Written by Trish
I was in a deep sleep from a remedy I was taking to address the core fear that had resulted from my trauma a week prior.
Suddenly I was awoken by a loud humming that sounded unnatural. I opened my eyes to see my bedroom fill with flashes of neon green.
I was so confused by what my senses had revealed to me that I started to shake.
The only explanation I could find is that aliens had landed in my backyard.
I heard my husband up so I got up to find him in the office. It was freezing rain and a nearby transformer had blown due to the weight on the power lines.
The intense humming sound and flashes of unnatural light from the disabled transformer continued to spook me, and I found my body turning to mush under the fear.
I needed to lie down before I collapsed.
The next day I awoke I was “floating”.
“Floating” defined
“Floating” is a sensation you can feel either with your whole body or parts of your body.
It feels like you are a buoy in the water; sometimes the water has light ripples and the buoy moves up and down, side to side at a slow constant pace, and sometimes it is stormy and the buoy is thrown about in all directions.
What it is not is vertigo or dizziness.
It can be constant or intermittent.
It is triggered.
Who’s talking about it and who’s not
Search “floating sensation, anxiety” on Google and you come up with a lot of links to people asking questions about it and getting a handful of brief answers.
Not a lot of people are talking about it in a clinical sense.
Not overly reassuring in my opinion.
These people asking the questions are looking for something to call it so they can say “such and such is wrong with me” and hope that it will go away fast. I know their pain; it makes you feel like a freak and it is so uncomfortable that you will do anything to end it.
A day in the life of a “floater”
You are continuously aware of the floating sensation; how it changes your perception of reality. You begin to notice which situations trigger it and you avoid those situations.
You wonder if you are going crazy.
You think you have some horrific disease that is altering your brain.
You worry about it all the time.
You begin to distrust your body.
You start to become a hypochondriac.
This fear and anxiety you have around the sensation and the triggers make your floating sensation worse and you begin to feel even more anxious. The vicious cycle begins.
Consulting the professionals
You’ve gone through the standard brain tests (MRI, CAT Scan, EEG, etc.) and you’ve been to the ENT Specialist to ensure that your balance is okay.
Nothing is wrong with you.
You doctors say the cause is anxiety. You already knew that because once your nervous system is in fight-or-flight, your “floating” increases.
You have noticed a connection to the tension in your neck, jaw and shoulders and how you posture these body parts has an affect on how predominant the sensation experienced.
Circulation also seems to be a factor because when your heart starts pumping from exertion, the floating sensation gets worse.
So you consult the Almighty Google again and you find a glimmer of hope that it may be caused by a Dissociative Disorder. Yeah, that sounds pretty good but you don’t seem to have the main symptoms.
You try psychotherapy, alternative therapy, anti-anxiety medication.
You still have the floating sensation.
You find yourself asking “when will this bad trip end?”
What you can do about it
Build you support team of caring professionals and family and friends that don’t look at you strange when you tell them you feel you are “floating”.
Get treatment for your anxiety and learn how to manage it.
Then do what you need to do to take responsibility for the “floating” because in the end it is all up to you:
- eliminate or at least minimize all substances that trigger the sensation. You know the ones I mean: booze, coffee and recreational drugs. Then use your power of heightened awareness to the sensation to detect any other substances that trigger it. For me it’s rice;
- work to accept that there is nothing wrong with you–you are just right the way you are;
- work to let go of wanting to put a label on it and to “cure” it;
- try not to get stuck in how unfair it is. See it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself;
- work to accept that this is how things are right now.
Begin to practice the following:
- desensitization;
- focusing on the present.
So this is what you need to do right now…
Desensitization: You will have recognized by now which situations cause your floating sensation to be at its worse. Go and put yourself in the most controllable situation (where you feel you can opt-out any time without feeling embarrassed or punishing yourself for it) right now. For me that’s lying flat in bed. Sit with the “floating” and the fear and the anxiety that come with it and focus on your sensations. If thoughts or worries come up, turn your focus back to your sensations. Relax into them. Do this for as long as you can. Continue to do this practice until you begin to notice that the floating sensation is not as predominant.
Focusing: Engage in an activity that requires your complete focus. You will notice that when you are fully engage you do not notice or think about your floating sensation.
It is during these times that you feel the relief. Recognize and celebrate this for what it is: the potential for healing.
This is hard, hard work and takes the courage of a warrior. You have that courage; you have felt hell in your mind and body.
Focus on your stamina to do the work; you have lived with the most unexpected sensation imaginable 24/7 and survived.
Pledge gratitude to what you will learn: patience, acceptance and compassion.
Eventually the sensation will subside to the point you will not notice it most of the time. You may even forget.
When it does flare up, you will feel comfortable enough not to feed into the fear and anxiety. You will have learned to trust your body and mind again.
I know that you can do this. The discomfort you feel right now is the best motivator you’ve got; use it to face your fear.
I’ve compiled stats from the 500+ comments
(Last updated: March 2024)
I’ve compiled stats based on data collected from the information people have left in the comments re their experiences with floating. You will find them in the tables below.
The percentage (%) represents the number of responses for that item in that category relative to the total number of responses for that category.
I suggest that you read them in their entirety because there are contradictions. The most controversial is around anti-depressants and benzodiazepines; they may make the floating sensation better/disappear or make the sensation worse. The data also shows that starting a benzo can cause the sensation, as can reducing a benzo.
PLEASE NOTE that regardless of what conclusion these stats may reveal, my recommended first step is that you see a doctor, including an ENT specialist and a neurologist, as well as a therapist. You may also want to consider vestibular function tests (i.e. ENG/VNG, Posturography, SVV, VHIT, VEMP).
If you wish to add to this data by telling us about your symptoms, possible causes, how you’re managing, and if you’ve found a possible cure… or you just want to connect with us… please leave a comment below.
Symptoms
| Feels like floating in air/buoy in the water/moving up and down/side to side | 21.6% |
| Anxiety/panic attacks | 14.5% |
| Body parts/whole body feel numb | 5.0% |
| Tension/pain in areas from upper back to top of head | 4.6% |
| Feel as if dying/going to die/have a terminal illness | 3.9% |
| Feel disconnected from body | 3.9% |
| Goes away for awhile then comes back | 3.5% |
| Migraines/headaches | 3.2% |
| Dizziness | 2.8% |
| Feel unbalanced when walking | 2.8% |
| Feel high and drunk | 2.5% |
| Moving head/eyes/neck triggers sensation | 2.1% |
| Pressure in head | 2.1% |
| Feels like the ground is moving | 1.8% |
| Worse when sitting/standing still | 1.8% |
| Heavy head | 1.8% |
| Feels like brain is shifting side to side | 1.4% |
| Limbs feel weak | 1.4% |
| Moving legs makes me feel the sensation | 1.1% |
| Worse after high stress | 1.1% |
| Sensation starts a few hours after waking | 1.1% |
| Rapid heartbeat/heart palpitations | 1.1% |
| Worse when lying down | 1.1% |
| Nauseous | 1.1% |
| Worse after working out | 1.1% |
| Head feels like it’s filled with cotton wool | 0.7% |
| Scalp is tight | 0.7% |
| Visual disturbances / everything looks slanted | 0.7% |
| Feels like the bed is moving | 0.7% |
| Worse after eating high carb and/or greasy foods | 0.7% |
| No control over limbs | 0.7% |
| Head rush | 0.7% |
| Worse when driving | 0.7% |
| Worse with sinus/ear infection | 0.7% |
| Depression | 0.7% |
| Hyper-aware of every sensation | 0.4% |
| Worse when around mold | 0.4% |
| Turn over in bed and feel off-balance | 0.4% |
| Sensation is worse when lie on belly | 0.4% |
| Only occurs when walking | 0.4% |
| Electric shock sensation | 0.4% |
| Like a force is pushing | 0.4% |
| About to fall off a cliff | 0.4% |
| Pulling on hair | 0.4% |
| Worse in the morning and early afternoon | 0.4% |
| Worse outside | 0.4% |
| Blood sugar crashing | 0.4% |
Possible Causes
| Anxiety/anxiety disorder | 24.6% |
| Trauma/PTSD | 13.2% |
| Stressful event/high stress in life | 10.5% |
| Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (or MdDS) | 5.3% |
| Depersonalization | 4.4% |
| Marijuana | 4.4% |
| Anti-depressants make it worse | 3.5% |
| Lyme disease | 2.6% |
| Started when taking anxiety meds | 2.6% |
| Thyroid dysfunction | 1.8% |
| Travel on an airplane | 1.8% |
| Recreational drugs | 1.8% |
| Reduced/stopped anxiety meds | 1.8% |
| Long term Vitamin B12 deficiency | 1.8% |
| Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness | 1.8% |
| Migraines | 1.8% |
| Magnesium deficiency | 0.9% |
| Candida and mould | 0.9% |
| Rapid weight loss | 0.9% |
| Electro-magnetic field sensitivity | 0.9% |
| Allergies | 0.9% |
| Ear infection | 0.9% |
| Cervical or cervicogenic vertigo /cervical or cervicogenic dizziness | 0.9% |
| Minor head injury | 0.9% |
| Atlas subluxation | 0.9% |
| Celiac disease | 0.9% |
| Long term Vitamin D deficiency | 0.9% |
| Fluid in middle ear | 0.9% |
| Trauma or whiplash to the head | 0.9% |
| Long term depression | 0.9% |
| Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | 0.9% |
| Neck Problems | 0.9% |
| Conversion disorder | 0.9% |
| Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | 0.9% |
| Depleted immune system due to disease | 0.9% |
| Black mould | 0.9% |
What Helps to Manage and/or Lessen the Floating Sensation
| Distraction | 16.9% |
| Reclining/lying down/sleep | 10.1% |
| Benzos | 9.0% |
| Anti-depressants | 5.6% |
| Meditation | 4.5% |
| Praying | 4.5% |
| Going outside | 3.4% |
| Talk Therapy | 3.4% |
| Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) | 3.4% |
| Eat lots of protein | 2.2% |
| Maintain low stress level | 2.2% |
| Cutting out foods that you are allergic/intolerant to | 2.2% |
| Better when in a car | 2.2% |
| Vestibular rehabilitation therapy | 2.2% |
| Acupuncture | 2.2% |
| Chiropractor | 2.2% |
| Magnesium supplements | 2.2% |
| Desensitization | 2.2% |
| Walk every day | 1.1% |
| Wake up by 9-10am at latest | 1.1% |
| Detoxing | 1.1% |
| Therapy to heal trauma | 1.1% |
| Avoid recreational drugs | 1.1% |
| Avoid caffeine | 1.1% |
| Exposure therapy | 1.1% |
| Positive self talk | 1.1% |
| Better in the morning | 1.1% |
| Drink a couple of beers | 1.1% |
| Better when swimming | 1.1% |
| Physio | 1.1% |
| Yoga | 1.1% |
| Exercise | 1.1% |
| Rocking back and forth | 1.1% |
| Homeopathic remedy Phosphorous (consult with a Homeopath before taking) | 1.1% |
| Requip (medication/dopaminergic agent) | 1.1% |
Possible Cures/Healing (reported by 9 commenters only)
| Managed anxiety through therapy and/or psychotropics | 4 |
| Adjustments by chiropractor | 1 |
| Gluten free diet | 1 |
| Medication for disturbance in chemical balance | 1 |
| Moved out of home with black mould and strengthened depleted immune system | 1 |
| Addressed stuck emotions and resolved trauma from emotional neglect (see details here) | 1 |
Cartoon credit: Trish Hurtubise
Hi. I’m Trish, the founder, curator and an editor for Mental Health Talk. You may view all my posts here.
Mona Moore
I have frequent episodes of what you describe and never mentioned it because it’s hard to describe and you’re right…wondering if I was mentally ill or had a disease. Very interesting to see this in print! Sigh of relief…once again, I find others like me.
Miriam
Hi everyone, i’ve been meaning to leave a comment for a while now. I’m a sixteen year old girl and i’ve been feeling this way for a while. This feeling has been inescapable and i’m at whits end honestly. It first happened 3 weeks ago. I was with a friend and i got dizzy and all of a sudden a really strong ‘dizzy’ feeling spread all over my body and i panicked. I couldn’t feel the soles of my feet when walking or my mouth as it felt completely inexistant. Breathing at that point was extremely hard and i was hyperventilating due to this unknown feeling. In that moment i felt like i was about to die and that’d id rather die than feel this for the rest of my life. I called my mom and went home 20 minutes in. My first thought as to what this was was a panick attack even though it hadn’t been triggered by anything and i’d never had anxiety in my short life. This feeling lasted 4 hours. I only wanted to sleep so i could get away from this awfulness. I don’t feel like im myself anymore like im floating inside my body. The week following the incident was okay unless i didnt think of that feeling and when i did it was like a downwards spiral. Week 2 was fine, i felt normal. Towards the weekend, it came back. Its less intense but its there and i feel like im losing myself and my mind. I beg of you to help me. I cant see myself living with this longterm. I dont understand whats happening to me and im helpless to this floating feeling. PLEASE RESPOND. I need your help or support.
Trish
Hi Miriam. It is a horrific feeling and incredibly terrifying. Most of us suffered some sort of traumatic response with the onset and would have done anything to make it go away.
I recommend that you go to your doctor and get all the tests necessary (from your doc or specialists) to confirm, for yourself, that you are healthy. This is part of helping to gain some control back in knowing that this feeling does not mean you’re dying.
You may also want to try alternative practitioners.
Perhaps your doctor/specialist/alternative practitioner will have a solution for the feeling and it will be resolved. Or not. Either way, I encourage you to remember it is a sensation and like any other sensation, you will get used to it. I don’t know how long you will have it for–for some it goes away, for some it comes and goes, and for some it stays and as yet to be resolved–but I encourage you to do what you can to desensitize yourself to the sensation. I give suggestions on how to do that in the post.
I also think acceptance is key. Consider that you have this sensation for this moment and try your best not to think long term. You do not know what the future will bring. You do not know how short or long you will have it.
It may decrease in intensity or increase. It is not always static in my experience but regardless, it does tend to settle down at one point. Do you experience relief when you lie down? When you wake up in the morning do you notice if it’s there just upon waking?
Again Miriam, it is very scary and you are completely valid to have an anxious and terrified response to this… it has literally changed the way you perceive the world and that can be very traumatic. I want you to know all of us on this post are, or have been, able to survive it and I know you can too.
Much love,
Trish
Miriam
Thank you so much for your support Trish. I feel much more capable of controlling it now.
Thank you for your response!!! Hope it gets better soon
Miriam
Hey Trish! i’d like to update on here about how i’m coping. I hope that’s alright. This feeling is the first thing i think about when i wake up. The only time i’m not conscious of it is when i’m completely distracted by something. Be it schoolwork or TV, i have to constantly distract myself in order to feel normal. Being with people helps the most i think, you don’t have to be inside your head as much. I just feel hyperaware of every sensation now which i think triggers the floating.
I’m convinced that if i erase that day from my memory, i’ll be good again. Until that day comes, i’m dealing with it.
Thanks for dealing with me.
Trish
Thank you so much for keeping us updated Miriam. It was really good to hear from you.
Michelle Monk
Hi there. I have lyme disease (and coinfections) – I just wanted to share some things that I have noticed decrease this terrible floating feeling. I’m not cured of it yet but some things help prevent it happening.
– Maintaining low stress level. I was really stressed over Christmas and now three days later.. here I am suffering, in a delayed response fashion, with floating feeling, high anxiety, chronic thirst, restless legs and a sore throat!
– Take a walk every day.
– Wake up by 9-10am at latest every day. That time is the sweet spot and anything after sets your body in endocrine imbalance.. between 9-10 or earlier, eat 35 grams protein. Ie. Meatloaf, wild rice and vegetables for breakfast. Eggs are not high protein if you’re aiming for 35g. My nutritionist friend gave me this tip. I tried this time and diet, and it really helped! The waking early thing REALLY helped, but unfortunately it is not sustainable for me. but I notice on days that I wake up early AND walk around, the floating later is less likely to happen. the meat tip helps a bit. Having meat in the morning and even throughout the day really helps. Sometimes I can’t fall asleep because of the floating feeling. Homemade honey sausage and crackers as a midnight snack really helps with this. Also read “how to manufacture the best sleep of your life” article.
– I learned that this floating feeling can be a form of dizziness, and can be attributed to thyroid dysfunction, magnesium deficiency (we should all be taking at least 500mg if not more. Supplement with sacromyces bouladii probiotics or flax fiber to balance bowel movements), low minerals (I take chromium synergy now and it helps a little). When I’m having a herxheimer reaction from an antibiotic, the floating feeling gets worse. So detoxing helps with that – chlorella, glutathione, Epsom salt baths, many more things. Vitamin D deficiency and potassium deficiencies, and electrolyte balance in general all are things to look into.
My test for lyme disease was negative originally. Then we used igenex coinfections test, and it turns out I have babesia, bartonella and lyme disease. And candida and mold. They are causing my symptoms.
– I noticed that my floating symptom is worse since having come back to my apartment. .. my home has mold in it.
I think anyone who has this should know to test their home and their body for mold.
-Getting a naturopathic doctor and a lyme literate doctor was the best thing I have ever done. Naturopathic medicine believes that the body is able to cure itself when given the right supplies. I am going to get into remission. that means getting rid of this feeling. The NDs promised me that it is possible.
-Another thing that helped was when I cut out foods that I was unknowingly allergic to. It was making my dizziness a lot worse. It turns out, if I’m allergic to one thing I should consider whether I’m allergic to something else too. A long list of connected foods called latex fruit allergy syndrome. Nuts, shell fish, tomato, nightshades, soy, gluten, kiwi, banana, strawberry, peaches, carrots, lettuce and so much more. I didn’t think I was allergic to a lot of those on the list, at least half the items, but I cut them out anyway and it made a big difference.
I eat pretty asain-style now. Lots of indian food. Anyway an elimination diet helped and so did cutting out dairy 100% and corn.
That leads me to mast cell activation syndrome, which is linked to dizziness. I take isoquercetrin or quercetrin for it and it helps the floating feeling. Lastly, low blood sugar and candida have both been connected to the floating feeling for me.
As someone whose cause is chronic lyme disease, I just wanted to say that I have definitely made the most progress on a mepron+ zithromax pulsing combination. Taking 300 Billion probiotics a day. And an adrenal gland or thyroid support supplement.
Thanks for reading.
Trish
Thank you so much Michelle for all your tips and what you feel is the cause of your floating feeling. Very helpful! I will link your comment in my section in the blog post where I talk about possible causes and tips. xoxo
Carole
Thank you so much for writing this article. I’ve been feeling this for the past week or so and I’ve been terrified. Thank you!!!
Trish
Hi Carole. I’m so sorry to hear that you’re struggling with floating. I think we can all affirm it is terrifying, most especially in the beginning. Please visit your doctor to rule out what they’re aware of in allopathy that could be the cause. Please keep us posted on how it’s going. Much love, Trish
Lexy
Hello All,
This happened to me, and although I think anxiety was a factor, I ended up being treated for Meniere’s disease. I was put on a diuretic & began to take physical therapy to treat the imbalance I felt because of the high fluid in my inner ear. For ANYONE struggling with the symptoms mentioned above, I would highly suggest going to an ear specialist (NOT AND ENT) who can test for high inner ear fluid. This floating sensation triggered by the high inner ear fluid caused my anxiety to spike unlike I had ever experienced before. After a month of the diuretic & therapy, I feel completely back to normal. Before this, I struggled for months.
Sandra Martinez
Hi Lexy! Did you have issues with sinus and allergy infections prior to this?
Maureen Wolford
Hi Lexy and everyone else.
I managed what was diagnosed as labrythitis (vertigo, dizziness)for over 30 years. In the beginning I did dieuretics, low salt diet, etc. This did not help but the episodes eventually subsided and then reappeared during a stressful time. I did not click the stress with it until later. Mostly I monitored my diet because when I would eat something “bad” (chips, preservatives, etc) I would get a full ear feeling. Since conventional doctors were not able to help, I turned to alternative therapies. I learned Reiki and became a practitioner for a while. I also left the Catholic church and attended an interfaith, metaphysical church. This all helped for a while, but it still came back. I learned that the spiritual stuff is called “spiritual bypass”. Affirmations and Higher power belief helped but it was not enough. I am now on the thought that I have complex ptsd. This is a type of ptsd that is caused by chronic abuse. The abuse can be caused by constant negative feedback or from attachment disorder. (Mine is from Childhood emotional neglect). My Mom is an abandoned orphan and did not hug or show emotion, (being disassociated herself). The resources most helpful to cope with Cptsd are Peter Levine’s books on somatic exercises that help release some of the built up stress, like shaking or quivering exercises. (I know, just try to keep an open mind). Practicing mindfulness is very important. Notice what your feeling, don’t just label it, notice in your body why you think you feel that way. Tapping your hand during a floaty time to just keep you in the body as you notice the sensation is very helpful, and can be done anywhere. I have done it at dinners and meetings. It seems to be working, the shaking exercises have brought my body great relief. If you believe in energy in the body, Donna Eden’s energy daily routine is also helping. I do think there is a way out of this. just try to think of it as a process to something better.
Colby MARTIN
I have found the cause of my floating anxiety. I have undeniable proof if you would like to see it! The worms were only a result of something much more severe. I moved out of my home thinking it would help and it did. I have almost made a 100% recovery. My symptoms included almost all of the symptoms Trish mentioned above. What i was experiencing was MOLD TOXICITY. I have the home reports also i had a MYCROTOXIN lab analysis done. The results were shocking! I have been dealing with a nuerotoxin from mold this entire time! The nuerotoxin is called Ochratoxin A. It causes severe anxiety, dizziness, sensitivity to heat and light, also cognitive decline and a slew of other symptoms! I honestly got so bad i could only go half a day without feelings of having to pass out and extreme floating where i had to take up to 3-4 valuim to settle it. I also have had massive heart exceleration that would last up to 4 hours! I have been away from home for 2 weeks and the difference is NIGHT and DAY! Incredible!!!! My floating is almost 99% GONE!!!!!! I have proof this time Trish:) Hope i can be of help to everyone else on this blog.
Also the name of the lab you can get this test done is very well known.
The Great Plains Laboratory 11813 W 77th St, Lenexa, KS 66214
Phone # 913 341 8949
The test is expensive and my insurance didn’t cover it, it was 300$, BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Charlie
Hello Trish. Just want to say how helpful this is and good to know I’m not the only person going through this. It’s been going on and off in my situation and just coming down a really bad “floating” sensation now. When I’m having these episodes, I read your article and helps me understand a lot more and helps me accept it. Once again, thank you for making me understand this feeling. FYI I do suffer from GAD as well as OCD.
Trish
Thank you, Charlie, for taking the time to comment and your kind words. I wish you all the best.
Much love,
Trish
Kaitlin
The true name for floating as a person who both has it and studied psychology in ba and master programs it’s called depersonalization the ” this hand is not my hand ” often it feels out of body almost like deep meditation . I learned on my journey to heal my severe gad depersonalization comes from deep seeded trauma . It is stored mainly on the back of the brain and almost PTSD like . We have depersonalization like a coping mechanism . So those who have if for days and not hours need immediate and intense therapy to surface any trauma and work to heal and deal with whatever it was
Kaitlin
Trish I wrote a long explanation but the true name for floating is clinically called depersonalization . You do not need to have identity disorder however depersonalization is the “this hand is not my hand ” because often during episode people feel out of their body as like with deep meditation you feel like your hand almost belongs to someone else you feel out of your body . It comes from severe trauma . It’s area in the brain is the back /stem where trauma is stored we may not recall the trauma or know what trauma is bothering us but our brain does… We will experience triggers whether it’s smells an event that reminds us maybe colors or someone’s walk etc anything then depersonalization occurs . If it last several days intense and immediately therapy and hypnosis to surface the trauma and deal with old wounds is vital . Also medication … I hope this info helps
Trish
Thank you for your response, Kaitlin. I do agree with you, in my experience, uncovering deep trauma is key, I believe is it is with all mental health challenges. But I wouldn’t suggest hypnosis as the only way. Hypnosis didn’t work for me but I found Matrix Reimprinting did. In fact, I would recommend EDMR or Somatic Experiencing before I would recommend hypnosis, though I know hypnosis works for some. It’s about finding the modality that works for you. And yes, I had severe depersonalization even to the point where I didn’t recognize my hands… for many years. And I have come through that by working through my traumatic experiences, both little “t” and big “T” trauma as they are all important. I no longer experience anxiety and very little disassociation and yet I still have the floating. Is there more trauma to work through? Absolutely and it is at the root of my floating, but I no longer identify with dissociation. I am sure that your explanation may be helpful to some in this comment thread and again, thank you for taking the time to comment.
Breanna
I need help fogureing out if this is what ive been dealing with. It feels like ive talen medication that makes me loose perception of my surroundings, its like when i stand up i just cant walk straight. I run into walls and it feels like invisable water is slowly pulling me to shore and then back slightly. It makes my stomach hurt alot and i feel sick to my stomach. I get scared that its going to be a depersonalization episode ( which can last a week or so) but it doesnt. I have CPTSD and wonder, can this be due to my ptsd? I cannot remember my prolonged trama but i do remember my emotions. I have been in the middle of testing for celiac disease as well as chrohns disease. So maybe that have aconnection to some degree. I just dont dont how to carry on woth life or explain this. I would love a response thank you.
Trish
Hi Breanna. It could be any one of those things that you mentioned. It seems the most common cause among the people who have commented on this post is it’s anxiety related. Some have been able to manage it by going on anti-anxiety and for some, the anti-anxiety makes it worse. I don’t know the main cause or the cure. I suggest that you consult with your doctor on which tests you should get done to rule out anything physical that may be the cause.
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.
Much love,
Trish
Colby W Martin
Trish me and my freind have both been taking the medication. We are both feeling better after 9 months. And i think you misunderstand what patasites are and what they do. They stay microscopic 98% of the time and never get bigger than that. I wasnt being rude. I was trying to help you. And id bet 1000 bucks that youve got worms. And trust me when i say you will feel much better after killing them correctly. Believe what you want but you wont know if im right until you can prove me wrong. And im telling you yoive got them. Find a microscope and take a look and prove me wrong. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Trish
Thank you for your concern, Colby. Let us know when you’ve proven that your worms are the cause of your floating. Good luck.
DestiNova
Hi Colby, Ray here. I’m sorry but it isn’t the worms. Here’s what the floating is. A traumatic event has to happen like, centropy, airplane flights, stress of a high level, boat rides that make people sick. Yet, hum, maybe you having worms shook you up so much you got floating? Did a weird event happen before you found out you had worms? Worms are so scary, after I read your post I thought i had worms and now I figure I don’t. My floating happened after a plane flight, jet-lag. Then an electrical explosion happened in my car and like magic the floating disappeared. Wow, so its not worms for me because a magnetic electrical explosion took away the floating, then like a fool i took another plane ride and damn, the floating came back. Yet a traumatic event will wipe the floating away, for how long i don’t know. I seriously doubt Trish has worms. Colby did you get rid of the worms? And if so did your symptoms disappear? If so you are very lucky and I wish you all the best this very cruel World has to offer, peace, Ray p.s. I took a pick of the portal that opened up in my car just days before I flew to Brazil if you would like to see another dimension caused by aliens. Yet if you believe the Jesus story, maybe you might not want to look. %1 of the population, the higher ups have no soul and it goes from there…. The book of Enoch explains some and the account of a person that was abducted by aliens who told him many things explains the soulless psychos running the world.
Good luck everyone, love from me and the great spirit : )
Trish
Thanks, DestiNova. Love to you. Trish
Tanja
My sister once had worms and she didn’t get the floating. She just got treated for the worms and everything was fine.
Trish
Thanks for letting us know, Tanja. I hope you’re doing okay.
Colby MARTIN
I have found the cause of my floating anxiety. I have undeniable proof if you would like to see it! The worms were only a result of something much more severe. I moved out of my home thinking it would help and it did. I have almost made a 100% recovery. My symptoms included almost all of the symptoms Trish mentioned above. What i was experiencing was MOLD TOXICITY. I have the home reports also i had a MYCROTOXIN lab analysis done. The results were shocking! I have been dealing with a nuerotoxin from mold this entire time! The nuerotoxin is called Ochratoxin A. It causes severe anxiety, dizziness, sensitivity to heat and light, Brain fog, lightheadedness, fatigue, depression, also cognitive decline and a slew of other symptoms! I honestly got so bad i could only go half a day without feelings of having to pass out and extreme floating where i had to take up to 3-4 valuim to settle it. I also have had massive heart exceleration that would last up to 4 hours! I have been away from home for 2 weeks and the difference is NIGHT and DAY! Incredible!!!! My floating is almost 99% GONE!!!!!! I have UNDENIABLE PROOF this time Trish:) Hope i can be of help to everyone else on this blog.
Also the name of the lab you can get this test done is very well known.
The Great Plains Laboratory 11813 W 77th St, Lenexa, KS 66214
Phone # 913 341 8949
The test is expensive and my insurance didn’t cover it, it was 300$, BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Trish
I’m so happy that your floating has improved so much, Colby. Congratulations on finding the cause. I hope your information will help others.
Jack
Hi trish, im new with these symptoms.. Do u still have them?
Trish
Hi Jack. I’m sorry to hear that you now have these symptoms. Yes, I still have them… it’s been since 2007. But many people in these comments have told stories about their symptoms coming and going and some feel they have healed their floating. Please be sure to see your doctor about it and go to any recommended specialists to rule out anything physical. Then I suggest taking a look at the stats grid I did at the bottom of the post to see what might help you. Much love, Trish
Omid
Dear Miriam,
Hi,
I am so sorry for that undesirable feeling. As Mrs Trish said, first of all you should visit a doc to do all of necessary tests from Blood tests to MRI and CT scan. I hope it will be nothing wrong in your body and then come back to the website by Mrs Trish. You will find many sympathetic persons in it and by their comments you can easily overcome this monster.
Best Regards
Miriam
Thanks so much for your support. It really does mean a lot to me.
Colby W Martin
Mirium this is EXACTLY how mine started, exactly as you described! The worst thing you could ever experiance. I hope you read my comments about the Mold and the testing you can get. Your story of onset sounds identicle to mine. Im completely healed! Ill be prayimg for you! Best of luck!
smileyface1967
Hello Colby, I’m curious to know how you got rid of the mold and how you fixed it? I did a mold test kit for my house and I’m not sure if there is a serious mold problem or not..
Thanks!!
Nyiko
Hey I’M Nyiko. Don’t worry you are not alone. For me it started last year a week after I was drugged with weed. I was on my bed and out of a sudden I felt like my bed was shifting and I was floating, I couldn’t breathe and my heart started beating so fast…. It went on for a while and I would feel better only when I had people around me chatting with then…. I can’t stay on my computer for hours and I can’t drink caffeine. It gets better with time and sometimes it comes back. I have learnt to live with it. Keep yourself busy you will feel better and avoid stress. Coz the moment you think about it it comes back. Call me +27 783481174 we can support each other. We are not dying.
Dizzyignas
Hey dude…mine also started from drugs..do you think it’s permament?
Nyiko
No… I think with time it will go away. Coz mine is better these days I hardly feel the sensation. Just avoid drugs and caffeine
Alex
I’m actually fairly confident that it’s legitimately just a form of anxiety. I had my first ever anxiety attack when I was smoking marijuana and I had smoked a year prior. I was about 13-14 years old. So, I would put it as “It’s only as permanent as you let it be.” That was my first anxiety attack ever, but I had never had another one until the age of 22.
marisa
We have disame experience mirriam, and the feeling is very scary..
Olive
Hi Miriam,
The same exact thing happened to me 3 weeks ago. I was wondering if this ever got resolved for you. If so, I would really appreciate some advice. Thank you!
MAJOR
I have a friend who adeer a traumatic accident frequently has the feeling of floating away. Like she’s holding on by a string. How do I help her when she has these episodes?? What can I say to comfort her?
Trish
I can only talk personally to this question but I would have liked someone to have listened to me talk about the floating with an open mind. The typical response I receive when I tell people I’m floating is they think that must be fun… like a good acid trip or something. Nothing demoralizes and invalidates my feelings re my floating experience more than to tell me that they think what I feel is “fun”. It is a dire situation with a horrifying sensation and no amount of “you’ll get over it” ever helped me. So I also suggest empathy and compassion and supporting her in the way she wants to get help when she wants to get it.
Much love,
Trish
Lisa
Omg, Trish,
I have had similar experiences with “friends” just thinking it’s funny, when the symptom of floating is so scary. If they’ve experienced it, then they would have empathy. I have lost or just let go of so many (what i thought were good friends) bc i am dealing with a debilitating illness. I hope whoever reads this knows , you’re so not alone. It’s ok to be scared and anxious. It’s a normal response. So many HUGS!!!
Tanja
Could it be they think it is like an astronaut floating in space? And they cannot imagine that you mean something different? I guess it is difficult to tell people what your experience is especially if they have no idea about it. It is weird when I tell people about my weightless experience (on an aircraft) a lot of them think it must be horrible (and the others think the other way around). But it is hard finding words and no one really can imagine who has not lived this. Probably it’s the same for other unusual or unknown experiences, if they are bad or nice. So maybe they just don’t understand what you mean and so they don’t understand that it is a dire situation.
Kaitlin
To better understand depersonalization which is that floating feeling also watch the movie called NUMB with actor Matthew perry . Aside trauma marijuana use is often the possible
Cause of depersonalization start . This movie will
Explain more
Of what you’re talking about . You’re welcome ahead for giving a name to the floating helps know you’re not crazy depersonalization again can be on its own with depersonalization disorder .
Kaitlin
Without depersonalization disorder “”” error meaning you do not need the disorder to have depersonalization often it comes with gad or panic disorder . It is from trauma . If people
Are unsure of what trauma is triggering their depersonalization then hypnosis is key to uncover
glenn
I am a 53 year old male , run and lift very day, eat well, and just went through this horror…much better now and now i want to help others who may be going through this truly bizzre condition
annemien page
Hi there Glen
Please ,please tell me how you helped yourself.My son has this floating feeling. His legs feel wobbly although they are strong. More so when he goes for a walk.He did suffer severe trauma and anxiety attacks .He does not have them anymore . Only had about 3 attacks.
Colby MARTIN
Hey annemien page, My name is Colby and i have had this Floating anxiety for over a year now, massive panic attacks, rapid heart beat, depression. The quote you said about your son legs feeling wobbly and its hard to walk, I’ve had the same thing! I found my issue, I have a massive amount of Ochratoxin A in my brain. This is a nuerotoxin from Mold. There are multiple other nuerotoxins from mold. Some people, about 25% of people, lack a gene that limits there bodies ability to get rid of these nuerotoxins. I feel your son may have these built up in his Body. There is a test you can do through a company called The Great Plains Laboratory the are out of Lenexa, KS. The test is 300 bucks but you can order this test and do it in house.
DestiNova
Trish, Ray here. The transformer may be a diversion. On the way home in the dark the other night a bright light crackled exploded then imploaded in the passenger seat of my car. My kids say I have missing time, my floating went away after two years. I frantically took pics, I got pics of a portal, electricity, and a huge grey alien. Anyone can email me for the pics if they want. I flew to Brazil a few days ago and looked out the airplane window and saw a clearly visible ufo. Two days ago I got pics of a stargate/ portal and another ufo. Before the explosion grey aliens were looking at me through my bedroom window. I truly believe all of us have been abducted. Wat my pics? Can I leave my email add here? Social.science @ mail.com
Weird thing is that the aliens took away the floating, yet for how long? I’m reading the 600 page Keys of Enoch now in Brazil. The men in black are grey aliens and I believe electromagenetics is in part to blame for the floating. I hope the greys perfect this because obviously they haven’t got it right yet. I believe there’s are the ones who decide who has to come back to earth and who moves on. Good luck everyone
Emma
I have had exactly the same thing, it is completely relentless. Shaking, swaying, rocking sensation. It is ungroundedness. Feeling disconnected from your body and surroundings, unable to focus and concentrate. Feeling like your heart is pounding, feeling that pounding making the movement worse. It can be a living nightmare
Spiritual awakening can cause ungroundedness. When you experience awakening anxiety, you have to ground your energy
http://www.spiritualawakeningsigns.com/spiritualawakening/the-purpose-of-anxiety-during-spiritual-awakening-and-how-to-ease-it/
Trish
Thank you Mona for your comment–I am so glad that you resonated with it! I actually wrote this post specifically for all the people I’ve seen in my Internet searches on this topic asking if they were going crazy or does anyone know how to get rid of it. I hope others find it helpful too.
Cassie
Trish if you could please write me back i have no one that understand this feeling and i live with it every day it scares me i have children and so scared everyday i will not wake up in the morning sometimes it gets so bad i just freak out so many times i have almost called 911 bc it gets so bad this is the first time i jave ever seen someone describe the way i am feeling
Trish
Hi Cassie. Thank you for being so honest with how you are feeling. It is a terrible sensation that is so scary and debilitating. It is the worst experience I have ever had. My heart goes out to you to have to try and deal with this and be there for your children. I understand the anxiety and fear of dying because I had them too; it is a vicious cycle because the fear feeds the anxiety and the anxiety feeds the fear and in my experience, both make the floating sensation worse.
I recommend strongly that, if you have not already, go to your doctor and explain to s/he what’s going on. It may be really helpful to have the tests and see specialists that can confirm your good health. You may want to consider an anti-anxiety; some find it helpful and others do not but that is your decision to make. And therapy may be helpful if you have someone to talk to your fears about this.
I usually recommend that you do what you can to get use to the sensation but perhaps it is too early for that in your case because of your heightened state of anxiety. Please find and surround yourself with people who can support you through this… family, friends, practitioners, medical professionals, etc.
I am thinking of you Cassie during this very difficult time and your struggle. For me it did get better and I tell you this to offer some hope. I also encourage anyone else on this thread to comment to help Cassie through this.
Much love,
Trish
Brittany
Hi Trish! Reading this article was helpful in so many ways! I, too, struggle with this and have had multiple doc visits, tests (ct scan, blood work, ent, audiologist) and no one can find anything wrong. The doc has prescribed two different anxiety medicines, but I’ve stopped both due to side effects (insomnia/dizziness). My question for you: how did you get rid of this horrible feeling? I’ve noticed when I turn over I’m bed I even feel off-balance. Did you have that? When I’m busy, I tend to pay less attention to my off-balanceness. I’ve always been an anxious person, but this sensation takes my anxiety to a whole new level. I fear doctors are missing something and there is an underlying cause for this. I work on a computer all day and if I simply turn around to look at something I get the sensation. Did you have these sane effects?
Trish
Hi Brittany
I am so glad the article was helpful to you.
All you’re feelings around this sensation are valid Brittany because it is a horrific experience. I don’t want to invalidate how you’re feeling about this with any of my suggestions below; this is a hard, hard thing to deal with and taking any steps on your own to resolve it is scary as hell. It took me finally accepting that I could have this for the rest of my life to begin to own that I had to rely on myself to resolve this by getting up close and personal with the floating; what triggers it, what makes it better, what are the patterns and getting grounded in my body so I could have the full experience of the sensation. After that, I was able to determine how I could live with it and work towards resolving it (still in progress).
I haven’t got rid of the sensation. It has gotten better and then gotten worse again to slowly get better but it still remains. I have learned to accept that in this moment I feel like I am floating and spinning. That doesn’t mean it’s forever. It means it’s for now. I then desensitized myself to the sensation as I explained in the article above.
I do believe anxiety makes the condition worse which makes the anxiety worse and round and round it goes. By desensitizing myself to the sensation, I was able to reduce my anxiety around it significantly.
Yes, when I turn in bed it increases and turning my head can make the sensation worse. Do you have sore/stiff/painful shoulder/neck/jaw muscles? I do and I find that is tied into how intense the sensation is.
Most of the people on this thread have gone through a series of medical tests to find that nothing is wrong. But we all worry that something has been missed and sometimes that we are even dying. I have had it for 8 years now and I’m in still in good health.
I don’t know of a cure. I do know for some it eventually goes away. I know for some an anti-anxiety makes it better and for others it makes it worse and for some it does nothing at all.
I am still looking to resolve it even though it is a part of my life now and does not limit me. I will be the first to post a new article when I find out how to resolve it.
Much love,
Trish
Brittany
Anyone that suffers from this should definitely read this blog! It is crazy to think we are alone and then you read this and think “I am not crazy!” I would love to join a support group, but we are live in different cities. I find talking with others that understand so helpful! I have yet to find what makes it worse/better, BUT I have noticed staying busy distracts the symptoms while sitting at work staring at a computer makes me think more about it. In regards to the stiff neck etc… I do at times experience that too. I typically will take a few ibuprofen which helps. The doctor said the stiff next etc.. could be from anxiety/stress (which is all from the floating…!) Here recently I have caught myself locking my jaw which I believe is also from anxiety. Again, I have never had these type of anxiety issues since this “floating” started. My concern is starting on an anti-anxiety medicine for all of the wrong reasons then being stuck on it because I have heard coming off medicines like that are extremely hard!
Trish
The main reason I wrote this article is because at the time, I couldn’t find anything on the internet about what I was experiencing and I wanted to find others who were going through the same thing. I agree–having someone else understand and not feel alone is so, so helpful when you are going through something as trippy as this.
It sounds like you are well aware of the disadvantages of going on an anti-anxiety (ativan). Being on one for over 6 years now and in the process of trying to get off it has been very difficult and I wish I was as well educated as you are before I started. But though the anti-anxiety did not help with my floating, it did initially help with the anxiety which made it easier to cope with. I encourage you to follow your gut on this Brittany, but in my case I feel the psychotropic medication would have been very useful for a short period of time… to the point where I felt grounded again. The challenge at that point in coming off would have been fear of relapse so it would still be challenging but the chemical dependency would have been less because the longer we stay on the meds the harder it is to get off.
Feel free to drop by anytime to this thread and share with us what is going on with you.
Much love,
Trish
Trish
Lori and her gardening also bring up how important it is to do things that keep you grounded because as you can imagine, floating is probably the most ungrounding feeling in the world! Things like gardening, walking barefoot outside, taking walks in nature, warm showers, the sound of running water, tapping each part of our body and recognizing it by saying it out loud “foot… ankle… shin…” etc. are just some of the things you can do. Here is a MHT post that talks a bit about how to ground as well…http://mentalhealthtalk.info/bipolar_mood
Grounding has helped me immensely to not only be able to cope with the sensation, but thrive with it.
Trish
Another good way to ground is to eat protein. You may want to stay away from sugar because it makes you more ungrounded.
Lori
Wow, Brittany, I could have written this. I have the same feelings all day and the only time they seem to subside is when I am outside working in the garden. It is one think I love to do and I never really notice the sensations when I am immersed in the dirt. My husband tells me I look like I am in my glory when I am outside just digging or weeding.
Jane
Hi , I have been dealing with this for over thirty years. After much therapy and the right combination of meds I can truly say that it gets much better. I too was afraid of the meds, but my husband reminded me that “what is my reward for going through this without meds? This is one of the most horrifying experiences that one can go through. I have a great quality of life now and 90% of the time I feel good. There is great hope, believe me. Do I have set backs? Yes I do, but now I know what to expect and how long it will last. Please never give up hope–it can go away!
Much love and prayers for all going through this.
Dee
30 years? Thats kinda scary to think about… do you have Facebook by any chance? Would really love to chat to an “expert” about this… it’s not very fun is it… lol
Gabe
Hi i have had this for a year now, and when i first experienced it i was very scared, so scared i started crying thinking i will be with this for the rest of my life. I started going through rumination and did so for that first month. I strongly think this is due to marijuana smoking and possibly a hidden axiety disorder that has been awaken because i felt it the next morning after smoking alot with friends the previous night. I talked to my parents and they could see i was scared. I told them i wanted to see a psychiatrist but ended up seeing a therapist. I only went to one for 1 month and It did help but i felt it came to a stand still. I found that anxiety make this feeling worse. Now just today i was laying down in bed, then i felt this floating which is not my symptoms of what ever i have, this floating is the first. Now im here and after reading this i realize i have never been to the docotor for my symptoms. I really what everyone going through here is in common because then eventually there will be enough cases of this and will be studied and have a name.
Colby MARTIN
Cassie, I felt like i was dying!! I actually did go to the hospital in an ambulance once because of it. Other times i had to take massive amounts of valuim to sleep when i thought i was going to die. NO ONE WOULD HELP ME! The doctors looked at me as if i was crazy! I found my issue was from a Mycotoxin which is a nuerotoxin you get from MOLD. The one i have is Ochratoxin A. Its terrible! There’s a test you can get from a place called The Great Plains Laboratory in Lenexa KS. Its expensive, about 300 bucks. But its super easy and takes about 2 weeks to come back. Its a urine test. I hope this information finds you! I know what your going through!
Kristi Glass
I can not believe I am not the only one this is happening to. I just today figured out how to kind of describe how I am feeling, enough to be able to google this sensation. You site popped up – Thank You Lord Jesus!!! I truly have told my husband so many times in the last two weeks that I feel as if I am dying. I feel my best when I first wake up and it goes downhill from there. I can not tell you how glad I am to see this information. I feel bad for everyone but I am so thankful to know it’s not just me! I am going through the worst time in my life with problems all around me – piling up more and more every day…. and I knew in the back of my mind it HAS to be anxiety – which is causing anxiety, leading to depression. The more anxious I get the worst I feel the floating. Thank God I found you all. Thank you Trish so much, you have no idea how you have helped me already!
Trish
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment Kristi.
Much love,
Trish
Nyiko
Trish thank you so much. Knowing that I’m not alone in this gives me hope, I have always thought that I was dying. Thank you so much
Cameron
So my head constantly feels like it’s numb all over like its feeled with cotton wool and my scalp is tight all the time and my head feels high and drunk at the same time, I’m so disconnected from myself I feel invincible, my head has these sensations where it feels like my brain will shift to one side and to the other side and it will have a buzzing sensation with it and just being still I feel like my body is a elevator it goes up and down, and if I just move my legs or anything it will make me feel floaty, and the ground is bouncy, I just have shifting sensations in my body and my head where I’m going upwards or downwards or side to side, and my body feels like it weighs as much as a peice of paper and I’m just floating in air, I feel very light all over, but my body is weak and heavy to after I do something it’s so freaking weird and scary
Trish
Cameron, I am so sorry that you are experiencing this to that kind of extreme. It was like that for me in the beginning and I was so terrified I spent my days in bed, trying not to move. Because as you know, moving makes it more intense.
Have you been to the doctor to ask for help with your anxiety? And/Or an alternative practitioner to ask for help?
Much love and thinking of you,
Trish
Cameron
So do you kno what all I’m talking about
dizzyignas
I have exatcly all of your symptoms and head numbness…for 2years and5months..how long you have it?
Cameron
Do you really?
dizzyignas
Yeah I hate high drunk feeling in my head my head feels so heavy or numb. Also the elevator sensation or ground moving sensation..it feels that ground is soft.Also have visual disturbances,and I feel exhausted and tired all the time,my muscles are weak
Cameron
Do you have a Facebook?
Carrie
Dizzynas can you explain what you mean by visual disturbances? Often when I feel floaty I almost feel like I’m lightly hallucinating, it really scares me maybe more than any of the other symptoms
dizzyignas
Yes I have facebook. What is yours? I will add you
Cameron
Profile name is Cameron peters
Colby MARTIN
Dizzyignas, I believe you may be experiencing exactly what i have experienced. What you may have is Micotoxins in your brain that come from different types of mold. I was also having the EXTREME floating and shifting sensations. Also rapid heart beat and light hallucinations as you call them. I have
Ochratoxin A which is a pretty hard core nuerotoixin from aspergillius mold. Some people don’t have the necessary genes to rid themselves of these Mycotoxins like others. I have proof if you would like to see the test that were done. Its a urine test done by The Great Plains Laboratory in Lenexa, Kansas. The test is 300 bucks and my insurance didn’t cover it. But you could order this test yourself from them to see if this is in fact whats going on. But to me it sounds spot on with what i’ve had. Thanks buddy hope to talk soon.
Oleen
Hi Colby, I definitely want information on the whole testing thing. Do you have Instagram? I don’t have a Facebook or any other type of a social media, but I definitely have some questions.
dizzyignas
Cameroon is all your symptoms because of lyme disease or not ? And when you get a bite please answer me..
Cameron
Idk if it’s from Lyme disease because I haven’t started my treatment yet
dizzyignas
How they found a lyme? Is it was simple blood test?
