About B. Todd Troost, MD Expertise vertigo, benign positional vertigo, BPPV, and related ailments.
Experience
Past/Present clients More than 2000 patients with vertigo.
Chairman of Neurology Department for 18 years and examiner for American Board of Neurology for over 25 years. Extensive information is provided on my commericial free website at www.ivertigo.net
Expert: B. Todd Troost, MD Date: 4/2/2002 Subject: lightheaded
Question Doctor: i am a worry wart and i think my anxiety went to panic, almost the same thing happened to me in 1994 i walked around for six months feeling lightheaded and the sensation that i am sinking into the ground, at that time i had the inner ear water test and mri and nerolgist, i took xanax for 3 of those six months and that did not affect the feeling, now after about 9 months of massive stress i have the similar problem yet worse now depending on what kind of chair i am in i feel like i am sinking into the chair and i have the jelly legs going on again, psyhciatrist has me on 2mg of xanax a day up from 1.5 mg which i had been on since 99, in 1994 i seen 3 nerolgists and they all came up with nothing except nerves, my thing is it is so bizzare to be walking around for months with this and then it just goes away, your input would be helpful, could it be a form of motion sickness? Thank you doctor
Answer Dear Marc:
A sensation of lightheadedness may be a form of dizziness but also could be due to low blood pressure or a non-specific effect of medication including some of those used to treat anxiety. It is very difficult to characterize and unfortunately no test is likely to show a definite cause.
Your best bet is to consult your neurologist and review the different types of dizziness in the "systemic" category on my website at:
