Feel like the floor/walls are moving all the tjme

[Purplerain101]

Since last summer I’ve had a constant sensation like I’m on a boat. It’s worse some days than others but it’s always there. Even just lying in bed makes me feel like there are waves beneath me and I’m bobbing up and down. It’s driving me mad! I have had loads of tests done at the hospital (pretty much every blood test you can think of, brain, neck and spine MRI and my ears and eyes checked). Could it be anxiety that’s causing it? I do things like meditation, exercise and deep breathing and I try to get a decent amount of sleep each night. I don’t drink or smoke and I have lots of water and a healthy diet. It’s a catch 22 because the feeling makes me
Feel anxious which probably in turn makes the feeling worse.
It could be something like vertigo or some sort of balance disorder but I don’t get the spins.
I get stressed out going anywhere in public incase it gets bad. Has anyone experienced anything like this and managed to cure it? I want to avoid going on anxiety medication but if it’s the only option then i’d do it

Could it be vestibular neuritis? That’s often missed by doctors. The best solution is very specialised physiotherapy that retrains your brain.
There are some good Facebook support groups, maybe have a look?

Thank you, i’ll take a look. It could well be something like that. It just randomly started one day and has never gone away. Do you have to pay for that sort of treatment or can it go through the NHS if referred by a GP do you know? I wish I just had a proper diagnosis, even if it is anxiety, as then I would know what to do to treat it

Have you tried medication such as Stugeron- it’s primarily for travel sickness, but also helps with vertigo, if your problem is down to labyrinthitis or other inner ear trouble. It’s harmless apart from slight drowsiness, which would incidentally help soothe your anxiety! Cheap and available over the counter, might be worth giving it a bash?

You can get the physio on the nhs, but it may take a while. If you can confirm the condition there are some online guides to the exercises that are right for that one.

I haven’t tried any meds as I have bad IBS and some medications can flare it up. I’ll definitely check that out though, sounds like it could be good

Mal de Debarquement.

Has anyone checked for labrynthitis/menieres? X

@mishappening I did read up on that and it sounded like a possibility. There’s no way to 100% diagnose it is there other than just process of elimination?

I came on to suggest labyrinthitis - I suffer from that fairly regularly. Worst episode I had I ended up having physiotherapy that was pretty much manipulating my head and neck so that the stones in my inner ear were re-positioned. Almost threw up on the consultant's shoes, but stopped that episode. Apart from that, there isn't an awful lot you can do.

It's probably labyrinthitis, and hopefully not Menieres. Worth getting it checked out. I have a vestibular disorder similar to Menieres. There are a number of medications available to ease the symptoms and vestibular physiotherapy is amazingly helpful too.

Do you grind your teeth at night? I get a bit like this when I'm stressed and anxious and I grind my teeth.

I have a splint from the dentist that I wear at night that helps.

@fruitcider the ear doctor didn’t think it was either of those as my symptoms didn’t quite fit. He said with those two the symptoms would gradually feel a little better each week. It’s been months now and I feel exactly the same as I did when it first started. It’s so frustrating and starting to impact on my life. I can walk normally etc but I still feel a bit weird like everything is slightly moving. And then if I start to panic then it gets worse

@Trixy I don’t think I grind but I definitely clench my jaw when I’m stressed. I tense my whole body up a lot. I do wonder if physio to see if they can maybe manipulate my neck or shift crystals inside my inner ear might help, and also trying the travel sickness tablets. I just wish it would go away as i never experienced anything like this before last summer even when I was anxious

When I had vertigo, I felt very like this. It felt like I was trying to walk on a ship in a gale and the walls looked like they were moving towards me .Mine did come on quite suddenly though and did make me very nausious. The GP gave me some strong antihistermines and it went away eventually. Maybe you have some form of that?

I was diagnosed with vestibular migraine brought on by grinding/clenching my teeth.

It might be worth talking to your dentist as you seem to have exhausted what the doctors can do for you.

Think you should see another ear doctor tbh. If it’s vestibular neuritis for most people it gradually improves, but that can take years rather than weeks, and usually requires intervention. The physio done for that is more about training your brain to compensate, rather than moving your head around. There’s a page on Facebook called vestibular hope with a lot of experts.

The neurologist I saw wasn’t very helpful (although he did get me an MRI done just to rule out anything sinister like MS). But when the results came back completely normal he said it’s just anxiety and there’s nothing he can do. He said to see my GP to get put on anxiety medication but I really don’t want to as it can make things like IBS much worse. I’ll book another appointment with my GP as this can’t continue for another 6 months without driving me completely insane.
I did have one episode of the spins initially and was throwing up everywhere, but ever since then it’s just be the rocking sensation. I even had a bath last night to relax and i just felt like I was in a bath that was on top of stormy waves that were making me tilt and bob about

Don't self-medicate.

It sounds like something to do with ears (balance) or the brain. You need to see a specialist doctor.

@cote I’ve seen a neurologist and my brain is apparently completely healthy (had an MRI and blood tests). Also see an ENT doctor who couldn’t see an issue with my inner ears like fluid buildup etc. I’ll ask to be referred again and i’ll Check out the Facebook pages

I suffer from vestibular migraine which produces these symptoms. I find Stemetil helpful during an attack. Vestibular rehab exercises performed with the guidance of a physiotherapist was helpful, as was generally increasing my activity levels, scary as that may be when you feel like you're going to keel over. I have a bilateral tonal imbalance, so one ear is much more sensitive to sound than the other which the consultant thinks is a contributor. He recommended extremely high doses of vit b2.

I'm also a jaw clencher and don't have great posture - I find the back of my neck gets stiff and painful around the same time dizziness occurs so thinking of seeing an osteopath

I had something similar to this, felt like everything was slightly off balance all the time. Turned out for me that it was a gluten intolerance that was doing it after years of suffering with IBS. Thought it might be worth a mention as you said you suffer with IBS.

Hi,

So sorry to hear you’re suffering from this. I gave up breastfeeding at the beginning of April and have been feeling like this since then. I have constant swaying and feel funny when I’m supermsrkets etc. Did yours go away?

I had this when under great stress
It was scary and also had panic attacks. Slow breathing helped and eventually it all disappeared.

It might be related to anxiety - I have had a variety of weird symptoms over the last few years and my dr is convinced that it is anxiety. I also had IBS symptoms for a long time which actually got better when I was on anti-anxiety meds for a short time.

Possible vestibular issue? I feel as you describe quite often, however I do have MS, but I am pleased to see that has been ruled out. I hope you feel better soon, it is a horrible sensation.