Cameron
Hey I never connected back with uou
dizzyignas
Hey I send you request before a month and I did not get answer from you,also I was texted you at facebook
Cameron
I never received anything
Cameron
Hey what’s your Facebook profile look like? Did you add me
Dizzyignas
Hey there is 3 Cameron peters which one is you?
Cameron
I have blue turquoise shirt on
Carrie
Hi Cameron, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this but I was also glad to read your comment because I get those “shifting” feelings really badly when the feeling strikes me
Danyel
Trish-
Thank you SO much for posting this story! I have this feeling when I am legitimately nervous or anxious about something. I have generalized anxiety disorder so I am anxious 95% of the time anyway, but when there is something that is Honestly making me anxious I get this feeling. I was trying to think of other times in my life when I have felt this way; the buoy comment was perfect! I have been on a boat/ship only a handful of times but that’s how you feel when you step off. Like youre still in the water wading on the boat. It is such a strange feeling and I knew there had to be others out there with the same thing.
Trish
Danyel — I am so glad the story resonated with you and helped you to feel less alone. Do keep in touch.
Much love,
Trish
LSZ
You are doing such a good job at explaining different situations, it is great to see it in writing and from someones own experiences , not just some Dr, trying to guess at what is going on.
I am learning a lot from your website and I just love your art work, such talent!!!! Great job!!!!
Trish
THANK YOU so much LSZ. Feedback like that keeps me going! xoxo
NB
Well written. Have never experince floating but could understand what it would feel like the way you discribed it. Lots of good information.
Trish
Thanks NB. I’m so glad that you got something out of the post.
B
THANK YOU for publishing this. I am crying, I needed to find this page so badly right now. I’ve been in float for 5 days and am at my absolute wits end. THANK YOU
shane
Had this feeling for 2 months now when walkig and standing. If i stand and walk alittle forward it almost goes away. Very annoying
Amanda
Shane,
I’m right there with you. I have also been having this feeling for a prolonged period of time. I have noticed that travel or flying gives me anxiety to begin with, however never related the two. I started feeling this way initially, almost two years ago when I had to travel for a work conference. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, Trish, nailed it with the MRI followed by the ENT and I still see a PT for balance training. Interestingly enough I received orders for overseas about 2 months ago, ironically the floating feeling immediately started. I’m 28 years of age, I don’t believe I should be feeling this way. I am truly happy to have come across this article. I can only hope now to try the techniques listed. Thank you Trish and I hope everyone can put their minds at ease.
Jeet
Thank you Trish, i am glad that after literally going through all other different sites, comments finally seeing something with true experience. Well it ain’t easy but will definitely try working with it.
Regards,
Jet
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Working on right way is the right way to go not doing just experiments try to analyze the situation first and than chose the correct way . Your article is really conceptual and key points you tell also very effective.Thank you for guide me in this topic.
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thank you so much for explaining this. It’s driving me crazy but it’s always, always much better when I know it’s common anxiety symptom. I feel with every one of you that has the same problem. But believe me when I say IT WILL PASS. Give it a time just as if you’d give time to a common cold or a flu. Heal your mind and make inner peace!
Thanks again for this text!!
rani
I like the phrase IT WILL PASS. I have been suffering since April last year. tot I was going crazy as doctors could only label it as anxiety. I am learning to cope with it. each day is a challenge. I am learning to accept it hoping that it will get tired one day and leave for good. Thank you.
nick
whole I’m felling my boday moveing… I fell swaying iff balnce. is that really coz of anxiety
Nessa
This is sooooo perfect I am so relieved to have found this that I have to bookmark to look at when this happens. I’m only 18 & for me these sensations started when I was 17 after trying marijuana for the first time. I smoked so much my body was stone-like for hours so now when I wake up sometimes (middle of the night or nap) it would feel like I’m in a night terror the way I was awake but parts of my body were numb/very slow to react to touch & my mind always questioned reality. It’s very scary & my heart beats super fast and my throat and neck heat up (anxiety?). But calming myself down in my mind, knowing I don’t have dissociative disorder or depersonification, etc is a relief. Hopefully with inner peace & God’s help my body & mind can feel normal again.
Thanks soooooo much for this post!!!!
Trish
Thank you for sharing a bit of your story Nessa. I really do appreciate hearing from you because one of the reasons I wrote this post was to find others who experienced something similar. At the time I felt like a total freak and completely alone in this.
I did experience something similar to you re the pot in that I had a bad mind trip and the floating started soon after. I was diagnosed with PTSD and now, 6 years later, I feel this is a very fitting diagnosis. Though I have had mental health practitioners give their best guess with the floating being related to dissociation, given my research (particularly Dr. Scarer http://www.traumasoma.com/) into PTSD, I do believe the floating (which can also be termed as vertigo) is related to the dissociation one experiences when triggered into the fight/flight/freeze response which in my understanding, is a different state of being than that experienced with dissociation disorders.
I feel that to heal, I do need to release the energy and body memory that occurred at the time of the trauma (bad mind trip and the mental and physical outcomes) and I am going about that doing EFT with a certified practitioner. I still have a long way to go but it is my intention that one day the floating/vertigo will improve to the point of me no longer feeling the sensations. I hear Somatic Experiencing is also gentle and effective and there is also EDMR.
Please note that I am not any type of professional in this area and am only relaying what I believe and what is working for me with the intention of giving you some food for thought. You know what is best for you.
Much love,
Trish
Cameron
My head feels so disconnected from my body constantly , I have severe depersonalization, Do you kno what that is?
Trish
Yes. I have severe dissociation as well — depersonalization and derealization. For me, it was rooted in the fear and I had developed from trauma. I was afraid of my body and my mind I would detach. This caused the dissociation symptoms.
Jared, a regular MHT contributor, wrote a post on both dissociation disorders: http://mentalhealthtalk.info/schizophrenia-and-anxiety/. I hope you find this helpful.
Love,
Trish
Trish
Cameron, I meant to say I HAD severe dissociation– for about the first 6 years after the trauma and the floating started (I’m in year 8 now). It is not much of a problem now.
Kevin Sorrell
Hi there my name is Kevin i also have this weird feelings of floating, mine started when i was about 12 years old it lasts for about 3-6months i have never been able to work out what is is, i have had it around 7 times in my life, today im 41 years old and again i have it, its been with me this time for about 7 weeks 🙁 i have elimited dairy, wheat, yeast, sugar, i am almost eating a paleo diet, i cant sleep at night as i feel as though the bed moves, but its not the bed its me, have i have become withdrawn from activities in life, i have never been able t work because of fear of getting it again although i have worked part-time in the past, its worst when i lay on my belly, if i lay on the floor its not to bad, but i have trouble shaving, using a computer, watching tv, driving a car is awful its feels like i have someone in the bake seat moving my seat very uncomfortable 🙁
Trish
I am sorry to hear this Kevin. Truly. I know how horrible it feels to feel like you are floating all the time. I have had it constantly for the past 6 years.
I too eat a primal diet but I have never found diet to help. As I suggested in this post, I desensitized myself to it. You have trouble sleeping with it and I think that if it ever stops for me, I probably couldn’t sleep without it!
I have found since writing this article that it is related to the extreme tension in my neck and possibly my jaw. This is chronic tension and myofasical pain that has developed as habitual from anticipating that I may experience trauma again in the form of vertigo.
I have been experimenting with two modalities that I think will help me: Thomas Hanna’s Somatics and Emotional Freedom Technique/Tapping. I work with a practitioner in both cases and though it is slow going, I have faith that it will help to relieve the sensation.
You are strong Kevin–if you managed to get through the floating before you can do it again. I really found relief when I was able to accept that this was the way things are for me in this moment and that it is just a sensation.
Love,
Trish
Kevin Sorrell
Thanks Trish for the reply i will look into that further, yes my worst is when i try and sleep, i ate rice last night felt worse but i cant say if its the rice or just all in my head ie anxiety
Trish
That is so interesting Kevin re the rice! I swear it makes my floating way worse too!!!! That is the only food I have found to impact my floating–though I too thought it was all in my head but now that you have had the same experience…
Now I just don’t eat it.
Good luck to you and keep in touch.
Love,
Trish
Ryan
I also get this after eating carb rich and/or greasy foods. What up with that?
Cassie
This feeling really scares me i have been feeling it for a while but seems to be gettng worse i worry myself crazy thinking i am going to die bc of a brain tumor or something bc this feeling is awful i really hate it and i feel like i feel this way the majority of my day i am scared to go to sleep at night in fear i will not wake up. I do not want to live this way forever i have children i want to live my life enjoying it with my babies
Sybel
The feeling I get feels like I’m floating, on a lift, on a boat, tipsy, or kind of jet lagged. It’s so hard to describe! By the end of the day or certain parts of the day I feel like I’m extremely tired. Ill have parts of the day when I won’t even feel it. Would you say this is the same as what you have written above??
Trish
Hey Sybel. Thank you for commenting. Yes, I would say it is the same thing I experience–though I am not a professional and encourage you to seek medical analysis if you have not already. When did it start for you? Is it more intense for you when you lie down or when your head/neck is in a certain position?
Cameron
Sybel: What do you mean when you say jet lagged
DestiNova
Hi Cameron, I was reading all the posts. Jet lag is a floating sensation after flying on an airplane. The plane goes up and down and that feeling doesn’t go away after leaving the plane. I have the floating, I understand yours was mold. My floating started after numerous flying experiences. The floating went away after a portal exploded then imploded in my car, ( I know hard to believe, like you had to be there kkkkk). Anyway I took a pick of the portal after it appeared with an electric crackling noise. Next I took a flight, I was fine the portal exploding took the floating away until… oh yes until I had to fly back into time from Brazil to Seattle. The last flight was turbulent like crazy when I walked off that flight it was like permanent jet lag, the floating is still with me after going away. I found that flying or boat rides, the up and down, cause floating like the mold does. Being near a high “Centropy” electric charge will get rid of the floating for me and flying back into time will start the floating again. I found the definition to Centropy in the Book of Enoch, I highly recommended its reading : )
SBW
I experience these symptoms after high stress. Several times in my life sometimes last for weeks. I make myself sick over it every time to only realize it’s anxiety. Today i just deal with it and know it will pass in time. It’s only temporary and this is who I am. Most people don’t talk about there anxiety symptoms so it’s hard to find someone to understand you. Once it affected my whole vision and everything seemed slanted. I felt as if i was being pulled all the time quite weird. I also think breathing techniques help. Remember it’s your body and you can control it. You have to clear your mind and think positively. Someone always has it worse! Don’t isolate yourself or ever give up something you enjoy doing. Keep moving forward.
hannah
Today is the 23rd of October and I have been dealing with weird sensations since the start of June this year. I literally CANNOT take it anymore. I go to the doctor and they give me antidepressants or anti-anxiety meds such as xanax/ativan. I don’t want these – okay! I want this feeling to stop. Constantly a floating feeling or a feeling that my head is not attached to my body, my entire right side goes numb (mainly my face and my ear will feel full). I just don’t understand. I have had a variety of testing done but I feel like they are missing something and they don’t know. I too hope I can go one day without the dizziness or floating sensation. I was sensitive before but everyday when this happens I just cry because I am so MAD that this won’t stop. I pray one day it will – I can’t fee like woe is me when other’s are suffering much worse but at times I feel like although I am not battling something terrible (or at least they tell me I am not) that I too will move on and get over it. Last week it was absent and then as of Sunday it’s been back full force. I’ve lost hope but I have just have to keep going. I just want to feel like myself again.
Trish
I am so sorry Hannah that you are having this experience. In my experience it’s scary and it’s frustrating and it felt like I was completely out of control of everything. It was my worst nightmare. I felt like a freak. I so wanted to go back to who I was before it all started and just feel normal again. And nobody seemed to get it unless they’d experienced it (which is why I wrote this blog post–so I could connect with people like you who knows what it feels like)–they don’t get how consuming it is. They don’t get what it feels like to have your body and mind betray you that way.
And even now, having this sensation for 6 1/2 years (I an NOT saying it will be that way for you) and having adapted to it, I still want it to stop.
I have accepted it but I still want it to stop.
I know I can’t go back to the way I was before because this experience has changed me… for the better. I truly mean that; I look back now and can see what courage it takes to live with something like this. Something no one can see but was pure hell for me. Is some times still pure hell for me.
I’m not big on hope but I am on faith. I have faith that you will endure this. I have faith that you can accept it even while still wanting it to stop.
I have had a long time to study my case. I know what makes the sensation worse and what makes it better. For me it is tied to the tension and pressure that is in my neck, shoulders and jaw. It seems to me that because the doctors don’t know how to cure the floating sensation then my answer to resolving it is not found in science. So I am thinking outside of the box and that has brought me to energy work (what I mentioned in the comment above). I have been working on other things re my PTSD with this form of energy work and the results have been amazing. By the end of this year I will be tackling the tension and I expect the floating will improve to the point of going away.
I will keep everyone posted with whatever method I use to resolve this. I have faith it will resolve for me in time.
Stay strong. Acceptance does not mean giving up or giving in. I have found it is the place I had to get to in order to move forward and live life again with the floating sensation. If I can do it, I know you can too.
Much love,
Trish
Reena
Did you get any relief Hannah? If so what worked for you?
Janet
Hi Hannah,
I have been suffering from these exact symptoms for months nonstop now. I know exactly how you feel because I react the same way and cant help but cry almost everyday because I wish it would stop. I live day after day hoping it will get better. I feel like the dizziness I feel on a daily basis is what triggers the rest of my anxiety symptoms. I feel hopeless.
rani
Hi Hannah,
I can understand how terrible your feeling is. I lost many job opportunities because of this dreadful problem. I missed outings. Fear of going out. Even while I am typing this post now I am experiencing this floating sensation. My symptoms varied along the way. for a while I felt no control over my limbs. No gravity while walking. Many times I felt like I was walking in a slanting direction. I also knocked on to walls while walking corner turns. I felt like a boat that is tied to a pole, rocking. sometimes I felt that I was going to pass out and fall. All these feeling did not deter me from going out as I keep telling myself that I have to fight this as its just a feeling and not a serious illness. I believe that I am on the road of recovery through exposure therapy as I get this feeling of desensitization. My counselling training comes handy. I do lots of positive self talk and most important believe that its a passing cloud. Pray each time you experience this horrible feeling and draw strength from your faith and your confidence that you will be healed soon.
Bek
Gosh this sounds EXACTLY like me. I feel like this everyday and have for three years. Ivory it’s brain tumor or brain cancer but I guess after three years I’d be a lot sicker.
I feel like I’ll pass out almost everyday and feel drunk at times and likeky brain is bobbing in water or the inside of my head is numb if that makes sense.
It’s very debilitating and I hate going out 🙁
Cameron
Rani: What do you mean.. No gravity while walking?
Cameron
Are you there
Wayne
I am so glad that i found your post! you have no idea.
My Fiance and I are getting married in December this year, I have just started a new business, and we are moving into a new flat after the wedding. Alot of things happening all at once.
My main concern is when my Fiance started experiencing all these symptoms you so amazingly describe. I understood straight away what it was, but it was difficult to explain. I myself had experienced the same thing years ago when i was in high school, and the feeling subsided. i am now 29 years old, my Fiance is 25, and since she started with this “floating” feeling, i have been looking for the best way to show her that she’s not alone in this, she’s not going crazy and that it WILL NOT change who she is. you have POWER over the feeling, you have power over your mind, acceptance and realization is the first step to recovery.
and its not even as though its a disease or disorder to a degree, but its a mind set. Once we understand how we react in stress full situations, and the triggers of the floating, you just open your eyes and see the whole picture. Re-focus your mind and energy on ONE thing and not the 500 thousand things running through your mind. Relief will come!
Trish
Congrats Wayne on all the great things that are happening in your life!
My heart goes out to your Fiance with this experience. It’s scary. I am so grateful that this post and the people who have contributed in the comments might help your Fiance. I am also very grateful that your Fiance has someone like you–who understands–to support her through this.
Thank you for your words of wisdom and for taking the time to comment.
Love,
Trish
Lee-Anne
Hi, I am 31 and I have had the symptoms that everyone is describing for nearly 3 years now, on and off. I am a worrier and do get anxious but I have been convinced that this alone cannot cause such terrible symptoms. I feel slightly disconnected at times and just dream of a day when I will be back to my old self, back to “normal”. It is affecting my quality of life now and I so want it to go away!
I am hypothyroid and my levels were through the roof when it was first diagnosed. I also had low cortisol results but was told it’s not addison’s disease through further tests. The doctor also recently detected a systolic heart murmur last week and I’m waiting on further tests. With all of this going on in my body I have been believing that there is an underlying cause for my “floating” sensation and that someone would discover the missing link with my health. To be honest my biggest fear now is that no medical diagnosis will be reached and that I have what you are describing…
Thanks,
Lee-Anne
Trish
Hi Lee-Anne
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and affirm we are not alone in this.
Please do keep us posted on what you find out.
Love,
Trish
Kash
Thank you so much for posting this. I have been dealing with “floating” for over a month now. It started with short episodes at a time and now it’s every day sometimes all day. I have been scared to death that I have some type of brain disease even though my aunt told me that she and two of my other aunts have experienced this and all take the same medication for it. I just started the medication yesterday and I’m praying it helps. It’s reassuring to see this story and know that there are others like me.
Trish
Thank you for your comment Kash. I too hope that the medication works for you.
May I ask what kind of medication you are taking? It may be helpful for the others on this comment thread to know.
Much love,
Trish
Kash
I just started taking Citalopram (Celexa) yesterday. This is the medication that worked for my Aunts and my cousin. I called my aunt scared to death that I was dying and she let me in on the family Panic/Anxiety disorder and could relate to every single one of my scary symptoms. The floating, the feeling off balance like I’m walking sideways, the weird pressure in my head were all familiar to her. She assured me that I wasn’t dying and that I don’t have a brain tumor or an aneurism or any of the other horrible things I was certain I had. The medication thus far has me feeling a little weird, but it’s not unbearable considering what I’m already dealing with. This floating has really stopped me in my tracks. I was becoming a well rounded athlete, but now anything that gets my heart rate up induces the floating including my beloved running and weight lifting. I’m praying this medication helps.
Trish
Thank you for replying Kash and for sharing a bit more about your symptoms. My symptoms are exactly the same.
It is funny you mention about an increase in your heart rate amplifying the sensation. I used to be terrified of my heart rate increasing because the sensation would freak me out so much. I quit all forms of intense exercise. But recently I have started exercising vigorously again… in short intervals. I am that use to the sensation now.
I will also pray that Celexa will work for you.
Kash
Thank you Trish. It’s amazing to me how you have learned to adjust to the feeling. This last month has been a nightmare for me. I’ve gone to many doctors and none can find anything wrong with me. I think that my body chemistry has been upset because I lost over 100 pounds in about a year. When I got just under the overweight category I started having this feeling. After a run last Saturday the feeling has not gone away. Two of my Aunts said that their floating was being caused by their thyroid and both had to have their thyroids shut down. My cousin’s panic attacks started after her hysterectomy. This is my second time attempting the medication. Last time I was on it for 4 days and after a bad night of insomnia and racing thoughts I stopped it because the one thing I did learn while taking the medicine was that this really is a mental issue. The symptoms had just about gone away, but that night I was scared by my insomnia and racing thoughts and scared myself into a horrible panic that lasted most of the night. This time I am taking a lower dosage and I’m giving it another chance because I’m so determined to get rid of this problem. It’s ruining my life. All my husband can do is hold me and tell me it will be okay and I’m scared to be at home alone with my 3 year old because I constantly feel as if I’m going to float right out of my body and leave it lying there on the floor. You’re right about being able to position your body in certain ways that you won’t feel the floating. I have to be reclining at all times at home. I also find that if I keep very busy and move a lot I won’t feel it. I’ve been through many rough times in my life but, this has got to be the worst. This is worse than being abused by my ex or doing 8 years of prison or anything else I’ve been through.
Trish
Thank you so much for sharing more of your story Kash and your feelings.
For the first few years (and I’m not saying that you will have it as long as I have–I believe we’re all unique) it was the worst thing I could imagine EVER happening. It is the most out of control I have ever felt. It was like being in a custom version of hell. Until I realized one day that this could be the rest of my life.
I too am determined to resolve it though I have adapted to it. I will be the first to write a new post to explain how I did it because I think everyone on this thread is in this together and we understand each other. And that’s powerful.
I think we’re in a unique position to help each other because it is evident that other areas where we might typically find help are not able to help us.
Please keep in touch Kash using this thread. I want to hear how you’re doing.
Much love,
Trish
Colby Martin
Trish, I have been experiencing this, Me and my friend both for about 11 months. I feel like i’m floating all the time, i also feel as if the ground is squishy and i’m walking on a marshmallow. When i lay in bed i have feeling as if i am shrinking at a very fast rate and turning microscopic. These doctors have no idea whats going on. I’ve been to every specialist and nothing has been found out. I suffer from massive anxiety because of this. The only thing that helps the dizziness thus far is Valium. The only thing i have found out thus far, and i had to go to the vet, but i and my buddy had a massive invasion of tapeworms. And in case you don’t know, when they die they release a nuerotoxin that can explain some of these symptoms. I DO NOT advise getting tested through your doctor as here in the USA there test don’t include a microscope, and they ruin the specimens and every test will be negative. Go to a vet, bring a stool sample the size of the tip of your pinky. Tell them its your dogs poop. And see if you have worms too. I will check back on this thread when i can. But if you have a facebook you can add me Colby Martin. Or if anyone here has been having these symptoms feel free to get in touch with me if no vet will test you for worms. I have a vet you can mail samples to that will do it. Feel free to reach out. Martin44Magnum@gmail.com
PS. I and my freind have taken to rounds of meds to kill these bastards, it will take probably 2 or 3 more. I am feeling better. But i need to know if more people like me with my symptoms have these worms too. That way i can know if this in fact the only cause.
Trish
Colby, thank you so much for leaving your comment. The way you got tested for tapeworms was ingenious!
I’m so with you on this though I cannot say that my theory is correct until I have healed from the floating. I am currently working to kill off all pathogens in my body (including tapeworms*) and cleanse out heavy metals because my intuition tells me that all of this is contributing to my floating. I am not doing this using allopathy (not a big fan). I am doing this following the Medical Medium protocol (https://www.medicalmedium.com/) with no exceptions which has involved major diet changes, taking many high quality supplements and herbs. I’m also using homeopathy to help me emotionally, mentally and spiritually through the detox and cleansing (which has been brutal for me).
Because of my circumstances (age, I had mono at 13, number of traumatic events that have weaken my immune system and caused my CNS to go into hyper-arousal for extremely long periods of time, major stress, and being an HSP), I am anticipating it was take ME at least 2-3 years to heal using the Medical Medium protocol. But I have so much more going on than constant floating… including 3 other forms of vertigo (1 constantly, 1 often, 1 occasionally), tinnitus, fibromyalgia, chronic hives disorder, psoriasis, acne, eczema, SIBO, chronic bacterial infections, sensory overload, digestive issues, brain fog, dissociation, depression, my hair falling out, hot flashes, night sweats, floaters in my eye, my left eye weeps, heart palpitations… up to 55 symptoms in total. In theory (because I haven’t proven it yet), the protocol I’m following will cure all of these things.
So in line with the Medical Medium approach, you may have to deal with other pathogens and heavy metals that feed these pathogens, probably strain(s) of Epstein-Barr at the very least.
Let’s keep our connection going here so others may benefit.
Much love,
Trish
* I’m an Intuitive. Through divining I revealed I have tapeworms.
Trish
Also, please keep in mind that I’m going into my 14th year with floating. So technically speaking, I have had a really long time to grow pathogens and feed them! Which explains how my physical symptoms have worsened over the years and my estimated length of my recovery on the Medical Medium protocol.
Reena
Kash, I am about to start the same medication, could you please tell me if the feeling went away whilst on your meds?
jill
wow, I’ve had this for 3 years now. you’re right, I did become a hypochondriac but they always say it’s anxiety. thanks for helping me get on step closing to coming to grips with all of this.
Trish
Thank you for your comment Jill.
Moham
My relative has a problem. She is 23 and married with one child. She feels weightlessness of body. She feels quite disturbed and at times wants to go away from home. All her tests are normal. She can’t feel parts of her body at times. At times she can’t feel her legs. Is this similar to yours Trish.
Trish
Hi Moham. Yes and no. I remember in the beginning it was hard to feel certain parts of my body because all I could feel was the floating sensation. Does your relative feel like she is floating?
I have also experienced not feeling connected to my hands, legs and feet. This is more a mental thing than a sensation as it has to do with looking at my limbs and not knowing who they belong to if I cannot see the physical connection to my body. I believe this is usually labelled as depersonalization. This has resolved since I started to do exercises specifically for dissociation.
As for wanting to go away from home, I too have had chronic thoughts of running away… in my experience I believe this is associated with the flight mechanism of the biological response triggered by post-trauma stress. So when I feel I cannot cope and cannot fight my way out, I was to flee. I do have a diagnosis of PTSD for what that’s worth.
I am of course not a mental health professional… but I do wonder if your relative has had traumatic experience(s) is the past. May I also suggest you look into dissociative disorders to see if you can find a more accurate match to her experience.
Please give your relative my love.
Love,
Trish
Kash
Hi Trish,
Have you heard of Electro-magnetic field sensitivity? I think your floating might be caused by it. I tend to float when I am in fluorescent lighting or when I spend too much time on the computer or iPhone. It would make sense because your first floating happened when a transformer near you blew.
Trish
Hey Kash–so nice to hear from you again. I have heard of EMF sensitivity and thank you for bringing it to the attention of everyone in the comments as a possible cause.
I purchased an absorber about 6 years ago (after the floating started) that worked to clear my house and the area around it. It was something that continued to work but for the once per day that it needed to be recycled. I also wore these personal protectors that fit in my pocket… I don’t remember the name of them.
For me, it did not help with the floating. I work with a radionics practitioner who can check me for EMF toxicity and he has never found that it is contributing to the cause.
Thank you again for taking the time to comment. I am open to any suggestions.
How are things going with you? How are you doing on the medication now?
Much love,
Trish
Lala
I thought I was going crazy ! I really appreciate this blog . The first time I felt it I thought it was because I haven’t are anything.. And it lasted for a week I really was scared thought I was dying I’m actually feeling this way now! This is the only thing the completely defines what I’m experiencing I’m only 19 a college student so it was hard explaining to the doctors My symptoms .
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How Delusions Can Be An Experience And Not A Symptom | Mental Health TalkKash
Hi Trish,
I had to quit the medication and feel much better since. It didn’t help with the floating and it just made me feel even more weird. My floating is happening less and less. I think mine may be an allergy thing. My doctor recommended taking an antihistamine and an anti-inflamatory. I have been taking both for 6 days now and I have noticed I’m not getting the pressure in my face and head and the floating is minimal. I also started taking a Vitamin B complex with Vitamin C and also fish oil capsules. I’m sleeping better (actually feeling tired at bed time) too. I’m going to see an ear nose and throat specialist tomorrow, but my theory is that my allergies are causing swelling of my sinuses which in turn is affecting my middle ear. We’ll see if I’m right! I’ll keep you posted.
Susan
It has been eye-opening to have found this string re: floating sensation. I have had about 5 bouts of “vertigo” in the past. Relief came from cortisone shot and meclazine or B-Scorbic/Valium therapy and once I had the positional movements done. I was hit in the middle of the night on Oct 29, 2013. Sat up in bed (pitch dark) and I felt as if a super-human force slammed me back on the bed. From past experience I knew to hold on to something solid and turned on a light to focus on one spot. I was dizzy for a week and had heard a virus was going around. Finally saw a doc on Nov 4th. Cortisone shot and meclazine (Bonine OTC) and had no relief. Next went to PT Rehab therapist who tried to discern if it was bilateral or only one ear. He had me do positional home exercises and I got worse. I literally sat on the couch for a week. Next had my monthly chiropractic visit and he adjusted my neck. My atlas was “subluxed” and I got up from the table and all floating/spinning/dizziness was gone . . . for about a week. It is back though not as debilitating. I don’t believe it is my ears. My neck is in bad shape (fused C5/6 years ago) but my chiropractor has gotten me so that I have more mobility and no pain. I recently stopped smoking (Oct 18) and began biting my nails which I realize affects my jaw and neck muscles. I do feel I am going crazy. I am going down the hypochondria road and think I have MS, Parkinsons, brain tumor and God knows what. I do daily meditations and chakra clearing and nothing helps. I’m glad to read that many can’t describe this feeling either and I have yet to sense or actualize any particular triggers. Movement of my head (therefore neck) cause me to feel floaty yet at the same time heavy headed as if I am a bobble-head. If I look down, my head feels like it keeps wanting to go down. As I begin to walk after this rush, my gait is as if I am drunk and have to take some steps to try to feel balanced again. My neck is sore today and I put on an icy-hot patch and will take some motrin in the event my neck is inflamed. I am chasing my tail and avoiding the next step which I think will have to be a neurologist. I am in a small town and we have one to chose from but it’s a start. I can see all the tests coming now and just keeping holding on that this will pass. I don’t understand how many of you have experienced this for months and years on end; God bless you. I can’t take this much longer. There are times I also feel as if my lower back is involved and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I am trying to work off some weight since I quite smoking (and retired from the VA this past June) and all I can do is walk and even that is not possible some days. I wish my best to you all.
Trish
Thank you for the update Kash and to Susan for telling her story.
I am a firm believer the floating is tied to the tension/pressure I have mainly in my upper body which seems to stem from my jaw and neck. Of course my face, head, shoulder and back muscles are influenced by what is going on in my neck/jaw. My doctor calls this fibromyalgia which isn’t curable.
I’m sorry but I assumed everyone on this thread has been to a neurologist and an ears/nose/throat specialist and nothing was found. That was my first step. Nothing was found in my case. I was told my vertigo/floating was not curable.
So I am looking elsewhere for help. My gut tells me that the floating is the result of the tension/pressure is my head/jaw/neck and that is a result of traumatic events. You see the funny thing about trauma is that it may not manifest in something physical and/or mental until long after the event. And I have found an energy modality that helps me to clear the charge around traumatic events called Matrix Reimprinting (an advanced form of EFT).
So if I know for me it’s related to trauma and how to clear the charge around traumatic events, then why hasn’t it resolved? To tell you the truth, I haven’t tried yet. I have be working on the mental things I experience first with excellent success. Maybe I am afraid to try because I have tried everything else and I’m not sure what I will do if it doesn’t resolve.
Floating is a very horrific thing to experience. I have experienced gory visions of my death, visions of mutilations, every form of hallucination imaginable, delusions, the continuous sense I am dying, visceral sensations like I was on a bad acid trip… I have even had the archtypical experience of demonic possession. I have experienced all of these things on a constant basis from 2007-2012. It wasn’t until this year using Matrix Reimprinting and radionics (other form of energy work) that this stuff has resolved.
But given all that stuff, it was the floating that undid me.
I came through it though. I will have had it for 7 years come February and I am still here to talk about it. I have adapted. I have accepted it by owning it. The only thing that it limits me from doing now is walking unassisted in the dark. I have complete faith it will resolve one day and you guys will be the first people I tell about it and how I did it. But I have no timeline for that because I will keep trying until I die. It sounds cheesy but I want to tell you don’t give up. It drove me mad (I’m not saying it will with you!!!) and I still came through it by doing the things I listed in the post above. All of you can come through this too… in whatever way that works for you… you will find it. Don’t give up.
Much love,
Trish
Susan
Amazing things you have experienced Trish; I am in a small, small town in North Central Wyo and we have very little going on as far as “alternative” medicine. I too have experienced trauma and it totally makes sense that it may not even be something I remember. I hadn’t mentioned this but I am hoping to attend Dr. Brian Weiss’s seminar in Denver in March 2014 regarding past life regression. I have been hypnotized but have never felt I was “under” so this may be a first. I have long felt that many of my problems are rooted in a past life. His book “Many Lives, Many Masters” was awesome and I am just starting “Miracles Happen.” I also suffer from night terrors and always at that astral point between wake and sleep and am unable to define what I see in this state but I am terrified as I try to wake up. My husband says my screaming in my sleep has stopped and that waking state of terror happens only once a month or so. I will see a local neurologist but have a hunch, like so many others, that after myriad tests, they will find nothing. I definitely hold all of my tension in my head, neck and shoulders and one would think that retiring after 30 years at the VA (Mental Health Dept and IT) that I would be LESS tense in all areas of my life! Time will tell and I will keep fighting the good fight and am trying to stop resisting and go with the flow more! Thanks for your helpful words Trish.
Nameste,
Susan
jillw
wow, this is exactly what I’m going through. it’s been 3 years so far. I’m currently on meclizine but it doesn’t help. it’s comforting to know I’m not alone. when I told my dr I felt like I was floating he said “never heard that one before” thanks for posting, maybe I can start to come to grips with this.
Lewis Rowe
Trish, I’m getting this feeling all of the time. I feel as if I’m going to faint constantly, my head feels fuzzy, veritgo type feeling. When I move my head, it feels so weird. It gets worse in stressful situations, near the point of an oncoming seizure or stroke or something. Is this the “floating” feeling you describe? I’m only 16, Iv’e been for so many doctors appointments and it’s been labeled “anxiety” over and over again.
Trish
Hi Lewis. If you been thoroughly checked out by the doctors and they haven’t come up with something then based on your description, yes I would say you are experiencing the same thing we all experience. I call it “floating”.
I think we would all say there is a correlation between it getting more intense and anxiety. Reducing my anxiety has not resolved it FOR ME but it has helped I think. But that doesn’t mean it won’t resolve it for you.
I also want to say that some people experience it for short periods of time and not constantly like I do. You could be one of those people.
I know you’re only 16 and you’re right, that is really young. I truly feel for you. My Dad tells me I’m too young to have so many “afflictions”. That’s an unreasonable expectation. The fact is I’m not too young because I have them.
I know that the movement and sensations you used to recognize as walking, sitting, lying down, turning, running… they no longer feel the same and you want them to. These movements now feel really foreign and this is unnerving and exhausting and surreal.
My first suggestion is not to give up. I’ve had it for 7 years and I continue to try and understand it better, the meaning behind it, and find the resolution. I like to think recovery is inevitable for all of us and that helps to continue to work towards it.
I suggest one way you work towards it is by accepting it. What I have experienced is that resistance lies between “what is” and “what should be”. Trust me–I have A LOT of experience with this. Few resist and suppress and dig in quite the way I do. But acceptance is the only way I know how to be with “what is” and gain clarity to know what to do next. To accept what-is has been a lot easier on me in the end.
In practical terms, acceptance to me looks like “owning” it and moving forward. So I suggest you start desensitizing yourself to it. Practice relaxing into it. Try not to fight it. You may find, like I have, that you become accustomed to it. It didn’t take that long for me even though I fought it for over 2 years prior. And once I accepted it, my world got bigger again.
Keep us posted Lewis.
Much love,
Trish
Cameron
Lewis: When you move your head how does it feel
angel
these floating feelings truly suck but I try and try but it pushes me back down I just started having these floating sensation like 2 weeks ago
victoria
I had the same feeling for about 2 years now, but i hope and pray that one day il be back on my normal self.
Trish
Me too Victoria. I hope that for all of us.
victoria
Trish do you experience unbalanced all the time like when your standing and do u have head rush also?
Trish
Yes, I do experience feeling unbalanced when I am standing. I rely on visual information and compensation by my muscles to keep me balanced. With that said, I am very challenged when there are a lot of shadows and in the dark.
I used to get head rushes when I stood up but they passed about a year ago. I used to just sit for a bit before getting up and this helped.
The idea that if you’re feeling like you are floating, there is a lot of energy in our head is something I have been experimenting with. I have been practicing visualizing the energy around my brain and SLOWLY moving it down my body, through my feet and into the ground. This has helped with the increase in floating I get from lying down to getting up.
Stacey
I have felt this way for 7 years in the past and now feeling it again for the past year. Doctor put me on more medicine. Paxil and Wellbutrin. Not working though. This makes me feel very emotional and I cry a lot . When I’m walking I feel like I’m going to fall over but somehow keep going. I feel like I’m here then I feel like I’m not. It is the weirdest feeling I have every felt. My grandmother felt this way for 5 years as well. I think it runs in the family. Two of her brothers killed themselves because of feeling this way a long long time ago when no one knew what to do. I just try to keep busy. I sleep a lot when I ‘m not working so I don’t have to deal with it. Sometimes it’s worse than other times. Being at work and walking over to the other side of the plant to pick up the mail makes me very anxious. I feel like I’m going to fall and someone will have to help me which makes me feel more anxious. I had a panic attack Friday feeling terrible going over there to get the mail. Now I’m scared to go out into the plant because I think everyone is looking at me.
Trish
Hi Stacey,
I’m so very sorry that you are experiencing this. It is a horrific feeling and so distressing. It must be very hard to have had it, then it went away, and now it’s back again.
I think your approach of keeping busy is a good one. The more you can take your mind of the sensation, the better.
Do you have someone you trust to talk to about this — a therapist maybe? Have you told your doctor about your panic attack? Maybe they can help you with that.
Sometimes we forget how courageous we are to live with something like this. You’re doing it, Stacey. You’re a survivor.
Much love,
Trish
Jessica
Hi Trish. I’m responding to this comment because it relates to me regarding this issue. My floating sensation has been going on for awhile now and I’ve gotten the tests that doctors always request such as mris, cat scans, sleep studies and everything is coming back normal. In my situation, my hormones do seem to make it worse. I haven’t gotten the floating feeling in weeks and it’s been happening the past 2 consecutive nights and I’ve been unable to sleep. Do you think meclazine is a good medicine to take when it happens? And do you recommend other things I could do? Because if hormones do indeed egg it on a little more, this will happen every month which will be unfortunate and unhealthy. Ant trick will be helpful to know, ever since having this feeling my anxiety has only worsened and psychiatrist will know about it, but for now while I cannot see her, I came here for some help.
Thank you.
Trish
Hi Jessica. Thank you for commenting. I’m don’t know what meclazine is so I can’t comment on it but I would check with your doctor. If you believe it is related to hormones then I think there is lots of info online on how to level out them out — you may want to start there. I would also talk to your doctor about thinking it’s your hormones and see if they have any advice on leveling them. Really, my most successful “tricks” are outlined in the blog post — desensitization and distraction. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more for you.
Much love,
Trish
Michelle
Hey trish,
I am stoked to find this thread,
When I wake up in the morning I feel fine then bout two hours into the day this floaty feeling starts almost like ur looking through a micro scope all the time. I am flying home on weds and am getting scared of feeling like this on the plane. I will add that If I have a couple of beers the feeling goes away. It’s driving me nuts, I have been at home this weekend and done nothing but sit on the couch because of this feeling.
Trish
I’m glad you found this post.
My floating is either non-existent or very slight in the morning. It gets worse as the day goes by. I have abstained from alcohol since it started (mainly due to 1) already feeling trippy and 2) meds) until just recently. It does relax me but makes me feel physically crappy or I would try to drink more than my usual half glass of wine to experiment re the floating.
As I mentioned before, I believe the trick is to desensitize yourself to it. Try to relax into the feeling when you are on the plane or when you’re sitting. I believe you will build a tolerance to it… I have to the point of not noticing it that much. Though I still do have bad days where it is really intense.
Much love,
Trish
reena
I too have been experiencing this horrible feeling – occured now 5 weeks ago, and still when i walk around i feels like im on a rocking boat and off balance. I feel nothing when im lying down, only when im standing up/walking – its driving me insane and taking over my life!! ive had everything ruled out, MRI, CAT, etn, all blood work and just nothing. Yes, i have felt more anxious as this feels so permanent, but cant understand how its anxiety related when it came on so suddenly when i was so happy and fine. Trish, i am about to now try medication (cipramil) too for this floating/rocking sensation. has this helped for you?
Trish
Hi Reena. I apologize for not approving this comment sooner–I was away for a few days.
I have never heard of cipramil but I am on a benzo (lorezapam) for my anxiety. Initially this helped to relieve some of the floating sensation but it didn’t help for long. I actually find now that I slowly reduce my benzo that after the withdrawal is finished, my floating seems less intense.
I am sorry to hear you are now experiencing this sensation. It really is very hard. Please hang in there and try to desensitize yourself to it if you can. I have found with acceptance came the realization that I did not have to let it get in the way of me doing what I wanted to do. I have not given up on trying to resolve it of course… I just have found that in the mean time to accept (to consent to it and to own it) means I no longer suffer with it.
Much love and keeps us posted on how the med works out for you.
Trish
Reena
Thank you so much for your reply it feels good knowing others know how I feel. My doctor said this will go away but I’m frustrated as you can tell because its really not. I too have come to realise that resting (which is all I have been doing) may not be helping after all, I’m trying to walk around and get around more to gain my balance back. This week I’m starting on the meds to see if this will help, I will keep you posted if this has given me relief. Thank you trish
Nemanja
Hello Trish,
I just wanted to express my gratitude for this article. I started having this feeling about a month ago. At first i dismissed it but it constantly got more and more dominant, every time i went for a walk. Finally one evening while walking and constantly experiencing this floating sensation i found my self not being able to breathe and felt really tight in my chest. I rushed of to the doctors having thought i had a hart attack or something. I had a complete check up but my doctors gave me a clean bill of health. Absolutely nothing was wrong with me physically. But the feeling remained. That’s when i went online and found your article. And that’s when it all clicked for me. I have been under a lot of stress lately (moving, working a job with demanding deadlines etc.). Armed with this new found knowledge i went out for another walk, the felling was still there and still strong, but i pushed my self to carry on, constantly telling my self that i was in fact stable and that it was all in my head. The feeling started to gradually go away after a couple of miles, and when i finally got home it was totally gone. It has not returned since.
I hope that everyone that suffers from this manages to overcome it.
Many thanks,
Nemanja
Trish
That’s amazing Nemanja! I am so happy that the feeling has not returned. Thank you so much for sharing.
Love,
Trish
Linda
Of all the things (articles, messages boards, doctor websites) that I’ve read trying to find something even remotely close to what I experience, your article here explains it best. It’s not true dizziness (although I get that as well) and it’s not vertigo, that much I knew. I’m not off balance to where I stumble and can’t walk properly. It’s actually the weirdest feeling, almost like my head isn’t attached to my body and the back of my head just above my neck goes rigid, almost as though my head isn’t sitting properly on my body the way it should be and I move my head up and down and from side to side in an attempt to alleviate the feeling. See, even I can’t describe it without sitting here thinking okay, that makes no sense.
I have anxiety (was diagnosed with GAD about 6 years ago when I spent an entire day in the ER thinking I was dying) and have been through my share of panic attacks, but this ‘floating’ has just started in the last year and lately, just in the last month or less, it’s been doing it while I’m driving and it’s making me crazy. I love to drive. Or, well, I used to. Now I feel panicky behind the wheel because I’m afraid of the head-floating happening again and because I fear it, it usually does. Taking an ativan sometimes helps. It calms me to where I’m not panicking enough to where I feel the need to GET OUT of the car RIGHT NOW. But I still float. All the way to work and all the way home. And I can’t take this anymore. It’s making me fearful of driving, which means it’s becoming debilitating. I just want it to go away 🙁
Trish
I’m so glad my article resonated with you. It is really hard to explain–especially when you have the neck/head tension that comes with it and seems to contribute.
There was a time I had to give up driving because of it. The loss of independence was hard on me. But I have noticed that when I resist it, it does get much worse. And it was a real catch-22 that it would make more anxious which would make the sensation worse which would make me even more anxious, etc.
I remember the day I was sitting on my bed and realized this could be the rest of my life. I knew right then that it was up to me to do something about it (my medical and mental health team had no answers). So I began to desensitize myself to it by putting myself in the safest situation that created the most intense floating sensation and learned to relax into it.
You bring up a really good point that is particular to me case as well. It may feel like you are totally off balance but you’re not. It is a sensation. I found I could no longer rely on what I FELT was balance but had to rely on my eyes to tell me what’s right. I am quite challenged in the dark though. But I do practice balancing exercises with my eyes open and with them closed. This also makes me feel more comfortable with it.
The sensation never goes away for me but it does fade when I concentrate on other things. And I went back to driving and have been driving for about 5 years with it now. No accidents!
Of course we all experience the sensation differently because we are each unique people. But this is what has worked for me and maybe it will somehow help you too.
I am still looking for the answers to resolve it. I will always continue that search. But I will not let the sensation keep from the things I dream of doing… the things I am most compelled to do to be true to who I am.
Much love to you,
Trish
Linda
Oh my gosh, where do I start? I guess I’ll start by saying thank you so much for not only reading and replying to my post, but pinpointing SO MUCH that I’m experiencing. Especially the part about having to give up driving. I’m so close to that, but I’m fighting it. I’m like dammit, no, I WON’T let this control me. I have a beautiful new Honda that I love dearly – that I enjoy driving – and I’m not going to let something as petty as this ruin my life and keep me from enjoying my new baby.
Well, I tell myself that, anyway. But some days it doesn’t work out so well. And the catch-22 you mention, which I like to refer to as “the circle of destruction” is something I definitely go through. I had this weird feeling (or, rather, ‘sensation’, which is another thing you pinpointed) happen ONE damn time. And ever since then it happens almost ALL the time because I fear it. I so miss the days of getting in my car and just taking off and doing what I need to do. But now when I sit down in my car, I think please, please, don’t let it happen again. And like I’ve already said, because I fear it, it happens.
I also get that floating sensation sometimes if I move my eyes quickly from one side or another. For example, I sometimes play time management games. Not just because I like them, but it allows me to escape into another world for a while. And if I have to quickly look to one side to grab something I need in the game, my neck goes into that weirdness again for a split second. And these sensations began when I started taking anxiety meds. It was an initial side-effect for me and even though I’ve been off the meds for about 3 years, it’s something that’s never gone away.
Maybe I should try what you have tried, desensitizing myself to it. Just letting the feeling happen and say okay, you know what? This will pass. But if it happens in my car, I start feeling anxious. I rub my neck, I try and focus on other things, anything to pretend it’s not happening. But, sadly, it gets the better of me.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last several years, it’s this…. the mind is very powerful and can literally control your physical being. But if that’s the case, why can’t I control my mind? Why can’t I go with the “mind over matter” philosophy and control my brain instead of letting it control me?
I, like you, want to find an answer to this.
Trish
Hey Linda. It’s my pleasure and honour to connect with other people who experience this sensation. When I looked for an explanation on the Internet 7 years ago there was nothing on it. Boy did I feel alone. So when I started this blog, I decided I was going to write about my experience in the hope of finding others who experienced the same thing. I am thankful to have connected with you.
Of course you want it to just go away so you can drive your spiffy new car without worry. I can understand that–driving has always been a form of freedom for me too. I LOVE being in my car.
I want it to go away too.
I get the rapid eye movement thing too. You seem very aware of what causes it and I think that will work in your favour to avoid triggers when possible. Last night I was at a course and the instructor kept moving around (she was like the energizer bunny) and my rapid eye movement to keep up with her was making me so aware of my floating. Her movements were totally out of sync with my floating sensation and I could feel the anxiety coming on. At one time I would have ditched the course because of the anxiety that would have caused but last night I decided I was going to keep my eyes focused on one thing that DOESN’T move (looking down at my notes). My anxiety dissipated. Before I would’ve considered that rude of me to not have my eyes focused on the instructor (it’s a small class) but now I don’t care. I really want to take this course and I will work within my limits to do so.
Again, you are so right about the power of our minds to affect our reality. I never appreciated how powerful my mind was until I started to have really trippy experiences (floating being one of them). I don’t know why we cannot apply mind over matter to this… I find if I try it feels like I am hitting a brick wall.
I do believe–and this is as much about maintaining my sanity as it is about finding meaning in such a terrible sensation–that the floating is a coping mechanism. I have a history with PTSD and I find so much of my trippy experiences are coping mechanisms for when I feel unsafe or triggered. What might the floating sensation being alerting me too? My intuition sends me mixed messages on that and I’m not sure if it is the same for everyone. What I do know is that it is my mind/body’s way of telling me there is something deeper than the floating sensation to identify and address. Something at the root that is not only related to emotional distress but there is a spiritual aspect as well (for me anyway).
Unfortunately finding clarity when it comes to these things does take patience.
Please stay in touch with how you’re doing Linda. WHEN I resolve my floating, I will add a comment here and write another article!
