Is this vertigo

[nh_user_966735]

So for the past few months I've been experiencing some symptoms.

Not dizzyness, and I nor the world seems to be spinning which I've heard is the main symptom of vertigo. Instead the way to explain it is fuzzyness, like my body kilts out of itself for a second sort of thing, with a lightheaded fuzziness that comes with tingling of hands arms and lips. I can also hear and feel my heartbeat in my neck face and arms when this happens.

It was on and off in small periods for the past few months but over the last week it's been constant. It happens weather I'm moving around or not, I'm not dehydrated and as far as I know I am not deficient in any vitamins nor am I anemic.

I went to my gp the day before yesterday and she gave me some tablets called betahistine that is for vertigo Tititus and various other similar conditions. One tablet 3 times a day, so I took 2 on the first day as it was already afternoon when I got them, I took one the day after as I forgot and today I haven't taken any as of yet as you have to eat with them and I'm not hungry yet.

The symptoms have subsided which is brilliant, I found it rather debilitating and couldn't move around much nor focus on anything as the swaying fuzziness of it all was putting me in an uncomfortable mood.

Anyway, now I am confused- I didn't think it was vertigo in the first place but the tablets seem to have helped so far BUT surely if it was vertigo or any of the other conditions those tablets treat, wouldn't it take longer than 3 days to take affect?

I've had my eyes checked recently and they are fine, I wear glasses when reading and watching television but other than that all is okay.. the gp checked out my ears and they're fine too no swelling or redness as a sign for ear infection. My blood pressure was normal and I'm due to have a blood test next week to check everything is okay even though I only had a blood test a month and a half ago.

So my question is, does this really sound like vertigo and if so how can the tablets take affect so quickly? Will the symptoms come back? (I'm not sure if vertigo is a constant thing or comes in patches ect) and if it IS vertigo will I need to be on medication permanently for it or during times of high symtoms OR is there a way to cure/ manage / relieve symptoms without medication?

Also if this does not sound like vertigo what else could it be, any suggestions? Thanks (:

[nh_user_46005]

Forestflower, do you think it's possible you might have been hyperventilating? I'm not suggesting you're crazy or anything like that. I used to hyperventilate when I was stressed when I was young and still occasionally find myself doing it now, in old age.

This is when you unconsciously breathe too deeply and/or too quickly. Unless you're alert to it, you can do this for quite long periods with absolutely no awareness that you're doing it. It's completely harmless and self-limiting, but can cause some unpleasant symptoms.

When you over-breathe you "rinse out" too much carbon dioxide from your blood. Although this is a waste product of respiration, the body needs to retain some of it to maintain the blood at its correct pH. If too much carbon dioxide is lost, the body becomes marginally too alkaline.

The symptoms are a vague sensation of dizziness (but without spinning), mild nausea, general brain fog, tingling sensations of the extremities and particularly the lips, progressing to stiffening of the fingers if an attack goes on for a long time. In addition, I sometimes used to get an odd feeling that parts of my body weren't where they were supposed to be during these episodes. Mad as it sounds, I used to feel as if my feet were on back-to-front!

Feeling your heart beating isn't a symptom of hyperventilation, but it often happens when you're stressed or anxious. Since you've seen the doctor, I'm assuming he did a basic check of your pulse, BP etc. to make sure there was no obvious problem.

Antihistamines are actually quite good at calming mild states of anxiety as they have a general dampening-down effect.

I'd say see how you get on with the antihistamines. You could also try sitting quietly during an attack and making a conscious attempt to breathe just a little less often than you need to. You'll need to take an extra deep breath once a minute or so to catch up with yourself, but this can be very effective at stopping an episode of hyperventilation. If you don't feel you can control it by breathing exercises or antihistamines, you should go back to your doctor and ask for a referral for investigations. However, I wouldn't advise accepting full-on anti-anxiety meds (which some doctors are very keen to dish out) as these have a lot of side-effects and are very difficult to come off.

I'm also wondering whether you wake directly with the symptoms you describe, or they take a couple of minutes to come on after you get up. This is often a good way to differentiate anxiety-related symptoms from other causes.

Finally, remember that you don't have to be mentally ill to experience mild anxiety. We all go through it from time to time in our lives, often without realising we're anxious. In the end, I came to value my hyperventilation symptoms, as they helped me spot when I was getting stressed or anxious about something, but without admitting it to myself!

[nh_user_1036236]

Does not sound like vertigo at all. Can you hear your heartbeat and other sensations in your body a lot? L