Linda,
The symptoms you describe may be due to panic disorder. It seems you have had extensive medical evaluation, with no physical cause being found. Panic disorder is treatable with a combination of medications (such as Zoloft, Klonopin, etc). and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Please refer to our forum archives for more information on panic disorder and depression.
Linda, Sorry to hear how much you have suffered. I'm glad to hear that you are on some medications to try and help some of those symptoms. Remember they could take several weeks to make a difference in how you feel. I too had a problem with dizziness and being off balanced for 2 years. After I went through all that you did with the MRI's and ear specialists, etc. etc., I went to an otolaryngologist, who specializes with the head and neck. He did an MRA which can show blood vessels in the head. The 8th cranial nerve controls balance and this nerve turned out to be compressed by a blood vessel in me. I had surgery to correct it and the dizziness and the feeling of being unbalanced is totally gone. The otolaryngologist can also have you try vestibular therapy to see if this helps instead of surgery. Hang in there and try to find support from someone, if not your family then maybe someone in a support group on the web that may be going through some of the same things. These medical problems can be very challenging for people and their families, but in time answers usually come and then help is not far behind.
thank you for your reply what is a mra and is it bad to have your blood vessel compressed like you did i worry about rupture of blood vessels like anurysm my mom died of that at the age of 37 they said it was none hereditary thow should i worry about this now? LINDA
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An MRA is just like an MRI. You go into the same type of machine and they take pictures of your head, but they inject you with a liquid that shows up the blood vessels. Nerves being compressed by blood vessels are not life threatening from what I know. What happens is the nerve and blood vessel "connect" to each other and the nerve gets pulled by the blood vessel, causing the dizziness. The doctors can go in and put something between the nerve and the blood vessel so they don't touch anymore. Some people have compressed nerves and never have any symptoms or problems from it,where others do. If there are any problems with the blood vessels in your head, the MRA should detect it.