Much love,
Trish
mia
I have been having the same thing. There is such a thing as your head not being on straight or off its axes. I see a chiropractor and once they position my head the floating goes away but you have to be cautious of activities that will cause your head to come off the axes again which will need to be adjusted again
Linda
I’m sorry, Mia, but that’s just bizarre, I’ve never heard of anything like that before. I would have to look more into something like that before I’d believe it. I’m not calling you a liar, I’m just saying I’m VERY skeptical of that sort of thing.
Linda
This whole paragraph right here….
“I do believe–and this is as much about maintaining my sanity as it is about finding meaning in such a terrible sensation–that the floating is a coping mechanism. I have a history with PTSD and I find so much of my trippy experiences are coping mechanisms for when I feel unsafe or triggered. What might the floating sensation being alerting me too? My intuition sends me mixed messages on that and I’m not sure if it is the same for everyone. What I do know is that it is my mind/body’s way of telling me there is something deeper than the floating sensation to identify and address. Something at the root that is not only related to emotional distress but there is a spiritual aspect as well (for me anyway).”
Amazing. And thank you. I think you just nailed something for me. The floating may be a coping mechanism (although, to me, that’s not how I WANT to cope, haha) when I feel unsafe or triggered. And where I feel unsafe is in my car. Something occurred to me the other day; I think I’ve created my own driving anxiety, which has slowly been developing over about the last year (it’s only been the last couple of weeks I have actual panic/anxiety attacks in my car) and I know why — it’s the ever-growing reports I hear of people in accidents due to distracted driving, i.e. texting, talking on the phone, etc. People don’t have their eyes and minds on the roads anymore, they’re focused on their phones. That’s part of the reason, I believe. I’ve become more of a defensive driver than a relaxed driver because I’m constantly watching everyone around me and I’ve had some close calls. On the freeway I had to speed up and drive myself onto the shoulder because the lady beside me started drifting over and almost hit me. Another time I was on a 2-lane road and a truck in the opposing lane coming towards me started to drift onto my side of the road and I almost ended up in the ditch to avoid him. I also hate semi trucks. I avoid being beside them and I don’t even like them behind me because I keep visualizing this horrible scenario where traffic slows down but the semi behind me can’t stop in time and crushes me between his truck and the car in front of me. That paranoia came on last year where a young guy in our town was crushed between two semis on the freeway because traffic had come to a halt and the semi wasn’t paying attention and flew up on the guy in the pickup and crushed his truck. There was nothing left of the truck but a pile of metal. Needless to say, there was nothing left of him, either. It just goes to show ya… one minute you’re here… the next minute, lights out. And that terrifies me. I have a son to raise and I don’t want to die and leave him behind. I honestly believe, however, that if it weren’t for my baby (my 14 year old baby!) I don’t really think I would care one way or the other. But he’s my life and I want to watch him grow up.
I used to drive up to Lake Erie twice a year. I don’t anymore. I don’t feel confident and safe on the road. When I leave the house in the morning for work, I don’t say to my dogs, “Bye guys, I’ll be back later,” like I used to. Instead I say, “I’ll be back later… I hope.” And when I pull into my driveway, I breathe a sigh of relief, as I’ve made it safely home one more day. The highway I drive to work is filled with crazies. We refer to it as “the Nascar of Columbus” and you have to be on your toes constantly because those people drive down through there like idiots. I don’t understand it. I’m always like dang, people, slow down, nothing is that important. I’d rather get there late than not at all.
I don’t know, I sometimes feel like I’m going crazy. And I wonder constantly, sometimes even saying out loud, “What the hell is wrong with me??? Where did this come from? What does it stem from? How did this happen?” And I’m talking about the anxiety disorder itself, that came on out of nowhere about 6 or 7 years ago, blindsiding me. Yeah, I dealt with a lot of issues growing up, including an alcoholic mother and a dysfunctional family, but who didn’t? I’m no exception. We all have our skeletons. So what makes some of us unable to handle it? What makes some of us succumb to our own brains, letting it take over our physical body as well as our lives? These are questions I’ve been asking for years now. But I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to really know. There’s something in our minds… way back in there… that decided to screw with us and I doubt we’ll ever know what triggered it. I mean what REALLY triggered it. It had to have been SOMETHING. Maybe something I’ve been carrying around since childhood and it just recently decided to surface. I didn’t ‘will’ the anxiety on. I didn’t even know what real anxiety was until it hit me. You can’t know until you experience it yourself. That’s why there’s no point in explaining it to my family and my friends because they simply can’t understand what I’m really going through. And I don’t want them to.
Once again, you’ve given me something to think about. Thank you. And thank you for not only allowing me the chance to express my feelings, but acknowledging them as well.
Senny King
OH MY GOD!! I’m NOT crazy and I don’t have a disease. I have been feeling like this for 3+months now and was thinking I was going crazy. I am crying right now from happiness knowing that there are others who have gone through the same thing. I am going to go through all the steps and fight this ridiculous lie from hell. I have been through open heart surgery just 4months ago and I believe all this has triggered depression and my emotions to take over me. I am sooooo happy that I will be able to come out winning. I am taking charge….
SENNY
Trish
What an inspiration you are Senny!!!! I wish you all the best and much love to you.
Trish
Linda
Nope, you’re not crazy. If you are, then so are we 😉
Reena
Wondering how everything is going with this/anything to get rid of it? – well 4 months ive had this now and counting.. im on celexa, this has for sure calmed down how anxious i am about it, but i have to say the off balance floating feeling is still very very very much there. So awful, i know how youre all feeling!
Linda
I’m doing alright. The ‘head-floats’ are still there. I imagine they probably always will be. My head-floating didn’t actually start until I began taking celexa for my anxiety years ago. Yes, the celexa helped with my anxiety, but the head floating never really went away, even after being off of celexa for a few years. Those pills that mess with your brain chemistry, I think they caused permanent damage. I had bad panic and anxiety, yes, but the dizziness didn’t start until I began taking the celexa and it’s just never gone away.
Right now the only thing that helps with my dizziness, ironically, is my ativan. I take a 1mg pill in the morning about an hour before I leave for work so I can get through my drive and in the afternoon, if I need it again, I’ll take 0.5mg.
I actually have a new prescription for celexa (citalopram) sitting in my cupboard because my anxiety is getting bad enough that I’m almost caving and going back on them. But I haven’t taken any yet. I’m chickening out because I remember the 2-3 weeks or more of horrible side-effects and I also remember the nightmare it was coming down off of them, so I’m scared to start them again.
Jared
Trish, I just re-read this post and I apologize if this has been mentioned but I don’t have time to read all the comments. I was thinking back to a time when I did something I shouldn’t have, which was smoking opium (please edit that out if you feel it’s inappropriate). The reason I mention is because one of the few times I did this, I experienced exactly what you are talking about. It went from a typical analgesic pain reliever, to a euphoria, and as the does got high enough I literally was floating on water like a buoy. I think the main thing this drug was doing was causing my body to flood my brain with dopamine. I know everyone connects this type of thing to anxiety conditions like depersonalization, dissociation… but what if it’s not anxiety and serotonin, but dopamine? I don’t have anything more to add but thought it might open a new direction of research into this topic. Thanks for reading, Jared
Trish
That’s really interesting Jared. Thank you so much for your comment.
I have quickly looked into dopamine antagonists and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (DRI) and have found that I have been on both. I am no longer on Wellbutrin (DRI) but I am currently taking an atypical antipsychotic (risperidone) which is listed as a dopamine antagonist but according to wikipedia, for the full effect, it needs to be couple with a serotonin antagonist which I am not on. I am on an SNRI but it seems that serotonin reuptake inhibitors do not have the same end result as as an antagonist.
A coupling of a dopamine antagonist and a serotonin antagonist may be something for people to try. It is common treatment for several mental illness. See wiki entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine_antagonist
Ashley
Hi. I’ve been experiencing this floating sensation since last June. It went away during the winter and it seems it’s returned with the summer. I was diagnosed with SVT because I’d have a racey heart before it happens, and they gave me blood pressure meds for preventing the SVT episodes but I’m only 18 and I don’t want to be on any meds this young that can mess with my blood pressure. I don’t think it’s SVT. I constantly feel like I’m going crazy. I’ve come to worrying that I have cancer, or a brain tumor, or something seriously wrong with me, and then it makes me worry and it gets to the point where I start bawling because I’m so afraid. I always wondered if it was anxiety but I was unsure if anxiety could cause this floating feeling. I notice for me going outside or driving would often stop the feeling. And I have come to realizing that focusing on things will divert myself from the floating, and I begun to look for anything to take my mind off the floating. I have a 4 month old daughter and it’s gotten to the point where I’m afraid to be home alone with her because I get so worried something is wrong with me and will happen to me. Sometimes I wonder if I need my eyes checked. Sometimes I feel like my hand or arm isn’t really there. Sometimes it’s my whole body. So now my question is, does this article mean I’m not crazy? And that I’m not going to die? Because I constantly have these fears. And I never understood why the floating would come and go. I’m sorry this is so long. I know I’m stressed with having a baby but I need answers :'( I debate seeing a therapist or psychologist/MD.
Trish
Hi Ashley. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
It is the scariest thing and I can understand your worry. I thought the exact same things when I first started to experience it.
What my psychiatrist required of me was to get a CAT scan on my brain and an EEG to eliminate the possibility of something being physically wrong. I suggest to you to consult with your doctor on getting tests done to rule out the diseases you are most afraid of. It was really scary for me to take these tests because I feared the worst but in the end, it was worth knowing that there wasn’t something wrong with my brain.
Others in this comment thread may want to suggest other tests they have had to rule out disease.
I don’t think you’re crazy. I know the floating sensation is the scariest thing I have ever experienced. It is like being on a permanent bad acid trip and it distorts what you think is real into feeling like something else is going on.
You may want to talk to your doctor about dealing with the anxiety you have around the floating. I think everyone on this thread can attest to anxiety making it worse. It must be an awful feeling to feel like you can’t depend on yourself to be there for your daughter. Others have commented that anxiety meds helped them to deal with the floating better. As I noted above, I felt desensitization was the game-changer for me but being on an anxiety med helped in the beginning. But I encourage you to do what feels right for you.
You seem to be very self-aware of what helps to relieve the floating for you. I ask you to consider thinking back to might what have triggered it to come back. Was there something going on in your life? Were you under more stress than usual? Have you had any trauma in your past?
Please keep us posted Ashley.
Much love,
Trish
Ashley
Hey Trish,
It’s been a while since I’ve been on here. I seen my doctor and told her about it. She didn’t seem concerned at all. She honestly looked at me like I was just nuts or something, which really pissed me off. So I took matters into my own hands. I went to an eye doctor to see if it was my vision. I found out I’m slightly near sighted but glasses didn’t help the floating. I have however gotten very good at ignoring it. The reason I haven’t replied sooner was because I kept holding myself back from coming on here. I found it had made my anxiety worse. I can say I have a very low level of anxiety now, being a couple months since posting this. The most I worry about is how bad they are saying this winter will be lol. However, I did try thinking back to what could’ve triggered it last June. The first time it happened was during my exams. I was sitting in my highschool economics class taking a test and my heart started racing and everything. My doctor thinks that was the SVT but now looking back, I think it was an anxiety attack. I however did not notice it right after that. After having that first attack, I was afraid of having more because I didn’t know what it was. That naturally made it worse.and I would have more and more. It wasn’t until I had multiple anxiety attacks that I started feeling this floating feeling. My doctor had a holter monitor on me and it showed I was fine so I unstressed and ignored the feeling, so much to the point where even though it was there, it no longer phased me. Then I got pregnant not long after that. It was really only a month later. I noticed it went away in the beginning of my pregnancy, but towards the end I started having attacks again and I started experiencing the floating. Of course with this happening during my pregnancy, I really freaked out because I didn’t want stress on the baby or to harm the baby’s health with these attacks. So I thought maybe nearing the end of my pregnancy triggered stress. However, once baby settled in, it didn’t stop there. So I started thinking really hard. I started doing research which is when I first posted here. Then I did more and more searching. I started googling people with floating feelings and shockingly I got many results. And that was when I came across one particular lady. This woman said she experienced it for over 4 years and she had all the same symptoms as me. Eventually it drove her to her breaking point (where I’m at now) and she started seeing a ton of doctors. It turned out she had an inner ear infection the whole time. Well, since I was a child, I’ve been prone to chronic ear infections. I always had them constantly. As I focused more on it possibly being my ears, I thought back more. To my surprise, I had remembered that my ears have been bothering me but I ignored it because I’m so used to ear problems. Well after doing more research, I found inner ear infections commonly cause feeling of floating and loss of touch with reality. They also have been linked to causing SVT! Just as I was diagnosed with. This happens because the pressure from the infection presses on a nerve behind your ear and it apparently confusing the messages going to your brain and can cause the onset of anxiety. Then I realized last year this all happened during allergy season. I always got ear infections from allergies, so I’m wondering if my sinuses going untreated, has caused a chronic ear infection and if what I was having was not only SVT attack, but also vertigo attacks. The waiting list with the ENT in my town is two weeks. So it took a few steps to getting in. A month ago they cleared me that I don’t have a middle ear infection (they always start there) So this monday, I have tests to undergo to see if i have an inner ear infection. When they looked in my ears they said my ear drums are severely scarred as if they have been popping and have a lot of pressure behind them. They also said the popping could cause SVT and Veritog-like attacks. I’m really hoping I’ve solved this year long mystery and that it’s only my ears! If not, it was only one step being knocked off the ladder and I’ll be back to finding out how to fix this floating feeling. I think the reason I’ve been able to ignore it so well is because I now have a possibility that could be a sure cause of this so a lot of the worry and stress has been eased. I’d suggest anyone with this feeling to get their ears checked. Believe it or not, they say a lot of people who have this “floating” feeling, actually have underlying ear problems. And as I said before, the ear problems trick you into thinking its anxiety because its cause messages to the brain to be misinterpreted.
Trish
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us your story. I wish with all my heart that they find an inner ear infection and that clears it up for you.
Please keep us posted.
Much love,
Trish
John
I have the same problem but I am 99% sure it is because of my anxiety meds. This started when I stopped taking seroxat (12mg once a day) and rivotril (one drop twice daily) as per my doctor’s advice. I panicked and went to him again and he prescribed it again for 3 months. I last took the meds 2 or 3 days ago and then I stopped and the feeling is back 🙁
Linda
Same here. I truly believe the anxiety meds screwed my head up for life.
Trish
Ummm. I had the floating a year and half before taking any meds. I am slowly weaning off all my meds and though the floating tends to get worse during withdrawal, it does get better once my brain chemistry evens out again.
Linda
My floating didn’t start until I went on the meds and 4 years weaned from them I’m still having it.
Sara
I have this feeling constantly! I have gone through series of tests and my doctor told me I am now his “challenge”. I started feeling like this about 2 or 3 years ago. Wound up going to a neurologist, who prescribed me Lexapro. This worked after several weeks. Now two years later I started feeling this sensation again.. We increased the medication as high as it could go and nothing happened… Still floating. I also feel tired and heavy headed. He switched me to a new medication Fetzima. I have been on it for one week and I actually feel worse. I am going this week for two more tests..an EEG AND DEPRESSION TEST. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Buddy4348
i had this too. i got mad prayed to God and it went away. its spiritual and demonic. im serious….pray and everytime u feel it rebuke it and it will go away. its fear. i know this will help.
Trish
I am so sorry to hear you are struggling with this sensation. Please know that you are not alone… everyone on this thread can attest to that.
It interesting that an SSRI has helped you. We have had reports from others who has found it has triggered it or as not helped at all. I am on an SNRI and a benzo and neither have helped me.
I am sorry that I cannot tell you how to make it go away. I can only suggest how to desensitize yourself to the feeling as I instructed in the post above.
I do believe Buddy is on to something. It has been my experience that this is spiritual in nature at the root. What that means in my experience is that 7 years ago I had an experience that caused the energy in my body to go nuclear. This is often referred to as spiritual emergence–or in my case emergency because I went into crisis–in transpersonal psychology and a Kundalini awakening in the Eastern parts of the world. I do believe the floating is related to this but only because that is what my intuition tells me. I have affirmed that in Kundalini awakening, some do experience floating. Floating also makes sense re Kundalini awakening because the energy rises from the based of the spine through the top of the head and if there are blocks in any of the chakras along the way, the energy gets stuck. I think this is what is happening with me re the floating feeling in my head.
When I was in crisis, I did think I was possessed which may (or may not) be what Buddy is referring to. Stanislav Grof gives an explanation of what this means while in spiritual crisis.
I have faith this can be resolved if the root cause is addressed. Like I said, my intuition tells me that is spiritual… whatever spiritual means to you.
Much love,
Trish
Reena
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share with you all my experience of this sensation and how I am today, which is far better, if not back to normal.
I first got this sensation about 5 months ago suddenly at work. Everything was normal, untill i out of nowhere felt completely off balance, disorientated, dizzy and all in all just feeling absolutely out of whack. For the next week or so this feeling got worse. I woke up in the mornings and as soon as i started to walk around, every step was off balance, as if i was walking on a rocking boat. Worried, i went to the doctor who told me it was possibly an inner ear infection that disrupted my balance which should clear within 2-3 weeks. During this time i was not able to walk at all without the feeling there which was so horrible that i remained in bed for that entire time. At the end of those weeks the feeling had not at all improved, so i went back to the doctor and was then tested for a whole bunch of things – i had cat scans, MRIs, every blood test, and also got my ear checked my an ear nose and throat doctor, and everything had come back absolutely clear.
This was seriously impossible to me at the time, as it felt seriously physical and i was desperate to find answers. More time passed, by now about 2 months with the same constant off balance feeling. I went to a head and the best doctor in town who did a complete full evaluation and again, strongly suggested this was not physical, and he then lead to this being a pyschological issue. Again, i refused to accept this was the case and for the next weeks to months, felt completely depressed, as if the doctors didnt find anything I knew i had, and my anxiety was extremely bad, to the point where I was prescribed SSRIS to keep my emotions under control. I was told the SSRIS would help with my balance, and yet still, i did see a minor improvement but it was not completely absent.
This all changed about a month ago. I thoroughly investigated the internet and found something called chronic subjective dizziness, in which this all sounded like me. The treatment suggested for this balance issue was SSRIS, a physio, and a psychologist. Enough was enough and i booked appointments. I explained my situation to the physio, who told me that it was common and extremely likely that I had previously had an inner ear infection, and during the time of me being bed wridden for almost a month, i simply lost my ability to maintain my balance and ‘forgot’ how it used to be. She suggested vestibualar rehabiliation thearpy and provided me with worksheets which i did twice a day, to help regain my balance back.
I then made an appointment for a psychologist. I explained everything i went through in those 4-5 months, and came to my senses that I had anxiety which was seriously disrupting my life everyday, as i constantly thought about my balance and it being back to normal. My psychologist explained things to me that i really couldnt accept before, and i finally accepted that my anxiety had taken over BECAUSE OF this balance issue. I was striving for perfection constantly and ALWAYS thinking about it.
For at least a few more weeks, the combination of the physios exercises, the psychologist/thearpy and the SSRIS, my balance has seriously MASSIVELY improved and if not, its gone.
I know this might not be the solution to everybody, but i need to stress that our minds do crazy things and that my previous issue of the balance being something possibly physical, had now turned into something that was psychological, leading to anxiety, which kept it there constantly.
I hope this has given some help to anybody who is going through this. I really do understand it, and if your situation sounds like mine, please try what Ive said as a solution, especially if you have been thoroughly examined physically.
thanks guys 🙂
Trish
Thank you so much Reena for taking the time to share your experience. Very, very helpful.
Cameron
Trish does your legs and arms feel like they are floating and drifting kind of?
Trish
Not all the time but yes, at times. In the beginning it was all the time.
Do you have a lot of muscle tension Cameron? I find that muscle tension plays a factor for me in that if my muscles are more tense in a certain area of my body and when I use those muscles, the floating is worse in that area. Most of my tension is in my shoulders, neck, jaw and head so that is where I feel the floating the most.
Lisa
Hi Reena,
Your symptoms sound exactly like mine do. I have an appointment with a neurologist in a week. I went to an ENT and an opthamologist, and of course my primary physician. I have had blood work, MRI of brain, and allergy test done. I found out I have allergies but am not convinced that is what is causing this floating/imbalance feeling. I have a balance test coming up. It is very difficult to work with this feeling. The only time I don’t feel it is when I am laying down. I appreciate you sharing how you feel, it definetly makes me feel better and now I know I have more options.
Manu
Hi Reena,
what is the SSRI that was prescribed to you and the dosage ?
thanks
Manu
manu
Hi,
This Post and comments/ideas from you guys are motivating me and I feel that there is light @ the end of tunnel
I would like to share my experience with this feeling of floating that I’ve been struggling since 5 months.
I had an ear infection in last December and my ear started ringing after that. I also suffer from sleep apnea and was getting cpap treatment for it. I think Indirectly I think my cpap treatment is the cause for infection as the nose and ears are connected. I had a sleep apnea surgery and after that I was under stress and anxiety regarding the surgical success. This was the time when I started getting following weird symptoms.
when going to stores I felt like the racks were jumping.
my eyes seemed like I was looking through the binoculars.
involuntary muscle twitches while sleeping and awake
imbalance while standing
lack of concentration and focus
headaches if I struggle to focus on things
then I started getting anxious about things. I went back to the ENT that did my surgery, to ask, if there is any link between the surgery/medications used during and after surgery etc. He said these symptoms could be due to stress.
even simple activities that I used to do before easily now seemed very hard.
I started worrying and stopped enjoying life.
I was not convinced as I did not believe that these many symptoms would arise all at once. After searching on the net I came across that Magnesium deficiency causes muscle twitches and took supplements that did not help much.Initially I was not uncomfortable using the computer but later I started feeling that my eyes started jumping and was feeling discomfort.
I went for vestibular balance tests and also CT Scan and physical check up. CT Scan did not show any abnormalities.Technician @ Balance Center hinted that my balance from the ears seemed to be ok.
I had a vitamin B12 deficiency and immediately started medication as I read online that prolonged B12 deficieency could cause some of the symptoms like imbalance,jerks that I am having.I asked my family doctor for neurologist reference and got a date in november(unfortunately waiting time is long in canada)
I also started physical exercise, yoga,mediation,vestibular exercises from youtube. some of the things that helped during this process are I started feeling better with my eyes looking @computer. I strongly felt that meditation brought down anxiety and depression to a good level as I was looking happy and started thinking positive.The muscle twitches during night subsided(though not completely gone)
I did this for couple of months and after that the GYM where I used to exercise had a fire accident and I had to stop going there. This brought some gap and again things started to get worse.Anxiety and depression creeped in, as my sleep study indicated that I still have sleep apnea even after surgery .I started using the cpap machine to treat my sleep disorder again.
I am a family guy with lots of dreams to pursue and do my part for my 2 lovely kids.I had to give up my computer programmer job that needs full attention and fortunately my wife is supporting the family now. I would like to atleast get back to 70 to 80 percent of my old self.
some of the things that I noticed during all this time is my symptoms get worse If I am hungry or did not get enough sleep.
I fee lots of imbalance while (1)bending
(2)standing and concentrating
(3)lying down
some of the postive signs @ this point of time are
(1) I can go to stores and scanning the items on the counter does not make me that uncomfortable
(2) I can drive on the local roads(still did not try the highways after the issue started)
looking @ some of these postive signs makes me think that definitely things can improve over the time but may be slow and may be its a long journey.
Hi Reena,
Can you help me with below so that I can request similar referrals from my family doctor
(1) what type of physio exercises did u do(if any pdfs)
(2) what kind of psychologist/therapy did you do
(3) Name of SSRI’s that you used(4) Did u stop taking SSRI’s Now.
(4) Do you still feel imbalanced during stressfull and anxiety situations or ur doing fine even in anxiety situations.
thanks in advance for the help that will get me my life back.
I hope others can benefit from my experience if they have similar issues.
I think Meditation,Distraction,Physical exercise will definitely help in these situations. Especially mindfulness meditation will get the anxiety under control.
Manu
Emmanuelle
Hello,
I have had imbalance/vertigo(non-spinning) and rocking/swaying sensation for the past 10 months…especially when I am sitting or laying down but also when walking/standing. This is cause from my neck, not from anxiety. Our balance system works with the eyes, ears and neck. When one of those is not functioning, we have imbalance feeling or a rocking or swaying sensation because our brain gets confused. It is called “cervical or cervicogenic vertigo /cervical or cervicogenic dizziness”. Look it up on Google. It’s not the spinning type of vertigo but the rocking/floating type…like we are on an elevator when it stops, or like we are on a small boat with small waves under it..like we feel our body is moving but it’s not…all this started when I spent many weeks in front of my computer with a very bad posture (head forward). I have a very tight neck and upper back pain and it is giving me those symptoms along with small herniated discs in my neck (a lot of people have those but don’t know it). A lot of neck conditions can make these symptoms of dizziness like when your neck is tight, is cuts the flow of the vestibular system or your Altlas (C1) can be out of alignment or the sternocleidomastoid muscle in front of your neck can have trigger points of knots and it gives those vertigo problems. I feel the symptoms when my neck is in a certain position or when it is very tight and painful. I am starting physiotherapy so I’ll let you know if it is working…I feel like a lot of people here are trying to find a mental cause to this or saying it’s anxiety but sometimes, it is simple as strained muscles in the neck! Which than causes anxiety coz it’s scary having all these symptoms and not knowing what the hell is going on with our body! Hang in there!
Lisa
Hi Emmanuell,
I did have middle/upper back pressure prior to this floating feeling started. I don’t get “spells” of floating/swaying feeling, it constant throughout the day. I notice it is not there in the morning but comes on slowly about 30 min into the day. I feel like your symptoms are different than mine.
Manu
Hi Emmanuelle,
what are the tests/diagnosis to determine if it’s due to cervical spine ? I work on computer for long durations and years ago I developed very mild pain in my left shoulder due to improper positioning of my head.
As I had ear infection and also gone through some stress I am suspecting ear related/anxiety related dizziness. I think diagnosis is crucial.
Thanks
Manu
Reena
Hi manu and others reading,
(1) what type of physio exercises did u do(if any pdfs)
I don’t have PDFs, but basically I was given a sheet, and it had black and white stripes on it with a black dot in the middle. I was told to focus on the dot for one minuete whilst turning my head at normal speed back and forth. I was then told to do the same thing, only this time I was asked to walk forward and back a few steps. All in all it was a sheet that aimed to make me purposely dizzy, so I could get used to that feeling.
(2) what kind of psychologist/therapy did you do
Thearpy I do was CBT, which concentrated on understanding anxiety and changing my thoughts towards it – I have only had a few sessions so far, but have Good hopes about it
(3) Name of SSRI’s that you used(4) Did u stop taking SSRI’s Now.
I am taking cipramil, which I think is equivalent to citalopram. I am still taking them currently as I was
Told I should be on them for at least six months.
(4) Do you still feel imbalanced during stressfull and anxiety situations or ur doing fine even in anxiety situations.
I find that I am no way near as anxious as I was months ago and I am not thinking about the balance being there like I used to. I really don’t feel it at all anymore. when there are situations I may feel it only the slightest little bit – however, when I do, im not worried about it as it reassures me it’s just the anxiety. Again, this is so minor and doesn’t effect my life as much as it used to.
I hope I could give you some guidance! Please don’t give up , it just takes time and patience 🙂
Manu
Thanks a Lot Reena for the answers and help. I started the ssri’s sertraline but could not tolerate them after 3 days. may be my body could not handle them.Had lots of insomnia and fatigue along with other minor symptoms. does the side effects subside with time ?
From the research study I found online, I see that the effect of SSRI’s is long term. Does it also mean that the SSRI’s need to be taken for long term or tapering them after few months and stopping them will work. my GP does not have the idea of it’s effect on chronic dizziness. what kind of specialist will have the idea about this ?
I started on exercise and some vestibular exercises from youtube and meditation.
I am pretty sure meditation will reduce my anxiety.
I will also get the CBT soon.
Thanks again
Manu
Manuel
Hello, my name is Manuel I am 24 years old and I have been experiencing this floaty feeling for the last 3 months. I thinks it first started during final exams when I was spending too much time studying in the computer. It also got worst after the first time I smoked pot. As many other in this blog I sometimes feel scared I have a brain disorder or a tumor but is a relief to find this post and to know there is people out there feeling the same thing as I do. The feeling is almost absent in the morning, but as soon as I get out of my house the floating start and I feel a lot of tension in my neck (like if its heavy to move) all day. I am a soccer player and the feeling is almost absent when I am playing soccer or any other sport, so I try to work out almost all day to feel normal. I haven’t been to any doctor yet but I am really considering going to see one. I am really sick of this feeling I feel like I am drunk all the time and it’s terrible I am having a hard time working in the computer. The feeling also tend to go away after I drink 3 – 5 beers which is really weird. I hope the feeling goes away soon. I don’t have anxiety problems but lately I have been through a lot of stress since I am graduating this semester. Maybe the stress could be the reason, I hope. I am very relief the find other feeling the same thing I do. This blog really helped me to avoid thinking I was going crazy and im happy to share my feeling.
Sorry for any orthographic mistakes in the post. English is not my native language
Thanks
Manuel .
Reena
Hi Manu,
Yes I would say I felt strange and out of it for a few days and they didn’t kick in till Atleast 3-4 weeks, that’s when my anxiety went down. In terms of the effects of them, I’m not really sure what te difference would be in how long you took them for, but I am pretty sure they do have an effect as in they do reduce the anxiety then what it was – maybe ask your gp about the effects of them throughout the time you take them. The ssris are more so for me used to reduce my anxiety against the dizziness, which in turn, reduced me thinking about it so much and just “forgetting” it was there. But then, will a combination of that with cbt and the vestibular exercises it has pretty much gone completely, and I don’t even think about it anymore which is the most best of all because I obsessed about it too much (when will it go away, will I have it forever etc) and that didn’t help my situation, it only made me and my dizziness worse. so, I really do believe that with patience and the combination of my things I did have helped me tremendously!
Mishy
Hi Reena,
Your story really resonates with me. 3 years ago I started with the floating feeling and I was told I had vestibular neuritis and started vestibular rehabilitation therapy! I did this therapy and it was gone completely in 6 months. It was gone for a whole year.Now in December 2014 until now i have the floating sensation. I was put on Paxil but it didn’t seem to help so got off it…I am now going to start the rehabilitation therapy again and see if it works again to remove it completely. I am holding thumbs!!
Leslie
I am soooo relieved to have found this!
I have been experiencing this since Tuesday, the 9th. I did a lot of flying on the 8th and I thought I was just jet lagged because it does sometimes feel like I am on the fast track walk between terminals or on a plane.
My husband left for Korea for a year on Saturday (the 6th) and I stayed with friends for a few days before returning home with no issues. The first night (the 8th) in my bed alone I had a horrible “dream” however it felt more real than a dream, and I had to force myself awake. I was so freaked out I anointed my home and bed and haven’t had any bad dreams since, but I still feel floaty.
I have been a military spouse for a while now, and I don’t feel anxious about this year away because we can still talk every day, but now I am second guessing that. I do feel floaty more sitting up and standing (just like everyone else .. I feel better laying down).
The post about neck issues from Emmanuelle makes me wonder if that’s the case for me. In my dream something was pushing and pulling on my shoulder violently. But, I have also had a lot of pressure in my ears and wax build up. I have one of those battery operated electric shock massagers, maybe I should try that on my shoulder? Sorry I am all over the place with this post, I am just so happy to have found this blog!! Thank you for making me feel like I’m not going crazy!
Bek
Thankyou so much for this post.
I ahve been feeling like this for over two years and noone listens or understands!1 I have been convinced I have a brain tumor!! Does yours make you unbalanced on your feet at all?
Its just horrendous and has caused a great deal of anxietya nd panic.
Thanks again, you described it so well.
Trish
Hi Bek
It is hard to explain the sensations to those who have not experienced it. I have people go as far to tell me that they think they would enjoy it. Obviously they do not have any grip on what it’s like.
There are people on this comment thread that feel unbalanced with it… like they’re drunk. I do not at this time but within my first two years I probably did.
It is horrendous and I think we all struggle with why is it happening. I am not sure if that is what causes the anxiety or if the anxiety causes it… or maybe it’s a chicken-and-the-egg thing.
My suggestion is keep practicing to get used to it and try for acceptance. And, continue to search for and be open to resolution. And come back here and comment to keep us updated.
Much love,
Trish
Bek
Thanks Trish,
It really is horrendous. Mine bothers me a great deal when having to sit still. It’s like a weird head rush feeling that really freaks me out and I’m convinced im dying of something. Thanks again so glad I found this page!!
Fredrick
Thank you, I’ve just been searching for info about this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest
I’ve came upon till now. However, what about the conclusion? Are you sure concerning the source?
Trish
Hi Fredrick
Reena (see comment from Reena on 2014/08/19 at 7:09 am above and read down from there) has found good success in what she is doing.
The comment by Emmanuelle on September 1, 2014 at 4:42 pm also suggests a physical cause.
If I recall correctly, some have found short term relief from an SSRI or a benzo. Others think this is what caused it to begin in the first place.
I myself have had the sensation for over 7 years. I went through all the brain etc. tests and my doctors found nothing. I have learned to desensitize myself to it and during the day I feel very little if not any of it. If I become anxious, it intensifies. For me it is most predominant in a lying down position which again, I have just gotten used to it. I also have a low level vertigo at the same time which I manage the same way–desensitization and acceptance. I do have my own theories on why I experience it and they are spiritual in nature. But I am not sure we are all the same in the root cause.
I am glad you found my post helpful. I think the most common comment on this thread is that everyone feels a lot less alone in this. I also think that none of us are willing to let go of our pursuit for resolution. I encourage everyone to come back and report how they are doing.
Much love,
Trish
aljon
HI there Trish. Im Jon from philippines.
we had almost the same situation. I had been having this for almost 3 years.
already had so many visits to diff. drs. ENT Neuro Optha and so on. they give me several medications . drugs etc.
but still it didnt cure me at all. i had this problem. My symptoms are like for example when im walking. i feel like im in a pool, or like im drunk or sumthin. my body is waving from left to right. like im gonna faint . my heart is racing like hell. i feel a hot sensation on my back and neck. and its really frustrating. it really made me feel depressed. i feel that i had a cancer that is uncurable. it really change my life. i do feel this 24/7 for 3 years. i quit my job. my girlfriend left me because he thinks im crazy or sumthin. my family is still supporting me. and i feel quite ashamed of myself. it came to a point that i wanna end my life. hung myself. i really feel alone. but reading this blog makes me feel a little hope. http://www.afb.org/forum/technology-talk/computer-monitors-and-dizziness/12 this blog had patients like us. feel free to see them. thanks for creating blog like this. keep updating guys if u had cure.
Jon
Trish
Thank you so much for sharing part of your story and giving the link to the forum.
My heart goes out to you for all you have been through with this Jon. It is terrifying and misunderstood and devastating.
I have had the sensation for almost 8 years now and I want you to know Jon that though I am not cured from it, I do considered myself in recovery. I have spent a lot of time practicing desensitization. This is what I needed to do after over 2 years of being paralyzed by it in fear… to get my life back. My life is a lot better now and I no longer get the anxiety with the sensation.
This is not about giving up. This is about living while I do the work to find resolution.
I thank you for your response–for everyone who has ever responded. I wrote this post because I thought I was the only one who had this sensation and wanted to find others. So with each comment I realize again I am not alone in this. I am not crazy. You guys help me to keep going with it because some days I really question why. I am so glad I wrote this piece and so grateful for how many people, like you, who have shared their story. I mean this truly. You have made a difference in my life.
Please Jon, keep us posted on how you are doing. I care to know.
Much love,
Trish
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Free Floating Anxiety | Crossed ConnectionsJulie
Hey all. This blog has been a life preserver for me. Sometimes we feel alone in our ailments and it is such a relief to know we are ok and not alone in this journey. It’s relieving just to know we are not insane. We are all here. Still healthy and alive. We are
just not sure of ourselves. I want to thank all the courageous people who are willing to share their experiences with the rest of us. I also am battling this anxiety/floating sensation. Waking up with rapid heart beat. Tense shoulders and neck. Then the heat in the back of my head. Sometimes it paralyzes me. I don’t want to see anyone or do anything. I have to push through it. I have not been on any medication as of yet and am seeking a more holistic approach. If allowed I will be posting my journey here. One afternoon I was at the store and the whole world turned upside down. I thought I was gaining and asked the clerk to dial 911. Then I remembered I didn’t have breakfast and chucked it up to be low blood sugar. Well for the next several days I suffered from panic attacks. I went to the doctor. Had an EKG. The blood panel tests. Thyroid, the works. Nothing perfect health. I’m still having attachs and the floating sensations. I have made
Two appointments one with a holistic doctor and one with the eye doctor. We shall see what happens next.
Cheers
Trish
Thank you Julie for sharing your experience so far. So glad to know that you feel less alone in this now that you have seen this post.
Please do share your journey with us.
I’m looking forward to seeing your future comments.
Love,
Trish
Jule
So my anxiety got so bad I couldn’t sleep. I found myself leaning or holding myself up in fear I would loose my balance. I also found myself constantly out of breath and found it difficult to breath. My back and neck were so tense I decided to take an Epsom salt bath. 2 cups of Epsom salt. It released my sore muscles and really relaxed me. I also cried for like 10 minutes. (Crying helps
releaseI toxins also)slept on my back that night and had a good night sleep. I later found out that Epsom salt contains magnesium which the body gets depleted of during stress.
The next day I was more
relaxed then I had been in weeks!! I was not completely better but I felt different. I had an appointment that night with an acupuncturist, I had never been to one before and didn’t know what to expect. Well the experience was overwhelming and sent me in a tizzy. The experience was way to intense for me and it freaked me out. I wasn’t relaxed at all. Well for some people the reaction might not be the same. I’m just really sensitive. Well I had anxiety again. I drove home and started to think about my fear of the anxiety and I started to say I’m still here. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m healthy and this chemical imbalance/flight or fight is temporary. I kept telling myself it’s going to be ok. The next day I took another Epsom salt bath. It relaxed me and I kept saying I’m not going to be afraid of these symptoms anymore, I’m healthy and nothing is wrong. It took a couple days of resisting the thoughts of fear but I continued to distract myself
with other things like radio programs or reading. Don’t give into the fears. You are ok. I think of it like when you have to go poop and your body gives you physical feelings. It’s just your body talking. It’s just physical/chemical. It will go away.
Keep your chin up.
Julie
Julie
Hi Trish. I found this website interesting. http://www.thebodysoulconnection.com/EducationCenter/fight.html
Trish
Thank you for sharing the article Julie and for keeping us up-to-date on your journey so far. It sounds like you are keeping yourself well informed about the stress response and doing what you can to mitigate the thoughts you are having that trigger your anxiety.
I do find it interesting that you went into a “tizzy” with acupuncture. I am wondering if any one else subscribed to these comments has had a similar experience with acupuncture or any other energy work modalitiy?
I am interested because energy work also leaves me in a tizzy. I do not allow anyone to mess with my energy but me as I do my own form of energy work and I understand what boundaries I need to be in place and the things I need to consider. Though I have been doing energy work since 2003, I did not become so strict about this until my crisis and when the floating began in 2007. I may explain it to others as being sensitive but I do believe that is not truly the case… I believe that our energy is different from the people the energy worker practitioner usually works on and the floating is an indication of that. The practitioner is inexperienced with understanding that subtle shifts in our energy can effective us greatly and negatively.
If you do want to try energy work again, I suggest you find a practitioner who has experienced a kundalini awakening or some form of spiritual emergence and understands how the person’s energy is different when in these states.
I also encourage you to always listen to your body in an energy work situation. If you feel uncomfortable, please stop. It is not that you are weak, it is you are more aware of what is going on and your body is telling you it’s limits.
Though it may be in a form of hyper-vigilance at the moment, we are all very self-aware of what is going on in our body and how that feels and though it may feel like a curse right now, it does turn into a gift when the anxiety is reduced.
Much love,
Trish
Laura
In Response to Julie and Trish’s last comment:
I am 25 years old and have had this floating feeling off and on for about four years now. I have done all the typical tests and seen all of the specialists. For me, I get really bad migraines, likely due to the tension from my neck/shoulders. I used to get really bad panic attacks when initially feeling the onset of the floating sensation and began taking Ativan as a quick symptom reliever. However, I am firmly against taking any form of prescription drugs unless absolutely necessary. In the case of mental health, there are so many natural alternatives to prescription drugs. These chemicals will only harm you in the long run and make your symptoms worse.
I was under the care of various doctors, as I felt my family physician was too old and pretty much wrote a script for anything I said. I was diagnosed with many different variations of vertigo, however I knew this was not true. I saw a chiropractor who told me that the off balance feeling is due to poor posture, which I didn’t doubt since I have a very demanding desk job and DDD breasts. I recently underwent breast reduction surgery which has changed my entire life. My posture is MUCH better and the off balance feeling is hardly there. I also began seeing a Chinese Doctor/Acupuncturist who really helped me. If you feel comfortable enough with acupuncture, it is by FAR the best form of therapy I have received since the beginning of this floating sensation. She actually discovered that this feeling was coming from my liver/gull bladder. She sticks needles in certain trigger points that assist in the cleansing of my liver. I also drink detox tea for liver/gull bladder cleansing.
I have learned that having poor posture can really cause a lot of issues you wouldn’t expect. I had never experienced anxiety/panic attacks before this floating feeling commenced, so in my case, I strongly believe that it is not solely a mental disorder and that this feeling is in fact due to one’s physical condition.
I also find that pure magnesium supplements help with calming me down and relaxing my muscles. Which in turn, helps with the floating sensation.
As Trish has mentioned, you are the one in charge of your body and you must pay attention to what triggers these sensations and symptoms, as this is the most important for a proper diagnosis.
Debby
I am SO happy to have found this information. My floating started about 8 weeks ago (2 months already!) and I thought I had an inner ear infection at first, so made an appointment to see an ENT specialist. He was excellent, did all the tests and then finally sent me for a CT Brain Scan. Nothing was wrong. When I heard.. nothing is wrong?.. that is when I panicked. What do you mean nothing is wrong????
I ended up calling my therapist as I am a panic attack sufferer and anxiety, and she said its anxiety. I cant believe it.. but the floating feeling will not go away!! so it must be because nothing else is wrong with me according to my blood tests an CT scan .
So, what do I do… live with it I guess.
But here is my symptoms.
1. when I lay down, I spin.. then it subsides and I can finally sleep.
2. when I wake up, it feels like I am spinning and off balance and like my body is moving. but that goes after a few min.
3. When I am walking, I feel like my eyes are battling, I cant seem to look left or right or up for very long without me feeling funny.
4. I sometimes get like brain zaps.. like zzzzzzzzzzzzz.. in my head and then it passes.
Does anyone else get these symptoms?
Debs
Trish
Hi Debbie
I do get the same symptoms as you described but I call it vertigo and not floating. My floating sensation is something very different… a feeling like I am standing on a floating dock, not spinning.
As for what you described, I only get it now and then. I have had it 4 times in the last 7 years with the last episode occurring on Monday.
But the first time it happened I was so scared and because there was no reason as to why, I went into crisis. A few days later, the floating showed up and stayed put. But with the help of a radionics practitioner (energy work based on resonance, healing at a distance), the vertigo went away after 2 weeks. Then I was free from it for almost 7 years but it came back again in January of this year for 4 days. Then in May for 4 days. Then this past week but I was able to resolve it in less than 24 hours because I am starting to see a pattern.
The floating sensation has gotten better–I have learned to desensitize myself to it–but it has never gone away.
Getting back to the spinning…
Initially I did all the brain tests and eventually went to the ENT– this was as much for the vertigo as it was for the floating sensation. They didn’t find anything either.
When I have a bad vertigo episode, I get bad spins when I lay down and turn to either side. They subside after a bit. I also get bad spins when I sit up from a lying position or when I do a chin tuck or look at the ceiling just after sitting up. Again, this subsides after a bit and I can move off the bed. I do remember in the beginning that moving my eyes like you said made me feel funny… not quite spinning but not grounded either.
I also get various sensations to my head.
Again, I get these as episodes which resolve in days. I do have a kind of low grade vertigo all the time but it is not the room spinning vertigo I described above.
Okay, so I have found that sleeping elevated helps a lot to reduce the amount of spinning when lying down and when sitting up. If you find this to be the same with you, you may have too much energy in your head. You will want to practice grounding on a regular basis of which different exercises can be found all over the Net.
But essentially what allows me to resolve it so quickly is knowing what triggers it. I have found the root to it through intuitive work, observing patterns in strong thoughts and feelings before it happens, and resolve it myself through energy work. I have a strong sixth sense, am freakishly self aware and have been doing energy work since 1999 so this is all very comfortable to me.
The first question I would ask you is to remember as much as you can the day it began. What happened that was different? Did you have any strong emotions that day? Did you have an important revelation or consider a major change in your life? Anything that you decided about your life that may cause you great anxiety though you may not have been conscious of it at the time?
This may lead you to the trigger. This may guide you to the resolution.
If you decide to try an energy work modality, just be cautious because you may be very sensitive to this type of work. Make sure it is with someone you trust, that they allow you to dictate how fast or slow you want to proceed, and give yourself time between appointments (if I am not doing the energy work myself but with a practitioner, I usually go two weeks) so you can process and see where you are at. Don’t do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. There is a risk that energy work can make it worse so like I said, be cautious. You may have to try different ones to find what works.
For me regarding the vertigo, I have had success with AN EPISODE being resolved with Cranial Sacral Therapy. It did not get to the root of it so I have had it again since, but it did help to minimize it during an episode.
As for energy work–and I have tried much–I have the best results with EFT and Matrix Reimprinting.
I would tell you what triggers me and what resolves it for me and even what is the root cause but I think it’s very particular to the individual. What I can tell you is that for me, it is a spiritual and emotional issue.
Keep us posted Debbie.
Love,
Trish
Trish
I just published a post on MHT on how to ground and clear energy that you may want to check out: http://mentalhealthtalk.info/bipolar_mood.
I apologize for spelling your name incorrectly (twice) Debby!!!!!
Debby
Thank you so much Trish. And please don’t worry about the spelling of my name haha.. It is spelt both ways.
Thank you for that post, I will go through it and try some of it out. But to be honest, I have just been diagnosed with this floating anxiety so am very scared. Im trying to learn how to come to grips with it as it is stopping me from doing my normal daily things.
For instance, I have a hair appointment this Saturday, I need my roots coloured and am petrified if I will be able to sit there floating away and with head sensations without running out 🙁 so I am trying to deal with that at the moment.
I cannot believe this is happening to me.. why?
Trish
I remember the floating used to make me crazy anxious. It is the scariest thing I have ever experienced and my life has been pretty trippy the last 8 years. It’s funny you mention the hair appointment because I avoided going for about 6 years because of that very reason.
For me, the trick was desensitizing myself to the sensations as I mention in the post above. It made all the difference but it took me awhile to get to the point where I was ready to accept it. Two years in fact. I would have done anything to get rid of it up to that point and in doing so, I pushed myself well beyond what I was comfortable with. Which didn’t help matters but this is how I learn and I’m okay with that now.
I think everyone on this comment thread is asking themselves why. I tried to answer that question about a trillion times. But I have learned that the question why can be trickly and keep you stuck. One of the biggest things the floating has taught me is it’s okay not to know why. That sometimes we will never know why. And yet we can move forward with out an answer. I promise you.
I will be thinking about you on Saturday.
Much love,
Trish
Debby
HI Trish,
I managed to get my hair done. I sat there “floating” while they did it. lol. Sometimes I can laugh at the floating now but other times like last night, I start to get panicky, because I want it to go away!!!!
My doctor (normal gp) is the only one out of the 5 other doctors I have been too, that believes me.
He still thinks its something to do with my inner ears, eyes and of course anxiety, all not working together.
I push myself during the day and get relief from sleeping at night. The spinning at night when I first lay down … I am getting used to now.
Its when I am now standing and I feel this like floating, swaying feeling that takes me off guard.
Will it ever go away? its been 11 weeks now.
Much Love
Debs
Trish
Thank you for keeping me updated Debby. So glad to hear that the hair appointment went well and that you are getting used to it at night. Perhaps the savings grace is you do get some relief at night.
I am not sure when or if it will go away. I have faith that we will be okay if it doesn’t. I’ve had it since 2007 and it did lessen over the years. Though three weeks ago I decreased my benzo and it all came back with a vengeance. My state of mind is different this time around but it still can be really scary and I still want it to go away.
Slowly I see patterns to it… what triggers it and what lessens it. Maybe that information will be useful someday.
