Falling for no apparent reason: Any ideas?

Hi Colleen,
Instead of taking 2 Zoloft (100 mg) a day and 1 Wellbutrin (300 mg) I took 1 Zoloft at night , stopped the Wellbutrin and was amazed at the change. I tripped in the house and I was able to get up immediately, by myself, I was able to use my legs without any weakness in them.
The doctor then started to reduce my Zoloft to 25 mg twice daily for 7 days then 25 mg once daily for 7 days and started me on Cymbalta at one a day to be increased to 2 a day and we'll see how that goes for my depression, but I'm not falling and the relief that gives me helps me handle the depression. Fortunately I have a good support system of family and friends and best of all I have a great sense of humour. I can be depressed and still have a good laugh, maybe because my depression manifests itself in anger which comes on fast and because I now know what I'm feeling is not a good way to handle things.. so I try to be careful if I'm feeling frustrated. I will continue to take antidepressants, they work for me .... as long as I don't have side effects like falling. I hope this helps, I tend to babble on (more so since Covid).

I have had unexplained falls, backwards, sidewards, and full front, for four years... increasing to 15 to 20 per day that I usually stop with a reflex hand touch on something to steady myself. As a medical professional (research professor), I have kept reading the literature and recently have come upon a very rare condition (5 cases per 100,000) that describes my symptoms ... progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)... ICD code 23.1. Mayo Clinic has significant experience with this (they see 500 patients a year from all over the world) and I am going to contact them this week to see about getting an appointment. Need PET brain scan to confirm the diagnosis. PSP is caused by overproduction of a protein in the brain, tau, that accumulates in certain defined areas of the brain that govern movement, balance, swallowing. Getting a confirm diagnosis could save you many many rounds of testing resulting in maybe this maybe that conversations.

P.S. There is an organization formed to deal with PSP issues... Cure PSP. org.

Hello @gsk1945, Welcome to Connect, an online community where patients and caregivers share their experiences, find support and exchange information with others. Having balance issues myself and regularly having almost falling episodes and pretty much doing what you do to keep from falling, I know it's a little discomforting to say the least.

I'm sure you have already seen this page but thought I would share anyway in case you haven't seen it.
-- Progressive supranuclear palsy - Care at Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/progressive-supranuclear-palsy/care-at-mayo-clinic/mac-20355668

I see that you wanted to share the Cure PSP site so I thought I would share it for you since new members are not allowed to post links for a short period of time to keep spammers from posting. Allow me to share the site for you:
https://www.psp.org/

You mentioned you are planning to seek help at Mayo Clinic. The contact information for Minnesota, Arizona and Florida can be found here http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63.

Do you have any questions about any of the Mayo Clinic locations?

Thank you for your message. I am hoping to get information about scheduling an appointment this week.

There is discussion on Connect where you can read what other members have shared on PSP -- Progressive supranuclear palsy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/progresive-supranuclear-palsy/

It is frightening when you fall and can't stop yourself. This happened to me when I had swollen legs. They wouldn't respond quickly enough if I tripped and I landed flat on my chest on a footpath. I thought I had broken a rib. The swelling has gone down now and I can catch myself. Sometimes I am dizzy because of lower back spasm due to scoliosis, especially if I get up too quickly so, for this, I go to a Bowen Therapist.

My legs are strong and do not give way causing me to fall. I tip over straight from the feet all the way up, like a tower. Not related to tripping or anything else, except when head moves out of vertical. I touch things as I go indoors (furniture, walls, doorways) to stay in balance ... propioception. Outdoors, I use a walker but that does not prevent backwards or sidewards falls.Hoping some genius will figure out how to clear the excess tau and prevent it from accumulating in the first place.

I fall a lot and I’m 38. I’ve gone to 3 different ENT’s and a neurlogist even a chiropractor and nobody seems to have the slightest idea as to how treat me

Hello @venusmymuse and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can see how you may be frustrated with both your symptoms and lack of understanding as to why you are falling.

When did this start for you? Did anything else come about at the same time as this falling?