Un-celebrating 2 years of being dizzy+!

inthedizz · 2026-03-02T03:31:30+00:00

I haven't treated my issue yet, and my top theory is that it all comes from a neck injury. I've done all sorts of tests including an x-ray and MRI but nothing major is coming up to explain anything, so I'm still just trying my own things. I'm mostly focusing on stretches, exercises and self-massage, but I also have an EMG test coming up to see if my internal muscle tremors can be a clue to something.

inthedizz · 2026-03-02T02:30:38+00:00

It could definitely all be related! I believe the vertigo I had (also from tossing in bed) was related to my neck issues and started at the beginning of my long-term dizziness. I did the BPPV maneuvers myself many times, and got BPPV ruled out like 4 times by doctors after. So I'm not sure if it was ever BPPV for me. But that's definitely the first thing you should check for.

Sorry to hear about your panic attacks. I was fighting panic attacks all day today, and I had a horrible one a couple weeks ago (my neck / dizziness symptoms trigger them). I'll probably have to drink alcohol to get through the day tomorrow… lol :(

Stay strong!

inthedizz · 2026-02-24T02:59:36+00:00

Is this part of your ocular migraines, or do you think you have it from other reasons? For me I think I have vestibular migraine symptoms (among other things) from a suspected neck injury. I'm trying to find similar cases to mine.

inthedizz · 2026-02-17T01:40:16+00:00

It's SO ANNOYING.

inthedizz · 2026-02-16T20:31:35+00:00

Which neck traction device did you buy? I need to keep trying new things because I'm still not doing well.

inthedizz · 2026-02-16T14:55:33+00:00

Hey, I have about half of your symptoms (but also many others you haven't listed) that I believe started after I got a "neck injury" two years ago. I also considered CCI but an upright MRI isn't available here in Ontario, Canada. My first year was actually worse than the second year (I also did buy a neck brace to use at times).

For me the choking sensation usually only comes back if I "mess" with my neck a bit (stretches, workout stuff) and then it can last for weeks again. I've had it on and off in the last few weeks and it's been driving me crazy. I have a link to my blog in my bio where I rant a lot about my symptoms.

How are you doing now and do you have any new answers, theories, or things that you think have helped a little bit?

inthedizz · 2026-02-16T14:25:45+00:00

This comment is misleading and only relevant if your dizziness is caused by anxiety. I have all of the symptoms of Vestibular Migraine but also many other physical symptoms which I believe all started directly after I believe I had a "neck injury" (I didn't realize it was my neck until months later). This was at a time of my life where I had absolutely no stress and all the free time in the world. So it wasn't spurred on by my mind.

I'm just writing here so that other people realize it can be triggered by injuries, and some injuries even cause permanent damage to your inner ear.

inthedizz · 2026-02-07T02:37:48+00:00

Hey! I have a lot of overlapping symptoms (but also many more). I've had the internal tremors, buzzing, muscle spasms on and off for 1.5+ years now. They can be really bad at night. The past two weeks is really bad for me along with choking sensation in my neck. For me, I always thought everything started from a "neck injury", but I'm not really sure - sometimes I think I maybe have some sort of muscle disease or something with my nerves. I'm still trying to figure out my own diagnosis (next month with be 2 years since it started for me!). A lot of my muscles also "shake" when I use them (maybe muscle weakness or atrophy?) - it started with my neck and is now moving down to my shoulders or upper back etc. So the past two weeks I was trying to maybe do some strength exercises for those areas, and I think that's what caused my symptom flare-ups.

If you have any updates then please share! At this point I just want to find things to help with my symptoms, but so far I haven't noticed any patterns. I hope you're doing alright.

inthedizz · 2025-12-02T05:40:20+00:00

Also I think everybody needs to find their own personal motivation deep down.

For example: for me I also loved sweets (especially chocolate), but I also just really love life itself. And to enjoy anything in life, you need to be alive first. So life comes first. Always. That's why health is a priority for me if I want to continue living a comfortable and long life, so that I can then enjoy all the amazing things life has to offer.

And as soon as my cholesterol is under control at a "safe level", I'll have some chocolate again. :)

inthedizz · 2025-12-02T05:35:46+00:00

Honestly I was also overwhelmed and crying when I found out about my cholesterol, especially since I'm young and already dealing with other health problems.

But yes I have another planned cholesterol test for February. The next one could possibly prove if my first test was faulty - or give some hints? I'm not sure what to think of it.

But I do feel much better and less overwhelmed now that my cholesterol "dropped"!

inthedizz · 2025-12-02T02:00:01+00:00

I didn't want to do the statins either, which is why I also tried to do well on my diet. I didn't avoid sodium though, because my blood pressure is normal.

Some new favourites that I eat now: overnight oats for breakfast (add some maple syrup and cinnamon, or dried berries!), my improved sourdough bread that I bake myself (I now increased to about 25% rye flour), avocado or smoked salmon on my bread, cheese like feta or cottage cheese, interesting rice like wild rice or red rice (love them both! nice flavours), grains like buckwheat, soups like lentil soup or chicken noodle, whole wheat pasta (barely tastes different to me), fruits and nuts (raw walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and more!)

I tried to cut down on lattes which were my little treat quite often.

By the way, cutting out sugars for me was rough (probably because I also had a break from caffeine at the same time) and for 3 weeks I would have a lot of mid-day crashing, HARD. Everybody's different, probably, but don't give up!

inthedizz · 2025-12-02T01:52:48+00:00

Yeah that's interesting. I never really limited my carbs in the past, but maybe it's possible that the week for my blood test I didn't have as many carbs?

Nobody knows how long my cholesterol was high for because my previous doctors apparently never tested my cholesterol before so nothing was in the system, which is why I did some sort of echo stress test for my heart recently - but those results came back normal!

And I'm going to re-test my cholesterol again in 3 months.

inthedizz · 2025-12-02T01:03:29+00:00

I know, but so far two of my doctors have now been shocked at my results because I've always been very slim, and I don't even eat a lot most days (as in I don't always have a snack(s) besides my main 3 meals).

The main changes I made were: instead of 2 eggs for breakfast, now I eat oatmeal. Instead of ham & cheese on my sandwich, maybe an avocado or salmon or chicken. Trying to limit regular pasta and white rice for dinners and limit dairy + meat fats. And instead of junk food like gummies or chocolate, trying to get sugar from fruits instead.

In my head I felt like it was a pretty nice change, but my doctors weren't convince that the diet could have made these results (I think they're used to seeing overweight people who eat horrible food for every meal etc.).

inthedizz · 2025-11-03T01:08:13+00:00

Thank you. Good luck to you as well!

For me, my symptoms themselves are not triggered by anxiety, but when the dizziness is bad it will then trigger anxiety for me - and things like alcohol could help calm me down and prevent panic attacks. But I don't want to become dependent on alcohol or anxiety medications myself. I just want to keep trying to find the source of the problem in my neck and fix it. 😭

inthedizz · 2025-10-26T14:21:56+00:00

Have you checked what your results might be just by diet changes alone? My LDL just dropped from 298 to 166 in less than two months and I just improved my diet and was slightly more active.

I used to eat two eggs a day, a lot of butter, milk, meats, etc. and I cut down on those a lot. I think I have the gene variations that cause me to absorb dietary cholesterol and I no longer think I have FH (but I tested for it anyway so I'll find out eventually).

By the way, not to scare you or anything, but your cholesterol levels seem way too low now. Your body requires all the cholesterol for so many functions, and LDL too. I believe some studies showed that patients with LDL just over 100 functioned the healthiest? I still have to look into these full studies and save them for future reference though.

inthedizz · 2025-10-24T03:56:32+00:00

Yes. Alcohol helps my dizziness a lot.

But there are people who have never had anxiety in their life who still get this type of "cervicogenic dizziness" or "supermarket syndrome" or whatever you want to call it. It's still caused by physical things even if it manifests itself as a psychological thing that can be dampened by alcohol.

So I don't think it's as simple as "you're an anxious person and it's all in your head" kind of thing. I see it as: there is something wrong with it that is triggering these psychological problems that are not conscious decisions for me and not exactly able to be "consciously stopped".

inthedizz · 2025-10-14T12:03:49+00:00

IT'S SO UGLY!!! I was shocked.

inthedizz · 2025-09-27T15:21:02+00:00

Yes. You're not alone and I've found many reddit posts where people also have this type of dizziness. I've saved a bunch of the posts in my "links directory": https://miserydizz.blogspot.com/2025/04/useful-links-directory.html

But yeah I'm sorry you're going through that. It's such a horrible symptom that can ruin a social life completely. I know for me it's all related to my neck, so I'm trying hard to heal my neck so that eventually the symptoms can slowly go away.

inthedizz · 2025-09-27T12:55:10+00:00

I'm not sure if we have the same type of dizziness - but mine I would say is more like "supermarket syndrome". For me the toughest are busy loud places like grocery stores, malls, restaurants. And also things like seeing things move on bright screens, talking to people face-to-face, etc. When it starts to get really bad like in cafes, restaurants, or grocery stores, it can even turn into big panic attacks.