I am thinking of you.
Love,
Trish
Debby
Hi Trish, something very scary happened today, and I don’t think its to do with anxiety.
I dropped my one slipper under the couch, while trying to get it with my head down, I went into a total spin. Does this sound like something else now?
Trish
Yeah, spinning is uber scary especially when you are already hyper vigilant to the sense of floating.
I would call that vertigo… but in my case the floating and vertigo are caused by the same thing… too much energy in my head. The reason I have too much energy in my head is something I am still trying to work out.
Vertigo started for me back in 2007 and then 3 days later I got the floating. For the most part, the vertigo is not constant like the floating is, though I do get all 3 different types of vertigo : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo.
Vertigo is something the doctors have a much easier time understanding. You may want to go back to your doctor and tell him about your spinning. It may help them to do more tests. It did not help me but that’s me.
Stay in touch Debby.
Love,
Trish
Trish
One more thing Debby, I do get the vertigo–when in an episode of the objective vertigo and the room is spinning–in the exact same head position you described. I also get it when I tilt my head back or lying down and moving my head left or right in these positions. Other than those head positions, I do not get it all.
Debby
Thank you Trish for your fast reply, has calmed me down. My floating and swaying is so bad today. Been with me non stop 🙁
Debby
oh dear. I got a phone call from one of the doctors I have seen, and he says he thinks its a virus. So he has put me on anti viral medication and told me to wait for 7 days. This is what upsets me, is that I had finally come to terms with floating anxiety, and now one of the doctors is telling me it COULD, and he underlined that, be a virus.
My therapist said it was anxiety, which one do I believe now?
Debby
One more other things trish. I have stopped gym. and I LOVE gym. Its part of my hubby and my life. But when I went to gym and got on the treadmill on Monday, I felt like my head was about to zap off.. and off balance. How do I fight that and go back to gym?
Debs
Trish
Hi Debby. In my experience, the doctors don’t really know what to call the floating. Anxiety seems to be the most common diagnosis but others have resolved it by treating it as something else. I am not sure that everyone who talks about floating in these comments all have the same cause. I just don’t know. I think that it’s always going to be trial and error when it comes to resolving it.
As for acceptance, you might trying accepting the sensation without labeling it. At the root, it is a sensation.
Yes, I also stopped working out when the floating and vertigo first started for me. I don’t think you have to give it up altogether though and modifying is key. I was able to go for short hikes and walks in the early stages. I did some yoga poses. Swimming might be good. Go with a shorter, less intense version of what you are already doing and see how you feel. You are going to feel floating but is it a level of floating you can tolerate and/or get used to?
Something else that I did to boost my confidence when it came to my balance was standing on one leg, standing on one leg with my eyes closed, and tree pose. My sense of balance improved with these exercises and I became a lot less worried about falling off balance.
Debby I know you are really, really scared and probably feeling completely out of control. My suggestion to try and regain some of your control back is to become the student of YOUR floating. Let it teach you… not only re what triggers it, what helps, when is it more intense, what are you thinking when it gets worse, etc… but teach you the practice of letting go into what is and the faith that you’ll be okay.
Since you’ve gone through all the medical tests to rule out anything obvious, your doctors will be stumped. A this point, you are by far a better expert on your floating than any doctor is.
Good luck,
Trish
Manu sharma
Thank you all for sharing such important information and the valuable feedback.
My father seems to me is going through the sensation in the body. he explains his problem as the nerves are floating inside the stomach and spine along with upper back. But the there is a persistent complain from my father regarding the nerve sensation in the body. he feels lethargic and says that he doesn’t have any sort of energy in his body.he is diabetic and hypertension as well for which he takes medicine to control. He thinks that his sternum is changing shape and size many times during the day.
We have gone through all the important test relating to spine and stomach including all the essential vitamin test. I am happy to see that all the test reports comes perfectly normal. the only findings in the Spine MRI was LUMP IN L4 & L5.
i would like to question that there is no diagnosis we have found so why there is such a persistent problem. or does his brain signals are not performing at the best. Please suggest me what should i do and if there is any sort of testing is available which can be done to get the disease diagnosed if there is any.
thank you
Trish
Hi Manu
My heart goes out to your father. This is a very difficult and scary sensation to have.
My advice after doing what you can with the doctors is to desensitize to the sensation. I explain it in the post above.
The only diagnosis I’ve heard of is anxiety. It was assumed with me that it was part of PTSD which is an anxiety disorder.
Love,
Trish
Bek
Would any of you describe yours as a wooziness in your head? Mine is fairly constant however I notice it increases when I’m in anxiety/stress provoking situations which honestly doesn’t have to be much these days! It also makes me feel off balance and a bit out of it in the head.
Trish
Yes Bek… for me it’s all those things.
Jeff
Trish, are you and others posting here talking about mdDS (disembarkment syndrome)?? Sounds like it exactly, to a T. Also have any of you tried ayurvedic herbs/ adaptogens, like ashwaganda and other like herbs to help with stress..anxiety.. relaxation..depression. just curious if any of these helped at all.
Trish
Hi Jeff. Thank you for commenting and giving us more information on a possible reason for the floating.
Manu
Hi Jeff,
I used Ashwagandha and it calms down the anxiety and relaxes the mind. Meditation also helped me to calm down and lessen my anxiety.
Manu
Debby
Absolutely. That is how I feel right now.
Bek
It’s driving me nuts. Scared its s brain tumor
Popy
I have floating sensation in whole body. My head gets hard and sometimes I have pain in my head. I have saw many doctors of neuro psychiatrist but the medicines they have given to me is not at all helpful for me. I have this problem for about18years long. I am now 35years old. Please suggest me how to remove this sensation of my body. Which doctor to consult in my area. I am living in kolkata India. If you reply I think it will be helpful for me.
Trish
Hi Popy
As I have been the one moderating this thread, no one has identified a type of doctor that has cured them of the floating sensation.
I have found that reducing my anxiety around the sensation has had great effect to lessen the intensity of the sensation and for me to move forward in my life. I have done this through desensitization, mindfulness, and breath work. Others have done this through various alternative practices, meditation and anti-anxieties.
Love,
Trish
Omid
Dear Popy
There is no doctor or tablet for these symptoms. As you live in India the source of Yoga and meditation so it they are the best energy method to relief this pain.
Debby
I am back! I definitely have “floating anxiety” or as I would describe it, “swaying anxiety” I seem to sway all the time. That must be the “floating” sensation everyone is feeling.
When I first posted on this forum, I did not accept what was going on with me. But after seeing so many doctors and then finally a neurologist, It is confirmed, everything that is going on with me is indeed, anxiety.
It is so amazing how anxiety can rear its head like this and make one feel so out of control. But now that I know what it is, I am going to do what you suggest Trish, and that is completely surrender to it. Know that it cannot hurt me, and pick myself off the ground and get my life back.
It is VERY scary trying to get ones life back after thinking I had a dreaded disease, only to be told its all in the head :(.. I start gym again next week. I will be the one swaying on the treadmill hehe.
Shuksy
Hello,
My wife is having these same feelings and we tried everything,,
went to all types of doctors and NOTHING,, 🙁
What to do??
Did anyone had some sort of way to get rid of it?
Masoo
My god Trish yes finally that’s exactly what I am feeling I have done MRI blood work Ecg and everything normal I took some anti depressant and it made it worse. What can I do I know I have anxiety. Please help
Trish
Hi Shuksy and Masoo
This floating sensation is indeed a horrific thing to deal with. We think we’re crazy and/or have some terrible terminal disease. It is very hard to go about our life when our inner perception is telling us we are constantly moving and our eyes tells us we aren’t. All of our movements now feel foreign–movements we have been practicing since we were infants that we never really thought about and now it’s all we think about. It is terrifying and exhausting. It would be incomprehensible if it weren’t actually happening. My love to you both and Shuksy’s wife.
It is very important to be checked out medically and to see whatever specialist necessary. As I understand it from your comments, you have done that.
I am sorry to tell you I moderate these comments and no one has found a cure or a cause.
I can say from having the sensation for 8 years now that it did improve for me. The last 2 years it has been very minimal. Perhaps that is because of how I now approach it which I will get to in a second. I must say though that is has become much worse for me again recently, when I decreased my anti-anxiety (a benzo). This didn’t make a lot of sense because the benzo didn’t help when I first started taking it. But I have found through these comments that everyone does experience the sensation and it’s triggers a little differently.
I researched and waited the first 2 years of having the sensation for someone to cure me. When that didn’t happen, I faced the idea that I may have this for the rest of my life. It was in that moment that I decided to do what I had to to desensitization myself to the sensation. I describe that in the post.
This reduced the anxiety I had with the sensation significantly. I trained myself to relax every time I felt it. I became aware of what situations made it worse and prepared myself for them. It took experiencing these situations again and again to build up my confidence enough that I could handle the floating and continue to move on with my life.
And so I did. And the floating got better. My anxiety got better to as I learned to manage it with various tools.
When the floating came back with a vengeance this past November when I decreased the benzo, I was now of the mind to know that I could handle it. When you reduce a benzo you experience terrible anxiety so when my withdrawal was over, I noticed a dramatic improvement in my anxiety around the increase in the sensation. I therefore became less hyper-vigilant to the sensation once again and was able to continue with my life with the sensation being as bad as it was in the beginning.
Hyper vigilance is when you are constantly monitoring the sensation to determine if it is getting better or worse in any moment so you can attempt to cope with it. You do it when you are not even aware of it. For me it is 24×7 when it a state of anxiety. This is a very typical reaction to a traumatic situation and is a known symptom of PTSD.
So desensitization and reducing the anxiety (and thus the hyper vigilance) re having the sensation is been my savings grace. What has been my miracle is learning to accept the sensation for what it is right now. That came with deciding that it was time to stop waiting for someone else to cure me. I took matters into my own hands.
That does not mean I have stopped searching for what will one day resolve the sensation.
Love,
Trish
jun
im so glad that im not alone, this sensation drives me nuts,anxiety drug is the culprit of this sensation,so i stop gradually and this really helps,this sensation become less.Just give your mind and body a time to heal.
shane
Hey it could be worse…just gotta learn to live with it for now. Ignore it. Im a corrections officer and after a long bout with anxiety and stress this floating feeling was the end result. Possibly due to the damage to the nervous system..who knows. I do know im gonna try a ciropractor tho.
GILBERT
Hello everyone ive been reading all post and me too am a sufferer of this medical issue.ive been going threw this since 1997.before i got it i had high stress n anxiety.all though to say it went away for couple years not untill i started stressing again bad then it came back.ive noticed it always happens when i stress or am depressed. Last year i bought a house but before i bought it i started getting stressed out because of the mortgage n other bills,so once again it came back..so now i have it again..thank God i still work an am kind of use to it but the feelings are awful.. resting helps alot an trying to focus on other things helps also.i know its hard but just try to keep busy,it works for me.i love motorcycles n i ride em an dont plan to leave em either.i have FAITH that all this will pass with time..we have to be patient n try to relax.when i go threw this i notice my neck also feels stiff.ive had bad episodes that leaves me in bed for days,i get it so bad i can’t walk.Ive also started acupuncture 2 times a week and that has been working a lil,remember its a slow process to recovery.Another thing that helps alot is church,i try to keep my mind busy..like all you ive been three many doctors n nothing.but one thing they did find that causes me to have all these mixed emotions,i have low testosterone.im taking the shot to help me on that an also am taking natural medicine to help my floating n balance problem..the worst is when i walk i feel like the floor goes down,like an elevator. Well please keep posting stuff n let us know what works for everyone.n thank you trish for forming this page i am happy to know that im not alone..God bless n lets pray for a cure..REMEMBER TRY TO RELAX I THINK THATS ONE OF THE MAIN SOURCES FOR ANXIETY..
GILBERT
SORRY ONE MORE THING.AS OF NOW I HAVENT RODE MOTORCYCLES,ITS BEEN 4 MONTHS ALREADY. GOD BLESS
Susan Szabo
Horrible feeling. The only way I deal with it is to ignore it. I comes so fast and stays so long. Awful. Its like a force that is pushing me. 🙁
GILBERT
I try to ignore it but sometimes it gets the best off me.like right now im starting to get anxious cause its still here.over 3 months already..really bad anxiety.hope u feel better.susan
dizzyignas
Hey guys..I feel this for 2years..it started after Mdma drug. I’m so frustrated how it can be anxiety? The thing is I’m not anxious so much. Yes I had fear or panic attacks bUt just sometimes.. I hate that it is on and off for me when it start it will be at least a few months non stop whe gets a litlle bit better and then comes again.. I still think it’s my cerebellum because CT scan show some lesion in my cerebellum but MRI was clear..so I’m not sure..I’m so jelly when I see happy people walking around..and I’m always feeling like ground is moving ughhh hate it..I destroyed my life..
Luke
Thank you for posting this. When I was very young (around 6-7) I used to get these floating episodes a lot. My whole body would feel numb and I would have a feeling of distance from my current reality. I’d explain it as feeling like a partial out of body experience or maybe like a bad drug induced trip (I don’t use recreational drugs so I really wouldn’t know but its what I’d image what a bad trip would feel like). The floating feeling is so very unpleasant. I am now 39 years old and I recently experienced severe emotional trauma. About two weeks after the trauma I had an episode of “floating”. I immediately remembered the sensation as the same episodes I had when I was a child. As a child I never talked to anyone about it (I came from a family that didn’t talk about anything) and I never knew what it was or what caused the episodes. I’ve had a few more episodes recently and reading your post has helped me understand what maybe happening with me. Thank you for sharing.
GILBERT
WHAT EVER HAPPEN TO ALL THESE PEOPLE ON THIS PAGE?SPECIALLY TRISH,DID ANYONE FIND A CURE OR A RELIEF..JUST WONDERING BECAUSE NO ONE HAS POSTED ANYTHING..
Trish
Hi Gilbert
From what I know, no one has found a cure. The way I deal with it is to adapt by desensitizing myself to the sensation… I covered this in the post. This removes most of the anxiety around the sensation for me and doesn’t limit me from what I want to do.
I am still looking for what might resolve it. What I have learned over the years is that for me, it is a result of spiritual crisis/emergency and that anxiety is something that makes it worse, it makes anxiety worse, and that creates a viscous cycle. As I work through and process through spiritual emergence (for me it was a spontaneous Kundalini awakening), it goes from better to worse to better. It will take time but I am quite optimistic that it will resolve someday.
When it does, I will be the first to post a response to this page as well as write a new post.
Much love,
Trish
dizzyignas
Hello Gilbert and Hi Trish. I suffering from this 2 years 🙁 I can’t understand how it can be anxiety symptom if it’s only when I walkIng? It looks like something bad with brain or cerebellum..I feel like I’m taller or that I’m flying when I walking..and the thing that I’m not so anxious.. can it be from anxiety if I feel anxiety only one or two times in a month? Want to talk to you guys..
Trish
Hi dizzyignas. If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to get a medical assessment done by your doctor/specialists to rule out anything physical.
I have learned from reading these comments that everyone’s floating is slightly different in how it manifests. There are a lot of people on this thread who would contribute anxiety. I used the term “floating anxiety” for this post because I thought it was a good fit at the time. What I have learned about MY floating over the last 8 years is that anxiety makes it worse but I am not so certain any more than anxiety is the cause of it.
I encourage everyone to desensitize to the sensation so they might adapt and accept it. I know it is terrifying and uncomfortable (to say the least) and really trippy/freaky and it is certainly the scariest thing I have ever dealt with in my life. But I found through accepting it, that I was able to take a step back from it and really learn what triggers it, what makes it better, and the patterns. From this I have concluded in MY experience it is related to spiritual crisis/emergence. What does that mean re curing it? I don’t know. But it does feel that I am in a far better place to resolve it than I was 8 years ago.
Floating and the vertigo I experience alongside it are something I had to own (meaning taking it out of the hands of doctors/alternative practitioners to cure me because after spending 2 years asking them to cure me, they couldn’t) before I felt empowered to working toward resolution.
dizzyignas
Trish I was to hundreds of doctors. Some say it’s anxiety some don’t know what it is. Mri normal. But CT scan show some lesion in cerebellum but neurolotists said that this can’t give me symptoms. I really don’t know waht it is..I’m thinking try AD. But I’m not sure I need them. Mine floating and unbalanced feelings are on and off like few months on then stops and come again..It started after MDMA drugs..it means I will have this feeling for the rest of my life?
Trish
I don’t know if you will have it for the rest of your life. My heart breaks for you that you have it all.
MDMA is psychoactive so if I were you (meaning if I had taken MDMA drugs and this occurred), I would be looking into spiritual awakening/crisis/transpersonal psychology/Stanislav Grof’s stuff/overactive crown chakra. Things along those lines given that you have been to so many doctors and you are not sure about it being anxiety related. It is not unheard of that psychoactive drugs trigger a spiritual crisis. I use the term “spiritual” because that is what it is labelled but you don’t have to be spiritual or interested in spiritual stuff to have this occur.
The mental health perspective is going to be anxiety or dissociation disorders in my experience. They will want to medicate with psychotropics. In my experience, these drugs have made things worse for me in the long run–the floating worse–especially now that I’m trying to get off of them.
I don’t know what else to recommend dizzyignas. I encourage others on this thread to chime in because I am only speaking from my experience.
Alex
I don’t think you will have them for the rest of your life. Distract yourself for a little bit, then determine if you have dizziness or the off balance feel without (I know this is weird) making it obvious to yourself. If it goes away, you will have it the rest of your life unless you get your anxiety dealt with. I don’t suppose it’s a drug problem. Legitimately at all. My dizziness and b unbalanced feel came BACK after I stopped the drugs. I think your medication just showed your body that it can scare you more than you thought. Anxiety challenges us all and that’s the frightening part of it all. It absolutely understands what it’s doing and we’re just playing in to it. We just have to find better ways of handling it. Better ways of letting it know that it can no longer harm us. I read a book and this gentlemen said “You have to challenge your anxiety. It’s like riding a bike for the first time. We’re scared of falling, but we get back on that bike and then eventually, our fears subside and we’re no longer intimidated.” My suggestion would be to go see someone about getting your anxieties figured out, narrowing them down, and then trying to work out a way to challenge it.
No Idea
Hi all,
I found this site by accident – googling and regoogling my symptoms. In April of this year, I all of a sudden experienced this acute symptom of swaying and feeling as though I am about to fall off a cliff. I laid down thinking it would pass. I still felt loopy and got up to drink some water. My tongue went numb as symptoms hit me worse. I thought it was an allergic reaction to fish I ate and called paramedics. My wooziness made it hard to answer questions and I was deemed unresponsive and taken to the ER. I suffered a full blown panic attack in the ambulance car and was put on oxygen and IV. In the ER they gave me antivert and Valium and discharged me saying I should follow up with the pcp about stress management. The bloodwork they said was normal. I felt fine for the next few days, then the symptom came back. I was swaying in the chair, on my feet , and walking. I went to my pcp and she ordered bloodwork and an MRI of the head. I only had B12 deficiency. I was told to follow up with neurologist which I did. She confirmed my MRI was normal, ordered sleep study done, had me follow up with ENT, and sent me to physical therapy. We also had MRI of the cervical spine and that was also normal. She asked me to see a psychiatrist since my symptoms were never waining. I was floating and swaying and feeling like someone was pulling on my hair. The worst part is, now I couldn’t even lie down since it feels like someone is rocking my bed, just like being on a water bed. The ENT visit was uneventful. I had the comprehensive exam, was told I shows signs of chronic sinusitis but was ok presently, and showed evidence of ear infections. My auditory test was perfect. I wa ordered to have VNG done that checks for balance disorders. That came back as “your right ear shows a little bit of weakness” other than that you are all clear. You can choose to go to a PT for balance disorders, which I did. They evaluated me and said that I may have vestibulopathy which I am not sure about. My balance seems off, and I have success with Xanax. It practically stops me from swaying. My answer to this is that it is not a lasting solution. I was prescribed trazodone for sleep and insomnia, but that thing gave me palpitations and nightmares. I am telling my doctor I won’t take it. Meanwhile, I had also asked to see a psychiatrist because I was beginning to feel more anxiety and feeling like this is contributing to my floating. He prescribed Zoloft which I am terrified to take. Throughout all of this happening to me, I have had a constant irrational fear and amplification of symptoms. I take the Xanax to calm down, but it’s torture on my system. I have found that exercising helps me alleviate this but I cannot very well exercise while going to bed. Last week I had felt better, but the insane weather this week has made the symptoms so much worse. I cannot sit at my work because I feel like my head will fall off. I have also developed a faster heart rate since this has happened. Once I take Xanax I feel the physical symptoms fading but I feel like I’m fading with it. I have started counseling to deal with this, but I feel discouraged day in and day out. I float, I sway, I feel like someone is pulling on my hair, and my head feels like it’s made of lead. Now, I don’t think this will ever get better and I’m convinced that my heavy head is laden with some mysterious disease that causes this insane anxiety. I’m wary of Zoloft because I’ve been on antidepressants before, so I’m feeling totally bummed and discouraged that nothing will take this away.
Trish
My heart goes out to you No Idea. It is worse for me when I lie down too… I sleep with my torso, shoulders, neck and head elevated and this helps a lot… between a lying flat and sitting up position though when it is particularly bad, I will sleep more towards sitting up. It is so important to get sleep if you can.
Of course you are probably very hyper-vigilant to the sensation and that makes it feel even more intense. Have you reviewed the 24 hours before it began to try and find anything out of the ordinary that might have happened… it doesn’t have to be an event, it could be a really strong feeling that is not typical or a train of thought that is not typical. A mental decision that would have been life changing. This may give you some clues.
Considering psychotropic drugs for this is a scary decision. From MY EXPERIENCE, they may be considered useful for a short period of time to get you feeling grounded again and to work on getting used to the sensation. Try to take as small a dosage as possible and then taper off them as soon as possible (with doc’s assistance of course). Again, THIS IS FROM MY EXPERIENCE and I recognize that everyone is different.
I have said it so often in this thread that I am sure people are sick of it but I encourage you to try to desensitize yourself to the sensation. I go over it in the post but that has been a real game changer for me.
Please allow yourself the time to adjust to this — self-compassion goes a long way when it comes to something so petrifying like floating. It is terrifying to think that it will never be resolved and I remember the moment I came to that conclusion 2 years into having the sensation that I felt I had to learn to live with it. For some it comes and goes and that may be your case. For others it stays. For me it stayed but did get better until I reduced my psychotropic meds. But I was in a position to be okay with that for it was 8 years later and I had learned to accept it.
I’m not saying it won’t resolve for you. You may not find your answers with doctors or even alternative practitioners but I do think we all have the power to be the experts in our version of it and with support, find the resolution for us. I just think until then, adapting may be your best option.
Much love,
Trish
Bek
Hi I have posted on this thread several times. I found out two months ago I have Lyme disease and this has been the reason for me having these symptoms. Just thought I’d let you all know 🙂
Trish
Thank you Bek!
Cameron
Hey
Cameron
I tested positive for Lyme disease
Bek
Did you have the same symptoms? I’m sorry to hear you also have Lyme
Cameron
i float really bad like the ground is moving underneath there feet and your head is swaying left and right and feels like your moving up and down while just being still, and the ground feels bouncy like your on a trampoline, my head head feels numb and tight 24/7 I have severe depersonalization and im very weak all over and I have muscle twitches all over and I have trouble breathing and trouble swallowing
dizzyignas
Hey Cameron..I have all of your symptoms for 2years..and nobody send me test for lyme. Now it’s going worst I feel so weak and tired my arms are verry weak,ground is vibrating or moving. How you got tested for lyme? Is it was blood test? And when you got a bite ? I got a bite 10years ago is it possibke that I can have lyme after 10years of bite or not? Thanks man!
Cameron
Do you have a Facebook?
Bek
I have all same symptoms. Yep I’m Bek Harper. My profile pic is of me and my daughter
Reena
Hi all,
I had this issue for about a year and a half. Like I have mentioned previously, I had every single test possible done (MRI, cat scan, ears looked at, nose checked) etc. I have to say that for me, it all came down to anxiety. I did not believe this would be the case, as it does feel so much like a physical problem. From my experience and from what the doctor have told me, it is very possible it was physical in it initial stages. But after some time and after getting everything checked there was no other answer besides a mental issue for me. When I finally came to terms with this, I was willing to try anything to solve the issue. So, I went and saw a psychologist and I was put on SSRIS for about 6 months – year. Today I am not seeing a psychologist anymore (who helped me GREATLY with my generalised anxiety/the balance) and I am now off the SSRIS. I have to say I now rarely if not at all experience the balance problem, I actually can’t remember the last time I did. I wanted to share this as I do know how extremely hard and deliberating this can be. I know this may not be the answer for all of you, but please if you are experiencing anxiety, (which can even be absent when you feel off balance) then please take into consideration that this may be the cause and can definitely be treated. Again this is just my experience/thoughts of this horrible thing! My thoughts are with all of you and I hope you all stay strong
dizzyignas
Hello Reena your information verry helpfull. I didn’t decide yet take SSRI to try or not..I had 2 choices citalopram or flux(prozac) but I was scared of side effects and that I need drink them for the rest of my life…but now after your post I’m confused..I still try natural things but not sure are they effective like AD. I have a few questions to you: are you was verry anxious? Or just feel it sometimes like me? And is your floating unbalanced feeling was all the time or just epizodes? Mine is at least few months with non stop then gets better and again with non stop a few months or more.. I suffer from this 2years…and are you had visual problems like visual snow or flickering vision? And how can you describe floating feeling? Is like ground is soft all the time or feels like it moving all the time? Mine is like that.. I personally don’t believe it’s just anxiety..because mine is always even when I’m calm ans it starts when I start moving or walk after some time..it looks so physical problem…please if you have time response to my question…thank you Reena 🙂
Reena
I am happy to help! Again this is just my experience I know people are different. When I was experiencing anxiety I was experiencing it everyday, but not every second. However it was very difficult and was consuming me which is why I decided to get help. I will say that the anxiety all started right after the dizziness began. The dizziness itself was more like episodes – they felt as if when I was walking and standing the floor was sinking or I was on an elevator for a few seconds – so terrifying. Another way to describe it would be like I was on a rocking boat. Now, in terms of how anxiety inter plays with all this, for me it did. This is because I have been physically checked out head to toe and was in an excellent condition. Overtime your anxiety just feeds and feeds, and the more you reject that it isn’t anxiety, the worse it will become. Anxiety can 100% cause this because I had it and now don’t have the dizzy spells anymore. To your question, it does not matter if you are not experiencing the anxiety everyday and you get the dizziness – the anxiety has already manifested itself within you and is capable of acting on its own without you even feeling it – it’s unconscious. I completely understand that this is just my experience and not the Same for everyone – if you feel like yours could be anxiety realted then why not see someone about it and if you’re comfortable, just try the SSRIS. You don’t need to be on them forever but for me they changed my life
dizzyignas
Yea I know this feeling it’s the same for me..but mine is constant 24/7 sometimes it’s get better sometimes worst..so you get only epizodes? For a few seconds or hours? And then you had this sensation are your head was like heavy or feeling like drunk and head pressure? I always feel head pressure drunk feeling and this floating sensation..I already was prescribred for AD but I’m not decide which one take citalopram or flux(prozac) I wish it will be just anxiety..but it’s to long..almost all the time I spending in my bed..what if AD will not help..then it means that it was not anxiety? WHAT AD you used? And it was hard to take them off?
Debby
I had that feeling you are describing for over 5 months solid.
dizzyignas
All the time 24/7? I just can’t get how anxiety can do this head pressure and drunk feeling..are you didn’t try SSRI?
Debby
Yes, I had it 24/7. I am on an antidepressant and have been most of my life.
Debby
Hi All.
I was on here last year around October. Asking what my symptoms were and I had all the tests. Nothing was wrong with me.
But, I was later told I had “post traumatic stress” .. which made sense. and “anxiety”.
I have been in therapy since Feb 2015 this year and the feeling of floating has gone. However, I still every now and again, get a sort of whirling in my head… or at the end of a day.. feel unsteady.
Goes hand in hand with anxiety I am told.
Debs
Reena
Mine were more like episodes which got very bad and lasted a few seconds – although I always felt “off” 24:7 now that I think about it. I took An SSRI called Cipramil (in Australia) so it may be called something else elsewhere! You cannot expect it to be a magic pill and to work straight away though – it takes about 5 weeks to fully kick in and work to reduce your anxiety so just be patient if you decide to take that route 🙂 I only got off them when I felt like I didn’t need them anymore because my anxiety went down a lot, and no it wasn’t hard to! Rather than stopping it all together you slowly reduce it – I hope that’s good info for you!
dizzyignas
Reena…I saw your post from 2014 that your floating feeling is constant Is that right? And you write that it was only while walking and when you lay down it subsides? It’s the same for me! Just for me also my head gets numb when I lay down. And I saw you write that you take citalopram I think it’s the same like cipralex. I also started from yesterday citalopram 10mg. But I just doubt that it will remove my symptoms.. but I did all posiblles tests and doctors said it’s maybe the anxiety… but I think it’s amphetamine or mdma did some shit to my brain..I use them only a few months..but I don’t have idea what else can cause this feeling..also after drugs my vision change everything is flickering or shimmering it’s so annoying.. I wish it wil be just anxiety..but I’m losing hope that it is the reason..but I will try citalopram..is citalopram(cipralex) make you more happier? 🙂
Reena
In 2014 I was still experiencing it and yes it was constant as in I experienced it every single day (but not all day) they were more like episodes! And yes they went away when I lied down. I would think that a drug like mdma or anything else could be a slight possibility to trigger this feeling and then cause anxiety which can make it even worse, as my doctor even said at the time that this can definitely happen and cause weird symptoms. I study psychology myself at university and have learnt that drugs may cause a chemical imbalance, if I were you I would definitely stop taking drugs and stick to the Cipramil as this is also a drug that can balance out your chemicals again to a neutral level. My success with Cipramil has been great and I know for me that it definitely took away the feeling of being off balance, as this feeling of being off balance was a result of anxiety. Anxiety can absolutely do crazy things that can be physical where anything is possible. Relax, be patient with the Cipramil and try not to always think about it – at the end of the day there is always some way through these things to cope – keep positive everyone !
dizzyignas
If your was only epizodes when it really was the anxiety for you. But mine is constant while I walking 24/7 ground feels like soft or like I’m walking in boat when I walk on the ground..thats why it’s hard to believe that in my situation it’s anxiety..hmm.The fing is that I take drugs only a few months and it was before 2 years..and I will never touch them again..but even after 2 years my vision disturbances and floating feeling a here. I was also to psyhologist 2 times but I don’t feel that I need that because I know that I don’t have any serious disease..I just thinking that i had some damage to brain or cerebellum from drugs..but I will try citalopram it’s 3day when I’m on it..but I only taking 10mg..I thinking if I need increase dose or not..how mg you drink of cipralex? And after what time your floating feeling was gone when you take cipralex? Thx 🙂 and how you know that you had anxiety? What was your symptoms?
Reena
You don’t need to see a psychologist if you have a serious disease – in my case they were there to help me deal with my anxiety that was occurring from the dizziness, which allowed me to understand anxiety and why it was happening to me and therefore deal with it. I in time learnt to not be so afraid of the dizziness. If you have been thoroughly checked out physically and there is nothing wrong with you (which is what I would recommend first) then it is more than likely a mental issue – therefore, anxiety. If you had damage to your brain than it would show up more than likely on a MRI so I don’t think that would be the issue. I was in the same situation as you in convincing myself it was not anxiety. The anxiety may not be the complete cause BUT it exaggerates physical feelings including the dizziness. Therefore, being on cipramil will reduce the anxiety and in my case the dizziness completely went away. I started on 10mg then went up to 20mg which was the perfect dose for me. Cipramil is a commitment that you must take everyday and it takes about 6 weeks to reduce the anxiety – Do not increase or stop it without talking to your doctor first. My symptoms of anxiety was the dizziness, heart racing and occasional sweats as well as fatigue. Hope that helps!
dizzyignas
Reena are you didn’t have any heart problems or slow heart rate while taking cipramil? I taking citalopram for 7days now..and I read that many people died from citalopram..I’m so afraid now..
Reena
No heart problems at all – if you had issues with medication or were at risk your doctor would not have allowed you to go on them, so please don’t freak yourself out and read the Internet! If you are that worried then chat to your doctor about it
Reena
I’ll also add that seeing a psychologist may be a good idea also in conjunction to taking Cipramil if you experience anxiety – my psychologist helped me enormously and I believe it was a combination of this that truly allowed me to leave this anxiety behind and the dizzy feeling
dizzyignas
By the way Trish and all of you who have this feeling I want to ask you guys. Are you ever tried drink alcohol on this floating or boat sensation ? is it go away or you still feel it while drinking? Mine was even worst or I still feel it a litlle even when I was a litlle bit drunk..and then I had this sensation and drinking alcohol sometimes I cannot feel drunkness from alcohol even when I was drinked a lot of I still feel like I didn’t it’s always like that when I had these sensations. Is it also the same for you guys tell me please?
Trish
I haven’t drank since this started 8 years ago. I decided my life was trippy enough given I have psychotic-like symptoms on top of my floating and vertigo that for the first 6 years, made my life a continuous bad acid trip.
There was someone on this thread who found drinking a couple of beers helped to lessen the intensity of the floating.
dizzyignas
Drinking makes my floating worse..thats why I also stoped. I’m only 22 and my health so bad..I’m so jealous for other peoples who can enjoy them life..we live only once and we have to suffeer with this awfull feeling…but Trish and others are you also feels while walking that ground soft or moving ? Like walking on a boat or a mattress Like 24/7?
No Idea
I am in the same boat as some of you with meds. I have since started experiencing full blown panic attacks and my balance worsens with each one. Vestibular rehab helps to some extent. I think it tricks my brain into temporary relief. After all the testing and everything clearing out for me, I’ve come to a definite conclusion that this imbalance is anxiety related. My debate now is whether to start Zoloft or another SSRI recommended by my primary who has known my history with anxiety and depression for over a decade. At this point, I know I cannot do without meds. This morning I suffered a panic attack on the bus commute to work and my imbalance made me think I’ll fall off my feet any second. I took Xanax and felt fine within half an hour. It’s late afternoon now and I have no floating or imbalance, just this groggy feeling of a benzo. My dilemma lies with starting meds now.
Trish, thank you for your kind words.
No Idea
I agree with Reena. I had this constant floating that had since lessened, but the anxiety it caused still lingers, and is heightened. Even if you feel calm, like I do sometimes, it’s still lurking. I was under a great deal of stress when I experienced this acute onset of imbalance. And I battled anxiety previously in life. With meds and with counseling. I think I relapsed in April and am still experiencing the effects. I have started counseling, have remained active, and hit the therapies and gym to find that symptoms disappear when I exercise or talk to people. I’ll also say that my previous bouts with anxiety gave me physical issues such as nausea and vomiting. Why wouldn’t imbalance or floating be one of those side effects? Brain works in mysterious ways. And depression and anxiety cause imbalance in neurotransmitters. floating seems feasible side effect to me.
dizzyignas
Hello No idea. Is your balance off floating feeling was al the time while you walk like 24/7 ? Because mine it is 24/7 and it’s really hard to believe that low anxiety can do this 2years 24/7
No Idea
Yes. It was 24/7 since April of this year. Walking has gotten easier, but I still float when sitting down, standing or lying down.
Sherry
I can not thank you enough for writing this. My anxiety has manifested in other parts of my body which made sense (stomach, chest), but this floating sensation made no sense to me. I do have some health issues due to an autoimmune disorder, so I had diagnosed myself with so many other things (and have been to several other specialists). This makes so much sense to me. Thank you, thank you!!
Trish
You’re welcome Sherry and thank you so much for commenting.
natalie
I’m so happy that I’ve found this post. For the past few weeks I’ve been suffering from this constant floating feeling and also feeling unbalanced while I walk. The strange thing is I only feel unbalanced when I walk in a smaller space but if I go for awalk on the beach I walk fine.
I’ve suffered from anxiety, depression and I also used to self harm. I also have a big fear of serious illness so obviously when this started I immediately thought the worst ( tumours, cancer ) and right now I can’t go to the doctor since I’m my Nans main carer. So I just wanted to say what a great comfort your post is and it makes me feel less alone.
Trish
Hi Natalie. Thank you for commenting and I’m so glad that this post provided you comfort and connection.
I too feel better outside. My floating sensation gets worse when I’m in places with a low ceiling.
Much love,
Trish
natalie
Thank you for replying. Last night I had a bad anxiety attack that brought my floating feeling hitting me with a fuller force and made me feel like my bed was swimming under me. So I’ve missed out on a full nights sleep which makes me feel worse because it means that I’ve thought about nothing but this all night. I’ve started to take Kalms to see if they help.
Allan
A lot of the posts I have read the symptoms read like MdDS to me. There is a Facebook support group available via the MDDS Foundation website. We need more people to come forward to raise awareness of this. I have it (I believe) and everything I am reading is very very similar.
Marcie
Hi folks,
I’m not surprised of the ignorance of your doctors as my own 40 year in the business practitioner, an older ENT, a young neurologist and 2 residents all misdiagnosed me as having initially BPPV (Benign Paradoxal Positional Vertigo) even though I told them all it was a constant feeling, not I move my head one way and bam! You all have a much more debilitating condition called Malde Debarquement Syndrome (aka MdDS). Come to our Friends of MdDS Facebook web page. We have a plethora of very helpful information to help you along with local doctors to recommend to see who do know about this rare condition.
gilbert
Hello marcie,wich page do i go on,i seen that their is several groups.thanks
D.J.
Hello all!!! Just wanted to say I also have this weird floating, drunken, drugged, off balance feeling. At first I thought it was my eyes so I took my contacts out and NOPE!! I have to say, I have ALOTTTTT of tension in my upper back of my neck. especially on the left side, its very stiff and sore if I try to move my head especially to the left side. Ive had this off balance feeling in the past and it just went away on its own. I do have a pretty good case of anxiety. I always worry about this and that and whats wrong with me and everything in between. I also am a smoker, so with that comes the anxiety of thinking smoking has caused some kind of illness with me. I dont really have any other symptoms with this off balance feeling. No headaches, just the neck soreness. My arms sometimes will feel kind of like they are heavy or something, and also my tops of my thighs, almost like when you get very nervous and your limbs feel like jello. But no pain. I still have alot of strength. This off balance feeling is worst for me in the MORNING and into early afternoon. For some reason my symptoms just about VANISH in the evening and the closer I get to bedtime, they basically are gone!!! But it starts over again the next morning of course. Its been about a week now since Ive been getting this once again. Motion seems to make it better for me, like when im driving. Seems like when im sitting still is when it gets the worst. Also, I know this sounds goofy, but i tried this, if I stand and i rock back and forth while im standing, it seems to also make the symptoms subside hahaha. Like i said, seems like motion makes me feel better, To me, this sounds like anxiety. Again, i have no other symptoms really besides what I typed above. I dont get dizzy at all. Like the room does not spin, just feels like my head is floating or my eyes are floating out of their sockets or like im walking on clouds or a mattress. And the reason why the feelings subside at night im thinking has to do with me being alot more CALM at night which in turn subsides my anxiety and my symptoms go away. This stuff is just weird but its there I guess.
dizzyignas
Hello D.J it’s the same for me when I’m driving it’s subside. But whenewer I walk it’s feel like walking on a matress..is this really can be anxiety for 2 years even when I’m not so anxious? verry weird..
dizzyignas
why I cannot see comments anymore
Trish
Because new comments are always added to the end of the thread. The last comment was a reply to a comment at the top of the thread.
Trish
I meant NOT ALWAYS ADDED AT THE END OF THE THREAD!
dizzyignas
Yeah I saw it later,still thanks. How are you trish ?Areyou Still bouncing or floating all the time?
Trish
Still bouncing, floating and spinning. How about you? How are you doing on the meds?
dizzyignas
Well I feel tired from them. But they don’t helping for my symptoms,I’m 4weeks on them. I still all the time feeling like walking on boat or matress..I’m so tired of this it’s 2years 24/7. Are you ever tried gluten free diet? I heard for others it’s helping..but gluten is almost everywhere..but in my situation I think nothing will help..
Trish
I have been on a gluten free diet for about 10 years now… longer than I have had the floating sensation. I had to get to the point with the floating (about 2 years in) where I was able to face that this sensation may never go away… I couldn’t have faced that thought in the beginning. When I was able to face that, I was able to do what I had to do to get use to the sensation and not let it limit me. I still am looking to resolve it and work at that everyday, but it doesn’t hold me back and it doesn’t make me anxious or depressed anymore.
John
Many things can cause such symptoms:
– The inner ear + eyes system is responsible for balance. Damage to the inner ear can include Meniere’s disease; the sand crystals in your ear canals getting loose and rattling around (which can be caused by severe blows to head historically, such as auto accident); nerve damage, usually associated with some hearing loss; etc. Some of these are dizziness, others vertigo (room spinning). Since these nerves are depressed by poison in poison berries, your body links this up with vomiting, which is why ppl vomit on roller-coaster inner-ear stimulation. Eating berries with too much mold on them could trigger this as well. EarNoseThroat for these.
– Whiplash can cause weak neck muscles which cause faulty head/eye tracking which can cause headaches, dizziness, disorientation as eyes don’t keep up with where inner ear thinks your head’s orientation is. Get the right diagnosis then see a PT about this one for eye-tracking/neck-tracking exercises.
– There is a psychosomatic thing where worrying about specific things can cause the muscles at the base of the skull in back to tense up, which can cut off blood to parts of the brain/scalp, which can cause faintness/disorientation, often with a tingly feeling in the back of your scalp. Don’t watch those thought soap-opera movies. Tai chi and body awareness help lots.
– LSD or hallucinogen flashbacks can occur months later and could cause dissociations with reality. Don’t do ANY hallucinogens in the first place. NO shrooms.
– People used to be birds, and there is a switch that turns your body off when you sleep so you don’t fly off your branch and get eaten by lions. Only your main body, not your heart/lungs/stomach etc. Normally you don’t know it, because this only kicks in after you go to sleep, and it’s supposed to cut back out again when you wake up. 1% of time some ppl wake up but have problems kicking this back in for a few seconds; can’t move, can’t breathe voluntarily; they feel paralyzed. Can also feel like “floating above one’s own body”. See Sleep Paralysis. This part of your brain could be giving you challenges. Also see Narcolepsy.
– There is a different part of your brain that is responsible for reality construction, maintaining the feel that you are you and you are in this world around you. Oliver Sachs had a story about people who wake up with a dead leg piece of meat in the bed with them, are horrified and try to throw it out. It’s their own leg. Lots of other useful stuff in his fascinating books. He’s terminally ill Feb ’15, better hurry.
– Another neurologist lady had a stroke, lost the ability to put pixels together to make the world/think, took years to regrow it, wrote My Stroke Of Insight to describe the journey. She had it much worse, could be inspiration/useful.
– Robert Anton Wilson’s Prometheus Rising deals with reality construction, some people feel floating, in the old days they said were abducted by aliens / faeries / angels depending on which millennium. No solutions but useful description to know others have had similar perceptions. Very worth reading.
– Thyroid problems can cause faintness and disorientation, see also Hashimoto’s disease.
– DMT abuse. Attacks part of brain that assembles reality; I hypothesize that people represent 2D coordinate map of themselves and their surroundings; if your brain only looks at this you feel like you’re floating above your own body. See Near-Death Experiences.
–In short, the amount of systems that go into making balance and a full self in the 3D world are amazingly diverse and complex. You need to see the right doctor who is familiar with the specific kind of thing that you have, not just a GP. Even then, it can be difficult to track down. In the meantime, remember: You are NOT your body, just different parts of your body are telling you things which you may choose to pay attention to or pass over. And even schizophrenics learn, oh yeah, that’s just my familiar inner demon talking yet again, whateeever. Listen to your body; respect it; but you don’t have to be commanded by it. And do your Tai Chi, let your eyes follow your hands, let your hands follow your breathing. Not the other way around. Good luck.
dizzyignas
Hey John. I have floating unbalanced feeling for 2years 24/7 I did all posiblles tests and nothing serious found. It’s not my ears. I taken Mdma drug a few months and then e erything started alsp my vision shimmering blinking,visual snow and floating feeling. I also have sometimes sleep paralysis. But I don’t know what to do with this floating and ground soft sensation I can’t take it anymore..if it’s Mdma drug did to me it mean that it’s permament or just long-term?
S
Hi Trish,
Have you ever felt tingling, twitching above your ears and a pressure as well as if something is just stuck above them? Thank you so much for clarifying the floating sensation part – i am only 20 and i have visited the ER so many times to be dismissed with “it’s anxiety.” This all started when I got chronic hives in October 2014 and Tonsillar cyst along with it – the cyst burst in 2 days but the hives stayed… For the next four months (and it was the worst!!!!!!!) and i still get a small hive every now and then – this all drove me insane because i had never heard of hives so it was so foreign to me plus i already had anxiety and depression, so that didn’t help much. I got allergy/parasite testing done, i went to the dermatologist, the internist, etc. and they all said anxiety. I got and ultrasound done of my abdomen and it was clear. Anyway, even though the hives tapered off after four months, i started experiencing other symptoms like a persistent red ear (or rather, if i simply touched it, it would go blazing hot and red) and this annoying head symptom which my gp said was a bit of fluid build up in my sinuses but that didn’t help. Then i went to a chiropractor for back pain which didn’t help either and i started getting these head symptoms a week after adjustments. Then my anxiety also went out of hand – i of course depended on Dr. Google for everything because i wouldn’t listen the experts and i recently got an mri scan done which was clear too. Now i have sharp neck and shoulder pains + pressure in my head + heavy headedness and i cry so much about it even if people keep telling me it’s anxiety. What’s more is that i initially had the pressure only on the left side of my head – a couple of days ago, it started on the right too and there is sometimes a prickly pain along with it/tenderness. Oh yeah and my scalp feels tender in random places sometimes and then goes away.
I hope i get a reply as this anxiety is eating me alive and even though i am going for therapy, i can’t help but feel these very very real symptoms!!
Thank you for taking the time out to read this, Trish. All the best.
Trish
Hi S. My heart goes out to you as you are dealing with so much at one time! I get all sorts of sensations in my head… from pressure to pain to tingling to vibrating to tension to feeling like there is vice around my head. I have had it where the right side is worse than the left and where the left side is worse than the right. They are very real symptoms, I agree! But I have yet to find out of what. Addressing the anxiety you are experiencing is important because it makes the sensations seem more intense. I did this first with an anti-anxiety and then eventually learned to manage my anxiety which I describe how in these two posts: http://mentalhealthtalk.info/2011/06/05/the-zen-of-anxiety/ and http://mentalhealthtalk.info/2011/07/03/the-zen-of-anxiety-2/. Desensitizing myself to the sensations also helped where I trained myself to relax into the sensation instead of resist it. When you resist anything, you are telling your body that it is not okay and this causes a lot of stress. I encourage you to continue doing what you need to do to with seeing specialists to continue to affirm your health. Your fear is a normal reaction to something that feels very terrifying… is terrifying! The trick is to train your body and mind to recognize it as not a threat and I did that with the exercises I described in my post above. Once you begin to feel more grounded and less anxious, you will begin to see more clearly what your next steps are. My love to you, Trish
dizzyignas
Hey. I had this awfull floatinf sensation for 2years,alsp neck shoulders tension,and heavy head feeling like drunk,head numbness,pressure it’s frustrating me,some docs said anxiety some not,but I know it’s not anxiety..I’m just tired of this and don’t have any motivation to do something..
Kevin
i been suffering from this stuff for the last 5 years it all started when i moved from my home town to a new city suffered so much stress from a unhealthy living situation and now i am a mess i was a smoker at the time and i masked my anxiety hid everything one day i decided to quit and everything just poured out of me and now suffer daily panic anxiety fear stress i try to keep myself busy and keep focus away from it but it just follows me around every were i go my neck head constantly hurt i cant seem to shake it feel helpless lost confused dazed and sometimes want to cry but cant and wouldnt help anways could go back to smoking good choice between the two gonna die one way or another sometimes feels like mabey sooner is better no one seems to understand how i feel thearpist think they can just give a pep a talk and i am healed but i try to keep floating it away and keep my focus on what i need to do today to live and survive than on my symptoms and fear and continusly float and concentrate my mind on relaxation much as i can
dizzyignas
I feel you Kevin. I’m feeling the same 24/7 for 2years..Trish have it for 8years. Are you feeling this 24/7?
