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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Anxiety, Depression, Dizzy Spells, Spinning In Head. Underlying Cause?

Hello, I'm a 17 year old female, who suffers from anxiety and depression. I have always somewhat experienced "dizzy spells" but in recent months, it has got increasingly worse. Sometimes when I close my eyes or try to go to sleep my head starts spinning very violently, only relieving when I open my eyes again. After some research, I have discovered not only can it be an inner ear health problem, but it is also linked with anxiety. I thought that logically, because I have anxiety, that that should be the cause, but I thought I would double check, just to be sure. This is the first time I have consciously noticed that I was "overthinking" and having worried thoughts just before the experience but I have never really consciously noticed it before. Can anybody explain what it might be and how to relieve it?
Thu, 7 Nov 2013
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  User's Response
HI
Thank for asking to HCM
I can understand your concern as you said here that you experience anxiety and depression but the cause of your dizzy spell may not be related with the depression, other cause of this has to be ruled out first, and that is labyrinthitis may be due to viral infection, If I would be your Doctor then I would certainly put you on Betehistine 16 mg twice a day and this gives very good result, you can try this, be in touch with HCM for further help have great day.
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Addiction Medicine Specialist Dr. Preeti Parakh's  Response
Hi,

You are correct in saying that anxiety can cause dizziness and since there is a temporal relationship between your excessive worrying and bouts of dizziness, I agree with you that anxiety is the most likely cause of your dizziness. To confirm this, you can assess if you have other common signs of anxiety like palpitations, sweating, breathlessness, numbness, tingling, abdominal discomfort etc, which are not seen in inner ear disease.

While there are safe and effective medicines like SSRIs (sertraline, escitalopram etc) to treat anxiety, relaxation exercises are also beneficial if you do not wish to start medicines. Try taking slow and deep breaths when you become anxious. This will calm you down and prevent dizziness. Progressive muscular relaxation technique is also a good option and you can find detailed instructions on the net. Also try cognitive retraining by consciously identifying the worrisome thoughts and replacing them with healthier thoughts that provide alternate explanations. For example, when you get a thought that says you will do badly in the exams, replace it with a thought saying you are better prepared than many others and are likely to perform better than them.

Hope this helps you. Best wishes.
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Anxiety, Depression, Dizzy Spells, Spinning In Head. Underlying Cause?

HI Thank for asking to HCM I can understand your concern as you said here that you experience anxiety and depression but the cause of your dizzy spell may not be related with the depression, other cause of this has to be ruled out first, and that is labyrinthitis may be due to viral infection, If I would be your Doctor then I would certainly put you on Betehistine 16 mg twice a day and this gives very good result, you can try this, be in touch with HCM for further help have great day.