So for the past 7 months I've been dealing with Labynithitis, anxiety, panic, depression, and depersonalization/derealization. I heard that a majority of all this was caused by the Labynithitis. I've had a eeg, ekg, cat scan, and countless lab work done and everything came back good. I saw an audiologist and she determined that it was labyrinthitis due to a little hearing loss in my left ear, and today I finally saw a physical therapist, he did the tests and he said that he's 100 percent positive that there is no permanent damage and I just need to re compensate from having it. Unfortunately today I have had a weird sense of depersonalization. I felt like I was going crazy, I was angry, nothing seemed real, I felt like I was going to just snap and end up in a straight jacket. Everyone including my therapist and doctor said that they think it's just anxiety, no depression, no bipolar, nothing but anxiety and dizziness from the uncompensated labyrinthitis. I'm confused on what to do from here. Does anyone else have almost constant depersonalization at times? I have ativan and valuim but they hurt the healing process... they haven't put me on an ssri yet for anxiety. I'm hoping that once I start doing my exercises that my anxiety will calm down. Anyone have any advice? Any good ssri meds for my anxiety? I tried lexapro and I couldn't sleep, eat, and I had major major headaches.
hi there Lockerby..i feel similar you you, and my left ear is half deaf for some reason, been like ythis for a few weeks, it,s so scary, doctor didn,t say it was labyrinthitis but he didn,t seem to know what it was..i feel spaced out and weird too..
sorry similar to you i meant to say..
Wow i have been battling this for six mnths i went through the therpy seemed dumb and simple but it seemed to help the depressing part is yhat anxiety makes it worse it came back again not as bad but ive never quite feltnormal sometimes walkn feels weird
I'm not a doctor but I would suggest trying Hydroxyzine, which is an anti-histamine. It is routinely prescribed to anxiety sufferers because of its anti-anxiety properties. I know you asked for recommendations on SSRIs but since you are not depressed and this is purely for anxiety, Hydroxyzine might be an easier route for you to take, especially after trying Lexapro and experiencing some harsh start-up side effects. Most SSRIs also have harsh side effects at first, and it might not be worth it to you to struggle through that if you can get anxiety relief elsewhere.
The typical side effects of Hydroxyzine are sleepiness, blurred vision, and dry mouth, and it is non habit-forming so you don't have to worry about getting addicted to it. It's considered one of the safer alternatives to treating anxiety. I actually just started taking it last night and this morning is the first time I have woken up without anxiety in months. I'd ask your doctor about it, and to give it a try. Hopefully it will help you. Best of luck!