Kevin
ya 24/7 i feel iam drunk i feel nauses scared i try not to pay attention to it everyone in my family thinks i am ok so i dont complain no more i just keep to myself except my wife knows *sighs*
dizzyignas
Kevin: Yea I also feeling like drunk every day, are you also feeling like someone is pushing your or walking on trampoline while walking? Are you find out how to at least get a litlle relief from symptoms in those 5years?
Jessica
Hi I have this sensation every night… It’s extremely bad outside at night I smoke but don’t smoke in there house but every time I go outside to smoke I have to constantly have ahold on a chair or the door knob .. I bounce and duck around like I’m tripping because I feel like I will float up into the sky.. It makes it hard for me to breathe.. It’s very hard to explain.. I just have to hold on to something 24/7 to keep from floating away.. Even if the TV is showing something in the sky I have to grab onto my bad and start moving around because I get that feeling…
Kevin
yes that sounds about right only relief i get is for moments when keeping busy or some deep breathing letting go of some of the tense muscles or going for a massage how about you what do you do? today i feel like i have been punched in the face a few times the back of the head very tense feel scared shaky sweaty etc
Trish
Hi Kevin
I have severe tension in my neck, jaw and the back of my head. The intensity of this tension effects the intensity of my floating and vice versa.
Love,
Trish
dizzyignas
Kevin: I’m the same like you I only feeling floating sensation less when I’m verry bussy,but it’s also only for the moments..I also have everyday tense in my neck and my head feels like numb or also like somebody punch me in the face like I’m high or drunk…it’s a hell my family and my girlfriend tired of my complains. Last time this balance off sensation was stopped last year of september but when it come back. Maybe I will ask for my gp xanax or something because I heard it relieves symptoms even if I know that it’s not anxiety the cause. Because my SSRi don’t help me,it makes it even worst..
Kevin
Hi trish yes i hear you on that one the constant tension burns me out but i am getting so use to living in this pain now its like whatever must keep going and living and mabey just one day it will all go away………
dizzyignas
Trish,Kevin and others I want to ask you can you stand on one leg with your eyes closed about 10secs? I can do this,it means my balance is good? If I can do this why the hell I have this constant sensation,try it guys and post here thx.
Trish
dizzyignas: my balance is very good. I used to do the exercise you described to gain the confidence I needed to assure myself that the floating did not influence my balance. In my experience, the sensation is not related to our physical balancing mechanism. It is an inner perception… an inner sense of floating… obviously not an outer perception because you would SEE the room floating. This is very evident to me because I also have vertigo which can be an inner perception of spinning as well as an outer one where the room actually looks like it is spinning. The floating is a SENSATION. Like pins-and-needles when your foot is asleep. It is nothing more than a sensation but it is also nothing less.
dizzyignas
Damn what a awfull sensation. My balance even better than my gf, i can even stan on one leg more than she and she don’t have this senstion. So you think if I would to vestibular therapy or standing on one leg it wouldn’t help because it’s not our balance system the cause? I’m doing these exercises for one week but I don’t feel any improvement.
Kevin
my balance is not very good i am taking Cymbalta and Sarcol for all my crap ssri’s didnt help me made me even worse my headaches became unbearable almost i would be in tears in so much anxiety messes your balance in my family we have mental health issues so i am not suprised i feel like this its not fun anxiety or not no human being should have to live like this…..
dizzyignas
Kevin are you think it’s your anxiety making these sensations? I don’t believe it anymore if you have it 24/7 for 5years it can’t be anxiety…I have it for 2years,and most of days I’m not anxious at all I’m more feeling sad because of this feeling,if I don’t have this sensation when I will not have depression also.
Josie klemett
Hey! I have terrible anxiety and I was wondering if you ever experienced these symptoms:
When I walk, the ground feels like it’s bouncy and uneven like. When I stop I feel like I’m on a boat and turning my head I feel off and dizzy. Never spinning dizzy though. I constantly feel off balance. Please get back to me 🙂
Trish
Hi Josie
Yes, I experience those same symptoms.
Love,
Trish
Josie klemett
When you turn your head does the dizziness feel worse?
Is this my anxiety?
It terrifies me..
Trish
Josie
Yes turning my head can make the sensation worse as well as tilting my head back and my chin forward.
I don’t know if it’s your anxiety. In my experience, anxiety makes it worse which makes the sensation worse with makes the anxiety worse. Some say it is brought on by anxiety or a traumatic event and some say they don’t think it’s related to anxiety at all. In my experience, it started with a traumatic event and though I’m now 8 years with the sensation and have little to no anxiety around it or in my life, I still have the floating.
It is a terrifying experience for sure. In the beginning it is almost incomprehensible and very hard for those around you to understand just how terrifying it really is. I do suggest you go see your doctor/specialists and hear what they have to say about possible causes and remedies. You may find an anti-anxiety helps though given the comments on this thread, some find it does nothing, some find it makes it worse, and some relate it back to the cause of their floating. So it seems to be dependent on the individual whether an anti-anxiety will help or not.
My best advice is given in the FAQ section above which I just added a few minutes ago.
Much love,
Trish
dizzyignas
Hello Josie I have the same when I walking it feels liks ground is soft or walling on a trampoline or a boat24/7 is your also 24/7
Josie klemett
dizzyignas.: Yes it is!! When did you’re start? With anxiety?
Josie klemett
I saw that you have visual snow and what not. I do as well but not from drugs. Mine is from an antibiotic. You might want to look into some supplements and some liver detox and a good organic diet.
dizzyignas
Josie: It started 2years ago. It started after brain zaps and depression maybe from drugs. But it’s 2years non stop now.What supllements you know for visual snow?
Josie klemett
Do you find when your anxiety calms down it’s hardly noticeable?
Trish
Hi Josie. Yes. When I was able to learn to be okay with having the sensation and comfortable with it through desensitization, I found I was no longer hyper-vigilant to the sensation and thus did not constantly notice it.
Josie klemett
Do you drive and stuff?
Trish
Yes I drive. For me the floating is a sensation and I can observe it in that way. It does not impact my physical balance or how I perceive what is going on outside of me. It did in the beginning but I learned after time to recognize it as my inner perception only. If you don’t feel comfortable driving with it then give yourself some time to get used to it before you try.
Trish
To Josie and everyone else on this thread… I don’t want to give the impression that what I suggest was easy for me to learn. I remember very clearly what it was like to wake up one day floating and have my entire world crumble around me. I didn’t know why, what, or how. I became consumed by the sensation and the terror of having it. My anxiety got much worse and I fell into depression. I wouldn’t leave the house. I tried everything available to me to cure it and to fix me. I no longer trusted my body or my mind and I didn’t feel safe. I developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I have been through a lot of trippy things in my life and the floating sensation is in the top 3 of my all time horrific experiences. It still can be horrific 8 years later. I still have really bad days where I just want it all to go away and go back to my life when I didn’t have it. But truth be told, I don’t remember what it’s like not to feel it.
It became easier for me when I decided that I had to be the one to resolve it. It became clear to me I had to do what I could to live with it and continue with my life. Eventually, I learned to do that through a lot of trial and error and what I advise on this blog is what I have found works best for me. It takes a lot of hard work and practice. None of what I suggest is easy and when I suggest it, I am not doing so lightly.
Over the years, I have gathered enough information on how my floating works and what triggers it to start to put the pieces of the puzzle together as to the root cause. I am getting closer to finishing. This project in itself has been very empowering and makes the sensation more of a teacher in that sense than a nightmare. But it took a lot of years to transition to looking at the sensation from that perspective I do not expect you to be able to see it that way at all, especially in the beginning.
What you are feeling about having this sensation is valid. I don’t ever want to come across as making light of that. By writing this post and keeping up with these comments, I am trying to shorten the learning curve for those who resonate with the idea of trying to being okay with it in the moment and to reduce their anxiety re having the sensation.
I am, at times, very sorry that I do not have the cure.
Much love,
Trish
Kevin
the fear from anxiety is overwhelming i have had people in my life just add on to my fear including mental health class i use to see i clearly remeber her saying “Your Anxiety is not gonna go away” as she was accusing me of avoiding my anxiety than i had my own blood come and accuse me of something personal and added even more fear and i still get flash backs to all the stress i weant through when i am moved away from my home town which was caused by own blood as well its been a rough go i float my anxiety everyday try to move forward and not live in fear but it is hard it brings me to my knees i hope everyone here can get through all this stuff and be happy again as life is short as is….
Kevin
how has everyone been doing? do you guys find it to be worse when its hot out? i hate the heat or to cold? cant really win either way
Dizzyignas
Hello Kevin. I’m feeling bad my floating and elevAtor sensation got worse. And yes yes! Mine is also 10x worst when it’s hot outside I dunno why.
Kevin
i hear ya Dizzyignas hang in there its really hot here and i feel like crap the heat wave this year has been bad and makes everything else feel bad
gilbert
HAS ANYONE LOOKED INTO MdDS?
dizzyignas
gilbert: I don’t tkink it’s mdds because I had many flights and in shipz and nothing aas wrong,in my case it started after drugs 🙁
gilbert
Dizzyignas,sorry to hear that.me too ive never done drugs or went on ships or flights.i do know i have low testosterone below the level n ive also have anxiety depression n stress..i stress over nothing..i started feeling like this after i got really stressd out…its weird cause some people in the mdds blogs say that you can also get it by not getting on a ship or pl@ne..its wei4d cause all the symptoms match..
Debby
I am back lol. After 5 months of not having floating or dizziness, it has come back. Not as bad as it was 5 months ago, but its back and scaring me again. But I know why.. my mom has been told she has lung cancer and has 3 – 12 months to live. They did radiation 10 times on her, its helped with the cancer tumor in her lung, but not enough to save her. I love her so much and it has caused my stress to rise again, and those feelings of dizziness and floating to come back. Only thing that has not come back… yet (and Please God .. it does not) is the brain zaps.
I now wake up with the floating sensation and dizziness all over again but I can say this..
NOW I know, it is caused from anxiety and these are real symptoms of anxiety, because they only come back when I am extremely stressed e.g.. knowing my mom is going to die soon.
I even had a new symptom this last Monday gone by.. I was at my computer, talking to my mom on the phone, and I felt like I was going to faint. Seriously faint. I was dizzy and could not walk properly and feeling faint for 3 minutes. Of course I called the doctor and he said it was anxiety.. but of course, I did not believe him, so went in to see him for a check up.
So its all anxiety I am afraid to say.
I have joined a WONDERFUL website that gives you explanations on all the symptoms one is having and the solutions and how to cope. I just need Trish to let me know if I can post this website on here?
Debs
Trish
Hi Debs. I am sorry to hear that it has come back and about your Mom. My love to you both.
Yes, please do post the web site if you feel it could help others to understand their floating symptoms better.
Much love,
Trish
Michelle
Hi Debby, thank you for this. I have the same conduction as you..it’s definitely related to anxiety. This all started 5 years ago for me after a traumatic experience.Did all the tests etc, went crazy thinking I had some disease. The first round I had it for 6 months, then it went away then it came back a year later and then I started taking citalopram for the last 2 years and it was gone , now went off it cos we want to have a baby and now it has come back one year later. I have decided to go back on citalopram- let’s hope it works again! It really has gotten me down so I hope the meds will work again.
Debby
Hugs thank you Trish.
The website is http://www.anxietycentre.com.
Here is what it says about floating.
Swaying, rocking, floating feeling
The sensation:
Your body, and/or the inside of your body, feels like it is swaying, rocking, or floating.
Some people also experience a feeling like there is a grinding and/or shimmering feeling inside the body, and/or a downward pressure on the body.
It may also feel as though you are floating upward or downward even though you are standing, sitting, or laying on a stable surface.
This symptom can be experienced in one part of the body, many parts of the body, or the entire body.
This symptom can vary in intensity from slight, to mild, to moderate, to severe; can occur rarely, frequently, or persistently; and can change from day to day, moment to moment, and occurrence to occurrence.
All combinations and variations of the above are common.
Its part of the members area, so I am a bit concerned posting all his words here. But he goes on and on about this feeling and where it comes from and how to slowly understand it and not be scared.
I know its hard coming across a website that you have to pay to belong too, but it changed my life and is only a few dollars a month. I am in South Africa, so its like ALOT of money to spend because our rand is so little here. But wow… he gives you all these strategies on how to cope and how to overcome such feelings.. PLUS, you will find other symptoms you might suffer from.. eg brain zaps.. dizziness, the list goes on and why they are happening.
Have a look at the site … to those that want to and make up your mind.. Its excellent and for me? saved me.
Debs
Layla
Hi. I myself have been feeling this couple months now. Been to the hospital walk in clinics family doctor. Lots of test done all to find out nothing was wrong. Lots of stress I’ve been feeling keep overthinking why this won’t go away. Doctor said this is all to do with anxiety. Lots of pressure, Got given St. John’s Wart, natural anxiety tablet doesn’t seem to be working. At first I was so scared felt floating huge vibrations in my chest. The vibrations have gone away. I finally have found myself a job when I’m working I don’t notice it till I walk away, on break when I sit down my body feels awful lots of floating feels like I’m bobbing up and down. All the time when I sit I feel like I’m bobbing up and down. I have no problems sleeping at night time but the minute I get into bed I feel myself bobbing rocking back and forth even when I turn into my side. When I wake up and walk I feel like I’m swaying back and forth feel off balance. I get dry mouth I’m so tired of this the fact that I am having a hard time sitting here writing this post is frustrating.
Kevin
Hi Layla i am sorry you are going through this no one will really understand what its like it is something powerfull i beein practising just strictly on FLOATING it away much as i can through out the day and give it next to no power its the only way i been getting any kind of relief its been 5 years since i had it 2 years since it got really bad after i quit smoking try not to focus so much on the symptoms try to keep focus away much as you can through out the day and breathing exercises help try some natural stuff i find cinnamon helps sit out side put your head down and relax and try to focus away from all that much as you can and you will experience relief slowly baby steps be strong i hope that helps feel free to ask me anything
Layla
Kevin.Been really hard the minute I sit on couch I feel floating waving like pressure is pushing me up and down. When I’m on cash at work I don’t notice it as much till I walk away sometimes different places I walk through. Now when I sleep I feel like I’m bobbing back and forth it gets worse sleeping on my sides. But once I fall asleep I have no problems sleeping. It gets really bad having to sit down at the dinner table in the kitchen. The odd time eating dinner outside it doesn’t bother me as much. Sometimes feel like my heart rate is pushing me up and down making me feel floaty. Haven’t been able to stop thinking about why this feeling won’t go away. The minute I wake up in mornings my body is bobbing back and forth when I stand and leave my bedroom feels like my body is slowly swaying back and forth. Really hope Trish will respond.
Trish
HI Layla. I apologize for not responding sooner.
The way you describe your floating sounds very much like how I experience the sensation. We all seem to have our nuisances when it comes to the sensation but our experience sound very similar.
It is a horrific feeling and can be so debilitating. I congratulate you on getting a job when you are so new to the sensation.
Do you believe it is anxiety that is causing the sensation? Did something happen that was very anxiety-provoking and/or stressing right before the sensation started?
I have found that desensitizing myself to the sensation has been the best method for me to cope. I describe this procedure in the post above. I have had it for 8 years now — sometimes it gets better and sometimes it gets worse — and I don’t notice it too much now.
Kevin’s suggestion of keeping busy is also a really good one — you seem to have noticed that yourself when you say you are working, you don’t feel it again until you sit down for break.
I am sorry I do not have the reason why it started and why it continues. Some report that it goes away on it’s own. I hope that is true in your case too.
It sounds like you have seen all the doctors and done all the tests so my suggestion is to become your own advocate for resolving the sensation. It helps to practice acceptance that this how things are in this moment because trust me, resisting the sensation and focusing on how it limits you makes it far worse. Then study it; what makes it worse, what makes it better. You seemed to have already started to do that and I suggest continuing to do that. The more information you gather, the more you understand the sensation and what may be at the root of causing it. Then you can seek the help you need to resolve it, which may be alternative therapy.
This is my process and though I accept the sensation, I have not given up on resolving it. I work at that everyday.
Please know you are not alone in this Layla. It does get better.
Love,
Trish
Layla
Trish, I was wondering if you knew why I feel like this floating feeling is pushing my body up every time I sit down though? As for sleeping do you still have the feeling when you turn on you’re side in bed
Trish
Layla: I do have the feeling when I am lying on my side in bed. In fact it is worse on my right side than my left but that has changed over the years.
I have had many theories thrown at me why the sensation feels like it does 1) you have too much energy in your head thus leaving you to feel ungrounded and you need to practice grounding 2) it is a severe form of dissociation i.e. you are trying to escape your body.
I think there is some truth to both of these. I don’t believe it is the whole truth though. What I know for sure is that it is a sensation in which your inner perception is telling you that you feel like you are floating when in reality you are not. Our minds are very powerful and can convince us of anything that may not be true in reality… I have found this out from having flashbacks and thinking they’re real as well as many forms of hallucinations and delusions.
The reality is the floating is a sensation as pins and needles is a sensation you get when your foot falls asleep. The difference is we have an explanation for the pins and needles sensation where the floating we do not.
I hope that helps.
Love,
Trish
Layla
Sorry to be bothering you so much. But with the grounding what do you suggest I try
Trish
You’re not bothering me at all Layla!
The sensation is terrifying and is truly beyond comprehension, especially for those who do experience it. I’ve had people tell me they would like to feel like they are floating all the time because it feel like you do when you’re high. Idiots!
There are many ways to ground… envision roots growing out of the bottom of your feet into the ground; running water so taking a shower, listening to rain, or being near a stream; eating will ground you immediately when eating meat and oils… heavy foods… but not when eating sugar, any forms of sugar (anything that ends in ‘ose’) or foods that convert to sugar quickly; anything that gets you into your body like exercise or massage; …. there is also this MHT article where the author talks about how to ground….http://mentalhealthtalk.info/bipolar_mood.
I hope this helps. When practiced often, it will make you feel more stable.
Much love,
Trish
Trish
I meant ‘especially for those who do NOT experience it’
Cameron
Layla: What do you mean the floating feeling is pushing your body up?
Kevin
Trish i totaly right sometimes i get flash backs of my old self when i was in my early 20’s the mind is very powerfull always believe in your inner self the more you do the more of the REAL YOU will over power all the anxiety the floating sensations through your body that is what i truly practice everyday
Trish
Sounds like a great practice Kevin.
Layla
Heard pressure really bad right now. When I sit my body is jerking feels like I’m bobbing up and down! 🙁 I can’t cope with this 24/7 it’s so hard. On so many natural tables nothing is helping. Sometimes when I play around with my nose it makes it worse. I can’t even do nice things to my hair anymore because I’m bobbing around to much!
Trish
Layla: if you change your posture when you’re sitting, does the floating and/or head pressure get worse or better? Try sitting up straighter or sloughing more or relaxing your shoulders, or tightening your shoulder, moving your neck back or down, etc. My floating is tied to the tension in my muscles, especially around my shoulders, neck, jaw and head. Different postures using these muscles can make the floating worse or better. Maybe you can find a posture when sitting that alleviates the floating a bit.
Kevin
thanks Trish it works great i highly recommend that to everyone always truly believe in the real you not in the anxiety as it is over powering and negative always stay postive and always focus on letting go and relaxing if you do i truly believe this can be beat…
R
I had minor head injury 2years back.fallen from bike I felt motion feeling in my whole body like i will faint but I won’t faint.my head was swelled but my xray n mri was normal.but from that incident I am continuously having motion dizzy feeling in my whole body like i Will fall down.I m very stressed n anaxious.I have several anxiety symtoms in my body n head.plz help me to reduce this floaty dizzy feeling.is this from accident or anxiety causing this.Help
Trish
I am sorry to hear about your head injury and that you are now experiencing this terrifying and debilitating sensation we call floating.
Most of us on this thread would agree it is anxiety-related. Of course in your case, I do not know if it is related to your injury, anxiety or both. We have not had anyone comment yet with a head injury to tell us about their journey.
I have included in the post above what I did to reduce the anxiety and manage the sensation… to learn to live with it and thrive. I have not given up my search for the resolution and I will be the first to post when I find it.
I ask others on this comment thread to give R suggestions.
Much love,
Trish
R
Thanx Trish for urus reply.I want to ask I that do have any other symptoms of anxiety as well or not??and r u taking any medicine to reduce ur anxiety??.and while u r sitting straight n standing straight do u feel that u will loose ur balance plz reply
Trish
Hi R.
I did have symptoms of anxiety when this first started 8 years ago. I do take an anti-anxiety but it do not help to reduce the floating. I have since learned how to accept and manage my anxiety and though I seldom get anxious anymore, I still do have the floating 24/7.
I do not feel I will lose my balance as of right now. I did in the beginning though because the sensation is very disorienting. I have since gotten used to the sensation and have proven to myself time and again that it does not impact my balance.
Love,
Trish
R
I am very stressed especially when I am sitting and standing straight I feel I Will loose my balance.then I think all the time that something is wrong with me.plz explain me how u able to manage with your balance.are u doing any exercise?
Trish
Dear R: First I started with desensitizing myself to the sensation. I explain how I did this in the post above. This lessened the intensity of the floating and reduced my anxiety and stress significantly. It no longer FELT like it was impacting my balance. I have done balancing exercises to gain back my confidence in my ability to stay balanced: tree pose, balancing on one leg with my eyes open, balancing on one leg with my eyes closed (a lot harder). For me, my balance seems most effective when I am in the dark… I believe this is because I don’t have my eyesight to tell me that indeed, I am not floating. I hope this helps.
R
Plz explain me desensitization.I don’t understand much
Trish
R: Desensitization is when you put yourself in safe situations to get used to the floating sensation. My floating is most intense when I am lying down so to desensitize, I forced myself to relax into the floating sensation when I was lying down. I practiced and practiced this until I became comfortable with the sensation… that every time I felt the floating it would cue my body to relax. So in your case, you may want to try this when you are sitting straight…. close your eyes and try to relax into the feeling of floating and unbalance. Start off gradual and then work yourself up to longer periods. I hope this helps.
R
Thanks Trish.I hope this help me
Mo
Hey guys. I MAY have discovered the root of our problem. Like all of you, I’ve suffered from this condition for a while now and my ENT and I suspect it is due to an ATLAS SUBLUXATION. This is the first vertebrae in your spine on which your skull rests. It can cause this exact sensation due to a misalignment of this piece of bone! Google it and talk to your doctor about it!
dizzyignas
Hello all my symptomsmthe same like atlas subluxation. But I think then I had MRI of the head they also did MRI ofmthe spine and said that everything was normal,so it mean that it can’t be atlas subluxation?
Gwen
I would like to comment on this page with a bit of positivity. I have this floating sensation, and have had it for about a year after years of anxiety. Like everyone else I worried I was dying and had lots of tests- MRIs, the works. Nothing was found wrong, which was so hard for me to believe that I didn’t have something major wrong with me when I felt like I was on a dock moving up and down. I began treatment for anxiety, including 10mg of lexapro and seeing a psychologist, and I have done a lot of work to remove the fear of this sensation. For me the biggest help is looking at it as my body’s particular way of reminding me to be present in the moment and positive about everything I experience- the feeling has definitely become lesser and lesser,though it is still there, and when I notice it I choose to think that it is my body’s way of reminding me to look around and enjoy the beauty of this moment right now. It has helped me so much, turning it from something to fear and obsess about into something positive that helps me get the best out of life. I can honestly say I have actually enjoyed this year more than any other, despite the unsteady feeling like I am on a dock (even though when the feeling first began I was having serious panic attacks). I will also say that I cannot recommend highly enough Bev Aisbett’s book “Living It Up”- it has given me so many useful tools to cope with this. Guys, you are not alone. This is the most unsettling feeling and I wish we had a better name for it then just “floating”, but it is also an opportunity to pause, re-evaluate your lives, learn to live in the moment, and become a kinder person. I still feel anxiety and floating, though both much less than before, but I really wouldn’t trade the things I have learned from this experience for anything. I just want to send out real love and support to anyone else who is feeling this: you are not alone, things always get better!
Omid
Dear Gwen,
Do you still take that drug “Lexapro” ? Do you think it can help?
Gwen
I am so sorry this reply is so late! I didnt get any notification that someone had commented. Yes, I do, I am scared to come off it! It isn’t a magic bullet though. As soon as my stress levels build and my anxiety creeps ip the floating sensation comes back. I feel it very slightly now, as I have had a pretty rough week. But every time it comes back I remind myself that it is my body’s gentle way of letting me know that my thinking and life is becoming punishing. When I see it as something positive and encouraging it takes the fear of the floating away and it motivates me to work on all the thinking and lifestyle habits I know help with anxiety.
Kevin
thanks Gwen that is some nice inspiration words i practice that everyday as anxiety causes alot of negativity and fear leading to obsessing or OCD which is some issues i am having with stay within your day. out with the negativity and in with positive energy and positive attitude fight for you sanity and keep strong words for everyone life is short never give up work hard and fight hard believe in your inner self breathe and live…
Madhu
Hi Trish
I happened to come across this and would like to share something with you. Emotional freedom technique or EFT
Please do google for more as I have seen it help so many people. And it’s very simple too. Take care Trish.
Trish
Yes, I am a big fan Madhu. Though I do use an advance form of EFT called Matrix Reimprinting which I find much more effective.
Omid
Dear Trish and all others,
Thanks god for finding this website. I am 31 years old male. Around six years ago suddenly one night I woke up from a nightmare with flashlights and I thought that something like jinni (fairy or elf) went through whole my body. My family gathered around me and I was shaking, fearing and in cold sweating.
Several days of depression after that I got relief but until two years ago another bad emotional events happened in my life I was depressed severely my stomach got pain then I felt choking in my throat and I thought I am going to die. I was completely disappointed I have visited many docs many tests endoscopy, radiography …..
Two months after that by taking Imipramine I was get improved but later I have got in situation as you named “Floating Anexiety”.
So far it is near two years no one can believe me I can’t describe my illness for anyone. I have taken lots of drugs, Clonazepam, Clomipramine,Citalopramو Risperidone Depakine, …. and also MRI but still I am suffering from this monster.
I saw this website today It was very helpfull for me more than any docs and drugs. I am so happy that I am not alone and there are people like me that I can talk to them about my illness.
Thank you Trish and all others,
Trish
Omid — thank you for taking the time to comment. I am so pleased you found the post helpful and that you no longer feel alone.
Much love,
Trish
Omid
Dear Trish and all others,
I am so glad that today (11.12.2015) I found this golden weblog and also found my real family who are suffering this monster.
Around 2 years ago when I was working behind the computer in my office suddenly I felt something moving like shear lines in my head then it became numb and numb and heavy and very hard pressure like my head is in a pressing equipment my eye focus get deemed and deemed just like a dead body in the middle of day just talking with my colleagues at the office. I thought that i am near to die as soon as possible may be a tumor or a cancer or meningitis …..
Many docs, many tests, many drugs, with high doses no one could helped me until now.
Sometimes I am Ok, but suddenly starts. I have to lie down more and more to relief. As I stand on my feet it get worst and worst like a piece of heavy weight on my head just turning around myself like buoyancy in water as you mentioned. Sometimes my veins in around my head bits and heats my head as it near to burning.
At the early in the morning I am ok, but one or two hours later suddenly lines of pressures starts in my head i can’t focus i feel disappointment and I say I wish go back to my normal life as 2 years ago like other people.
Today I am so happy to find my sympathetics in this weblog.
I wish health for all of you
Ashton
This is right on! I have been experiencing this since I had my 3rd son. I agree. I can control it. It was gone for a while and came back and it’s going to go away again bc i choose not to focus on it.
JB
Hey Trish, i wish I could have seen this years ago when I was going through this. When I had this feeling, I always referred to it as Depersonalization. I was stuck with it for a while, it felt like I was living large chunks of my life behind a glass window, free to see everything in great detail but feeling completely detached from it. I stumbled across this page and just want to remind anyone suffering from it that it will not last forever, eventually you will regain that feeling of wholeness.
I was so scared that I’d be stuck with this floating sensation for the rest of my life and I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. If anyone else is in that same boat now just keep your head up and try your best to focus on the present, it’ll all be okay.
Trish
Thank you JB for your comment and offering hope to others. I will add depersonalization as a possible cause to my FAQs in the post.
D.J.
I just want to say Ive been seeing this thread for quite some time, Im a well knows real estate investor and stock market daytrader. You want to talk about stress and pressure!!! Ive suffered with a diagnosed anxiety disorder for quite sometime! Well this past summer, August to be exact it spiraled me into clinical depression, not out of sadness. but because of stress and pressure. I was not myself at all, but before this happened in August I was experiencing many of the side affects of anxiety. I got to the point in august where I literally went insane, I lost my mind!!! But one of my symptoms was the whole floating dream like, derealization feeling. In August I ended up checking myself into the ER because quite honestly, I thought I was going to die from everything I was feeling. Again, I was a nut literally!!! So, I went to my dr that same week, which i was in a panic attack when I went. He ended up putting me on Viibryd. This med saved my life, it takes a good 3 to 4 weeks to kick in because its an SSRI. But mannnn, its my lifeline now. I have not felt one single symptom of Anxiety anymore. But that was a very scary place I was at in August. I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy LOL.
eden
so nice to find this thread 🙂 i had my first panic attack yesterday while driving up a bridge. i believe a lot of the issue is energetic, as western medicine knows little about the bodies energy systems existing on a dimension seperate than our flesh bodies, and the mind existing on an even more subtle dimension. i was a daily smoker of marijuana for 7 years, and have been sober for two years, but still feel “floaty” all the time(i quit smoking because i felt too ungrounded). essentially, psychedelics/psychoactives/analysis of self, takes our etheric body out of our physical body and pushes it through the astral regions towards the spiritual realms (exerpienced each night in deep, dreamless sleep of the delta brain waves and deep, silent meditation) but we are stuck in the astral regions/4dimensional space(where feelings occur, as feelings are instantaneous, as is communication between cells and electrons and minds and biological fields) and this is where a lot of floating can occur i’ve noticed within myself, feeling floaty now going on seven years. my panick attack came from being worried about the responsibility of having to drive during rush hour (i dont drive much anymore), and i focused on it til it zenithed on top of a very large bridge! energetically, there is a lot going on in the planet at the moment, and a lot of available energy available that would contribute to such experiences. also individual nature i feel is important to address. i am an empath, and take on energy very easily, and have very little barrier (ive touched people seizuring before for instance, they stopped seizuring, and i felt extremely unpleasant afterwards for a good half hour, can’t be by people on psychedelics without feeling like im on them, etc) i know grounding techniques, practice meditation/yoga/qi gong, but i think people who are floaters might be predestined physiologically to be more sensitive. i guess if some people suffer from chronic pain their whole life, i’ve told myself i need to be able to accept the trippy floaty feeling as being normal. it has never been an issue until the panic attack occured, so floating should not be too big of an issue if we can manage our anxiety, which has been pointed out. you often times can’t “unknow” something, so perhaps floating is simply a wider state of perception than those entrapped solely into their physical bodies, and an awareness that needs to be worked with until its brought into balance. not saying there are not extremes that are unhealthy and we should seek treatment for, but it seems to be fairly common among people who have smoked weed, which exposes us to the inward dimensions of energy. anyway, i love you all and really appreciate the information everyone has contributed here!
Trish
Hi Eden. My exploration into my floating has led to similar discoveries re the energetic aspect. I am/was not a recreational drug user but I am empathic and experienced radical changes in my energy when Kundalini awakened in me at the same time the floating began. I have had very psychedelic experiences since that also relate to the spiritual emergence. I also can not be around people who are ungrounded. Thank you for your perspective on this.
Much love,
Trish
dizzyignas
Hi Eden. My floating also started after mdma and marihuana drugs,and I have this sensation for 3 years. Good fing is that at least every few months I got relieve from this sensation like now it’s gone ! buT I know it will come back. Now I have a lot of symptoms exhaustion,tiredness,spaced out,vision problems,muscle spasms…I hope one day I will be much better than now..
dizzyignas
I just want to let you know guys that my floating susbsided! but it will come back in these 3 years period I have like 3 months floating ant then it stops and come back…verry strange sensation and nobody from doctors can’t explain
benjamin
I find myself drinking all day and smoking weed . Taking pain meds and xanax to take the anxiety away . And I’ll do it every day . It’s a vicious cycle . I’m 22 years old and feel like I’m dying soon
Trish
HI Benjamin
I understand the need to escape from the anxiety. It is incredibly hard to deal with and we all go through pain in different ways, finding different ways to cope.
I hope you have some support system; therapy, counselling, medical professional, friends/family you can be open and honest with and they do not judge you. If not, I encourage you to find someone you can talk to or just be with without having to be someone other than who you are.
You are not alone in this. Please know I am thinking of you.
Much love,
Trish
Judy
I often wake up with free floating anxiety, sometimes due to the amount of alcohol or food I ate close to bedtime. I do feel guilty about that. Then I focus on that and need to focus on work, So, then I just sit and brood and feel horrible.
monica
Hi!
I describe mine as a ping pong ball in bowl of water. if i turn real fast i have to wait on my brain to quit moving before i can go on. I have a constant headache. i went to dr an she gave me meds for vertigo. which didnt help at all. Its starting to scare me , i drive for a living . Oh an i have being diagnosed bipolar depression. I dont want to go to work in morning but im single an have to work .
How do I get Dr to listen to me an not think im crazy? im lost in lifes fog. its hard for me to concentrate on anything that i read or do
Trish
HI Monica. I encourage others to pipe into this conversation about their experience with their doctor’s… I have found I have had more success with alternative practitioners taking me seriously than doctors. I did all the tests my doctor/specialists ordered and they basically told me they could do nothing for me. The success I have found is with homeopathy… not so much in helping to resolve the issue but in having someone listen and try to understand what I am experiencing and being willing to work on it with me. My fear is always making it worse so I am taking it slow with homeopathy but that is me and I encourage you to do what you feel comfortable doing at the speed in which you feel comfortable doing it.
Others may have more suggestions on what they’ve tried that has helped them to find relief.
Desensitizing myself to the sensation is what has helped me the most and I hardly notice it when I am driving, reading, doing computer work, trying to focus, etc. I can put it out of my mind when I am concentrating on something else.
It must be very difficult for you Monica to have to work in a job that seems to aggravate the sensation. Have you considered applying for disability benefits?
Much love,
Trish
Laurence Moses
Hey Trish,
Just by reading this story alone gives me good feeling.
I was suffering a Panic Attack causes by suppléments that I wasn’t able to handle and were for the gym. I believed that triggered my panic attack, went to the doctors, Hospital and Ultra Sound. In the end, Doctor said nothing was wrong. Im experiencing the floating feeling and every now and then, im always checking my heart rate/pluse cause sometimes I get this feeling my heart stopped but it never did. I felt that there was no hope and believe I am going to pass away at the age of 22 but when I read this story, it brought joy to my mind and wanted to let you know how what im feeling.
I believe what causes this feeling is i get lonely and need to be around nore people more often and keep my mind busy. Im still scared for my life and hope I can recover soon.
Thank you and greetings from Toronto, Canada.
– Moses
Trish
Thank you so much for commenting Moses. I am so happy that this story has helped you to feel good.
Best wishes.
Much love,
Trish
North-East-Coaster
Hi Trish,
Thank you for this site. You have done a wonderful job with this website, sharing information and supporting people in need.
I apologize if the subject of “Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS) or Disembarkment Syndrome” has been discussed previously. I did not take the time to review all of the previous posts. I am wondering if you have reviewed this website or syndrome and what your thoughts in terms of relativity.
I have had symptoms for about 3 years, (sensation of rocking, bobbing, floating, feeling of walking on a mattress, numbness and tingling in hands and feet, intense sensation of strong booming heart beat, head fog, difficulty walking in the dark, among others). My symptoms started after a cruise, and being stranded in Miami for several days due to weather delays in air travel. At that time, I searched the web for some answers and found “Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS)” or “Disembarkment Syndrome”. My local physicians (GP, Internist) had not heard of MdDS, and my neurologist was only vaguely familiar with the term. Some of my symptoms have improved and some have subsided completely with time and preserverance (pushing myself to be physically active), treatment from a chiropractor and clonazapam , although I am not certain that the medication helped. I have suffered from migraines for many years and have mild degenerative disc disease in my neck and low back. I continue to have symptoms and fear they will return/worsen again in the future.
Best Regards
NEC
Trish
HI NEC. Thank you so much for presenting the info on MdDS. Yes, we have had some stop by and mention it. It is a good reminder for me to add it to the post above as a possible cause for people to look into. Sometimes we need to know what to call what it is we are experiencing.
The symptoms you described are exactly mine–exactly that of a lot of people who have commented. We are all in the same boat (no pun attended) in not knowing how to resolve the symptoms and fear they will worsen.
Please keep in touch and it is my intention to one day write the post that instructs on what to do to resolve this floating feeling–whether it be from my own experience or someone who comments here.
Much love,
Trish
Eastern Canadian
Hi Trish,
Thank you for this site. You have done a wonderful job with this website, sharing information and supporting people in need.
I apologize if the subject of “Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS) or Disembarkment Syndrome” has been discussed previously. I did not take the time to review all of the previous posts. I am wondering if you have reviewed this website or syndrome and what your thoughts in terms of relativity.
I have had symptoms for about 3 years, (sensation of rocking, bobbing, floating, feeling of walking on a mattress, numbness and tingling in hands and feet, intense sensation of strong booming heart beat, head fog, difficulty walking in the dark, among others). My symptoms started after a cruise, and being stranded in Miami for several days due to weather delays in air travel. At that time, I searched the web for some answers and found “Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS)” or “Disembarkment Syndrome”. My local physicians (GP, Internist) had not heard of MdDS, and my neurologist was only vaguely familiar with the syndrome. Some of my symptoms have improved and some have subsided completely with time and preserverance. I have had to push myself to be physically active, received treatment from a chiropractor and took clonazapam , although I am not certain that the medication actually helped.
Best Regards
EC
Justin
Hello Trish,
You don’t have the cure,but you’ve comforted me and connected me to a community. Despite the discomfort, I am empowered to learn more about myself. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I am ready to OWN the experience.
Thank you.
Trish
I am forever grateful to you Justin for your generosity in taking the time to comment and for letting me know that I have made this kind of impact on you.
Please stop by again and let us know how you’re doing.
Much love,
Trish
nell
Hi Trish, I wanted to tell you this … I had floating feeling/vertigo and horrible anxiety for months 2 years ago. This occurred along with two tragedies that happened to me. I went to several doctors and also had an MRI. Everything came back normal. I finally made an appointment with a vestibular neurologist at Cleveland Clinic. He did a heart test and took lots of blood work. Came back that I had celiac disease and a B 12 deficiency. It took many months to feel better after that, but the floating went away.
You mention above rice worsens your floating feeling. Is this something you’ve had tested with a doctor? Have you had other tests done concerning food sensitivities? I’m curious, because as an anxious person, I worry about the possibility that I will develop other sensitivities and experience more dizziness/floating sensation. Also, i eat a bit of rice and rice products since gluten is off limits to me. I guess I’m concerned because I had sinus infections last month and a bit of the off balance feeling came back due to fluid in middle ear. Feeling mostly better, but when standing up, still feel a tiny bit weird / off balance. Let me know your thoughts on this subject! Peace …. nell
Trish
HI Nell. Thank you for commenting and letting us know what worked for you. I do have some food sensitivities (though these were determined by me and I was never tested) and I went 8 years without eating grains or any form of sugar other than raw unpastuerized honey. I also focus on eating low glycemic fruits and vegetables because I want to keep my blood sugar level. This did not help to improve the floating. I have only ever found that rice made it more intense. Over the last year, I have added back grains in moderation (mostly low glycemic) and it does not seem to affect the floating in any way. I still don’t eat any form of sugar other than honey.
I hope that answers your questions.
Much love,
Trish
hanna
Hi Trish, my husband has this floating feeling already 2 years now, he already have been through all this medical tests and all his medical results prove that he is in good shape, but still the floating feeling is there specially when he enter malls while walking he feels like he is floating, mall is the most horrible place for him.
Anyway he is already taking lexaurin for two years until now, and it doesn’t help him-and then the doctor prescribed him zoloft an anti-depressive tablet-already two weeks now taking this tablet and he feel so tired, without energy and will to do things, as the side effects.
And aside from that he is a businessman so can you say that this is because of stress from thinking about business and all things connected with life?
By the way one day 3 weeks ago we have visited fitness gym and trained there normally, when we got home he showered normally then after that he sit and as usual I have prepared us something to eat but then he began to sweat so much and he was so pale that he was scared that he will pass out as it already happened to him before. We, specially he is scared of such a scenario.
Tell us your experiences have you experienced also those things?
Thanks and hope to hear from you soon…
Trish
Hi Hanna. Yes malls can give me trouble but I would chalk that up to be in an environment that is very sensory overloading which makes me anxious which makes me more aware of the floating sensation. I too have experienced times where I thought I was going to pass out and that I have reconciled back to anxiety and initially it would seem like it would happen out of nowhere but when I reflected back on the moment, there was always some sort of trigger that was related to a fear I had. I have found that stress does make the floating worse for me but as for it being the cause of the sensation, I’m not sure. I don’t know what causes the sensation. I think you and your husband are starting to get a good handle on what might make the floating sensation feel worse for him which is good knowledge to have because he can use it to modify what he does or to work through how to handle the increased intensity in the floating when he is in that situation. I am a big proponent of desensitizing to the sensation which I explain in the post above because it gives you a sense of control over the sensation versus it controlling you. This helped to decrease my anxiety around the sensation dramatically.
I hope that helps.
Much love,
Trish
Gwen
Just wanted to post a message of love to everybody who is going through this. It is over a year since I started to feel like I am floating/dizzy. It gets much better and almost goes away, and it comes back, and sometimes it makes my head spin, depending on my stress and anxiety levels. Taking care of my heath and thinking of floating as something benevolent helps a lot. Having support helps a lot too. Some days are harder than others, but at least we all know we are not alone!
Chloe
Hi Trish,
I have experienced this floating symptom last year in March of 2015 for a week and currently in the past fortnight of this year. I feel that whenever i walk or turn my head or do anything i would feel immense floating in my head as if i was walking on a ship deck. I also experience this heavy feeling the only way i can describe it is like brain shifts where the heaviness throughout my head shifts in different positions, (at the back, forehead, face etc.) I almost feel as if i have had too much to drink and i am hungover! also there are moments where if i am in the shower or have gone to sit down i immediately feel like ive gone down an elevator.(really scary) like a slow bobbing sensation. The only way i can deal with these symptoms is if i lie down, sleep or if i am distracted. Other than this, it is always there and my excessive worrying makes it either come on more intensely and just makes me feel upset. I have wanted this to go away but i feel that if i keep worrying it wont do me any favours! if i do have any advise and this might sound easier said than done distract yourself and make yourself happy even if it is around others (friends), go for a walk, focus attention on a hobby or SOMETHING that you can to possibly make it fade away even briefly! YouTube music mediation or relaxation music is something i personally use to keep myself calm. I even listen to podcasts of professional anxiety sufferers who know the sensations we are feeling through websites, I find this totally relaxing for the levels of anxiety. Mother nature sounds such as rain, birds, waves, even help. This could possible for some of you diminish the bobby floating feeling. However, for me it does return when i start thinking about it again or when i am having palpitations because of my lack of breathing when i am anxious.
Hoped this helped a little.
Bless you all
Chloe
x
Lillin
I’m having all these floating problems have had doctors appointments everything has been fine. I feel off balance I’m still able to work it’s a struggle moving around tho it’s always there I can sleep fine some nights I do wake up. I have the feeling in my chest,stomach. The doctor believe it’s anxiety since everything came back fine. Notice you said Lyme disease could be a cause I’ve been really itchy in he stomach, hips area plus under the breasts could this have something to do with it?
Trish
Hi Lillin
I don’t know the symptoms of Lyme disease. I suggest you get tested for it by your doctor if you think it’s a possibility.
Much love,
Trish
Callum
Hi, thanks for the blog post.
I’m a fit 21 year old male. I have always had anxiety, not diagnosed but general anxiety that my mother also shares. This has resulted in panic attacks and all the baggage that comes with it, which is incredibly depressing for an outgoing, gym-oriented person like myself.
I recently moved away from home for the first time. The first few days were fine as I had far too much on my mind, but then my anxiety caught up on me in my downtime. This results in this free floating feeling, nausea, heavy head, tight neck. I can recognize it and I can separate myself from it, only from actively doing things. I have started a job a bartender – which Is pretty much an anxious persons nightmare. This is not the case however as I utterly immerse myself in the job, and whenever I feel that ‘rising’ I think that it will not physically stop me from doing my job so there was no point in worrying about it.
This is the same with the gym and any other form of physical exercise. I do heavy weight lifting, which does of course induce the feelings through the exertion – however this is mixed with the endorphins creates a positive association with the feeling. The only downside is that when my CNS is zapped later on, that is when anxiety likes to make itself present.
The absolute worst thing you can do is sit down and worry. Recognize it and use it as fuel for activity, even if it is something as simple as doing the dishes or folding clothes. You will still feel floaty as you start, but keep doing the activity and do not allow the feeling to stop you from completing it. Once you have done so – you think to yourself hey! I did that and it did not stop me. I can live my life normally as life is literally just activities lined up one after the other. Naturally then it loses some of its power.
This is not to say that I am perfectly happy with it, or am cured, it is awful, I can induce it but I can also ignore it. It will go away as I get used to my surroundings I am sure. Break the self-perpetuating cycle and immerse yourself in your life!
I hope this gives somebody some comfort like it has to me. We can all do it one activity at a time.
Bette
Hi Trish,
I really do not know where to begin. I am 67 and am dealing with this floating sensation. Back in 1997 when we first moved to Florida from up north, I started with this dizziness with room spinning along with nausea and vomiting from anywhere from 6 – 8 hours at a time. I have to say that I was working 7 days a week and very stressed. I had an episode at work and had to go into the bathroom and get on the floor. My husband took me to a specialist recommended by our GP. Well, after every test imaginable he could not make a diagnosis. So I quit my job and 2 weeks later I had another episode and that was the last one for many years. I totally blamed it on the stress. As years went on we went about our lives and things were good until 2 years ago. I prayed that I was not getting a reoccurrence of my prior experience so my husband took me to the ER because I just did not feel right and felt something more was going on. I was off balance but no dizziness vertigo so to speak just felt like my eyes or brain were off somehow. They kept me overnight because it was holiday weekend and wanted to do a MRI of the Brain. All of my other labs came back normal. The MRI also came back normal but he recommended me to a Hearing and balance center in Tampa. So I made an appointment.
So when I went they did a hearing test in which my left ear has some hearing loss and had some ringing in the ear but mostly that is not as prominent as it first was. But still have the hearing loss I am assuming since when I put the phone up to my left ear it is muffled. They did other test as well and they found that I had Meniere’s and BPPV in which I really do not think that I have, having done research on it.
What my symptoms are is a simply being off balance and when I look down it bothers also the room does not spin my eyes seem like they are moving from side to side. Also, going to the pool today I went in and just looking at the movement of the water made me want to get out so I did.
I do want to tell you that I have been on Benzo’s for over 20 + years. From Xanax to valium to Klonopin. I am now taking only .5 mg of klonopin two times a day which the norm is 3 x a day. In my opinion even though I am not a doctor, I am wondering if this drug is no longer working for me or is having some other issues.
When I tell my doctor all of this they say that I am depressed and want to prescribe an antidepressant. Well, yes I am because no one has figured out my problem. But I said no to the drugs.
I feel Trish, as though I am being a hostage in my own home. I am afraid most of the time to drive, however I do push myself but keep my phone nearby.
I want to start living again. I don’t like the idea of not being able to do things with my husband. Also, everytime we would go up north it would bring it on even worse.
I really do not know where to go from here. I am willing to check into detox to get off of them to see if that could be my problem. I don’t know. If I do need medication then I guess that I will have to take it. But that is scary especially when all of these drugs are from all over the world and the FDA has no control.
Okay, I stop here Trish and be silent so that you can maybe tell me what you are thinking.
I appreciate this site as I found it this morning and was so excited to know that I was not alone. It’s not in my head it is real.
Sincerely,
Bette
Trish
Hi Bette. Thank you for sharing your story with me/us. We all know who horrific this sensation is and how much it makes our world smaller. I too am on a benzo and have been for about 7 years. I never found it helped with the floating/vertigo but I have found that both get worse as I reduce my dose. This is a new development as of my last reduction — it was not the case with all my previous reductions so I do not know if it will be the case with you.