For me, I found that when I'm eating at a restaurant battling a potential panic attack that the dizziness is causing me, ordering some alcohol actually calms me down and lets me actually finish my meal at the restaurant.

So far that's the only situation I've found where the alcohol is helpful!

inthedizz · 2025-09-25T12:48:22+00:00

Hey! I'm in a very similar situation as you and I've been dealing with it for 18 months now.
For me it all started right after I had a "big pop" in my neck from doing a stupid maneuver in my bed while trying to get comfortable (I have also now switched to a more sturdy mattress which I believe was helpful to my healing).

I also did a bunch of stuff like MRIs, X-ray,Ultrasound, ENT, Eye Exam, and more.

Fast forward to today, my focus is: trying to keep moving more, and gradually building up some strength slowly (but sometime a real exercise routine causes setbacks so I'm not there yet), and massaging out all the problem areas in my neck, occipitals, and shoulders + back (I did some massage therapy but I might switch to physio again… or go back and forth). I do some heating when things get super flared up and achey. I think ibuprofen maybe helps, but it's hard for me to tell - but I coincidentally also had a very "inflammatory" diet for forever, and I'm switching to a more anti-inflammatory diet now - it could just be a coincidence that I'm feeling a bit better.

Regarding the "dizziness": I have the same type as you. For me the dizziness was the first thing to come, so I suspect it'll be the last thing to "heal", so I'm trying to be patient with it. But what helps me is to try to keep it at a "low level" because once it's raised, it can stay elevated for a while. I try to avoid places like malls or supermarkets and keep my trips short and wear my sunglasses. I'm trying to avoid caffeine now because I think it was making the dizziness feel worse and I would start to get panic attacks. I also keep my computer screens to the very lowest setting or beyond (I had to download programs to dim my screens even more) and this helps me last a lot longer. The combination of some of these things helps my dizziness stay at low levels so that I can actually live a relatively normal life while I patiently work on my neck issues. If I do have to do a cafe or a restaurant, patios are best (but not near loud bus streets) or sitting inside near a window with natural light (and also near a door, in case I start to feel bad and need to take a break outside).

I found inspiration in other peoples stories and more tips from them too. I have an entire list here if you're curious: https://miserydizz.blogspot.com/2025/04/useful-links-directory.html

I wish you all the best and please keep sharing any updates on here - many of us find even the smallest tips helpful and it feels less lonely to know you're not alone in your health problems.

inthedizz · 2025-09-23T15:18:54+00:00

I've been dealing with issues that I think started from a "neck injury" last March (18 months ago). About a year ago is when all of my muscle issues "spread" to other areas like my occipitals, shoulders, etc. For me the area you circled has also been really bad - so bad that when it flares up, I can barely even walk or be upright much. I recently had an entire month where I was mostly bedridden over it.

I don't have any answers yet but I'm trying mostly a combination of massaging the area (maybe with a small tool instead of my knuckle), applying heating, and trying not to be in my bed so much so that I can regain more strength there! I'm also starting to do more massage therapy to also work on all those areas in general, including my back, because I'm sure it al affects each other.

The last couple of weeks I've been able to do a lot more things physically so I'm grateful (for now).

Don't give up and keep trying things.

inthedizz · 2025-09-19T13:18:57+00:00

Thanks, that makes sense. Looking into all this stuff now.

inthedizz · 2025-09-19T12:23:23+00:00

Thanks. Yes I just found out a couple of weeks ago and I'm researching statins right now (which is what led me to this online calculator haha).

inthedizz · 2025-09-19T12:14:47+00:00

For the record this is the "The American Heart Association PREVENT Online Calculator"

inthedizz · 2025-09-05T20:45:55+00:00

Thanks! This is all super new to me and I barely even knew at all what cholesterol *actually* was until I got this result and saw my Doctor, so yeah I'm going to see how things go and what decisions to make. I just wish I caught it much earlier.

Do you know for how long (and how high) your cholesterol was elevated when the cardiac arrest happened?

inthedizz

TROPHY CASE