 and don’t experience any more dizziness than usual at all and feel more relaxed. I hope this helps answer your question.
Spinning lady,
Most people get some or significant relief from some form of benzodiazepine. Personally, I use klonopin. Valium and klonopin have especially long half lives, so it sticks with you longer and has a smoother onset and taper. Xanax works well, but with a much shorter half live, you can get more “waves” as it enters and subsequently leaves your body.
In regards to an antidepressant, would you say you have any depression, insomnia or hypersomnia, and/or anxiety? If so, then it might behoove you to try it.
Kelley
Hi Everyone,
I am 66, and have been married for 46 years. I have been active, tennis player now golfer, retired, just a good, busy life, 2 sons, 3 grandkids. Suddenly about 7 years ago, I started getting migraine headaches. Not often but I took an Imitrex and it was gone. Then started with the most violent attack of vertigo where it would just suddenly hit and take me right to the floor and get violently sick. Only lasted for a 5 min. or so, but took me hours of bed rest to recover. Over time I got more vertigo until last Nov 2011, got a terrible one and did not recover and stayed dizzy and off balance and scared and didn’t dare drive. I was diagnosed with MAV. I had never been dizzy before, just the hard vertigo, but now I’m dizzy 24/7. I am on 180 Verapamil. Tried to go to 240, but made me too sick. I’ve been on 180 now for 2 months.
II have an appt with Dr. Timothy Hain in Chicago. My first Dr. is great but I don’t live there anymore and he said Hain is the best. Anyone agree? Anyone been to Dr. Hain??? I see he seems to like the combo of Verapamil and Effexor. I think I need something MORE than just Verapamil, as it just isn’t making me feel much better, jut spinning and surging of vertigo but it stops short of the hard spin, probably because of the Verapamil.
I need to get rid of this MAV. I hate it. It has stopped my life, and now my husband has to do housework and actually cook ( just a little humor ) so he wants it gone, too.!!! Anyone have any good experience with Dr. Hain??? Does this ever go away? Am I too old now to get better??? I am a spinning lady for sure and need help. I do take a half of one .50 Xanax when I feel a surge of dizziness so bad that it makes my eyes cross, I can hardly and I cry. I never take more than 3 little pieces of the Xanax in a day. Id that making me more dizzy? It seems to just calm me down. Anyone out there know what I’m talking about here???
Very sincerely, Spinning Lady
What I learned real quick on this forum is that everyone is different. With me, I take 1/2 of .25 and it helps me with the dizziness at times up to 50%.
Especially at night. I know benzo’s are supposed to be used short term only. My doc friend told me that her friend has taken them for 1 1/2 yrs and trying to stop and it has caused alot of problems. I myself will probably take it up to 2 months.
Do you feel more dizzy when you take it? From what the doc told me, xanax works best in smaller doses. So maybe you can try a smaller dose. .125 works great for me.
I’ve been taking Xanax for 15 years and the amount has only gone up a tad (.5mg more per day) for a total of 1.25mg per day since getting the horrible dizziness April 2011. A person can use up to 10 mg of the stuff per day with severe anxiety. I have had panic disorder since I was 15 years old and I’m soon to be 44. It has been the same amount and my doctor even yells at me to stop suffering with anxiety and “take the damn pill”. I also take an anti-depressant to help with the panic. I have found the Xanax has only helped me and not hurt. It has gotten me through some of the darkest times with the stupid MAV. If you stop taking it and you’re still dizzy then there is your answer. If you take it and feel better, even if it is just more relaxed, then it is worth it in my opinion. My neurologist added a beta-blocker for my preventative med to also help with tachycardia. I think all pills have the possibility of making a person dizzy-the only way to know is to experiment.
I’ve been taking Xanax for 15 years and the amount has only gone up a tad (.5mg more per day) for a total of 1.25mg per day since getting the horrible dizziness April 2011.
— End quote
Over time I thought you needed to take more and more benzodiazepines to get the same effect as at first. Your experience with Xanax suggests that it is not so simple.
I get a good effect from benzos and would like to take a slightly higher dose. However I am worried that in the end I will find that I need the higher dose to get the same result as before I increased.