Reducing my benzo dose is something I want to do so I put up with the extra floating and vertigo. It is my understanding that benzo’s do stop working over time and thus you need to increase the dose and thus supporting the fact they are addictive. I don’t recommend increasing your dose — that’s just what I have read about them. I too feel that I would know how the benzo does or does not effect the floating/vertigo by going off the benzo completely and I am slowly working to do that.
I find it interesting that the sensation increases as you head up North. Perhaps there is a memory being triggered there that increases your stress and thus the floating/vertigo. We often don’t know when we are being triggered. You may want to speak with your mental health practitioners regarding post trauma stress and there are many alternative methods to treat such trauma. I have found EFT/Matrix Reimprinting to be very helpful to me, including reducing my anxiety and negative feelings about having the floating sensation.
Because I do feel that is the key, Bette. To accept it and desensitize yourself to the sensation so you can get your life back. I explain both in the post. This is how I’ve been able to do it but it does not mean that I have stopped looking for the cause.
Much love to you,
Trish
Bette
Dear Trish,
Thank you so very much for getting back to me so quickly. I understand completely what you are saying about reducing my benzo. It is not working for me anymore and I refuse to take a larger dose. Doctors really seem to want to push medications. After being on this for so very long I am afraid to take anything else as you are not told that they are addicting. I have a call into my Doctors office for a detox program so they can tell me how to taper off. Just like when I was a child with allergies, I used to take an old medication over the counter Dristan and it simply stopped working all of a sudden. My body had become immune to it.
I will check out EFT/Matrix Reimprinting and hopefully there is someone in my area that does this.
Trish, I cannot thank you enough for getting back to me so very quickly. It is a scary time for going off of the benzo as I have no idea of how I will feel, but just knowing that the toxin is no longer in my body has to be a good thing even if the floating is still there.
I will update you when I get off. I remember a Doctor in the Tampa area who did this with someone on a low dose such as myself however 20 years is a long time so we shall see. I don’t know about doing it myself, everytime I try I want more. I might have to go into a rehab place but will have an answer hopefully by the end of the week.
God Bless
Bette
Trish
Thank you for your kind response and please do keep me updated. I want to hear about your journey with reducing the benzo and if it effects the floating/vertigo. I encourage you to do whatever feels safest and to go at your own pace. My thoughts are with you, Bette.
Much love,
Trish
Dranreb Layon
Same experience here… i always try my best not to focus on that feeling but just keep an eye on my everyday task… a little happy because a post like this, covers what i really feel… it is true that sometimes the feeling is normal and suddenly a fear or worry attacks… this was started 2 years ago…and right now i still fighting for it… there come uo to a poing that i cannot enjoy life…it affects my work and relationship to family and friends… Iam still hopinh that i can go back to normal…
Julie
Hi, does anyone else get the floating feeling worse when they have a cold or sinus issues or really tired?
Ive had anxiety since I was 14 im now 47 and for most of the time ive kept it in check but last couple years has been very stressful and after waking up one morning very dizzy it caused me to panic, turns out i had inflamed ear but the panic had started and for the last couple of months ive lived in constant anxiety. The floating started just after, I saw 3 drs who said it was fluid behind the ear drum but it didnt feel like that because i could move my head around and bend down without being dizzy. I couldnt explain it then I just happened to come across this website and after reading your story and all the people also suffering from the floating anxiety i decided i needed to just try and live with it and when i ignore it i can just get on with my life, keeping busy and my mind on other things even though going out is still scary at times especially with 3 children. Its nowhere as bad but i still get the floating feeling when i sit as if my body is moving slightly it only lasts a couple of seconds.
Its much worse when im tired or have a cold especially my sinuses.
Mornings are the hardest for me as I dont know whats going to come in the day but i have to push through it.
Trish
Hi Julie. Yes, the floating does get worse for me if I have a cold through the sinuses. In fact any pressure in my head… whether it be from sinus congestion or tension in the muscles in my neck/jaw/face/back of the head increase the floating sensation.
I am glad you have found some relief by learning to live with it. I am not a doctor of course, but I can relate to the fear you feel in the morning about what the day will bring. For me, this fear was resolved by working through trauma — specifically the trauma of waking up one day to find I had this floating sensation and how terrifying that was. Because it is terrifying.
I worked through this trauma with a practitioner using matrix reimprinting… an advance form of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/Tapping). Working through this trauma and others that contributed to my fear of being unable to cope with what comes my way has helped me immensely and reduced my anxiety to almost nothing. But I am a strong believer that trauma is behind all types of anxiety… trauma as defined as something in your life that has happened to teach you that you are wrong, not enough, don’t fit in, can’t cope. What are known as little “t” traumas versus the big “T” traumas like abuse. There are other methods of processing through trauma such as EDMR, Somatic Experiencing, Hypnosis, etc.
I hope that helps.
Much love,
Trish
Natalie
Oh I’m glad I’m not the only one, I’m house sitting in the hills and along with drive (air pressure) and a sinus cold my head is so blocked I’m so wobbly and off balance, it’s a horrible feeling as it is but being sick omg!!! lol god help us. I always told the docs it feels like it’s in my body not my ears/head now with this sinus thing I know what it feels like to have it in your head! Yuck!
Jason
Hello. I have some experience I think may be help full. I have been prescribed adderall and xanax for several years. I have ADD and the extreme anxiety that goes along with it. Occasionally when I try to cut back on my adderall I will get restless legs syndrome/ akathisia in my legs and back. This is a known side effect. When it happens I will take a low dose of Requip.
A few weeks ago I began experiencing the exact sensations you describe in this article. This rhythmic swaying or rocking sensation. Side to side, front to back, up or down. When it is up or down or in an upward direction (usually some sort of diagonal) I swear I can even feel the my body getting heavier and lighter in the moments that the direction changes, like on an elevator or carnival ride. Being on a boat with choppy water or a buoy in water is the best description.
I tore up google trying to find answers and like you, I found very few answers. I am writing you today because I few days ago I made the discovery that taking Requip STOPS the sensation. Suggesting it to be a dopamine receptor malfunction. Thus far I have not found any literature to explain this. I just wanted to get this out there as a possible remedy. And if you try it and it helps, who do we tell?
Trish
Thank you so much, Jason, for taking the time to leave this comment and what you have found works to stop the floating sensation. I think who we tell is our doctor who can prescribe this medication– we tell s/he we want to give it a try based on your findings. It is hard but we need to be our own advocate when it comes to our health–I think especially when it comes to the floating because I have yet to find a doctor who understands it and knows how to treat it effectively. I am going to add your findings to the main post and if anyone else tries it and it makes the floating stop, please let us know!
Thanks again!
Much love,
Trish
Natalie
This page has literally saved me…I started getting this moving sensation/floating buoy feeling a few days after a big weekend (I drank excessively resulting in a liver infection and bad anxiety) I also went on a short boat ride) the sensation worsened after my anxiety worsened. It turned into a vicious cycle…I became obsessive and researched the Internet looking for answers. Spent thousands on doctors and specialists only to be told I have generalised anxiety disorder. I could of slapped the woman then realised she was right. I no longer fear this sensation. I have a lot to work on but I will survive and get back to my normal old self. But for now this is me!! And I still love me! 🙂 I’m learning to be strong, resilient and to tackle my anxiety head on with help from a professional! One day at a time but this WILL NOT BEAT ME as scary as it is!
Good luck everyone. Be kind to yourself and know your limits! I cannot handle caffeine sugar or alcohol anymore. Know what your body dislikes! Xx
Trish
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, Natalie. Good luck to you too… on beating this!
Much love,
Trish
Julia
Thank you so much for this post, you’ve described this phenomena spot on, it is indeed like a cork floating in pool. I noticed I was floating when I finished my master’s thesis, I was under a lot of stress and haven’t slept for two nights. I thought it was just something caused by lack of sleep and would go away after a good night’s sleep. I was wrong. It’s been a week, I would wake up expecting the feeling to go away, but then the floating sensation would return a couple minutes right after I get on my feet. Was freaking out because I’ve never had this experience before. Now I know I need to learn to adapt to this new body, because it might never go away. I’m thankfull that this feeling is just bothersome not intolerable for me. Without your post I would’ve been lost in the dark, unsure what to make of all of this and what to expect in the future. Thanks again!!!
Trish
Thank you, Julia, for taking the time to leave a comment and for your kind words. If you have not already, please go to your doctor to get a thorough examination. You want to make sure that you are in good health and that the floating is not a symptom of something else. Just to be sure. xoxo
Much love,
Trish
Natalie
Does your floating increase with a cold/sinus infection? Or just when your sick?? I guess it would be that our balance is more sensitive so a ear blockage or cold would make it much worse but my fear and doubt is creeping back in! I’ve come so far and now I’m sick it’s like taking 3 steps back!
rapesurvivor
Hello – loved your article and wanted to share my experience, in case any one like me is also searching the internet for answers or insight into what they are going through.
I have PTSD and Narcolepsy from sexual trauma (a long term multiple episode trauma in my late teens/early 20s and a single event repressed trauma from very early childhood). I have had episodes of what you’ve described. Mine varies from total dissociation, where I can’t focus my eyes if my life depended on it, to minor discomfort, like “zoning out”. I believe my episodes are directly triggered by stress/trauma, although long term vitamin deficiency (particularly B12 and Vitamin D) can trigger it or make it worse.
Trish
Thank you for sharing. I will review my summary at the bottom of the post to make sure I have included long term vitamin deficiency as something for people to consider. Much love,
Trish
Lyssa
I have just started to get these long episodes about a week ago and what happens is: i cant feel my hands and it feels as if my eyes are just watching what im doing, i feel like my body is just on auto-pilot, i cant remember what triggered this to happen and i feel like i cant trust myself to make decisions or talk, i feel dangerous… im really scared. i have tried the method in the article and many others, but its not working. My personality feels like it deteriorating and changing. there has been tiny breaks in these episodes, but i cant remember how or what i was doing to make it stop. its like amnesia. I do have ADD,,PTSD, and diagnosed with depression and anxiety. what should i do?
Trish
Hi Lyssa. I know how terrifying this all is… horrific, really. There are many suggestions in the FAQ that people have found worked to some success so I suggest you check that out. I would also suggest looking into dissociation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_(psychology)) and getting support to help you process through the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing re the floating sensation.
Much love,
Trish
Julie
Hi Lyssa
The sensation you describe “feels as if my eyes are just watching what im doing, i feel like my body is just on auto-pilot” is depersonalization and its very common with anxiety. Everything you describe can be contributed to anxiety, you have adrenaline rushing through your body and its on high alert all the time. I know its hard but you have to tell yourself its just sensations it cant hurt you, when you hadca break from these feeling and sensations you were probably engaged in something so you weren’t thinking about how you felt. If you can try doing some mindfulness meditation its not the normal meditation and great for anxiety sufferers, keeping yourself engaged and busy doing something you enjoy will help you relax and help with all the sensations and feelings. I know its horrible but remind yourself its a normal response to high anxiety and it wont hurt you and your not alone there are millions of people dealing with this everyday.
Brittany Butler
Hey! This first happened to me 2 years ago after I had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. They thought it was my heart at first…. my heart is in a recovery status at the moment….. but it has been happening every day or every other day for the past 5 weeks. My parents passed away in a motorcycle accident this past May and it has been detrimental to me….. I am 30 years old, and also in cosmetology school and I got extremely scared one day at school bc I was standing at the wash bowl and I felt like my body was heavy, I was floating, and everyone and everything around me wasn’t real. I grabbed my teacher bc I was sure I was about to hit the floor….. they called my boyfriend to come and get me. I went to the hospital and couldn’t find a thing….. this has been happening a lot. My 13 year old daughter had to call 911 a few days ago. The hospital said my heart is still doing okay, I just don’t know how to understand what I am going through…. my whole body starts to feel jittery when it starts happening. If I try to lay down it feels like I fall back into that trance of floating, sometimes I’m scared to go to sleep bc i have that impending doom feeling that I will not wake up. This is scary for a single mom who has children that have to look after their mommy. Please help me with what I can do.
Trish
Hi Brittany. I know how horrific this feeling can be and how much it can take over your life. It sounds like you have had significant traumatic experiences these past 2 years which in my experience with being diagnosed with PTSD, and having the floating, intensifies the floating feeling. My suggestion is that you see someone about these traumatic events… a therapist you trust… so that you can process through the PTSD. For me, now fully recovered from the PTSD, resolution was also found through Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/Tapping)/Matrix Reimprinting but there are other modalities such as EDMR, Somatic Experiencing, hypnosis, etc. that can really help with processing through traumatic events and I suggest you go with what feels right for you. How will processing through the event of your congestive heart failure and the death of your parents help with the floating? Well, at the very least it will help you to feel more in control of the sensation and the sensation won’t seem as intense. It will help take the edge off your fear of dying. Unfortunately, I have not heard from anyone who has truly resolved the floating permanently, but if you can get to a point where you are densensitized to the sensation, it is a lot easier to deal with. I hope that helps. xoxo
Dennis Simsek
Floating was certainly a part of my life during my debilitating health anxiety days. Thankfully I as well began desensitizing myself, and took a good look at the habits that were triggering my anxiety levels. A great article as always thank you Trish for your amazing work.
Trish
Thanks, Dennis! I’m glad to hear you were successful at desensitizing and looking at your habits.
Gwen
Hi everyone,
I have posted a couple of times about having this sensation and every so often I feel the need to come back and check in. Two years since I first started floating, which lead me down the path of panic attacks but also got me to realise and admit that I have struggled with anxiety my whole life. To me there is no doubt that there is a clear connection between anxiety and floating. When I am emotionally feeling good, living in the moment, and focused outwards I can *almost* say it is gone. I forget about it for ages and it doesn’t seem like the memory is as troubling. When I go through a bad patch it comes back and suddenly I am reminded that it is the most awful sensation. Since around Christmas I have noticed it is worse and all those awful memories of when I first had it come back. But, I know things now I didn’t then: I am healthy (I have a bajillion tests to prove it, like most of us!), it can and does get much less and almost disappears, I have a support network I can turn to for help, and it motivates me to find the best way to live and love life. Even feeling pretty anxious and sucky right now, I wouldn’t take it back. It doesn’t actually stop me living life, even if I feel off balance I never actually fall or anything. And I have come such a long way and learned such a lot since getting this. Still sending love to everyone else who struggles!
Trish
Beautiful, Gwen. Thank you so much for stopping by and letting us know where you are at with this. Acceptance is a powerful thing. Much love to you, Trish
Bekah
Is this similar to depersonalization/derealization?
Just asking because I have dpdr and I get this floating feeling and it causes my anxiety to be worse.
Trish
Hi Bekah. Yes, I have known it to be associated to dpdr but it is not the only cause. Much love, Trish
Gwen
Hey Trish, someone else who struggles with similar feelings told me it was called “Chronic Subjective Dizziness,” have you heard of that? There is a wikipedia page which did say there is a strong link between it and anxiety.
Trish
Hey Gwen. I have not heard of that. Maybe others who have left comments and have been following this post have? Anyone care to comment?
Manju
Hi,
I ‘ve been suffering with this past 3 years but lot better after making many life style changes.
there is a forum on this. pls check below.now it’s not that active but there are many helpful suggestions on this.
http://chronicdizziness.freeforums.net/. they also call it PPPD.
thanks
Trish
Thanks, Manju!
Debbie
Hi Trish.
Well the floating feelings have stayed with me. I am on year 3 now. Its like I am moving all the time inside my body, would that be what you are explaining about floating?
I have chatted to you before. But have not been back here since August 2016 last year as my mom died of cancer that month. I am battling with this feeling but everytime I see my doctor I am assured it is anxiety. thing is.. is it?
Trish
I’m sorry to hear about your mother passing. My condolences.
I’m not sure what is the root cause. Lots of people on this thread are looking for reasons outside of anxiety. I’m currently focusing on my nervous system being in hyper-arousal but the reason for that goes well beyond the physical and is more emotionally rooted. We can only continue to keep an open-mind as to what may be the cause and try as many modalities as you feel comfortable with that you think may help with healing.
Much love,
Trish
Gwen
Hi guys, I just wanted to say that my mom actually lectures on neuroanatomy at a university here in Australia and since I have been struggling with this floating issue she has done some research on it. What she says is that it appears that there is a very close link between the vestibular system ( balance, ect…) and the emotional parts of the brain. From what I understand it looks like in some people anxiety actually crosses into the part of the brain that affects balance and that is where these floating sensations come from. I will say my actual measurable balance is fine, but these sensations seem to still fall under the umbrella of balance/dizzy disorders. She has said she is interested in doing research on this, which is so encouraging. If she finds anything I will pop over here and let you know.
Trish
Wonderful, Gwen. Thank you so much for keeping us updated. I will add your feedback to the summary section in my post as well. xoxo
Gwen
Thanks Trish! I know my comments can seem to be coming from a lot of different directions, I just post things as I learn them. I think all of us want answers and solutions so if I do learn anything more I will comment again. My mom was talking about doing some original research on ways to address these sensations with her university, if it goes through and anything comes of it or they even have a clearer explanation of what is going on I will let you know. Sending love to everyone!
Paul
Hi,
I live in the UAE. I’ve been experiencing this floating feeling since over a year now. This feeling is on and off. Along with it I experience pressure on my nose bridge with hissing sounds in my ears.
I don’t notice this while I’m at work or when I’m interacting with someone or busy with any activity. It has been difficult driving due to this floaty feeling. I’ve begun to accept that this is something I have to live with, however, I do keep looking for solutions to remove myself from this menace. I’ve had countless tests etc that all seem normal. There have been times where I’ve felt that I have something serious in my brain or heart.
Comments read in here have given me some hope that it may actually not be as serious as my mind wants me to believe it to be.
However, any natural therapy would be appreciated. Thank you Trish for all your time and info.
DestiNova
I thought I had permanent jet lag. Then one night walking around a corner I almost fell off the side walk. I took a flight home and it went away. I took another flight to a distant place and the floating spinning eventually crept back. I had an inner ear infection that made it worse. The antibiotics seemed to help, yet here it is another ear infection again. Stress is the trigger like i read above, it is true. Stress is number one and an ear infection greatly enhances the feeling. I don’t think i could actually go to a regular job like this. A guy was working on his apartment above me drilling for like months, right over my head when i woke up. And that was the trigger, the first thing in the morning had better not be a rude awaking. I noticed the stressful people along the day. And I told the people, you’re stressing me out, or you’re the most stressful person I know. Some people are so stressful I can’t be near them. I can’t wait to go home, the stress reduces just the thought of it, then completely goes away. Find your safe haven, stay away from stressful people and take ear drops for the ear infections. Stress leads to death, I did a report on the subject in college, looks like it floats the brain also. Peace : )
Trish
Thank you for your advice, DestiNova. You may already know this, but the floating feeling can be caused by being in airplane (known as Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS)).
Love,
Trish
EKKIE
Hi All,
I first started having this floating sensation early March 2017. I had a massive panic attack that night and had to go to the hospital. It was something really new and it felt like i was dying. I couldn’t control it, that’s what made it worse. As of me writing this, it has been a full 3 months of me having this daily, from the point of waking up in the morning to going to bed at night. Sleep is my ONLY “getaway” at this point. Sleep is when I don’t feel this sensation and I can ‘live’ happily in dreamland where i am in full control. I pray to God that He wont take that away too (i hope that i don’t get insomnia).
MY ISSUES.
1. have social issues, such as not being able to make friends, being around large group of people(strangers), etc. i have severe stage fright (up to the point where i will freeze or mumble unrecognisable words during a presentation). I was bullied and teased as a kid, up to high-school. These things bring my self-confidence to an all time low. I seldom go out. I don’t join activities. I don’t do anything outdoors such as sports, travel, etc, I rather keep myself comfy in my own room and play games. I became accustomed to it. I just thought that I maybe too nervous for things. As i grew older, i just got to know that I may have had Anxiety Disorder all this while and have already been in Depression mode for quite some time.
2. I have severe migraines (ones that u see starry lights flickering moving around your vision before the searing head pains come) since i was 15 years old. I did a brain scan at 16 and found nothing wrong. As i grew older, the frequency of migraines subside from 3 times a week to maybe once a month. I became accustomed to it and accepted it as part of my life journey.
3. I have heart palpitations for the past 2 years. i will get it only once a year when i am really stressed out. I was hospitalised once. They put me into an MRI and also a holter monitor. Everything turned out fine. My heart is at its optimum performance. Good.
MY GETAWAY.
As to point no.1, I was introduced to Weed at the age of 17. I started taking it daily. At first it was recreational(parties and stuff). As I grew older it became sort of a medium of “calmness”, where I would have it every night when i get back from work. I noticed that it also helps me be a ‘little more creative’. I work as a part time video editor. Sooo many late nights. Weed helps me calm my nerves after a day of stress at work and slowly get into the editing mood. It also helps me focus on my tasks. What’s good about it, it also helps me eat and sleep well. I use to get up in the middle of the night, take a hit, and go back to sleep, waking up the next day feeling fresh. It became a lifestyle. I take it when i have migraines too as it helps me wander off the pain and go to sleep faster. It felt perfectly fine as I wasn’t abusing it. I’ll be sober at work, driving, holidays where i need to travel outstation, etc. I just do it at night when i am at home, alone.
THE “CANCER”.
Up to early March. When I was video editing late night and i suddenly felt the room spinning so fast and my heart beat raised(referring back to my heart palpitation issues). My wife drove me to the Emergency room. they did immediate tests, by then, my heart was already back to its normal state. They found nothing amiss. Good, but a little bit confusing to what is actually happening to me. I had enough sleep the previous night. I wasn’t hungry. I wasn’t tired. Everything was fine. But why the attack? – My first thought : Weed.
The next morning I woke up with the ‘floating sensation’. I panicked. It was something too new to digest. Went back to the hospital. Again, nothing amiss. Confused. Went back home. Laid in bed and went to sleep. Woke up again and it was still there. That very day I decided to to give weed a no-go. The high from weed gives me the floating sensation too but it was a Good/Pleasurable floating sensation(very relaxing and calming) as opposed to this involuntary one. At this point, it was intermittent. At days i will not feel floating. At days it hits hard i have to be in bed all the time (skip work, etc). coming into April, i noticed that i have been floating daily. up to now.
HYPOTHESIS.
I may have been depressed all this while. BUT. the weed took me off it. Since i was taking it daily it may have given me the extra happiness that I wasn’t getting in life. It may have made me felt better all these years. It may have distracted me from my worries. Now that i am completely off it, my body is going into Normal Mode. Anxiety/Depression is kicking in hard with nothing to block it. Possible that this is the cause of my floating sensation?
For additional info, I also quit smoking cigarettes too at about the same time as i quit weed.
One day i was too stressed with work, I asked a cig from a friend. Upon finishing it i felt a rush in my body (nicotine perhaps?) and it was pleasurable (tho the floating is still there) it took my mind of the floating for awhile.
MEDICAL TESTS.
1. Heart
– MRI (Normal – no blockages)
– Holter Monitor (Normal)
– seeing that im having frequent panic attacks now, my heart doctor referred me to a Psychiatrist.
2. Psy
– diagnosed with having General Anxiety Disorder, and that my seratonin levels may be at an all time low.
– given Lexapro – it made things worse as i am not able to sleep(my only “getaway”). Every time i am about to doze off i feel like a falling sensation off a tall place and it made me wide awake. it raised my heart beat as well(panic attack).This goes on for 4 -5 hours. The next day i feel very sleepy and disoriented at work that i had to ask my boss to let me go home. So i stopped taking them. I am able to sleep again.
3. Shaman (don’t laugh. Im just trying to rid of any possibilities)
– did not find anything amiss. Nothing affecting me spiritually.
4. Ears (some people suggested it may be vertigo and that I have my ears checked)
– Hearing Test (Normal)
– Balance Test (Normal) – somehow the doctors see me perfectly balanced, when i on the other hand feel as tho i am moving(floating).
– seeing that my ears are fine, my doc referred me to an Eye doctor and Neurologist. He says that it might be my eyes and or my nerves that’s causing it.
5. Eyes (getting it done next week)
6. Neuro (getting it done next 2 weeks)
7. Gastro – a friend suggested me to get this checked as well as my eating timetable is bad. Sometimes i eat only once a day when i am really busy. He says it maybe GERD that’s causing my anxiety/floating.
Are there any other tests you would suggest?
Doctors said that it is good to do all these variety of tests to get rid of any possibilities, so AT LEAST i will know that nothing is wrong with my clinically. 3 more tests to go, and if I dont find anything…. i need to go back to my Psychiatrist. 🙁
Which means i may be affected MENTALLY. Oh God.
I believe i have covered everything key in the above. I am open to hear your comments/suggestions.
I am willing to test anything.
This has been hard for me. It’s affecting my work and life.
I’m worried about y future.
Thanks in advance.
Trish
Wow EKKIE, thank you so much for leaving so much information. The FAQ section of the post lists everything that people have tried testing for and I suggest you look through that if you want to know what else to test. I too had vertigo first and then two days later the floating started. We have some commentators who found it started after the first time they had weed. I think most would say that anxiety makes it worse, which in turn, the floating makes the anxiety worse… and it can be quite a catch-22. That’s why my foremost suggestion is to desensitize to it and practice acceptance. It is VERY hard to deal with — no one in these comments would argue that. And it does affect EVERY facet of your life. It took me having it for 2.5 years for me to finally say to myself “Nobody seems to know what is causing this. I don’t know what’s causing this. I could have this for the rest of my life so I need to be able to live with it.” That was one of the scariest thoughts I have ever had — not something I could even consider before then. So please, be patient and compassionate with yourself. You are in my thoughts. Much love, Trish
DestiNova
Hi Ekkie, DestiNova here. I’m no expert, yet I really don’t think its the weed. My brother smokes weed for the stress reducer, yet weed can cause extreme cases of paranoia. The paranoid feelings usually arise from going too deep into a subject that really doesn’t add up to anything. One night, my brother orders pizza for the family, puts in a DVD, goes to the bathroom, takes three bong hits, blows the smoke out the window, then returns to the front room and starts watching the movie. Then he starts thinking about work, next thing he knows he can’t breathe and is having a panic attack. His wife calls the aid car…. the emergency responders arrive, put him on a cart and wheel him into the aid car. They administer oxoygen, after 20 minutes hes OK. The aid call and the oxygen cost my brother $700, he got so high that he forgot to breathe.
It wasn’t the weed, it was his job, the weed just brought out the imaginative possibilities of what could happen on or at his job. Recently my brother got so upset about his work that he couldn’t go, his boss finally arrived at his house and told him that his is no longer employed. The weed acted as an insight to his problems. His reaction to that… … his remedy…. he found no remedy, his job almost did him in.
My brother wasn’t getting enough sleep either, he couldn’t sleep because his job stressed him out too much. He would have to go to work without sleeping at all. I had his job at one point, when I saw the peoples attitude at work, I quit. Way too weird of people working there, I researched “narcissist” and found that to apply to at least half the workers, and there was a lot more weird going on than that.
Please don’t take this as a projection of work. If anything I am referring to stress from any source and lack of sleep. To this day my brother is loosing his house and can not function on a normal level. As for me, my head is spinning with a float on the side. I did get rid of the spinning/floating once. I took a walk where I’d never walked before and found a city park with a rope swing. I sat down, tilted my head back and started swinging. Wow…. what a rush…. I kept swinging until I felt a little embarrassed, then walked home. Did the same the next day. found my favorite swing and swung like the best of them… when I woke the next day.. no floating no spinning… smiling, happy for one month. Then one day I encounter mega stressors and felt the symptoms again and I have had the floating since. I know where that swing is and I know how I got stressed. That is comforting.
Congratulation on quitting cigarettes, you are a hero for accomplishing that. I have heard that there are over 1000 (maybe 10,000) deadly additives in cigarettes. If you like, take a small walk, we need to use paranoia to our advantage. One of my friends gets so paranoid that he can’t leave the house. Shaman? Good work! I’ve gone that route and I’ve even considered alien abduction. All that teleporting has got to do something to a person (lol)…. oh, one more, DNA, my distant relative was Francis Drake, he circumnavigated the world. Can you imagine the swaying on those boats? I wonder if I inherited his DNA. I bet those sailors weren’t standing strait when the walked off the boats….Its like a feeling of not completely waking up, still 1/4 asleep.
Good luck everyone.
Natalie
Hi All!
It’s been a while since I’ve checked in but I first came to this site 18 months ago when I first got this sensation, along with anxiety, neck pain, and lots of environmental and food sensitivities. I have been diagnosed with vestibular migraines. I’m on a preventative medication and I follow the heal your headache diet. Please note there is NO HEAD PAIN for me but a sense of constant imbalance when I walk instead however my balance is fine, my brain just doesn’t work with my vestibular system very well due to these ‘migraines’ that I don’t feel in head pain but in my balance system. I get extra dizzy when it’s coming on, heavy head, neck ache and fatigue, also a increase of eye floaters/sparkles and light sensitivity. But I feel off balance/floaty always, everyday. But I am 60% better, it’s always changing but I’m getting stronger and learning more and more along the way!! I don’t eat chocolate, wine, msg, gluten and some other things. Cutting out the migraine triggers really helped. I went from feeling like a Bobble head to actually feeling quite steady. No more brain fog or head zaps, I’m no where near as fatigued, I’ve stopped obsessing about it, I generally feel good!
So please look vestibular migraines up it might be it for you. I’m not sure what’s caused it but I’m assuming loads of stress, previous health issues, and my anxiety triggered it badly. I’m going to Sydney in July, cairns in December for my honeymoon and Europe next year. Nothing will stop me, I’ve got this, I won’t let it rule my life. I do my best, and that’s okay with me and my body for now ❤
Trish
Thank you so much for checking in, Natalie. Glad to hear you’re feeling better and determined to move ahead. I will add vestibular migraines to my FAQ at the bottom of my post. Congrats on your upcoming nuptials!
Much love,
Trish
Shakira
I am 22 and have always had an issue with lights – always effected me in a minor way but then I hit the beginning of this year and it has been so intense as it was effecting me at work and when I go to shopping centres etc. I had an MRI blood tests and a EEG and they found nothing. Last Thursday I had very little sleep and my episodes were horrible I would be at work and I would have a sudden urge like I couldn’t move like I couldn’t feel my body and trying to hold a drink or something I was frightened I would drop it like I couldn’t feel my hands, it was like fear hit me and I went to the doctor and he thinks its panic attacks.
The worst part is its so hard to explain floating is pretty much what it is but it comes in so many different ways now its hard. Everyday whenever I leave the house this is happening for a week now its so bad. Makes me so scared for my future because its so scary and I cant work when its a really bad episode. Can someone tell me if its going to get a bit better? Its been this intense for a week and isn’t showing any signs of easing up. It’s so nice to know there are others out there who understand, this page is fantastic.
Trish
Thank you for sharing with us, Shakira. In my experience, it gets better. In my experience, the anxiety makes it worse so if you can work to manage your anxiety around it, then it gets better. I give suggestions for desensitization, acceptance and involving yourself in tasks that shift your focus, in the post above. There are many suggestions in the FAQ on how people have done things to help it ease.
Would anyone else like to chime in?
My heart goes out to you, Shakira. It is a horrible and scary feeling, especially in the beginning. Please know that I’m thinking of you.
Much love,
Trish
Judy
I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue synd. in 1987. In 1989 I traveled to Australia. After the trip, I suffered from occasional “drunken” feeling brought by stress. I thought this drunken feeling was because of the chronic fatigue syndr. For 23 years I suffered with it off and on. In 2015 after a severely stressful time the drunken feeling set in and I was floating 24/7. I feel like I’m walking on partially filled balloons. I have accepted it. However I look to wake up one day with it gone. I have adjusted my life accordingly and realize as long as I am busy, I hardly notice it. Thanks for information on eating protein. I will try it. Some days are pretty bad. Today is a bad day and I’m trying to not focus on it. This is a horrible thing and people around you including Dr’s act like you are crazy. I feel I have been stuck with MdDS Disembartment syndrome I have had all the tests and I FINALLY realized the medical profession doesn’t recognize it. However, my primary care physician did request the pamphlet on MDDS.
Trish
Thank you for your comment, Judy. It is horrible and no one really seems to know what’s going on — medical professionals and in my case, alternative medicine practitioners. I hope that you find answers with MdDS. Please keep us posted. Much love, Trish
Ryan T
http://vestibular.org/perilymph-fistula
Ryan T
This can be caused by trauma or whiplash to the head. I noticed the floating sensations after riding a roller-coaster months back. Severe speeds and violent shaking can damage the inner ear. Other causes are mentioned in the article above. I hope everyone who suffers from this can find an answer!
Margaret Lamb
I had it when I worked at a factory.
Anxiety was definitely there, for sure! I was also eating a lot of greasy doughnuts and a lot of take-out at that time. Mine would come and go, only to come back in a few months. After I left the factory it never happened again. I have been gone from there 5+ years and many levels of stress have come my way.
As well, it only happened at the one factory as I have worked many others in my time.
It was weird I tell ya, felt like I floating, yet I was actually moving. Scared the crap out of me too!
Daniel
Hi everyone, I’m sorry you all have to deal with this problem. This article has been a great discovery. I’ll try to give the shortest version of my story I can.
I was always anxious about things, but it started to get pretty bad near the end of college. I don’t know if it is related, but I started to develop some numbness on my scalp. A year later, the tops of my right ring and pinky finger started developing the same loss of feeling. In 2010, while under a lot of stress, I realized that my jaw had lost sensitivity in a similar way, and I had what I think was a panic attack when I realized this. Over the next few weeks, my jaw was in pain all the time, and I had constant headaches. One day after going for a run, I realized when I was done that I felt no sense of that endorphin release when I was done, and I felt no fatigue in my muscles. I think a few days after this, I woke up, got out of bed, and realized I didn’t feel really anything, and my surroundings, my body, and my thoughts felt unreal. I believe this was the beginning of chronic derealization/depersonalition that still persists today, likely as part of anxiety. I also found out I had very bad TMJ. I don’t know whether it’s all anxiety, whether there is something physical that is comorbid with it, or which came first. After years of dealing with this and a slew of all kinds of crazy symptoms, I was able to use klonopin to somehow get through for years. However, my memory of this time is extremely vague.
Now, I am almost 3 months off of klonopin (but on 60m/day of cymbalta), and I have been taking a very redolute CBT approach to my anxiety. I have made some big steps, but this floating feeling is a predominant sensation that has been very disturbing. I believe I had it in the past during my experience, but it has never manifested in the way it has now. At this point, I have diminished sensation throughout my entire body, but it seems to come back a little bit in parts at times. However, as I’ve been engaging in techniques to relax my muscles, along with exercise (I have been very sedentary, and sometimes stayed in bed for LONG periods, for a lot of this time), the floating sensation seems to be increasing or progressing (or maybe correcting?) in a strange way. It now feels like muscle, limbs, etc. throughout my entire body are expanding and contracting, but show no real sign of this outwardly that I can tell. It also feels like my limbs, and sometimes my neck and head, are twisting (but is not observable). If I let it continue through very passive acceptance during relaxation (known as “floating” in the terms of Claire Weekes; this is not the same is the “floating” sensation, but is an approach to reducing anxiety muscle tension), the twisting sensation sort of leads into a sensation of parts of my body feeling more “whole.” This mostly happens in my lower legs while in bed. Sometimes it happens in my right arm, which starts to feel very tight and heavy (I am also very sure I have a pinched nerve that runs from my neck down my right torso and right arm to my index and middle finger when I let my neck relax in a particular position)
The part of this article that really interested me was this: “You have noticed a connection to the tension in your neck, jaw and shoulders and how you posture these body parts has an affect on how predominant the sensation experienced.” This was REALLY big for me.
When I relax as much as possible and try to just let the sensations happen, there definitely seems to be some connection to these areas of my body. Even while sitting, if I try to let everything relax as much as possible, it feels like my body and head are “pulling” together at my neck, while my lower body, torso, and head feel like they are bending back and forth (although they aren’t). Muscle spasms and sometimes paint seem to come along with it. It is extremely strange, but it leads me to believe that there is some problem in the area of my neck. There are spots on both sides of my neck that, if pushed on, create a strange painful feeling. Also, I feel like I can never correctly position my jaw or neck, or let them relax correctly.
I have seen people mention vestibular problems and cervical problems. I see a neurologist in 10 days, and I want to be sure I bring up as many pertinent things as possible. [Sidenote: I saw a neurologist in 2010, and the first thing he said when I entered his office before even sitting down was, “You look like you can walk fine. What are you doing in my office?” This attitude persisted throughout our two meetings. He was horrible.]
I’m worried that I have somehow irreversibly damaged something. It is making my recovery very difficult. Does any of this sound similar to anyone else? Any comment or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Trish
Hi Daniel. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m not sure I have any advice but I can say that I relate very much to the sensations you experience and the way your muscles are acting/reacting, as well your experience with dissociation.
I do have a couple of suggestions to try if you feel comfortable with it (and only if you feel comfortable)…
When you get that sensation of pulling on your muscles… like your body parts want to move a certain way… have you ever tried putting aside your mind and letting them move the way they want to? This is something I allow and it is during these times that my floating either almost, or completely, diminishes. I’m wondering if you would have the same results. I’m not suggesting doing it for long… just for a short period time to see what happens.
I also suggest reading Peter Levine’s “Waking the Tiger”. You can download it for free or buy it. It has exercises for helping you to get back into your body that I’ve found are really effective.
Because Daniel, after having this sensation for over 10 years, if there is one thing I know for sure, it is tied into dissociation.
Good luck. Keep us posted and much love to you.
Trish
Daniel
Hi Trish. Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will definitely take a look at that book.
I think I am at a place in my anxiety recovery that I am willing to try that. I think I am finding that as I am more and more willing to face and accept my various symptoms, I am more willing to put my mind aside and give into them.
Since you gave me a great book suggestion, I ‘ll return the favor. You may know it, since it’s big in the anxiety world, but “Hope and Help for your Nerves” by Claire Weekes is a fantastic book that has been a huge help to me for my anxiety. What you are suggesting (putting aside my mind and letting things move how they want to) is very much like her concept of “floating,” which is humorous to me in a way because we give our sensation the same name. However, her term is more like mentally and physically letting go, kind of like how you float on the surface of water. Although the book is dated and some of the terminology is old, she is dead on with so many aspects of anxiety. She refers to dizziness/imbalance symptoms as “giddiness.”
I am definitely with you that this is connected to dissociation. Which is the cause and which is the effect, or whether they are one in the same as a result of some other cause, I have yet to discover. I imagine we’ve both had a lot of time to ponder this.
I’ll definitely update you and everyone if I discover anything or make strong progress. I am considering going on klonopin again to help me with my new (and really first) real effort to beat my anxiety since I have gained so much knowledge and resources recently, but my symptoms are often so bad it’s hard to implement my strategies. Still on the fence about it.
Thanks again. Stay strong everyone.
Trish
Thank you so much for the book suggestion, Daniel.
There are few things I want to mention if/when you wish to try and put your mind aside and let your body move as it wishes:
– find a place where you can be alone and FEEL SAFE. I suggest lying down on your bed with your bedroom door closed and no one around to interrupt you. If your floating is worse when you lie down, then you get also sit up.
– you may experience your body contort and/or convulse. You may experience your body moving into deep stretches that there is no way you could pull off if your mind was involved. I have found this all to be normal but can be really scary at first. That’s why I suggest doing it until as long as you feel comfortable. My body will move in various ways on its own for up to 2 hours now but originally, I started with a few minutes because it was freaky and I’d find myself getting anxious.
– allowing your body to move in this way may help to relieve any of the tension and/or pain you have. It may take some time.
Looking forward to hearing from you again in the future.
Much love,
Trish
Daniel
Hi Trish. YES! I’ve definitely done this before. It is pretty odd, but can feel pretty good. It is so amazing that we share these experiences. These similarities are fascinating, and it is a somewhat bittersweet comfort to discover them. It makes me think that there must be something to this that we all share this.
Trish
Yes, me too, Daniel. Though I have monitored all the comments on this post for 6 years and you will find a lot of people whose floating presents a bit differently. Still, I am trying to find the common thread. xoxo
Debbie
Hi All.
I am back, still have the floating sensation. I think its at its worst it has every been. But I just wanted to ask, do any of you feel like you are going to faint with this feeling? Not all the time but like a fainting feeling in the back ground, as if you will fall or black out?
Trish
I’m sorry to hear that it’s worse, Debbie. Certainly I get the sensation that I’m falling but it doesn’t remind me of fainting. I hope someone else answers your question.
Much love,
Trish
Sarah
I have no advice i would like to just mention that it has also been tied with depressive disorders, the longer people get depressed the chemical in balance gets more unbalanced and this stops the production of grey matter in the brain which is what your brain needs to make new connections and support existing ones. Ill put the symptoms in my case that ive experienced but keep in mind depression can have over 150 symptoms. Depression causes anxiety, severe short term memory loss, confusion, you’ll forget what your saying while your saying it, and the floating feeling seems to accompany spikes where i just feel overwhelmed. This isnt all the symptoms but all the ones i think are related to the floating feeling. If you want to know more about how the brain works when your depressed and ways to try and fix and increase your production of grey matter there is a ted talk on it
https://www.ted.com/talks/sandrine_thuret_you_can_grow_new_brain_cells_here_s_how
I try and remind myself its not real
sometimes it works
most of the time it doesnt.
But depression can cause this feeling too
Trish
Thank you, Sarah.
Tina
Hello
I have been experiencing that floating feeling for 6 weeks now. Learned it wasn’t vertigo or an inner ear infection. Going in for a brain MRI in a few weeks but after reading your post I’m wondering if that is going to hold any answers.
I’m curious does anyone else experience a nauseous seasick feeling?
Or leg or body fatigue from trying to hold yourself in place or from falling over?
How about driving I feel a bit loosie goosie behind the wheel
I’m not 100% sure if this is my situation yet but it sure sound like what I’m experiencing
I don’t consider myself highly anxious but perhaps I am
This floating changed my quality of life
I truly appreciate all your information
Thank you! Tina
Trish
Hi Tina,
I haven’t experienced a seasick feeling. In the beginning, I did feel floaty when driving but since I’m now able to not pay much mind to the sensation, I don’t notice it anymore.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much more help.
I hope you find some answers through your doctors.
Much love,
Trish
Shawna
This particular article was a wake-up signal for me.
I say I’ve read about that like thousand times but this time is different for some reason. Thanks for posting this this.
Phil B
I have experienced this sensation for a year now. As the article states, I had all the tests (MRI, VNG, EEG, etc) and even went to a balance therapist for 2 months. The sensation I feel is almost as if the floor is rising/lowering when I walk; the odd thing is, when I play hockey, do yoga, or bike, the sensation is gone. It happens mostly when I am at work, grocery store, etc…
To help cope with the fear I get when I feel these symptoms, my doctor put me on 10mg Lexapro, which I have been on for 2.5 months and it helps. I also have beta blockers and Xanax as needed. Fortunately, I rarely have to take them anymore. I also see a therapist who is helping me sort things out.
There is a great Psychologist by the name of Claire Weekes. I downloaded all here audiobooks and they have helped me tremendously. I am far from cured, but I know that when I accept the sensations and don’t fight them, just watch them and feel them, it makes things easier for me.
Sunny
Hi Phil,
Have you ever had a VEMP test though? I have the same exact sensation as you. Mine happened during September 2019 though, but thankfully, I am almost permanently cured.
A possible cause for this symptom could be otolith dysfunction, which is a balance organ in the inner ear that controls your body’s responses to gravity. When it doesn’t work properly, your sensation of the ground becomes impaired, which creates these abnormal feelings during walking.
Please kindly scroll down to the bottom of this blog on the comment dated June 29, 2022 to read about my story. I get the feeling your case may be similar to mine. I hope my story could help you in some way and that you will eventually be cured of your symptoms.
Take care,
Sunny
Samantha
I have only felt this sensation twice (that I can recall).I went into preterm labor at 28 weeks over this past summer and delivered my baby alone in the hospital room. He came very fast and my husband and the nurse happened to be out of the room at that moment. He was born in his sac with his placenta, needless to say the situation was traumatic but I felt an overwhelming sense of euphoria that was a little strange considering the circumstances. It lasted 2-4 hours before I was overcome with despair and terror. Somewhere during this time period I developed the floating sensation that followed me for about 3-4 months, when it tapered off. I consulted my cardiologist at the time who thought it was related to my bp medicine so we tried out a few others, but this did not impact the sensation.
So it’s been about 3 months now since that sensation ended, and today my husband and I had our first session of couples therapy. At one point I was trying to answer a question about how I felt we should address certain situations and I started feeling floaty. I was unable to recall what I was talking about, I felt intoxicated and disoriented. All I could think was that I was losing sensation and that everyone was looking at me waiting for a resonse. I finally said something (don’t know if it was an appropriate resonse), but the therapist turned her attention away from me and the feeling stopped.
I’ve delt with excess stress all my life. Now after typing this I’m wondering if I felt this way during traumatic events in the past, but I cannot remember.
Trish
Thank you for taking the time to comment, Samantha. I wish I had something concrete to tell you re how to resolve this 🙁 .
I suggest that you discuss this with your doctor and get tested. A lot of us have undergone brain related tests and seen neurologists and ENTs.
I do think it is beneficial to try and be aware of what triggers the floating and if there is a pattern. That may lead to the root of the problem.
Please keep us posted.
Much love,
Trish
Tanja
Dear Trish,
somehow I came across this post in search of something completely the other way around:
I don’t know if you have heard of those parabolic flights, where people experience weightlessness. I have no idea if your “floating sensation” feels the same though.
But there is something and that is what made something click in my head when I read your article: Associated with these flights are flashbacks which also can be triggered: After the flight has ended, the floating sensation can come back from time to time, more or less often, until it finally disappears for most of those who experience it.
But there is one complete difference: people that have been on these flights mostly like them and do not want them to go away (which accounts for me as well, these flights are – as weird as it sounds – a lot of fun to most participants). To you it must sound very strange, to like a feeling of freefall which shouldn’t be there in the first place. Like to be somehow disconnected from the world. I have written something about it here: http://www.zerog2002.de/Flashbackeng.html
I do have them quite often, ever since I did my first flight. You probably wonder why I am writing, because my experience is so completely different from yours and I hope I don’t upset anyone here.
But I think there might be something in common. No one knows why those flashbacks happen and maybe there could be a link somehow for an explanation of both. Maybe it really has to do with the balance system (which of course is affected by the real weightlessness during these flights).
It took me quite a long time though to talk about it because I thought I was crazy, as no one really talks about it, which is also the reason why I wrote my research article. But when asking other flyers, I found out, it is about 50% who have it.
And then – just a thought – maybe it could help the anxiety by experiencing to be floating in reality, maybe feeling it for real (and if only in water) could make the fear go away.
Trish
Hi Tanja. Thank you for taking the time to comment about your experience with parabolic flights and the “flashbacks” the feeling like you’re floating. I appreciate you considering that the cause may be similar to what we with a floating sensation experience.
I think there may be some comfort there for you to know what causes your floating sensation. For me, I really don’t have any concrete evidence on what caused it, what continues to cause it. I’ve only be able to map patterns for when it increases or decreases in intensity.
I think the floating sensation in the context of my post varies in the feeling depending on who you talk to. For me, it feels like I am standing on a floating dock and not really floating in the air or weightless. Because I can still feel my body, it feels like a part of me is trying to float out of my body only to be brought back again, and then to try and float out of body again, and so on. In this regard, it seems to be related to dissociation. I know for others who have commented on this post, they may feel something similar but we have our nuances when it comes to the sensation.
I can tell you that standing on a floating dock while having the sensation that I’m standing on a floating dock… and the up and down is out of sync… wigs me out!
However, I will keep your insights in mind. I really do appreciate you taking the time to comment, Tanja. I hope that others on this thread may find your insights helpful.
Much love,
Trish
Tanja
Hi Trish,
so I see, your sensation is different. But for other people – as I have seen in the comments above, they seem to not feel their body, which is also what I experienced in real weightlessness (but on the flight it was a nice feeling).
For me there are also triggers, especially certain types of songs (I collect them, for the reason stated at the very end of this post).
But what I came across, when I checked the internet for floating anxiety, is that a lot of findings statet that floatation therapy (floating on salt water, e.g. here: http://www.floatboston.com/floating-and-anxiety/) can greatly reduce anxiety due to the deep relaxation. Maybe this would be something for you to try.
