My Story,
I made a promise to myself a long time ago that if I ever beat this CSD than I would tell my story and how I dealt with it. As when I was in the midst of this hell it was rare to come across any success stories or hope.
For me it started on the 16th December 2013, where out of nowhere I had what I would later learn was a panic attack. The panic attack only lasted for a few minutes but a residual dizziness sensation stayed with me permanently, some days really severe and other times quite mild but always there. I guess sometimes if I was really busy doing something fun I would forget about it for a while.
I had all the tests you can name and think of and as nearly everyone else says they all came back normal.
In the early stages I’d notice it as soon as I’d get up in the morning and it would stay with me all day until I went to bed. The first six months I was dizzy but no other symptoms to speak of, I kept reading how it could be anxiety related but I didn’t even know what anxiety was and didn’t think I had it. At around the seven month mark this all changed as after seeing a doctor he advised me that I had developed an anxiety disorder from dealing with all of this.
He prescribed me Pristiq which I came home and took 1 tablet and from that moment on my dizziness turned in to a nightmare, I think adding this drug to my system caused what levels of anxiety that I had to go crazy and along with it my dizziness. I only ever took one Pristiq as I nearly topped myself from the panic it caused but after that I went on Lexapro for 6 months and then Zoloft for about 8 months going up and down dosages trying to find some magic dose. I had 8 weeks off work after the day I had my first SSRI, it was the toughest time I’ve had in my life.
I’m not convinced any of these helped me much at all but I do believe they may work for others they just didn’t do a great deal for me in regards to fixing the dizziness and disequilibrium.
So as time went on I still kept searching for answers and trying every alternative therapy under the sun.
I stumbled upon an article about the MTHFR gene which I did a bit of research into and got a test done, turns out I didn’t have this gene however we worked out that I was undermethylated.
Have a quick search of the symptoms of undermethylation (histadelia) on the net and you’ll find the symptoms are quite common amongst this group of CSD sufferers who generally have over active brains etc
The doctor I saw told me to buy some L-methionine which is an essential amino acid (I got mine from IHerb, quite cheap) I also have this with a zinc tablet and a magnesium tablet every morning.
The last 4-5 months have been basically dizzy free for me, after about a month on this combo I noticed it was just gone, even in really stressful situations where my dizziness previously would be high it’s just not there anymore. I have no idea which one of these has fixed my dizziness issue but whatever it is I’m sticking with this combo.
I’ve also come off my Zoloft dose which I went up to 150 mgs, I weaned off very slowly as to not get the horrible side effects of stopping an SSRI.
This may not be a fix for everyone but for me it’s given me my life back.
I’d recommend getting a test for MTHFR or methylation levels and even Zinc/Copper deficiency, you might need to see a naturopath to organize it.

Best of luck with your journey, it’s a tough road but one I strongly believe will come to an end.
Gavin

Jump to this post