Intermittent dizziness?

Hello.

A third category I’d like to add is wobbliness on standing and walking but without what I think of dizziness. When I stand (especially after having been seated for a while – 20-30 mins.) and often when I walk (even short distances – ½ city block), it’s as if the lower half of my body is made of rubber bands. I have to be so careful.

However, ever at the wobbliest of these times, my mind is clear (nothing appears to be spinning). To my doctors, I’ve sometimes described the sensation as like being on board a small ship in a mildly rolling sea and trying to walk from place to place without falling.

Ray (@ray666)

What you may be experiencing is a loss of proprioception, which is the sense of where your body parts are in space. PN is known to have an effect on proprioception.
I believe there are exercises that can improve this problem.
Good luck!

Here's what I've tried so far which has been helpful. I remind myself "you are just dizzy from the peripheral neuropathy, you are not having a stroke or heart attack, you are not going to pass out in your chair in this restaurant!" That helps my anxiety - no, I am not going to end up in an emergency room. Then I focus on "grounding." I push my feet into the floor, breathe, drink some water and focus my eyes on something or someone near to me and don't look around a lot until it generally passes. I am a dancer, and I use those strategies - get grounded into the floor, engage my core, find a "spot" to focus on (we do this when we are spinning or turning). It's also kind of like when we were younger and came home after drinking too much and lay in bed with one foot on the floor to ground us and stop the spinning 🙂 Anyone else have some strategies?

I am interested in these dizziness coping solutions. I’ve had brief bouts of dizziness for years, but now they are very frequent, and last for hours. I’ve decided that morning movements bring them on - dressing, making the bed, loading the dishwasher etc. I find that when I’m about ready to leave the house after completing morning tasks, I am dizzy.
My son is visiting, and this has altered or ruined activities every morning. Instead of lying down, I am trying to power through it, and I eventually end up feeling drained and well, just sick. We had plans to visit the shopping mall, the large department stores, to shop for a new suitcase for me ( not sure why I need a new suitcase now, but I’m stubborn sometimes). I have found that if I keep my sunglasses on inside, it calms down the dizziness somewhat. I used the “ focal point” trick, which for me is keeping my gaze slightly to the right, and downward. We had to visit the far end of the mall. Because I’m tired of being a sick Mom, and ruining outings, we walked the length of the mall, shopped, and came back. Kept my sunglasses on. Used my reading glasses on top of the sunglasses. All my little oxygen-deprived leg muscles protested (SFN).
I’m 63 and can’t even go shopping now without suffering. A year ago I was doing a two mile hike. Crazy.

Hello Robin, I'm Charlie I also have unexplained dizziness. And I did go to ENT nothing found there. Sorry no good hell. It's not something that is constantly worrisome. Its a mess throughout the week.
I also have a great deal of balance problems I fell alot last year and sometimes I just don't seem to pay enough attention. Thank goodness for walls in the house and other objects to grab hold of, but now I'm using a cane. I still garden love love my plants my husband helps now so that's good. He's my Gopher!! He gets everything out for me.

I am so sorry for what you are going through. I can relate. I too (as of now) am powering through. I'm exercising to keep my core and legs strong, using a focal point when I move, being intentional about engaging my core when I move, taking a hiking stick for balance when I walk in the neighborhood etc. Now I'm researching grab bars for the tub/shower. Sucks. I'm also trying not to have this SFPN drive what I can do in life or limit fun with friends and my significant other. It's miserable. Not how I thought I would be functioning in my 60s. I've always been really resilient in the face of other things I have been faced with in life, and am calling on that resilience again.

I am interested in these dizziness coping solutions. I’ve had brief bouts of dizziness for years, but now they are very frequent, and last for hours. I’ve decided that morning movements bring them on - dressing, making the bed, loading the dishwasher etc. I find that when I’m about ready to leave the house after completing morning tasks, I am dizzy.
My son is visiting, and this has altered or ruined activities every morning. Instead of lying down, I am trying to power through it, and I eventually end up feeling drained and well, just sick. We had plans to visit the shopping mall, the large department stores, to shop for a new suitcase for me ( not sure why I need a new suitcase now, but I’m stubborn sometimes). I have found that if I keep my sunglasses on inside, it calms down the dizziness somewhat. I used the “ focal point” trick, which for me is keeping my gaze slightly to the right, and downward. We had to visit the far end of the mall. Because I’m tired of being a sick Mom, and ruining outings, we walked the length of the mall, shopped, and came back. Kept my sunglasses on. Used my reading glasses on top of the sunglasses. All my little oxygen-deprived leg muscles protested (SFN).
I’m 63 and can’t even go shopping now without suffering. A year ago I was doing a two mile hike. Crazy.