And maybe this is also the reason why I always feel so incredibly good after having been in weightlessness. I had the feeling it brought me from feeling slightly depressed and not feeling like myself and starting to fear everything to finally feeling normal again and even having joyous moments, what was rare for the last 2 years, and the weightlessness flashbacks bring this feeling back as well.
Trish
That’s great Tanja — I’m so glad you’re feeling more like yourself. And thank you for your suggestions.
Much love,
Trish
Ben
To all my fellow floaters,
I just wanted to leave a quick post to say that Citalopram (Celexa) has been a huge help and has eliminated the vast majority of my floating symptoms. It’s certainly worth trying if you haven’t already.
Love and blessings,
Ben
Michelle da Silva
Hi Ben, I took ci lift (citaloptam) and it really helped. I am now off it for about one year and now it’s back again. I definitely think it’s been triggered by my anxiety 🙁 I would love to go back on to it but I want to fall pregnant and I don’t think it’s good for the baby.
Michelle
HI Ben, how long did it take for the citalopram to work?
L
Hey everyone!
I am a floater also but i call it being sinky. Has anyone had the sensation like the ground/floor is moving up and down on you? I feel off balance in an odd way (not side to side) but up and down. It gets worse when i’m stressed/anxious, after i get off an elevator or if i’m on the 4th floor of a building. I have so much more to say but i just want to know if anyone at all has had this sensation, even sitting, lying down. It’s a nightmare. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. 🙁
Trish
Hi L. I get up and down when I’m lying down mostly. Though it’s lying down when I feel it the most — not so much when I’m standing or sitting anymore though I think that is partially due to having gotten used to it. Anxiety sets me off too. It is a horrible feeling and though I have learned how to desensitize myself to it and to come to a large degree of acceptance around it, I’m still working towards recovery.
Thank you for sharing with us, L. I hope others respond to let you know if they get mostly the up and down sensation.
Much love,
Trish
John
Hello Trisha and thanks for your help! Good to know there are more people on this “boat”!
It there any Facebook/social media groups that you or other people talk specifically about this? Thanks!
Trish
Hi John. Thanks for commenting. I don’t know of any social media groups but perhaps someone on this thread does. xoxo
John
Just an update of my floating sensation. I had if for about 6 months, daily.
Not sure yet what has triggered it but quite sure it was an inner anxiety that I had since ever.
I was taking 20 drops every night of Clonazepan (2,5mg/mL) and it would make the floating to almost nothing during the day.
After 5 months of it, I decided to stop, and after one week back to the floating feeling….it suddenly stoped, and has now gone to about 5% to 0%.
I still had one occasion 4 days ago when I was really anxious that it returned, but gone by next morning. And I do have the feeling for about 15 minutes after heavy workout.
Thanks God. Your awesome!
And thanks Trish for this website, it really did help me realize I was not alone, and probably helped me with the anxiety. Ill update if anything changes.
Trish
Thanks for stopping by and giving us an update, John. So wonderful to hear you’re doing well. xoxo
Omid
Hi John,
You are right. I have taken Clonazepam and Clomipramine for two years and plus Sertraline for one year under a neurologist prescription. Now after three years I feel well. My problem was a mixture of heavy head, dizziness and floating condition. Still sometimes it comes back when I feel depressed or under stress and excitation. Exercising specially swimming is very helpful for me.
John
UPDATE!
I had this symptom last year for 6 months and then again a year after.
I have found the reason and solution for me.
I have discovered that it started because of a very high fear of a particular international flight that created high stress on me. A mix of great anxiety + stressful event (I really don´t like planes).
When the floating started I felt even more anxious trying to find doctors, medicine and cures, which just increased my stress even more, maintaining the floating effect.
After 6 months it went away.
Clonazepam helped A LOT (for me).
Then a year later, I had another one of these flights and here it comes again.
But this time I knew I could fix it (I carry Clonazepam like a kid carries his favorite toy).
So I just kept it cool and said to myself that it would be alright and if not, I had the Clonazepam to fix it.
So I did not become anxious or stressful about it. Not at all.
Like screw you… I know you, and I know how to deal with you.
Two days latter…and it’s gone. Just like that.
And I did NOT have to use the Clonazepam.
So I found out what was the cause and cure for me.
I still keep my toy around, always. Keeps me and my anxiety safe.
Hope it may help somehow…
Thanks guys!
=)
Trish
Thank you, John, for giving us an update!
Tanja
Hi,
I did have these sensations after two boat trips with a sailboat, where I have been on the boat for about a week, and it lasted some 3-4 days. Affected my balance also during standing and could be felt mostly when lying down (where it also bothered me least). Then it faded away. I once went to the doctor but all he could tell me was I have to wait until it goes away by itself. It felt like still being on the boat and going up and down like on the waves. Also this happens when I have been swimming in the ocean and there had been a lot of waves.
Maybe you should also have your balance system checked, maybe it is somehow disturbed that these feelings happen without anything being the apparent cause.
Love,
Tanja
DestiNova
You know how everything spins in the universe, what stops us from spinning, gravity? If so, I need more of it. I need a prescription of anti-spinning gravity. I wonder if the float/spin is faulty DNA? Or is it really the boat/airplane/elevator that’s causing it? I know ‘stress’ is the number one trigger and any kind of motion. Yet what is at the core, the foundation for the float/spin? What do we all have in common besides a waving head? I’ll share some of me: used to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and pretty much party like it was 1978. Yet the spinning didn’t start until I took 10 airplane flights, lived in another country, used the elevator everyday, used the spiral staircase every day. Then when I went to the park, everyone runs in a circle. OMG, everything I did was either up and down or round and round, its no wonder my head is numb and spinning. My afraid is working a regular job is going to be a nightmare. I just remembered I did have relief. The last plane ride, when landing, my ears sounded like a coffee pot, you know how it makes all that noise at the end. The spinning stopped for one month, then, when the big stress events kicked in, so did the spinning.I think stress management might work. It’s mostly the people i come in contact with everyday. I’m too stressed to manage my stress : ) Float/spin management, to minimize the effects by meditation? Good luck everyone and what a friend used to say to me “tranquil”
Evan
I’m a 22 year old male with these symptoms, been having them for years (ever since freshman year of High School). Once I started having panic attacks around that time, stressful situations triggered this sensation. I also had a lot of brain fog / derealization. Anyone else have derealization with this sensation? All of these symptoms of course cause a lot of anxiety. My anxiety got so bad to the point in freshman year of college I had to be put on an SSRI, escitalopram. I’m happy to say the dizziness subsided almost 100% and so did my anxiety. I’m currently in the process of weaning myself off the medication, but the withdrawal has been horrendous. Kind of a double-edged sword unfortunately. The medication helped so much, but it’s so hard to get off of once you feel you can manage your anxiety on your own.
I was off only for 10 days and now I reinstated half the dose I was at and all the dizzy symptoms have returned, but worse than before. Waiting to stabilize and see if I can either go back up to the same dosage, or if my nervous system is hypersensitive enough where I just have to get off it now. Not look forward to either approach, anybody who has maybe gone through something similar I’m all ears.
Evan
Trish
HI Evan. Thank you for sharing a bit of where you’re at.
I’ve had derealization with the floating since it began 11 years ago. It’s still something I struggle with even though I am desensitized to the floating feeling now.
I am about to wean off my benzo in a few weeks — it helped in the beginning with the floating and anxiety but now, not so much. I am very anxious about reducing this med — as much as it needs to be done since I take it daily and have for 9 years — because when I do wean, my floating gets much, much worse. I have found that it does stabilize again though in my experience, this has taken anywhere between 5 weeks to over a year. And by stabilize, I mean reduce from the excessive amount of floating I experienced during the withdrawal. I have just gone through it and have not tried going back up to my previous dose to see if the floating improves.
Are you taking anything to detox your liver, like milk thistle, while you wean off? It may help with the process of getting rid of the contamination of the SSRI and help reduce your withdrawal symptoms, perhaps even the floating. It is something that has been recommended to me for when I begin to wean in early June to reduce the symptoms, including the floating, and I’m going to try it.
Please know that you’re in my thoughts. It is a very hard process to go through — the weaning and any increase in the floating regardless of what the cause might be.
Much love,
Trish
Stacey Kiefhaber
Hi, my mom is suffering from this floating feeling, along with her horrific depression and anixity & yes she has suffered emotional trama & loss again recently. We finally got her to use words other then dizzy to describe this feeling that is pushing her over the edge. She sometimes says She feels like she’s in a bubble and floating away at the end of a sentence while speaking. She told us that words sounded somewhat distorted when shes floaty. She says looking down makes it worse. She has had vertigo in the past so we know it’s not that. I could see her walking normal & then after she got anxious she was off balance. Anyone have any of these feelings with distorted hearing, floating away while speaking or any of the other systems she has described? Thanks, Stacey
Trish
Hi Stacey,
I have not had the distorted hearing. Has she been to the doctor to run tests yet? Maybe to an ENT? I do highly recommend getting all the standard tests by her doctor/specialists if she has not done so yet. From my experience, anxiety makes the sensation worse and then it becomes a catch-22 because the sensation becoming worse makes the anxiety worse. Being really engrossed in the sensation — meaning her entire focus is on the sensation — could impact her balance. It is a horrific sensation and completely turns your world upside down. I’m sending my love and healing vibes to your mom.
Trish
John
Hi Trish, I have just found your posts after searching on Google for “floating feeling”. I am not sure if this is what is happening to me. I have Crohn’s disease and raised blood pressure, which I take Propranolol for. I used to have really bad panic attacks but I have noticed that since I started taking Propranolol, my panic attacks have reduced a lot. When I am working I seem to be okay, but when I stay home for a few days, I get these funny feelings; as though i am moving back and forward gently, when in fact, I’m not moving at all.I notice this when I am sitting at my desk on the laptop or watching TV. It really scares me and terrifies me of setting off another bad panic attack. It seems as though, the moving or floating feeling is somehow linked to my heartbeat, but maybe this is just me. If I drive a long distance, I get this feeling really bad, no matter where I am and it takes until the next day, for it to be less. Are these feelings that I have, the same as the ones that you mention in your posts? I really appreciate your help. Thank you. John
Trish
Hi John. I cannot say they are the same but I can say that after reading everything that people have posted in the comments, the sensation is slightly different for everyone. I’m not saying the triggers are different, but more the nuances of the sensation itself.
It is terrifying! It’s such a foreign sensation when you first start to experience it and quite discombobulating. My recommendation is that you talk to your doctor about it and go through testing such as MRI, CAT Scan, EEG, blood work, etc.
You may not sense it when you’re working because you are so focused on something else. That is a key to learning to adapt to it in my experience.
It does get worse for me if my heart rate increases and/or my blood pressure rises. So after physical activity for example. Once my heart rate comes back to normal, it lessens.
Much love,
Trish
John
Hi Trish, Thank you very much for your very quick reply. Much appreciated. I will keep an eye on things over some time, and keep you posted. Your a gem. John 🙂
Stacey Kiefhaber
Thanks so much Trish for the response. Yes, she has been to her Dr. & was even temporally inpatient at the hospital due to her depression. We are working on getting her an appt with a neurologist. She sees an allergist monthly.& a psychologist and psychiatrist several times.a.month.This is a reoccurring issue from 40 years ago when she spent a year with this feeling after loosing her sister. She has such awful anioxity all the time and this feeling has just resurfaced about 2 months ago. Ugh wish I could fix it for her!!!💌
Stephen
Hello. I have suffered with serious anxiety from January 2016-July 2018. In July I was given a drug to help with an anxiety related issue. I took the drug around bedtime and the next day my anxiety did begin a tremendous decline. However, I have been having constant dizziness since the morning after taking atarax. This dizziness has been constant now for months. My general practitioner doesn’t want to believe I could have had an adverse effect to the drug and says this is anxiety causing my dizziness. I am not sure if this is anxiety derived dizziness or an injury from an adverse reaction to a drug that I am suffering from. Subsequently, I am not sure if I should just try to relax and let my nervous system recover from the intense anxiety I suffered from or whether I should be seeking some sort of treatment for my dizziness. Has anyone here considered the following as possible treatment options?:
https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2014/new-treatment-successful-for-rare-and-disabling-movement-disorder-the-mal-de-debarquement-syndrome-mdds
https://heliusmedical.com/index.php/newsroom/news-release/2018/228-
Also, I would love to hear an update from Gwen on any new information her lecturer mother has as of 2018.
Doug
Hi All,
First-time poster. This website and these posts are so encouraging. I have had my issue which I think I could classify as “floating”, honestly it feels like I’m walking on a dock that’s floating in the water. My eyes have trouble tracking and I feel very overwhelmed and unsteady like my body just wants to start leaning one way. I have not been able to figure out what triggers my episodes but I can go a couple of months feeling fine and then bam, it hits me and can last for a couple of weeks. I would give every dollar in my bank account if I could figure out what triggers my episodes. When my episodes come on I shy away from groups of people and large shopping centers with fluorescent lighting make my senses go crazy. I feel like intense cardio at the gym can bring on the week/month long episodes. Any Advice or remedies would be greatly appreciated.
Trish
Hi Doug. Thank you for commenting.
My first suggestion is that you consult with your doctor on this sensation. You want to rule out any known causes for this sensation.
I often wonder if it would be worse to have the sensation intermittently. I have had it for 11 years without relief and that has given me the time to adapt to it so that it very rarely interrupts my life. I suggest that you do your best to desensitize yourself to the sensation by relaxing into it in a way that feels safe. So that you become comfortable with the sensation. I also suggest that you challenge any assumptions you may have about how the sensation affects your balance… for example, the floating can make me feel off-balance and dizzy and since I have pseudo-vertigo on top of it, also spin-y. I practice balancing with my eyes closed and Tibetan Spinning to remind myself that indeed, these sensations have not degraded my ability to balance or spin without getting dizzy.
Generally speaking, most people find anxiety to be the trigger. Some take a benzo to get relief but I must forewarn you that a benzo can also make it worse and they are highly addictive.
It may be — and please remember I’m not a doctor — but it may be that your eyes/sight are overcompensating to tell your brain that you are not floating and that in reality, you are solid and/or your environment is not making you float. I find my eyes work hard to continuously remind my brain that I am not floating in reality. For that reason, I do get overstimulated when there is a lot of light. I especially despise fluorescent light.
Much love,
Trish
Maria
Hi Trish,
I’m a 25 year old female and have been experience this off balance feeling for the last three years. Everything started out of nowhere I first got this sudden onset of extreme pressure in my head/forehead which was so intense. 6 weeks later the balance issues started feels like I am walking on a rocky boat or as if the ground is moving. After this I started getting chronic neck pain. All three symptoms are still here have serious anxiety because of all these issues and have been to every doctor under the sun all
Tests are normal. Started lexapro 10mg three weeks ago and no different in anything. Just wondering if you have found anything to help your balance issue?
Such a horrific feeling 🤧
Trish
Hi Maria,
I do use homeopathic remedies to decrease the tension and the floating if I have sudden flare up. The remedy is different each time and may even differ day by day of the flare-up — depending on what’s going on in my life — but it usually aligns with my emotional state that I am having a hard time expressing. Aside from that, I do not know of a cure.
I hope the lexapro begins to help.
Love,
Trish
ScaredSoMuch
What homeopathic remedy Trish. Thank you so much for your site. I was thinking I am going crazy but reading this made me feel better.
Trish
Phosphorus works for me. It doesn’t cure the floating but helps to make it less intense when I have a flare-up. Please note that homeopathic remedies can be really individualized and it may not work for you. I also recommend consulting a homeopath before taking it.
Omid
Hi Maria
Don’t be worry about it because you are not alone. At first I thought that nobody understand my feeling until I find this nice weblog by Trish.
As I found the reason for such like feeling it is the disturbance in chemical balance of gray liquid inside skull around the brain. This liquid is responsible for preserving brain buoyancy and by smashing electrochemical reaction inside skull the off-balance and floating and anxiety occur.
The remedy takes time just go through the Trish recommendation and see a neurologist not any other.
Best
Omid
Trish
Thank you so much, Omid, for stopping by and letting us know what worked for you! Much love to you, Trish
Danielle
Hi! 5 years ago in suffered from floating anxiety/ dizziness/ vertigo, what have you … please try going gluten free … i had celiac disease. I do have anxiety and PTSD, but going gluten free cured my dizzy feelings, and also that sinus feeling in my head, and helped my anxiety. Worth a try!
Trish
Thank you, Danielle, for commenting re what worked for you to get rid of the floating. We appreciate it! Much love to you, Trish
Maria
Thank you for all your comments 🙂 Omid what is this disorder called? And Danielle I have been tested for celiac disease and all ok is it worth going gluten free regardless?
Omid
For me it was heavy head and dizziness, it was disaster first time 3 years ago still I have it sometimes. I went to neurologist and prescribed me with medicines, exercising like swimming and meditation.
Trish
Hello Floating Peeps,
I have spent the last few days going through the 500+ comments to summarize the data for:
– symptoms
– possible causes
– what helps
– possible cures
I encourage you to look at the statistics I have assembled (included at the bottom of the original post) to see what is the most common for each category.
May this information lead you to more ease and a possible cure.
Much love,
Trish
Chris
Hi Trish my name is Chris.Thank God I continued Googling my symptoms or I never would have run across your site.For months I’ve been experiencing the floating feeling along with severe headaches,neck pain my blood.sugar crashing & so many.other symptoms.It’s a relief to know I’m not losing it! Information.is power & I have lots.more.reading to do. Thank you so much.
Trish
I’m so glad you found this post useful, Chris. I will add the symptoms you mentioned to the data and update the stats. Much love to you, Trish
Chris
Thank you so much Trish!
Debbie
Hi All. Its been a long time since I have posted.
This is a possible diagnoses that could be an explanation.
I have just been diagnosed, finally, with “conversion disorder”
Please look it up, it makes total sense.
I am in therapy for it now.
Debs
Trish
Thank you, Debbie, for stopping by and letting us know.
Chris
I think I’ve finally figured out what’s wrong with me! Floaters really? I’ve been all over the Internet with my symptoms.Ready to go off the deep end this week! Thank you so much!
ScaredSoMuch
I have had adenoids and low iron and thought my fatigue is due to low iron & less oxygen when I sleep. Results came out and it shows iron levels are fine. I plan to get adenoids removed so breathing is better at night. I am fatigued, nauseous, blurry vision, hurting eyes,dizzy, sometimes numbess.A month back I started getting this floating feeling at night/driving/daytime. Its scary and I have dr appt scheduled and have been praying that its some ear-eye issue!
Question:
1) what diet is recomended? glutenfree, protein rich, low carb?
2) we plan to go on a cruise in christmas, worried that the imbalance/floating thing will get worse. Any thoughts on this?
Trish
Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you’re going through a lot right now.
We have had someone report in the comments that a gluten free diet helped with her floating.
I am not sure what to say re going on a cruise. I have been on a bigger boat and not had any problems. Smaller boats and floating docks make me feel discombobulated because my floating doesn’t match with the floating I’m feeling from the small boat/floating dock.
I hope everything goes well with the cruise and that you enjoy your Christmas.
Much love,
Trish
Atiyah Rhodes
I’m soooooo happy i found this thread. Recently I had a bad plane/cruise experience coupled with a change with my job and commuting on the train which gave me anxiety. I went to the emergency room 3 times trying to describe what was going on. I have been to an ENT, Nuerologist, Cardiologist, Internist. All results so far have been good. I did develop a bulging eardrum but even before this I was having this floating sensation. Along with that my vitamin d and iron levels are low. So i will work on that.
I was literally looking up hematologists and another cardiologist because I’m just thinking something is being missed.
The i just googled floating sensation and found this article. Wow! Wow! Wow! I’m not alone.
I’m still looking into remedies but this article and advice was very helpful. I’m still reading the comments.
Thank you so much for this. I’m not alone.
Jennifer
I honestly thought I was going crazy. I already deal with depression during this time of year but have newly been dealing with an increase in anxiety from an accident a year ago. It happened last night. I got back into bed after using the bathroom and felt light all over, I didn’t hear any words but felt that something was telling me I was going to die, I started praying. The more I thought about how I didn’t want to die the more I felt like I was going to die. I have never felt like this before. I just started taking anti-depressants again two weeks ago. I may have to mention this episode to my doctor. Needless to say I’m still quite freaked out about my episode and hoping this is what happened.
Trish
I’m so sorry you’re going through this, Jennifer. I strongly suggest you mention it to your doctor — it could very well be a side effect of the anti-depressant.
Much love,
Trish
Tanja
I remember having this light feeling before falling asleep quite often, but it never felt like dying. Although it was something like leaving my body behind, but there was no fear, just surprise. But I also have no idea why it happened. There was nothing unusual in my life by that time it happened first.
But I would not dare mentioning it to any doctor any more because I did once and he wanted to put me on medication for schizophrenia which I felt was completely wrong (I refused the prescription and never visited that office again). He told me he wanted to give me something to make it go away but I didn’t want that, it somehow felt like he wanted to steal something from me (I don’t remember though what he wanted to give me, only that it was something I clearly didn’t want to take). I have to say to this, one of my biggest fears is to be forced having to take psychotropic medications. Never ever I want to do that, it would violate my policies I have set for my life.
It turned out the reasons for my original problem back then (fatigue) was a thyroid dysfunction. But it had nothing to do with the floating sensation, at least not for me.
Trish
Thank you for sharing with us, Tanja.
Tom Abbiss Smith
Hey Guys,
I’m so glad I found this thread too!
I’ve been suffering with these sensations and anxiety for 2/3 years now.
I remember I had this weird feeling once before for a month or so in my first year at Arts Uni (2014) and we’d just handed in our first project. I lived in student accommodation and we all loved to smoke weed, I had been smoking for many years before uni too, but that day I got really high and went to bed probably dehydrated and stoned. I woke up in the night and went for a pee, then woke moments later lying in the bath tub!? I was freaked out and in panic and told my best friend who calmed me down before I went back to bed.
I woke the next day with the weird subtle sensations we all seem to be experiencing. It was like my perspective was wrong, i felt unstable and unbalanced, it also felt like my head was heavy or full of liquid somehow, like a fishbowl head! I felt like when i moved i was moving a bit too much, or that I was lagging behind! Going from the cold weather into hot rooms made me feel so out of it.
Eventually it just passed and I was fine again. I wonder now wether I was anxious 1. that I got so high I either got into the bath tub or fainted in the tub. 2. I wanted to do well in uni and the first unit was an opportunity to prove myself (I did badly in school). 3. I don’t like sitting about doing nothing much, and this period of uni was the first time in a while where I had nothing to do except smoke stupid amounts of weed and make art and chill (sounds pretty good thinking about it but this sensation proves otherwise!)
I go through life still smoking a lot but doing well in uni, I get a girlfriend who I’m still with now and get some great opportunities with my art, so there’s no reason to be anxious apart from eventually graduating!
And of course I graduate (with good grades too), I feel happy, but sad all my friends will eventually leave. Me and my girlfriend move into a pretty terrible flat while we look for a better place to live and we find our feet with careers. I managed to land a huge design job straight away but the art director was terrible and caused me much stress. I work on this job freelance over a few months while doing little jobs here and there.
One day in 2016 (October) I paint a bench at the local cafe with spray paint and mixed media (don’t know if this contributed?) but the next day out of nowhere the feeling comes back. I feel all heavy headed, and like my perspective is off, it really stressed me out because I remember from 2014 how odd it was.
Some of my symptoms were:
– Feeling like I needed to release liquid/air from my ears, I was constantly (and still do sometimes) doing the Valsalva maneuver hoping a huge pressure would leave my head.
– Feeling like my vision was moving behind me somehow (like a lag?)
– heavy headed, but equally at times light headed and head rush
– like my body was slightly jolting or moving/swaying/wobbling (worse when i leant forward or was standing up)
– When i walked about it almost felt like my legs were giving way for a split second.
– bubble in my ears
-Ringing ears
-Things in the room almost warped!?
-Blurry eyes at times
– I wanted to push into my forehead between my eyes or even sometimes my eyes to somehow relieve the pressure I felt.
– I wanted to and did tell doctors I was dizzy, but I don’t consider this as dizziness, the room has never spun!
This continued through out the year and into 2017. I had to start working at Superdrug as my art job came to an end, and it sucked, I hated the job, the lights were too bright, it was too hot, badly run, staff were rude and racist and it made everything worse. I probably wasn’t eating well either when it happened but I started doing 6am shifts and after 20 mins of being there I felt too unbalanced/head rush and weak that I had to leave and eventually quit the job. I walked home at 6:20am those days crying feeling so overwhelmed and shaky, I wanted to eat to maybe counter act the weakness and unbalanced dizziness but of course anxiety made me feel nauseous and I couldn’t.
In this time I probably had 2-3 blood test to check diabetes, but I’m all good, my iron was also good.
Around May 2017 it started to subside although I still had anxiety issues and felt out of breath and over whelmed a lot. It stayed this way for a while which was nice to not feel so ‘floaty’. (there would be moments of ‘the feelings’ but it wasn’t continuous like before). I think since then theres been periods of it being bad, and times where it’s been alright (not perfect though).
Some of the things the doctors thought it was or gave me were:
Anxieity – “just take it easy”
ENT Specialist – “tension headaches” (when I saw the ent I (typically) had no problems at the time, so I don’t even know if his results were correct.
Depression – Anti’s D which i threw in the bin
Menieres Disease (I think) – anti histamine pills I think (worked for a month but maybe through placebo).
Eye deterioration from designing at the computer – I have had 2 different prescriptions for my eyes in the last year which help a bit.
BPPV – Did a weird head movement thing at the docs to sort the inner ear (didn’t work).
Jaw Clenching – I have a mouth guard at night to relieve the pains in my jaw and temples.
I am starting to think yes it probably is anxiety. I got a blood test a few weeks ago for potential b12 and folate and iron deficiency but my b12 was actually higher than normal. – I went for this 5th? blood test because I was starting to develop new symptoms from anxiety such as:
-Feeling weak.
-Shaky legs and arms and hands.
-Stomach aches and Nausea.
-Dry mouth
-Hunger all the time
-headrush
-All the other balance and floaty things
I now basically can’t leave the house without a bottle of water and a snack. I hate going out the house too. I can imagine a lot of you guys feel a dread of having to leave the house. I know I get stressed being in shops, especially small ones where I feel hyper sensitive of my symptoms.
If I leave eating my meals a little bit late, I get all the symptoms pretty badly, I don’t know if I’ve created this fear myself. I consider that eating healthy and drinking a lot of water will guarantee I won’t fall or faint.
I also know that If i get out the house and do stuff, I’m proving to myself I can function and do stuff I love; like go for a cup of tea at a cafe, go skateboarding, go drawing – But there is always a fear that I’ll get a spike of the floaty weak feelings I suffer from.
Sorry this was a very long comment and a mini life story, but I need to write it down somewhere where people might understand.
If anyone feels the same/ notices that any of my symptoms that might be something else or knows of any thing that helps, let me know!
P.s I just started reading Matt Haig’s book – Reasons to Stay Alive – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Stay-Alive-Matt-Haig/dp/1782115080 which is a good one to read so far.
We will get through this, we just gotta talk about it!
All The Best,
Tom
Trish
Thank you for sharing your story, Tom. xoxo
Yashi
I got hit by viral on 4 november and since then i can feel something in my head,firstly i was not able to describe my situation, I thought its a dizziness but it is not, its more like floating and my eyes can feel senstivity to lights. I have done every tests including MRI scan,CT scan and I have also been to a ENT doctor and a neurologist but everything was normal , I have done some blood tests as well, that were also normal, Its been more than 2 months that i am fighting from this, What it could be according to you?
Trish
I don’t know, Yashi. The most common answer found in the comments on this post is anxiety.
DestiNova
“Something in my head” is a precise description of the feeling. I’ve had many viruses, I wonder. Something in the antibiotics, the air? I wonder if it’s zapping, low frequency vibration, infra-sound. A key or common occurrence for everyone here is anxiety. I wonder what is causing anxiety, cause and effect, causation. Something is causing anxiety, then our heads spin/float and our vision is also impacted. Could the cause have anything to do with the law of one, the lack of opportunity for light and telepathy?
Trish
It could be any of those things — I wouldn’t rule out any of them. From reading through all these comments, I would say that the cause of the floating is not the same for everyone. Mostly, we all have different symptoms. But on average, we think anxiety is the cause. And it’s true — we need to dig deeper into our anxiety to find the root and upon healing that, does the floating resolve?
Much love,
Trish
A
Hi,
While I could explain my symptoms to you all they are very similar to all of the comments above. I am 23 and have experienced this for over three months now. I consider myself a healthy person prior to this eating paleo for a living I’m 5 11 and 140 lbs and am young so why am I experiencing this… I travel for work Mon – Thursday. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to work due to this feeling for the past two months. I’ve..
– got an MRI and MRA (showed a small chiari malformation)
– cervical spine MRI (showed a small spinal cyst but nothing to cause dizziness)
– Balance testing
– I’ve seen an ENT
– I’ve done the Epley manuver (for crystals)
– gone to a hematologist to check my iron levels in case of hematomacrosis which can cause neurological issues if severe
– I’ve seen nutritionist
– I’ve gotten tested for leaky gut and sibo
– I’ve been gluten free/dairy free/ sugar free/ ect without drinking any alcohol caffeine or non organic foods for the past two months
– I’ve even done a detox where I drank this shake with vitamins and didn’t eat for five days
– I’ve gotten cranial manipulations as well as atlas
– I’ve gone to 12 sessions of PT for my neck (stretching not strengthening).. this seemed to help a bit
While my symptoms have been less constant and more episodic, the off balance/ floating sensation still persists. I am now trying a salicylate free diet which is difficult. On top of being gluten/sugar/dairy/soy free I cannot eat some foods that are considered healthy like berries or spinach because they naturally contain salicylates (think nature’s natural preservative they are fine and healthy as long as you can eliminate excess through your liver which some people cannot). I’m hoping this helps. My next stop is a heart doctor because my heart rate is normally low at resting high 40s low 50s (my blood pressure also often low 90-100/50-60). I think this post is very helpful it makes me feel better that I am not alone. I’ve never had anxiety before until all of this happened and I do agree that anxiety is a large component, but I am struggling to accept that this is how I am going to live the rest of my life. I want answers but am also open to therapy and reducing my anxiety (yoga has really helped me with this). I wanted to write this post because while all of the things I have done have not helped me completely we are all different and unique and perhaps my journey and appointments may help another person here. Perhaps one of these doctors will have the answer for one of you.
-A
Trish
Thank you for all this info, A and taking the time to write this post. Much love to you, Trish
Ali
I am in this with you A – 3 months for me too (second time this has happened to me though, had this happen a year ago, then had 6 good months off). It is nice to know I am not alone. Has anyone brought up the potential of migraines with you? Especially since you didn’t have anxiety before this, maybe what is happening. You don’t always get headaches with migraines. I am currently doing PT at the national dizzy and balance center where they give me desensitizing exercises. They say my anxiety and migraines are the cause after doing their testing. They think my anxiety caused the migraines which perpetuates the issue. I’m going to the neurologist next week to discuss medication for migraine treatment but am worried they will put me on something that will make the sensations worse, since I’m hypersensitive now.
Ali
I’ve been dealing with this constantly for the past 3 months. I also had a bout of this last spring for 2 months. This is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I am trying to manage my anxiety but my flight or fight mode won’t end. My body/brain will not allow me to accept the sensations. Benzos do help but I try to avoid until I am at my wits end. Computer use makes the sensations even worse which makes working impossible. Praying for all that have to experience this alongside me.
Ali
Trish – how are the symptoms for you now? Learned anything that has helped you?
Trish
Hi Ali,
I still have the floating.
What I wrote in the post over 7 years ago still holds true for the best advice I can give to you.
The info I have compiled from the comments is that it is often related to anxiety.
I have also learned that not everyone’s floating is the same — that it is unusual to find someone with the exact same symptoms. This leads me to believe that there are multiple causes to the floating and that sometimes, anxiety is the least strenuous diagnosis for doctors to give.
For me the key has been acceptance and desensitization and focusing on something else other than the floating. This is VERY hard to do in the beginning because the sensation is terrifying and always seems to draw you back in. But now is perhaps the best time to understand what triggers the floating to worsen and what makes in more manageable.
I will be the first one to post when I find what resolves the sensation for me — my acceptance does not mean I have resigned my search of resolving it. So please stay in touch.
Much love,
Trish
Elaine
I started out with anxiety and was put on psyche drugs and I responded opposite of what was to be with them. Absolutely suicidal and sick. I lost 40 lbs, had no appetite and about to die. Had many tests run and they all say I am fine and I am just imagining all these things. Hot clammy then cold off and on all day, miserable. Had to work to gain back a semblance of balance but have such a heavy dead weight yet floaty sensation worse when up and around. No matter how much I use my arms and legs they don’t strengthen and are floppy. Lost my bowel exit motility, muscles tight and sore from head to toe, have an excess amount of thick slime to swallow all the time. Gained back 30 lbs and no longer on those drugs. So glad. I am less than half what I used to be. Hard working and feel lazy now and I can hardly stand it. I want so bad to be strong and able. Eating is difficult as with all my swallowing I get really dry. I only sleep about 3-4 hrs a night and am tired all the time. Can hardly turn my head as my neck is so bound up. ????? Any suggestions????
Kat
Hi, I am so thankful I found your blog post. I have read and re-read it many times! I live in Australia. This horrific feeling started for me with a neck problem and what seems to have been CFS about 5 years ago. I seem to have it most of the time to varying degrees. It seems to be a vicious cycle though…the feeling is awful and sets off panic and anxiety which in turn makes the feeling worse! My Dr said it was “áll in my head…just stress” so unhelpful. How to stop this vicious cycle? (or preferably stop the feeling altogether!) I had no idea what a luxury it was before in my life, just to sit still and read a book or stand still and not feel like you are on a boat! The things I feel contribute include: a) tight neck area b) chronic fatigue or similar. I was interested to read somewhere Trish mentioned about her eyes…my eyes seem slow to focus and like they have to work hard now. I feel scared of getting my eyes tested for new glasses in case it makes me feel worse. They haven’t been checked for about 8 years and I need new glasses. Any tips on this? I also feel a bit nauseous sometimes and I am not sure if that is stress or not or IBS. I used to be fine in bed after the CFS improved a lot but now find I feel weird when I move my head in bed. Hard to live with this stuff. Wld love to be rid of it and not think about it at all. I pray and have had prayer and sometimes it has helped. I am interested to see so many comments here and sorry others suffer like this too.
Trish
Hi Kat. Thank you for sharing part of your story and what you believe contributes to the floating.I will add it to the stats.
I don’t know of anything that stops the feeling completely. Take a look at the bottom of the post to see how various people manage it — I have found most of them to be helpful.
I completely understand how strained your eyes can become. For me, it is because my eyes are what I rely on to verify my reality (i.e. I’m ACTUALLY not floating!) since I cannot completely trust my vestibular senses because of the sensation of floating. I was terrified to get my eyes checked too but when I did (about 6 years after the floating started), I found out that my eyesight had improved slightly. Go figure?!? When I have had to get new glasses since, I very gently ease myself into the new prescription by only wearing them for short periods of time. This helps.
I don’t get nauseous with the feeling but I do know that some people on this thread have commented that they do.
I can understand the cycle of having the feeling and then getting anxious and panicky and then the sensation gets worse. And round and round you go. I think that is very common for most people here. I have experienced many different intensities of the sensation and what really has helped to calm me is desensitization as I explained in the post. This allows you to stop constantly focusing on the feeling. You do have the power to adapt to it.
I wish I had more to share about how to improve or even cure the feeling.
Please keep up posted on your progress.
Much love,
Trish
Tanja
I wonder if it is possible to somehow do something to get used to the sensation. I mean, astronauts float all the time and they don’t get panicky from it. Maybe something like floating in salt water or swimming could help?
Trish
Yes, I covered desensitization in the post.
Omid
Hi Kat,
I think you should find the starting point for this feeling and the reason for it then analyze the problem and try to find solution. sometimes changing the lifestyle could help e.g. you stated that when you prayed you feel better so going through meditation and yoga will help certainly. If you didn’t any exercise before maybe doing a regular exercise program will help, for me swimming was helpful.
Sometimes stress and anxiety will be uncontrollable so visiting a Psychiatrist/neurologist and taking medicine for a period will help.
For me a very surprising, natural and simple medication that was I found recently on the web was drinking 2-3 glasses of lukewarm/tepid of fresh water in the early morning about a half an hour before breakfast. It was amazing.
Finally, going through Trish’s nice weblog and all the experiences of everybody here can be very helpful.
Best
Kat
Hi Trish, thanks for all that. I am sure I am not alone in being grateful for your kind and helpful advice and comments here. How funny re your eyes! How did you find actually having your eyes tested? I think both the testing and the new prescription really scare me, me in terms of the horrid, floating feelings. I also seem to have sensitivity to light, patterns (and for a while found screens hard). Some of this could be CFS. Desensitization seems to be the way forward from what you say (and distraction). Sometimes it’s hard if it makes you feel a bit nauseous, but when I was really bad, I had to start doing desensitization to be able to start getting my life back eg making myself read a few pages of a book and trying to gradually read more etc.I have other anxiety stuff too which prob doesn’t help. Sometimes you feel like you have made progress and then you have a bad period. But it does seem to wax and wane a bit.
Trish
Yes, I also have had a hard time with reading, screens, lights, patterns, etc. Most of this got better with desensitization. Maybe this is helpful: buy e-books so you can adjust the font-size and how much is on the page and thus to read is less stimulating; the smaller the screen the better, so your eyes don’t have to do a lot of work to take in the movement; give your eyes a break from light each day by using a sleep mask and/or blackout curtains.
I also have vertigo so with that and the floating, I find the tricks above help.
I found it wasn’t that bad to have my eyes tested. I suggest being upfront with your eye doctor about your floating sensation and ask them to go through the different lens slowly so you have time to adjust to each lens test. I’d also tell them you’re anxious about the tests and tell them if there is anything you need from them for you to be comfortable. I know this can be hard to admit to but I do find it can make the experience less anxiety-provoking. Then ease in to your new glasses slowly. You will feel a little wonky in the beginning but perhaps the fact that you know that it’s your glasses causing the wonkiness will be more reassuring. If you keep going with slowly easing into your new glasses, in time you will adapt, I promise.
xoxo
machiel
Hi, i have had this feeling for two years (however i have found a solution), I can describe the feeling as following:
– Feeling like a wave is going through your body that constantly moves, even when i sit and lie down.
– Feeling as if the floor is liquid and i can press it in with my feet. (feeling like the floor is moving)
– feeling of going up and down in your own body, a sort of shock that i feel like if a elevator is suddenly going 1 floor down. Also with comparable with a feeling of stepping on and off a boat/ in a train.
– always walking with a staggering feeling / unstable in the legs (weak legs). feeling as if you are falling sometimes, however nothing happens really and you are still with two legs on the floor.
– things that suddenly seem crooked in your eyefield.
I didn’t have a clue where it was comming from, i was frightened. I did not know what to do, i have done numerous tests and nothing came out. After i while i started talking to a shrink, she told me it can very well be a anxiety disorder. I did not believe that, however after a long process i have now not felt this feeling in 5 months, and not thinking about it like i did every day. You got to stop stressing about the symptom / the feeling and just relax, it’s going to be okay. There is nothing wrong with you! There is a very very big chance that it is an anxiety disorder, being hypochondriac. Do something about your constant, probably unconcious high stress levels and talk to a shirnk. You should read these too links down below, it opened my eyes…
https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms/feels-like-floor-is-moving.shtml
https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms/unsteadiness.shtml
if you have any questions feel free to ask. i am sooooo glad i found out about anxiety and finally cured my symptoms….
Trish
Hi Machiel,
Thank you so much for your comment. It has been my experience as well that the floating is tied to a hyper-aroused nervous system and that if we work to calm the nervous system and get it back to it’s resting state (until those times that we really do need to fight or flight), that the floating will improve.
Much love,
Trish
Ali
Thanks for sharing. Was it basically constant for you too? I’d like to know if I’m alone in that regards, I have had numerous tests as well but what keeps me going down the rabbit hole is I don’t get reprieve and it’s been 5 months. I assume I won’t get reprieve until I calm down fully which takes a while??. I’ve also been given medications and now I’m so hypersensitive to every sensation. Nausea etc
Ashley Lopez
READ THE END FOR INSTAGRAM GROUP CHAT DETAILS this site is amazing. I am experiencing this and I thought I was the only one! Currently I always feel like this it tends to be better when I’m at school because I’m forced out of bed or better when I’m driving but weekends are always tough. I would appreciate it if you guys can leave your Instagram usernames or add me at @Ashley.samara.lopez to create a group chat where we can talk to each other to remind ourselves it’s ok. (Btw if it’s useful to any Im 17 and started experiencing this 6 months ago and a little bit when I was 11)
Ali
Instagram name is Ali.peterson
I’ve been dealing with this for 5 months and it’s pretty much constant but certain days are worse. Do you get headaches or migraines? I’ve been told mine is tied to that plus anxiety and it’s an over sensitive nervous system. Currently working on finding the right treatment but it’s so hard. I’m 32 with 2 young boys. Anyways if you ever want to chat let me know
Zack
How are you now? I’m feeling the same way for 1 month now .. it’s really scary
Ashley Lopez
Im currently in therapy to try and calm down this feeling. I am going through cognitive behavioral therapy. I’m still new to it but hopefully I will see a difference
DestiNova
Anyone think it’s the “dummy down” thing the deep state is doing? Chem-trails, fluoride, metals as fillings etc? Linda Howe has lots of info on YT. What about the pole shift? Instagram would be a useful hangout. I personally would like to create the “haunting society” Why wait. Haunt now, and after. I have my list, and I know my head is all for it lol…..In the meantime my tooth paste will not have fluoride in it. Try de-calcifying the third eye pineal gland so we can remote-view.
Thank you
RayofLight
Kat
Hi Trish!
I have not been great lately with all this stuff. I don’t think stress helps… 🙂
I accidentally stumbled across a pdf on Persistent Posturo-Perceptual Dizziness
(PPPD) (Functional Dizziness) today. It comes from https://www.neurosymptoms.org/
I couldn’t believe it seemed to describe my experience almost exactly! ie balance issues, being hard to describe to people, disassociation, problems with watching moving objects, patterns, light and noise sensitivity. I wondered if it would be helpful for others to read…your advice to desensitize and accept seems to be spot on (if we are talking about the same thing)
Sending healing to all here
Kat
Trish
Thanks for sharing this info, Kat. I will also add this disorder as a possible cause to my stats… when I get the chance.
Much love,
Trish
Ashley
Thank you so much! I read it and it does describe my symptoms as well. I will share this with my therapists to see what I can do to positively move from this ❤️
Michelle
Trish- like all the others, I am so glad that you made this post, it has given me a lot of relief. I had this same problem when I was a teenager, they chocked it up to anxiety and I put me on meds for a bit, but in the end, it was distracting myself that was most effective. I sort of became a “social butterfly” and I just forgot about the floating feeling.
However, after having kids, thyroid issues, and lots of house wife time to become hyper sensitive to everything that happens with my body, that feeling has come back with a vengeance. It’s become worse over the years and my doctor continually tells me it’s anxiety. I’ve always found it hard to believe, because anxiety is so common. But yes, I’ve had all the test (CT scan, 2 MRIs in the last 7 years, blood draws, you name it- all normal) and the floating still lingers.
I found it’s worse when I’m tired. I feel totally drunk when I’m tired. It’s also worse when I’m under extra stress. I wanted to ask if anyone here deals with random, crazy, irrational thoughts or “visions” before falling asleep? The thoughts I have make me worry about my memory. Having had family members with schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s doesn’t help. Do you think those thoughts are more anxiety related?
I didn’t have time to read through all the comments, but I’m amazed that so many other people have felt this floating sensation. I’ve always described it as “walking on a floating dock” or the “floor is falling”. Thanks again for this post, you’re helping more people than you realize!
Trish
Hi Michelle. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad you felt the post affirming.
I do relate my floating to having a nervous system that is in hyper-arousal which is aggravated by anxiety, stress and overstimulation (which happens when I get tired).
I have dealt with “random, crazy, irrational thoughts or “visions”” before falling asleep. I went through a 7 year period when this was a nightly (and sometimes during the day too) occurrence. I consider this now as a way my mind processes what’s going on in my life… kind of like dreams but in a waking state. I do believe the psyche shows us exactly what we need to heal. So this stuff does not concern me — it’s just one of the ways I process. Mindfulness and/or practicing to observe the thoughts/vision in a detached manner helps A LOT. Like you’re watching them. If they are making you afraid then you are buying into them being something that marks “dis-ease”. With practice, you can learn not to invest in your thoughts/visions as anything “good” or “bad”. Just “is”. Just “neutral”. This takes the fear away allowing you to recognize that this is part of something heal.
Well, that’s been true for me. Of course, I am not suggesting you don’t go to your doctor if you are really concerned.
I hope that helps.
Much love,
Trish
Trish
Hi Michelle. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad you felt the post was affirming.
I do relate my floating to having a nervous system that is in hyper-arousal which is aggravated by anxiety, stress and overstimulation (which happens when I get tired).
I have dealt with “random, crazy, irrational thoughts or “visions”” before falling asleep. I went through a 7 year period when this was a nightly (and sometimes during the day too) occurrence. I consider this now as a way my mind processes what’s going on in my life… kind of like dreams but in a waking state. I do believe the psyche shows us exactly what we need to heal. So this stuff does not concern me — it’s just one of the ways I process. Mindfulness and/or practicing to observe the thoughts/vision in a detached manner helps A LOT. Like you’re watching them. If they are making you afraid then you are buying into them being something that marks “dis-ease”. With practice, you can learn not to invest in your thoughts/visions as anything “good” or “bad”. Just “is”. Just “neutral”. This takes the fear away allowing you to recognize that this is part of something healing.
Well, that’s been true for me. Of course, I am not suggesting you don’t go to your doctor if you are really concerned.
I hope that helps.
Much love,
Trish
Christopher James Trevelyan
Hi Reena,
Just wondering how you’re going on now?
Thanks,
Chris
Lakeetha
I was diagnosed with anxiety and other disorders, but everything I was diagnosed with doesn’t really relate. I experience the sensation of “floating” and “dissociation” constantly, but my attacks are what confuse me and I’m uncertain what they are. I lose all control of my body. I either fall to the ground or become really stiff. I identified this as “cataplexy,” but I don’t think it’s that either since I don’t have narcolepsy. During the attacks, I start out laughing uncontrollably and then crying and going back and forth between laughing and crying. I identified this as “PBA,” but didn’t pertain to laughing when I feel sad or crying when I’m really happy. Then I identified it as gelastic seizures, but I’m still not sure if that’s it. During the attacks, I go back and forth between being aware of everything and blacking out, but the attack still continues. I have ticks in different areas of my body including my head, eyes, mouth, fingers, hands, legs, etc. I have a feeling of tensity and the feeling of “electricity” running through my body constantly, like the feeling when you touch a socket or something and get a small shock. I have muscle spasm occasionally. At times, my sides will start hurting severely or my legs will start hurting severely. There are also times when I try to talk or sing and my throat will get stuck. Like it immediately puts pressure on it and it feels like someone hit me on the inside of my throat. I also have constant migraines and headaches as well as frequent vomiting and nausea. I was also diagnosed with sleep paralysis and insomnia. I’m probably leaving out some information, but I was just curious if all of this pertains to anxiety or if anyone knows what could be causing this or if anyone relates.
Trish
Hi Lakeetha,
I’m so sorry you’re going through all of this.
Have you considered that you may be having a spiritual crisis/emergency? Stan Grof is an expert on this and transpersonal psychology. I suggest reading his work. I would go further to say it’s Kundalini related and suggest you look into Kundalini awakenings.
I monitor the comments on this post and there hasn’t been anyone who has reported similar symptoms to yours. Most of what people focus on is finding a physical illness that correlates to explain what is happening. For my experiences — which of course includes my floating but also seizure like states that I now know are called (Kundalini) Kriyas — I needed to go further down the rabbit hole to find others who had similar symptoms to mine. That’s how I came across Grof.
Please note that my seizure like states (which I call Kriyas) happen when I relax my body and then my body voluntarily spasms, moves, stretches, jolts, stiffens… and I get a tingling sensation throughout… not quite like your experiences but I thought I would mention it.