Wexan—there might be a day or two where I end up taking more than another day but then go back down to what I need to feel calm and comfortable. I’ve always been very careful and aware of what I take. I’ve always had the fear that it would stop working or I would reach the point where I couldn’t take anymore. If a medicine is working you shouldn’t require more of it unless something changes. Many doctors are scared when it comes to benzos and I am blessed to have one that knows her stuff and trusts me. She is a psychiatrist (for the panic disorder) but understands my MAV and works with me to get the doses right. I don’t look at it any differently than someone who takes insulin for diabetes or any other condition. You adjust as you need until you get a therapeutic effect. That being said, I don’t just pop Xanax until I’m knocked out. It takes the extra panic away when the dizziness is really hitting me.
rockyksmom,
Thank you for answering me sometimes. I really appreciate it. It just doesn’t seem real that this has happened to me and I know that I need to face up to it and it feels good, selfishly, to know that someone out there understands and can really know what this feels like.
I am taking verapaml 180. 2 months now. I tried 240 but made me really sick and feel horrible. I tried effexor 2 days ago, with spliting the real effexor not the generic, and took a third of it in applesauce. I have been sick, so dizzy, skipped 2 parties, one today that was a bridge party so my husband went haha!! but there are 7 couples and he sits in now and then. I just stayed home and felt horrible, tried to sleep today and couldn’t, only got a few hours of sleep last night. I swear I only took a third of that capsule of effexor and it poisoned . I was wondering if a person could just have ONE drug, not a cocktail of drugs, and get better? I would like to stay on verapamil and maybe try to up the dose someday when I feel brave and ready for some real pain, but I am so afraid of the dizziness and sickness feeling. I hate effexor. I have read so much about it and how hard it is to not only get ON it but to get OFF it. I don’t want that in my body. I am seeing Dr. Hain Mar. 23d and i know he will say to go ON it. I am going to tell him NO. oh dear. I am so glad to see your name sometimes on these posts. Wish I knew you. I am a grandmother, but a young one and am not ready to just sit around and spin!!!
Rockysmom-
I take Paxil 40mg and 300 neurontin qhs (for anxiety) and have been on Nadolol-too low of a dose of 15mg and was getting low blood pressure. Just went to the neuro and he suggested I taper off the nadolol and up the neurontin by 100mg until I am up to 300mg tid. If that doesn’t work then we will add toprol small dose to that. He wants to have only one variable at a time. I hate doing this merry go round of med experimentation. It sucks!!
Hello Spinninglady,
Just want to say that I’m sure you’ll get better and be able to enjoy life again. This nightmare you’re going through will stop when you find the right meds for you, which might take a while but it’s worth persevering. I was 71yrs old when this hit me & have 9 grandchildren so I’ve been pretty fit keeping up with them all! The dizziness, imbalance, nausea, migraine, etc. hit me in November 2010 and my busy life came to a halt! Fortunately I have a wonderful husband who took over to run the house, etc. It took me while to realise that this wasn’t going to go away in a hurry & months to find a doctor who knew what MAV is & how to treat it. I tried three different drugs before having one that suited me (Prothiaden) which is a tryclicic antidepressant. It has taken me six months of slowly raising the dose before I felt the balance & dizziness recede. Each time I upped the dose I had a few days when I felt worse. Maybe I could have got there more quickly if I’d been brave & tried upping the dose sooner but like a lot of people here, having had a drug that makes you feel worse you get very anxious about medications. I also take a low dose of Ativan if necessary.
I know what a nightmare this is and you just want it to STOP. Members of the forum who have seen Dr Hain say he is very knowledgeable & I’m sure he’s not going to force you to take something you’ve already tried which made you feel awful. There are lots of meds he can suggest and will help you find the right one for you. This doctor is one of the best so try & stay positive and determined that you will get your life back. Good luck
Barb
Thank you, Barb. That was such a nice note you sent and made me feel better. I am 66, and have 3 grandkidlets. ha! They are adorable, ages 21, 20, and 12. I hate for them to see their G’MA sick and miserable. They call me G"MA because they either text or email me and it’s quicker than writing Grandma, I guess. lol
I am going to reread your letter again and do more research and I will get back to you. Thanks and hugs to you, Meredith (spinning Lady)