I’m going to try the Zoloft today and hopefully it all goes well. If not I know there are many options that I can try. I also know I need to give the Zoloft at least 4-6 weeks. It seems like that with all these meds. It can take months of trial and error to find what works
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Definitely (although Ami helped within 4 days for me and improved further on the higher dose). I was lucky!
My hubby takes metformin and it works well for him. Can you try a lower dose of it? I’m wondering if your reaction to the metformin was more due to the stress of finding out that you had diabetes.
If you can get the extended release version of metformin, it helps. I was on high dose metformin for many years (highly insulin resistant PCOS, pre-diabetic). I’m off it now because being in ketosis normalizes my blood sugar and keeps it stable. Metformin is a good drug and one worth trying to stick with even if initially it can be a little tough.
Please call a therapist. I see one who specializes in working with people with chronic illnesses. It really helps. It’s a grieving process. There is light and hope. Talk to someone who can help you find it again.
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@turnitaround That’s fantastic! I hope I can feel the same with Zoloft. I have heard that it can work in a few days for some so I am hoping it works for me that way as well. I have also heard good things about ami. Are you still on it?
@Manatee it is a lesser known side effect of metformin that it can make you anxious so I am not sure. I would really like to use it again just not sure if it will produce the same side effects
@flutters I am going to counseling for this. I am just at a really low point right now. I have so many things coming up in the next month and I have no idea how I’m going to make it to these things if I can barely leave my house.
No came off it in September last year. Med free these days.
That’s awesome I hope it stays that way for you forever
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Hey jess,
I just wanted to reach out to say hello. My story is very similar to yours, 25 years of this crap. Recently I’ve experienced a real uptick in symptoms making daily life really tough. I had several unrelated surgeries right before it went downhill so I blamed the anesthesia. But the anxiety and depression are so intense which is not my usual mood. I am trying an SSRI now too and waiting for it to kick in. Just wanted to say I’m thinking of you and hoping we both feel better soon!
Hi dizzylizzie I am so sorry that you are feeling awful 
I hope the SSRI kicks in soon for myself as well. I hate feeling this way as I am sure we all do. I hate feeling the loss of hope too. It’s hard to find the strength to keep going sometimes. I am trying like hell though as I am sure you are too. I hope that things start looking up for everyone that is suffering with this horrible illness. Thank you for reaching out!
Figured it may help to know you are not alone! I keep reminding myself I’ve come through other rough dizzy times and I’ll get through this too. MAV sucks because of the unpredictability, never saw this setback coming and yet here it is. This forum helps me feel validated in my constant symptoms because explaining it to others is hard. And trying to figure it all out is overwhelming at times. Wishing you and everyone less dizzy and more happy 
Liz
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You know what symptom has really been bothering me lately is the rocking and swaying when trying to relax…I just want it to stop. Are there any good meds known to help alleviate this symptom?
That’s exactly what I’m struggling with! I’m hoping that the SSRI may help but not sure. I’ll keep you posted Liz
I’ll keep you posted as well!
I know Jess how you feel when you are handed a diagnosis of a health ailment in addition to MAV. Some of the things they told me i have really upset me. The list is way too long to go into here. But there are meds that work. Some have been mentioned here, Topomax is another as is Depokote. So don’t give up. You are far from being out of options, Good luck.
Thank you. I just feel so down lately. I don’t know how to get myself out of this rut I am in. Have you found anything that has made the MAV easier to cope with?
The meds keep me in the game. I have my kidneys and liver checked a minmum of twice a year and just try to be grateful that it is not worse. Not easy, but they never said life would be. Nothing prepared me for this, but it is the cards i was dealt.
Accepting, adapting and moving forward are about all we can do. I have a friend with MS. 50 years old, completely unable to work, walk or speak since 37. Just got moved into a nursing home. I am grateful to only have MAV every day of my life.
What meds are you using?
I really am trying to accept this. I think because it’s been a bad relapse I just feel awful each and every day. I had to take a Xanax earlier because I literally was starting to feel like a I had been on a spinning carnival ride that I just got off. It’s been terrible lately. I don’t know if anxiety can make you feel spinning like that or if it’s truly MAV. I really think that is what is scaring me so much is I don’t know what I am going to feel one moment to the next. It’s like I have PTSD going on.
You may very well have PTSD. This stuff is traumatic, especially long term. I spent 4 hours under fluorescent lights today. By hour three I’m spinning and scared I’ll start spouting word salad while trying to facilitate a client meeting. I’ve been there often and recently. These are every day little panic attacks that wear you down emotionally.
My husband has panic disorder. It definitely brings on dizziness and confusion, sometimes nausea. He gets so worked up I can actually smell fear on his breath. But, knowing you can talk yourself into a full I’m dying freak out means that you can become aware of what’s happening and talk yourself out of it, too. Sometimes that takes a little Xanax helper. No shame in that.
He had a counselor back in our 20s that always made him ask himself what he was not doing when he was panicking. What was he not facing?
It was always down to fear of something manageable like a social circumstance or a deadline. He used hypochondria as a buffer for other things that were so much less scary when he named them.
My fears? Embarrassment. Incompetence where I used to shine. Losing my identity. Not being there for my family. Becoming a burden. Being an object of pity.
What are you not doing? What are you avoiding? What are your fears? Daylight them. Give them voice and name them. Things are so much less scary in the light. Our symptoms are real, but anxiety makes them seem bigger than they are. Know that if you talked yourself on to the ledge, you can talk yourself back from it. I’ve watched my husband do it many times. He’s become so good at it that even in very extreme stress, he can recover himself. MAV won’t kill you and short of death, everything else is manageable though not necessarily easy or fair. Easy and fair were never guaranteed.
Everyone with MAV understands despair. Together we can move beyond it and get back to seeing the beauty of life. We’re here for you.
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