Much love,
Trish
Healthhealth28
Hi,
Wow. I could’ve wrote that comment myself. I would say 80% of what you said is similar to my case. If you would like to talk more on this subject, my email:
healthhealth25@outlook.com
Colby MARTIN
Lakeetha you could have Nuerotoxins in your body, When you talk about the insomnia, feelings as if something hit your throat, Nausea, Migraines, headaches. I have had all of these. Have also had the muscle spasms and the electric shock feeling. I found my issue was from a nuerotoxin that comes from a certain type of mold. A Mycrotoxin urine test may be something to look into. There are MULTIPLE mycotoxins. There’s a test you can get done through The Great Plains Lab in Lenexa KS. The will send you the test and all you have to do is send it back with your urine. It is costly so don’t be alarmed. It cost me 300 bucks. Me be something to look into for your case. I wish you the best of luck friend! Hope for your reply soon.
Jen
Lakeetha,
Were you on any medications that you suddenly stopped taking? Like an anti-depressant or anxiety medication? This sounds like horrific withdrawal that could be happening. I hope you have gotten some answers or will soon!
Everyone else- is this “floating feeling” a disassociation feeling, like you feel like nothing around you is real? When I had my disassociation, I just felt like nothing around me was real, it was weird to see myself in the mirror, and sometimes my limbs seemed foreign to me. However, I did not feel like falling over or is it more sensations within your body? I’m trying to understand, as this is intriguing to me. Thanks!
Trish
Hi Jen. It has been said to me that the floating sensation I experience could be part of a dissociative disorder. But I had severe depersonalization for many years and I don’t feel the two are related. In my experience, anxiety is something that triggers it but I’m not sure that it is the cause. I am now looking at it through the lens of a severe type of vertigo to see how far I get with resolving it from that perspective.
I’m not sure any of us really understand it and can articulate it in such a way that you would get it — at least not beyond what you read in my post and/or in the comments. You have to experience it. It is not helpful to me to attempt to have others understand it — personally, it’s a drain on my energy to go to that effort. What I need from others who do not experience the sensation is their ability to be open and listen to me talk about it without writing it off or feeling threatened because it’s something they can’t comprehend nor can they fix it through unsolicited advice.
Jen
I totally understand! I’m so sorry you feel this and have to suffer it. It sounds awful. I would never question someone’s feelings because I too have had horrible GAD and the symptoms that come with it sometimes seem unreal to people. I am praying you find relief soon.
Prabh
Hey Trish! I really need help, I’m a student studying in canada and one day by mistakenly I swallowed Bethametasone cream and I thought I would die, something really poisonous thing have been injected inside me and I’ll die. Due to that I had a panic attack after that panic attack. I started feeling very weak, extreme fatigue, vision problems( when I walk I feel everything is oscillating in front of me, all objects are moving up and down), I constantly feel something is moving inside my body tingling. I had my brain MRI, blood tests and I almost referred two neurologist, ENT and three ophthalmologist. Everything is normal and my neurologist said I’m suffering from GAD. Please help me because the main problem is my vision it’s very shaky and I can’t really help it. Does anyone have vision problems???
Please help
Trish
Hi Prabh. There isn’t much more I can suggest other than what is included in the post. Have you tried a benzo?
DestiNova
Hi Prabh, DestiNova here. I googled the cream. It has a shelf life of 21 months and it said if you swallow it rinse with a lot of water. The stress you incurred is probably most of the cause. Drink water and I mean a lot of it, not too much to over do it though, yet more than you would normally use. I dislocated my shoulder, went to a party and somehow ended up drinking a whiskey with a guy who had dislocated his shoulder and the surgeon who preformed the surgery. The doctor showed me the surgery on his cell phone. The whiskey drink, the heat, and the immediate stress made my dead spin, sweat and I almost pass-out in front of 50 people. I sweat so much my clothes were ringing wet and I barely made it to the elevator, don’t need surgery yet look what the thought of it did to me, almost made me die just thinking about it. Flush your system and somehow stay calm, everyday, don’t stop to flush and take deep breaths laying down. Breath in through your nose and out your mouth, yet not so much to over do it. P.S. I prayed to my spirit guides and it helps : )
Tanja
Did you get your balance system checked? Shaky vision can also happen if your equilibrium is somehow screwed. It sounds like you have something like this: https://www.healthline.com/health/oscillopsia
Prabh
I have consulted with my neurologist he checked my eyes and they said I don’t have oscillopsia. It’s like everything is swaying. I have all my eye check you and all. They are saying it’s that I’m observing a lot of things.
Carol
Hi I am Carol, 7 years ago I burnt my self out physically and mentally. I started floating, and felt really tired. MRI scans showed I was fine, as did ENT specialists. I couldn’t do anything but sit at an angle for 8 months, after which time it was decided to put me on Citalapram. 4 weeks later my floating stopped. I have been fine for 7 years but after having my first summer holiday in 12 years on a river cruise first day back started floating again but feel fine, well apart from all the sensations in my peripheral system, ie feelings of cramping muscles even though they are not, feeling fullness in ears some times. It has been 7 weeks now, back on the Citalapram, with no change yet. I am going through the menopause so wonder with this could be driving the body as although I have a history of suffering with anxiety a couple of periods in my life there is no reason for me to suddenly have this again. I am a fitness instructor, leaning more towards Tai Chi as I am getting older (over 55). Any thoughts. Thank you
Trish
This comment is from Judy: This is a syndrome that happens to very few people. It has a French name Post mal-Disembarkment Syndrome. Happens when you’ve been on a boat or a flight for any length of time and then get off on land. Mine hit me when I went to Australia 30 years ago. It would come and go for years (the floating) whenever I was under stress. 4 years ago after a stressful situation it came on me and never left! I’ve been floating for 4 years without a break 24/7. I’ve learned to live with it, however I’m anticipating for the day to come when it finally stops. I’ve had all the tests and they say nothing is wrong. Something is for sure. There’s no cure it just eventually goes away. Nothing has helped me. My stress level now is very low so stress isn’t causing it. However I find stress makes it much worse. Stay busy that helps and klonopin helps occasionally.
Tanja
I’ve had this “feeling like still being on the ship” after every sailing trip I took. The longer the trip the longer it took to fade away. But it usually was gone after 4 days. Was kind of my balance system being totally messed up, so I would not be able to stand with eyes closed or I would fall. One time I even consulted my physician, but he told me the only thing I could do is wait until it goes away.
I wish for you that you feel better soon.
Dana Tal
I have been suffering from this for 3 years. I just want to tell you that it does also seem to get worse around my period. I think that the symptoms get worse with the hormone changes. I do not use meds. I am all about natural ways of treating the symptoms. I take ashwaghanda and drink a tea called bedtime by yogi. Also lavender baths and scents.
Trish
Thank you for sharing a bit of your story with us Dana.
Much love,
Trish
Christian
Hi everyone
Av been battling with balance issue for close to 8 months and I just saw this yesterday and I need help.
Everyone think am crazy I feel empty light and can’t walk without feeling I’ll fall down any moment.
Presently my hands and body feels like am floating can’t feel my weight especially my hands although I can lift any weight.
But av not been able to run or walk freely.
Av done brain MRI but nothing.
Just feeling like I weigh 5kilos when I actually weigh 90+
Tanja
Hi Christian,
does it feel different when you lift weights?
Just an idea: Have you tried very tight or heavy clothing, if this makes for a better feeling of your body? Maybe your body sensor system is very unsensitive and needs stronger inputs?
DestiNova
Hey Christian, DestiNova here. Yah my head is spinning again. It started, then stopped until i traveled on the last flight, 8 plane trips and the last one going back into time made my head spin like extreme jet lag for 6 weeks or more. What made it stop in the first place was a portal of electricity exploded/imploded inside my car on the drivers side (got pics). After that no spinning/floating nothing, wow what an awesome feeling, normal. Loved it. Then after it came back im actually getting use to it. I figure the electric portal crackling and appearing ( I could look inside it) caused “mind expansion” . The portal was “centropy” and the cure was the side effect of mind expansion. Oh yah, after that portal opened I was really looking around, and then… i felt no spinning..So back to square one of the head spin. How to: expand the mind without electricity and stop the head spinning/floating? Did being near an energy field really put an end to the spin? It did for me! And numerous flights caused the spin because the jet lag never goes away… Now I can say, I want a portal to another dimension to appear kkkk I hope you get better Christian : )
DestiNova
Just in from AARP. My first thought was the inner ear and this is what the article reads:
Lauren Gerlach was in the middle of a workout video, doing leg lifts that required bending over and steadying herself on the back of a chair, when it began: “This wave of nausea hit, and the room began whirling around me,” she recalls. The sensation lasted for about 10 seconds, and because Gerlach, 45, had been prone to bouts of motion sickness in the past, she dismissed the episode. But in the days following her workout, she felt a little dizzy and unsteady on her feet.
Then one night Gerlach awakened from a sound sleep and shot straight up in bed. “I looked across at the TV, which I always leave on when I sleep,” she says. “It was literally spinning in a circle — at least, that’s how I saw it.” She raced to the bathroom and was sick.
That’s vertigo. Almost 40 percent of adults in the U.S. will experience this unsettling sensation at some point in their lives, according to the University of California San Francisco. Defined as “an illusion of motion,” vertigo is a very specific type of dizziness. “If you have an illusion that you’re moving and you’re not, or have an illusion that the world is moving about you when it’s not, you are having vertigo,” says Steven Rauch, a Boston-based ENT-otolaryngologist affiliated with Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.
A lot of people assume that vertigo has to be a spinning sensation, says Rauch, but it could be rocking, swaying, tumbling, or a feeling of bouncing up, as if you were on a pogo stick.
Causes
Many things can bring on a bout of vertigo, including inner ear infections, migraines and even some medications, including those used to treat high blood pressure or anxiety. But one of the most common causes, as Gerlach discovered after a doctor visit, is an inner-ear condition with a tongue twister of a name: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). About half of all people over age 65 will suffer an episode of BPPV, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and the Mayo Clinic says women are particularly prone. Along with the “Whoa, what the heck …?” sensation, people may also experience lightheadedness and a wonky sense of balance. Queasiness and vomiting may also be part of the package.
BPPV occurs when tiny calcium carbonate crystals, which normally reside in an inner-ear organ called the utricle and help you keep your balance, break loose and travel into the semicircular canals of the inner ear. This may simply be part of the normal aging process. “BPPV is a degenerative change in the inner ear,” says Rauch. “A degenerative utricle will shed crystals from time to time, like shingles falling off the side of an old house.”
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Sometimes it’s a bump on the head that dislodges the crystals.
“BPPV is positionally triggered,” says Kim Bell, a San Diego-based doctor of physical therapy who specializes in vestibular rehabilitation. That means when you move your head in certain ways — dropping it forward to pick something up off the floor or attempting a Downward-Facing Dog yoga pose, for instance — you can cause these crystals to move and bring about an attack of vertigo.
It’s often triggered when you’re lying down: You go to bed feeling perfectly fine, then roll over toward your bad ear to get out of bed in the morning, and wham!
The shifting of the crystals sends a faulty signal from your inner ear to your brain about how you’re moving, which leads to that “world is spinning” sensation.
Those dizzy spells typically last for less than a minute but can return anytime you pitch your head and trigger another brief, brisk spin. Some attacks can be merely annoying, says Brian McKinnon, an ENT-otolaryngologist in Philadelphia: “Others can be debilitating and dangerous, making you feel off-balance and putting you at risk for falls.”
Treatment
BPPV usually goes away on its own within weeks of the first episode, though it can last for months or even years. If you want immediate relief from those bouts of spinning, you might consider something called the Epley maneuver. The treatment — typically performed by a vestibular rehabilitation therapist (a specially trained physical therapist), occupational therapist, audiologist or ENT — involves moving the head in a series of precise positions, allowing the crystals to migrate out of the semicircular canals back to the original vestibular organ they came from — the utricle. “It’s kind of like playing one of those small, handheld pinball games,” says Bell, “tipping it right and left, trying to get the silver ball through the maze.”
Typically, BPPV can be eliminated in about 85 to 90 percent of patients with just one or two treatment sessions, though it can recur periodically. “A few of those little crystals get loose and the whole thing starts all over again,” says Rauch. If this happens, your doctor or therapist can teach you how to perform the Epley maneuver on your own at home.
Even after BPPV has been treated, some people have residual symptoms of imbalance or unsteadiness. These can be resolved by working with a vestibular rehabilitation therapist — basically, using specific exercises to help patients regain their stability. It might include walking on different types of surfaces, stepping over thresholds, or maintaining one’s balance in a stationary position.
Unsettling symptoms aside, BPPV isn’t life-threatening. “If your symptoms are centered exclusively around the ear, and you want to wait it out, there’s probably no big danger in doing that,” says Rauch. However, he notes, there are times when dizziness can point to more serious disorders, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, brain tumors or multiple sclerosis. If you have symptoms in any other part of your body — say, your vision has changed, or you have numbness, weakness, confusion or slurred speech — it’s worth taking a trip to the ER and getting it checked out by a doctor.
https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2019/vertigo-causes-treatments.html?cmp=EMC-DSO-NLC-RSS—CTRL-110819-P1-4153043&ET_CID=4153043&ET_RID=21996322&encparam=rAbxw1yk%2frKDldBuBDHSzSV8gb1xUYtMKR0Iu1FRmu0%3d
Trish
This is not to contradict what DestiNova commented about inner ear infections… please get all of the tests that your doctors and specialists recommend and then ask for ones they haven’t. That is very important. If your condition is like mine and lots of other commenters on this post, they will come back with nothing.
I have had the floating sensation since 2007 and what I wrote in the post above is about what led up to the floating and what I have found has really helped to get my quality of life back. I still stand by everything I wrote in this post.
I also have had spinning in my head for that long as well. I also get bouts of the room spinning and feeling like my body is spinning. So I have many forms of vertigo… some constantly and some intermittently.
I have tried many, many alternative approaches to resolving these forms of vertigo. Spiritual-based medicine, energy work, etc. Nothing helped.
I had a Brazilian shaman tell me it was related to my liver and that my liver needed to be cleansed. I now think he wasn’t that far off.
I am on a benzo which helped a little bit in the beginning but soon became irrelevant. Now as I taper off the benzo, the floating and spinning is getting worse.
It is something that I believed I would have to live with for the rest of my life.
Then I read this:
“This symptom is not a result of calcium crystals or stones becoming disrupted in the inner ear. Rather, when EBV is leaving the thyroid as it moves into Stage Four, it’s usually moving fast, growing rapidly in number—and will often release an explosion of neurotoxins into the bloodstream. The vagus and even phrenic nerves become sensitized and allergic to the neurotoxins, causing them to inflame, which causes the spins and other disconcerting balance issues. When the vagus nerve swells like this, it causes the chest and neck to get tight, and, since the nerve runs into the cranium, it even results in some very mild inflammation at the bottom of the brain. This swelling of the brain itself (which is on such a minute scale it can’t be detected with MRIs or CT scans) can compound the balance issues, going so far as to give you a chronic balance issue where you feel like you’re constantly on a boat, or aboard a flight that’s always in a turbulent landing phase.”
From: https://www.medicalmedium.com/thyroid-healing-medical-medium/vertigo-meniere-s-disease-dizziness-balance-issues
This resonates with me so I am following the Medical Medium (MM) Liver Rescue Diet + supplements (focus on cleansing the liver) along with his Thyroid Healing protocol and any other tips he gives in regards to Epstein-Barr virus (EPV). I’m 4 months in. I expect that it will take year(s) to resolve the vertigo IN MY CASE due to the fact that I have 50+ more ailments that I deal with (fall under auto-immune diagnoses in allopathy so “your body is attacking itself and there is no cure”.) that according to the MM, also fall under Level 4 EPV and other pathogens and heavy metal poisoning.
Just putting it out there. I will keep you posted.
Much love,
Trish
Colby Martin
Hello Everyone, My name is Colby I have dealt with these symptoms for 10 months now. I also have a friend feeling this way for the same amount of time. We are constantly looking for answers. We have been to the doctor for everything we could think of, got every test we could think of. We have seen specialist galore, and nothing has been found out. I personally have symptoms of feeling like i’m floating, when i walk the ground under my feet feels squishy almost like a marshmallow. I have feeling as if i am a tall tower swaying back and forth in the wind. I had had issues with feeling as if i was shrinking to the point of feeling microscopic. When i held my girlfriends hand the other day it felt like i was holding a quarter. Then after that i had a feeling of being high on meth that lasted up to for hours. It was an awful feeling. I’ve had tons of different symptoms such as health palpitations, twitching in my left eye lid, and confusion. I wake up some days feeling as though i never slept. When i feel bad of course my anxiety sky rockets. I take Valium daily, it also seems to help with the floating sensation.
We have only found one medical condition thus far that we both share. And we had to go to a vet for this. We both have TAPEWORMS. I would consider looking into a parasite infection but DO NOT go through your doctor for this test. They will all come back negative. The test they are doing for parasites here in the USA are not preformed correctly. Take a small stool sample to your local vet, they will look through a microscope. Tell them it is your dogs poop if you have to. And all you need is a stool sample the size of the tip of your pinky finger. If for some reason you cant find a vet that is willing to do this for you feel free to contact me. I have a vet that looks for parasites in humans and he has been for about 30 years. His name is Doctor Fuller in Caswell county NC. If you need it you can mail him a stool sample for the test. If you need the information contact me.
Martin44Magnum@gmail.com
Feel free to add me on facebook also, Colby Martin, my FB profile pic is of me and my father holding a basket of clams.
PS. We have both taken 2 rounds of med’s to kill these bastards. It seems to be helping. It will take another 2-3 rounds to completely kill them. This take about 5-6 months to treat.
Colby W Martin
Update, the worms were only a side effect. The worms built up becuase my immune system was shot. I had mono 2 years ago which seems to be the cuase of this. The floating sensation was coming from a nuerotoxin i was breathing through my air at my home. My hvac system was home to 7 different types of mold. I was diagnosed with Ochratoxin A. It comes from aspergillius mold. I have left multiple comments here about this issue. I wanted to let everyone know that i am now 100 % flaoting FREE! I had over 60 symptoms that are all now gone. The great plains lab is where i was tested. I hope people will understand this isnt just a mental issue. It is a physical issue that can be addressed! Weather you’ve got Ochratoxins or not. A homeopathic doctor ended up being the best route for me. They can look at brain chemestry and really dig down to why you are feeling these crazy sensations. Wish everyone luck and youve all got my prayers!
Trish
That’s great news, Colby. Thank you for letting us know.
Nellie
Please contact a FUNCTIONAL VESTIBULAR NEUROLIGIST if you have constant floating feeling, call the Cleveland Clinic if you have to. They encompass physical, mental, … even worms.
Trish
Thank you, Nellie. I looked up a clinic and there is one in my area and they do vagus stimulation which is exciting because the protocol I follow suggests it’s due to inflammation of the vagus nerve. I’m following up with them.
Giovanni
I have not been to the doctor’s yet as I was initially worried about wasting money on something that I thought I might be able to fix myself, unfortunately, after trying for about a month I have not yet been able to get rid of this “floating” sensation and so I think I don’t have much of a choice anymore. However, my experience seems to be different from what I’ve read here, although, I haven’t read everything here just yet. I’ve been working on my PhD thesis in physics, and I’ve been working on it for years, but recently I went through a long period (hard to say how long exactly, a few months maybe) where I was working on it every day, all day, until I had to go to sleep. This sensation has just started happening recently and so I thought there might be a relation considering the triggers for it. I’m not sure how to describe it, but this terrifying sensation I’ve been getting has been occuring due to a few triggers, namely:
1. Deep thought about physics, math, religion and God, death, my future, etc. (occasional)
2. Being in church. (almost 100% of my visits now)
3. Deep thought while in the shower. (fairly frequent)
4. Looking up at the stars. (Extremely frequent) I feel as though this trigger has something to do with the huge distance that my mind is trying to comprehend, but I don’t know.
Has anyone been through something with these kinds of triggers? It’s like a feeling of overwhelming terror, like my soul is being pulled away from my body, almost always upwards, and very rarely downwards (usually the direction only changes from upwards to something else when I start to think about the direction of the force I’m feeling). Any input would be appreciated!
Trish
Hi Giovanni. I’m sorry that you’re going through this… it is so very frightening. Two things popped to mind when I read your comment:
1. Check out spiritual emergency which is a term coined by Stan Grof.
Spiritual crisis (also called “spiritual emergency”) is a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system (i.e., their unique purposes, goals, values, attitude and beliefs, identity, and focus) typically because of a spontaneous spiritual experience. A spiritual crisis may cause significant disruption in psychological, social, and occupational functioning. Among the spiritual experiences thought to lead to episodes of spiritual crisis or spiritual emergency are psychiatric complications related to existential crisis, mystical experience, near-death experiences, Kundalini syndrome, paranormal experiences, religious ecstasy, or other spiritual practices.(FROM WIKIPEDIA)
2. Dissociation. The fear being triggered by these deep thoughts may have you trying to dissociate from your body. Floating may be a symptom of this.
Both these suggestions are food for thought. Please do not try to hang on to them like they are the truth… just consider if any of it is resonant. Keep your mind open to other possibilities.
I do agree with Ray in that engaging in activities that will induce the parasympathic nervous system will be beneficial so that you’re not always running on fight-or-flight. Breath-work, meditation (I suggest just focusing on your breath and coming back to it whenever your mind wanders) and mindfulness may be helpful after some practice.
Avoid stimulants. If it becomes too much, do what I suggested in the blog post and distract yourself with something that keeps you thoroughly engaged. This will give your nervous system a much needed break.
Above all else, I strongly suggest going to the doctor and ruling out what you can. That may give you some sense of ease.
Much love to you,
Trish
Giovanni
Thank you for taking the time to give me your input Trish, it was a helpful perspective. I apologize for taking so long to respond, I read it awhile ago, but I was busy with a serious situation at the time. Your assessment seems fairly accurate. It’s been likely due to a combination of things, but my situation has improved since I last posted here. I still have my moments unfortunately, and it’s hard to say how long it will be until that changes. I’ve been trying to stabilize myself in every way that I can in order to deal with it, and it has helped. I still need to visit the doctor’s about it, but with the COVID-19 stuff going on that doesn’t seem smart atm.
I had an interesting thought about it recently. I’ve realized that I’ve spent almost 100% of my time over the past few years indoors, I hardly ever leave the house, and for me, the floating is almost always triggered by looking at the sky. And now that I feel more stable, deep thoughts are no longer the primary trigger, instead, it’s simply looking at the sky. So perhaps my brain is no longer used to it in some way because of the amount of time that I’ve spent indoors? (Something for other readers to consider) I realized that that might also be adding to the problem. Interestingly, the churches that I’ve been in all have very high ceilings. So that could potentially explain why it’s so intense there, at least, to some degree. It still seems that the problem is much deeper than that, but this could be a new factor in this problem for me. Forcing myself to go experience the outdoors and look at the sky might help, I’ve been trying to do that. My deep thoughts trigger has improved significantly, it doesn’t happen nearly as often now, but the sky and church trigger has not improved much at all yet. Still a work in progress. This is a really annoying problem to be having, especially when I have to drive.
DestiNova
Hi Giovanni, Ray here. I know what you mean about the high ceilings and looking up. My floating started with stress, going down spiral stairs where I would look up (nine flights), then I’d leave the building, once outside I was walking and turned a corner on the sidewalk, I turned my head to look behind me and almost fell off the sidewalk. I knew something was wrong then.
I got an electromagnetic charge and the spinning stopped for six weeks. Then on a flight back to the states, the last flight going back into time the spinning started again and has not stopped. I know for fact that an electromagnetic charge right next to me will stop the spinning and that airplane flights and spinning, up high environments cased my spinning combined with stress.
Other than that, look at the shape of the world right now, psychos are running the show, this can’t help, I studied the psycho for two years online, I read everything and %50 or so of the population are psychos, (a simple brain scan will show signs) yet this is another subject so I’ll leave by saying I hope your spinning/floating goes away : )
Trish
One more thing… I do believe that to have floating occur, your body was under a lot of physical stress and thus in a very vulnerable state. I also suggest looking into what you need to do to build your body back up again… immune system (main priority), nervous system (main priority), adrenals, etc.
Giovanni
Also, I should add, good job with this blog. I’m sure you’ve helped a lot of people, and you should be proud of that.
Thanks again, much love,
Giovanni
DestiNova
Stress overload and something else may have created the floating. My floating started with stress overload and using the spiral stairs instead of the elevator for two months strait. Then go around and around at the park, mall, town. Everything I did seemed to be in circles, then the plane ride. When I got off that plane and went to the woods by a creek to think, the creek was moving sideways and the side-hill I was standing on seemed to move.
Good luck, reduce stress and walk in a strait line as much as possible L )
Ray
Abi
My friend and I both experience this unpleasant floating feeling if we are late or miss taking our sertraline tablet (Serotonin re-uptake inhibitor for anxiety/depression) it is a known side effect for this drug. We both find it goes away a few hours after taking the missed tablet. We have described the feeling to others similarly to your buoy description, as well as how it feels when you are about to “come up” from taking ecstasy except you never do and it’s not pleasant.
I’m sorry to hear there are people who suffer from this regularly without knowing how to stop it. Good luck everyone!
DestiNova
Did big pharma create the sertraline pill? I’d watch out for them, just saying. I have no idea what ecstasy is but I live in the same town as Nirvana. I’d throw those pills in the garbage and go down to the weed store and see if that helps with depression. Abi, tell yourself that you are the best person for whatever it is. A job, family, spouse, etc.. Electromagnetism is what stopped my spinning for six weeks, wow did i feel good until that last plane ride from LAX to SEATAC. Wish I hadn’t been on that little old plane. Head still spinning. My niece use to take a pill for depression but didn’t’ like the side effects so she switched to weed and swears by it. Helps her sleep and she’s one of the most productive persons I know. Shes a psychologist and just got an awesome job helping people and they all smoke weed every day. No side effects, legal, and fairly cheap. Evil people made hemp/weed illegal and started the pharma business. He looks like a reptilian,
Abi
Hi,
Thank you for your comment and kind words 🙂
Ecstacy is mostly MDMA with a little speed in a pill form used as a recreational party drug. I don’t know how common that is in america but pretty common in europe.
I have to say I don’t recommend weed as a cure all. I say this as someone who was a daily smoker for 10 years. I quit doing it habitually a few years ago. I look back and realise I was self medicating for my anxiety from early teens, but although it did help whilst I was stonned it made me miss out on a lot of opportunities as smoking weed inevitably means at some point having to choose between it and something else whether because legally or practically they can’t be combined or you just can’t be bothered as your stonned. It doesn’t help you to learn long term coping mechanisms and It also impacts your social life as no matter what you tell yourself weed does hinder social interactions. I’ve known a lot of high functioning stonners and they all agreed it’s lying to yourself to say it doesn’t hold you back. I was the last to finally admit it.
I’m not a psychologist but I did study psychology at university and have worked in mental health since. There is no good research that supports cannabanoids as a treatment for mental health, though there is a lot a lot of evidence that it can exacerbate or induce psychosis (likely in those already prone but you don’t know you are until it happens). All the evidence that supports the use of cannabis is either pretty bad science or anecdotal. I can say first hand anecdotal isn’t very reliable as when you self medicate with weed you are pretty bias to support it and ignore the downsides or blame something else.
I will add there is a lot of good science that shows it is effective for other medical conditions such as helping with pain relief, inducing appetite and easing muscular disorders like Parkinson’s. Even recreationally it has been unfairly demonised but as with alcohol it needs sensible use. It does have a place in medicine but not necessarily psychiatrics.
Pharmaceutical medications vary a lot and from person to person. In truth they aren’t as well understood as people make out (neither is weed), it took me a long time before I agreed to try something. I have been on SSRT (serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors) for about 2 years and can say they have helped immensely though they aren’t without flaws. I wouldn’t recommend any lightly but I wouldn’t discount them.
I can see why people can be distrustful of bigpharma, they are pretty evil companies but I’d say most of their concerning behaviour revolves around pricing, marketing and patenting life saving drugs. In other words, the business side of things. It’s true they can influence research but they don’t control it, generally this research gets used by laymen’s and advertising not medical boards. I will also add the bad science I previously mentioned most of it was funded by cannabis companies and lobbyists, so I wouldn’t exactly trust cannabis miracle claims either. There are a lot of good intelligent people dedicating their lives to save lives by working in pharmaceuticals, they are on the ground floor so to speak and the ones doing the actual science behind each drug.
There are 2 faces to pharmaceuticals and I wouldn’t discount either. Unfortunately as you are in America you have it a little worse as these companies are pretty unchecked in marketing and monopolisation but unfortunately weed isn’t any better.
Hiba Azim
Hi Trish,
I’ve just read through this page and I feel so relieved! I’m not the only one who experiences this!!
For me, the sensation is a sublte up and down feeling that I get specifically in my back. It’s most often brought on by anxiety and I’ve had the feeling since I was really young, probably 9/10.
I only experience this at night when I’m anxious or scared and it feels like my entire bed is rocking gently. Now that I’m an adult I’ve found the if I happen to get anxious when smoking marijuana the sensation can be brought on like that too.
Thank you so much for putting this page together, I find comfort in not being alone in experiencing this and I think that I’ll be able to deal with it much better.
Trish
I’m so glad that you found comfort in the post, Hiba. Thank you for commenting. Much love, Trish
DestiNova
I’m sorry the anxious feeling is brought on by weed. It seems intense paranoia appears in everyone who smokes weed. Smokers are paranoid because of the world and psychos we have to live with. Check out the Book of Enoch and you will read why. The paranoia is an insight to the psycho. Look who’s running the world and you will see all psychos controlled by big business all for money and control. They made weed illegal to take away the insight and instead brought society man made pills which alter the brain, look up fentanyl and the Europe vs Chinese war between gold and opium. Has anyone had the situation of the Covid-19 virus so intense that they forgot their heads were floating? Thats where I’m at… world so crazy I forgot my head was “out there” Stay safe and follow your real dreams when you wake.
Ray
Jean
Hi there..This information propably wont help many as we are all different anatomically with different triggers that sets us of from food intolerance like gluten, lactose, stress and anxiety, mould allergies etc..
For me I do find a correlation between sinusitis” infection in the nasal passage and dizzyness, “a bit like i am tripping without the drugs and a definite mental decline/lack of ability to concentrate and so forth..When i do a nasal rinse/flush say once daily my “flu”” like symtoms, foggy cloudy head seems to improve after a couple of days, First day or two after i usually feel even more groggy?? Why i dont know maybe all the gunk of the infection is coming out poisoning my system but it steadily improves ..I just feel sharper and a bit more steady on my feet after about three days of at least once a day nasal flushing.Dairy seems to trigger my sinus congestion a lot..Coincidence or not it helps me a bit as i have underlying sinus issues that needs attending by a specialist clearly…My two cents if it can help anybody..
Trish
Thank you, Jean.
Ash
Hi Trish,
I came across your post and it gave relief !!
For me this floating sensation is happening since years now. I visited doctors and they said it’s vertigo but when I visited ENT we got my MRI done and they said everything was normal there is nothing wrong with my ear or balance except for Deviated Nasal Septum (which I’ll have to get operated to get it straight)
I feel dizzy everyday like everything around me is spinning like there is no gravity or something I wish could just faint once and for all !
At times I see everything Slanted.
it’s come to a point where I am afraid to even go out of the house having fear of seeing the world spinning in my head.
I was ok with travelling in flights trains buses and even in cars before but now I have started to get dizzy in it.
I feel dizzy when I roll over while sleeping or when I get up suddenly
I also have this buzzing sound in my ears from the past one week.
I tried doing yoga and meditation but I felt even more dizzy after that.
Please suggest me something.
Would love to hear from you.
Judy
I have had this floating anxiety for 5 years now. After about a year and 1/2 and all of the tests on my brain, which showed nothing, I realized I was going to have to adjust to it until it went away.
1. I learned to get busy. The longer I sat and did nothing the worse it became. Once you realize it’s not going to kill you, you can begin to have a life again. I hardly even notice it when I’m busy. Of course I notice it but not near as much.
2. I’ve learned to ignore it as much as possible (which seems impossible but it can be done. The more I thought about how bad it was the worse I became.
3. I pray a lot. I try to keep my cares and worrying in God’s hands. The more stressful I am the worse it gets. Stress brought it on for me for my life was terribly stressful being alone and suddenly find my child in my home on meth. Things are tremendously better with that. I thought when All calmed down and stress at a minimum I would stop floating. Not yet…
4. Keep your head straight when you walk and turn corners like a ballet dancer when she does her turns. This keeps you from being slung around when you turn around. If I forget to hold my head straight and my eyes straight ahead when I suddenly turn I usually fling across the room.
5. Start being thankful for and in everything. It will change your life. I have realized how fortunate I am to not have anything else wrong with me like cancer or heart disease.
Don’t give up. It will get better for you. Just realize that stress is your enemy and do what you can to alleviate the stress in your life.
I suffered with this off and on for many years. But only when under Stress. It set in on me 5 years ago and has never left 24\7 all the time. I finally realized what was causing it- STRESS.
I sincerely believe one day I’ll wake up and it will be gone.
Hope this helps you.
Ash
Thank you so much Judy for sharing this with me. It really helped.
I will start implementing this in my daily life and see how it goes.
Hope we all recover from this someday.
Judy
All I can say is these things helped me. I had to learn them one at a time. Be blessed!
Kat
Thank you!
This is driving me mad atm! I suddenly feeling there is a wave in my head or walking on a boat. Better generally when not stressed. I will try this too. God bless you!
Trish
Hi Ash. I apologize for the bit of delay in my responding. I’m really at a loss as to what to add that has not already been said in my post, that stats at the bottom of the post, and the comments (including Judy’s which has awesome info). It’s all great stuff and I 100% believe the first step is in adapting in order to garner a certain level of acceptance and desensitization to the sensation. That will give you a good part of your life back.
From my own experience of having floating and 3 other forms of vertigo for 13 years, I feel that the cause is trauma related. But it doesn’t end there. I believe the traumas that we experience cause the immune system to weaken, the nervous system to be hyper-aroused, and this creates the perfect storm for neurotoxins to form from viruses that live in our bodies, and that feed on the poisons we are exposed to. Colby previously commented on one such neurotoxin that is related to black mold (which is an example of what I mean by poison) and how removing himself from the black mold and seeing a naturopath for his weakened immune system resolved his floating. I believe that there are many neurotoxins (not just the one cited by Colby) that impact the vagus nerve to become inflamed and for that to create the vertigo/floating. The thing is, I haven’t proven this… yet. It will probably take a good 5 years for me to do that given that I have many more symptoms aside from the vertigo(s) to indicate that I have a lot of neurotoxins involved.
This is not my own idea… this is me putting my faith in the Medical Medium’s (MM) protocol. Please google “Medical Medium vertigo” (it includes dizziness as well) and it is further explained there, but really, you need to buy his book(s).
I’ve been around the block on this floating thing… conventional medicine, alternative medicine, shamans, healers, conventional therapy, spiritual emergency, kundalini awakening, having access to all the comments on this post and the information provided by those of us who experience this… and though every one of these things got me closer to where I am today, nothing has resolved it. In fact, my floating keeps getting worse. I have adapted and if it were the only illness I experienced, then maybe I could live with it. But I have a long list of chronic illnesses that started at the same time as the floating and I’m tired. I made it through 7 years of madness (which started at the same time as the floating) which was the most grueling and terrifying situation I have ever been through but all this chronic illness (including the floating), it’s almost at the same level of distress.
I am suffering to the point that I can and have committed to the MM protocol. I am committed to the years it may take. It was an easy choice really because I don’t have another at this moment. But I cannot advocate for this approach until it works for me.
But I can tell you about it.
Much love,
Trish
Ash
Hi Trish
Thank you so much for taking out time to reply.
It does help me feel better by knowing all these informations
And also thank you so much for sharing the post and your experiences with me and everyone who need this
It really takes a lot to keep things going inspite of struggling with it from so many years
Maureen
I have also found that “tapping” helps. I follow Brad Yates on youtube and facebook. He leads tapping sessions you can follow.
Thank you and good luck to all of us.
Gratefully,
Maureen
DestiNova
Jean, thoughtful work, impressive, very impressive. What is that nasal spray called? NaCort is the expensive one yet the generic little plastic bottle for about two dollars. Equate Nasal Spray, thats it. A friend told me that nasal spray over time will make a hole in the nasal area and it is connected to the ears which controls balance. Do you suppose nasal spray is the cause of some of the floating. What if everyone said, oh yah, ive used nasal spray, and everyone is affected by it. Nasal spray, stress, airplanes, boat rides, intense weed paranoia, alien abductions. Hey don’t aliens probe the nasal area? Hum…. i wonder… could it all be true…
Thank you for your post Jean
Lori
Thank you so much for this article. I am going through some personal trauma right now and have to make a lot of important decisions. I am grateful that your article was able to offer iactive options that others have tried as well. As you mentioned, this is a topic that is difficult to find good information. Kudos, thank you, love to you!!
Ahsan waqar
Helo trish
Please help me in this regard
2 years before suddenly i felt when am relax on bed or still sit anywhere I felt am floating like just like I am on boat
I consulted with a ear specialist he told me you had alot of wax in your left ear that’s why infection in your ear after removing wax I am suffering from bppv after treating medicine of 4 week my bppv is settle down and cured but after that my floating feeling is not gone till now its is reduce but not gone
2 or 3 time in a week during sleep I feel axiety in my full body and panic with this feeling and floating is minor is also have please tell me what I should do now please reply me fast now i consult with ear specialist or psychiatric?
Trish
I’m sorry to hear you’re going through this, Ahsan. My recommendation is that you visit all the specialists recommended by your doctor because you want to rule out any physical issues. Then from there, read through my grid at the end of my post above to see what has helped people. Much love to you, Trish
Pedro P
Hi all
First of all I want to say a big thank you to Trish for starting this page, its comforting to know that we are not alone.
I am a primary health care practitioner- and have been struggling with ‘FLOATING’ since the first week of Feb 2020- A little history – Sept, Oct and November of 2019 were not easy – I injured my back and neck treating a patient and was booked off for 6 weeks- I literally lay on my back for 6 weeks and iced the neck and low back- I had an MRI which showed Cervical and Lumbar spine degenerative changes and disc herniations – the symptoms abated and I was able to return to work. I would treat patients but subconciously I was worried about injuring myself again and then having to leave my profession – a very stressful time.
My wife was then asked to go on a business trip to India and the Himalayas – this was late January early February at the onset of the COVID PANDEMIC- naturally I was very concerned about her safety. While she was away – I woke up on a Saturday morning- (I was lying on my back my head was rotated to the right and slightly extended) and made my way to the bathroom- the room was spinning and I could feel that my eyes were darting left and right(nystagmus)- my heart was racing – I went to see my Dr. – they did an ECG and some tests for Labyrinthitis/Neuronitis/ BPPV- they gave me some cortisone and antivirals – assured me I had a Labyrinthitis and that I would be ok in 3 weeks or so — FAST FORWARD 9 MONTHS- I continue to have symptoms less than the initial symptoms but nonetheless still affects daily life – I have seen numerous doctors, audiologists and ENTS and they have done Vhit tests CT scans and found nothing except for a left vestibular hypofunction- which may cause the symptoms but it does not tie up completely-
I have seen Chiropractors which which I must say are hit and miss – sometimes they help and sometimes they dont- I have tried to be very systematic about my symptoms to try and find triggers
so here goes
my symptoms are – sensation of being in a car – pulling off and stopping rapidly, walking on a trampoline, sensation of being sucked into the bed- sensation of being on a boat especially when I lie on my sides, a sensation of being washed over by a wave – sensation of feeling like I am going to pass out. sometimes it feels like gravity increases and I feel heavier – weird I know…
Things that I feel – tension tension tension – just under the occiput/ back of the head and neck – jaw clenching and tightness (I got a bite plate- no help) shoulders are super tight -blocked ears- squeaking of the ears if I eat – crunching sounds in my neck and in my TMJ
interestingly enough if I lie on my back my ears block up ??! when I wake up and my neck is sore especially on the right under the occiput then my dizziness is worse.
differential Diagnosis so far- Labyrinthitis, neuronitis, anxiety, sinusitis, cervicogenic dizziness
meds I take – anti histamines, nose spray anti inflammatory if required – they help somewhat, magnesium and zinc
Trigger factors – coffee, strawberries, cheese, msg, gluten
what I think- think there is definitely a stress anxiety component however whether the stress is causing the tension in my shoulders neck and jaw or vice versa I am not sure.
Am seeing the Chiro again tomorrow- will start some physical therapy and Biokinetics next week
I am eager to hear your thoughts 🙂 lots of love and healing
Trish
Hi Pedro. I’m so sorry to hear that you have this sensation(s). I applaud you for really diving in to this and figuring out what triggers you.
I am with you on the tension, tension, tension and in the same areas too. My ears don’t block frequently but they do block and I’ve always attributed that to my jaw tension. What happens when you try and relax the muscles involved in the tension? For me, these muscles contract and contort when I try to relax them. It’s why I have been diagnosed with dystonia. And the dystonia does impact the intensity of my floating sensation and my vertigos… well I actually lump floating in with my 3 other forms of vertigo and call them my “vertigos”.
I also have had, at one time, the “weird” sensations that you have reported.
Since you have done so much toward trying to resolve this from an allopathic standpoint, what I have to suggest is more alternative.
Like looking into the Medical Medium which will give you a different perspective from the conventional. And to be honest, for most people is a last resort when nothing else has worked — there is a high level of desperation. This is what he has to say on vertigo/floating/dizziness: https://www.medicalmedium.com/thyroid-healing-medical-medium/vertigo-meniere-s-disease-dizziness-balance-issues… virus related which has caused inflammation in the vagus nerve. Again, he is not conventional but his stuff may resonate with you, in fact, his methodology explains why coffee, cheese, msg, gluten are triggers for your floating and potentially strawberries if you’re not buying organic.
I also recommend trauma resolution therapy (somatic experiencing, EDMR, EFT/Matrix Reimprinting, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Bessel van der Kolk, Gabor Maté, etc.) because I am a big believer that the “no cause and no cure” illnesses comes back to trauma (including developmental and attachment trauma… really anything that disconnects you from yourself).
These are the approaches I am taking at the moment; Medical Medium and trauma resolution therapy. In the trauma therapy, I am addressing the dystonia first and it has helped. I have faith that I am on the right track regardless of the outcome because having the vertigos since 2007, thinking otherwise is insanity.
I hope this helps.
Much love,
Trish
Cryatal
My 10year old son says his body feels like a feather (is that maybe the floating you all are talking about? )then he freaks out has panic like episodes screaming thinking he’s going to die. He can’t explain what he means when he says his body feels like a feather it’s light… someone help please
Trish
I’m so sorry to hear your son is experiencing such a sensation.
Floating to me feels like I am in the bottom of boat in a stormy sea.
Does your son mean he doesn’t feel heavy? As in grounded?
Tanja
I know this feeling. I often feel like that. In my case it’s flashbacks from a real zero-g flight. At first it was weird, but I’ve gotten used to it to keep reoccurring (although it can be distracting at times). But I agree, it is not possible to really describe it.
Maybe it could help him to reassure that gravity is still there, if he stretches out his arms and let them drop. That’s what I do sometimes to be sure that I am not in some sort of dream and that the world is still normal. For sure he will not die from this and it is also not a sign that death is near.
Sometimes (if distraction is not an issue) I just play with it.
Janet
Hi Trish,
Thanks so much for the blog. It definitely feels comforting to a degree knowing that I’m not alone in this. Just curious, I noticed in one of the comments that you mentioned that you were going to try functional vestibular neurology and you found a place that vagus nerve stimulation. Just wondering how that went and if it helped at all? Thanks so much again!
Trish
Hi Janet. I never tried the therapy and I cannot remember why now. Sorry about that.
Trish
Lonnie
Hello, I am a 15 year old male and I have been having this feeling for about a week or two. I often smoke weed and have been for a while. I have been through many traumatic events in my short life. Even when I don’t think about those events I still get this feeling. I have had one severe anxiety attack and many little ones. I just want answers and how to get rid of it if you could reply that would be great. Thanks.
Trish
Hi Lonnie. I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing this horrific sensation. My recommendation is to see your doctor and specialists to confirm that the problem isn’t something obvious to them. As for answers on how to get rid of it, I don’t have any. I’m truly sorry for that. My recommendations on how to manage it are in the blog post. You will see what commenters have tried at the end of the blog post. I hope that gives you some insight. Much love, Trish
Lonnie
Im still not sure if “floating” is really what im feeling I can’t describe it but this sounds the closest.
Lonnie
But it is mainly my head gets very heavy and I feel as if ill pass out for a few seconds and it will go away and then come back minutes later
Jessica
Lonnie,
Your symptoms sound like mine. I have very heavy head pressure on top of my head like I’m wearing a pressure cap. I’m also sensitive to bright sunlight. I always feel like oxygen to my brain is being reduced, and I get this lightheaded sensation as if my blood pressure is dropping and I’m going to pass out. It’s really scary.:(
Lonnie
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I FEEL. have you. found out what causes it?
Trish
This does not sound like the floating sensation I experience. My sensation is more like I am standing on the bow of a ship in stormy seas… an up and down and sometimes sideways motion when I’m standing or lying down.
Lonnie
Do you have any idea what it might be? my mom used to be a nurse and she says I am perfectly fine
Trish
I haven’t personally discovered what is the cause in my case but if you check at the bottom of the post in the “Possible Cures” section, there are a few who feel that they have resolved it.
Lonnie
It won’t let me reply anymore LOL. I think the cause could be anxiety because mine is very severe. It also runs deeply in my family and whenever it happens I instantly worry that its death approaching. Im gonna talk to my mom about anti-anxiety medication and see if that helps I’ve heard it can make it worse but at this point ill do anything to make it go away. I also think it could be a concussion because I’ve never had one and I had a bad day ab a week ago and annihilated myself with punches which is a terrible habit of mine. Thank you all for the help I wish you all the best. <3
Trish
Good luck, Lonnie. Let us know how it goes.
Much love to you.
Trish
Maureen
I think you are correct about it being caused by anxiety. The floating sensation for me and many others has been Dissociation because of Chronic ptsd. Perhaps you had a traumatic event in your life that you have buried, or maybe like me, your childhood was one of emotional neglect. It can be something as mundane as having parents that do not know how to express their emotions. They may not hug you, comfort you, all because they did not know how. You will need to explore your life events to unbury and acknowledge any memory feelings you may have, feel them, (get support if needed) release them. Tapping (EFT), somatic yoga, energy medicine. all work to help you release the energy of the emotion. This will take time. Be kind to yourself. It is time to give yourself the attention you did not get as a child. I hope that helps.
Katie
Hi Trish,
Since the pandemic started I’ve really been struggling with an anxiety relapse. I have terrible health anxiety and I think I am developing GAD. Since I have been worrying so much, I’ve developed similar feelings to the ones on this page. When I go outside or am put in a situation that triggers my anxiety, I feel like I’m unbalanced and that my arms are floating and I have no control over them. Today after feeling this way, I came home laid in bed and had a big cry and the feeling went away. Because of this I am assuming that it is caused my anxiety. I thought I would report my symptoms here to help other people and to help your statistics:) I am currently getting hypnotherapy to manage this so I hope it works!
Trish
Thank you for commenting, Katie and letting us know that you think it’s caused by anxiety. I will update my stats. I hope the hypnotherapy works for you too.
Much love,
Trish
Jessica Haralson
I have had this problem for many years. It is so awful. I have to grab and hold on to something because I feel like I will float away. It makes my body feel real light or numb. Sometimes I can go awhile and not feel it but sometimes it can bother me every day. It will be off and on through out the day. I feel like a freak. When I’m freaking out grabbing onto something not able to move or anything because of it. I think sleeping pills male it worse.
Trish
Hi Jessica. Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m so sorry how debilitating it is for you. It is a tough condition to live with. Much love, Trish
DestiNova
Sleeping pills will make it worse. Best not to eat any pill. I’ve had the spinning head for over five years. When it goes away its amazing, yet comes back with jet lag, going back into time. Also my research has led to the world being run by psychos. The psycho mainly are inbred, their eyes glow or are dead inside, no empathy and their smile does not connect to their eyes, (easy to spot). When you go to vote look at all the choices, look for the tell tale signs. I looked for my state and everyone was psycho spot on. I’m never voting again. The psycho will make your head spin by ruining everything, the stress of the psycho will make everything in your life/job worse. What is Earth, is it a rehab planet for the inbred? If so I want off the crazy train, kkk
Good luck everyone and follow the alien path, not the psycho one
DB
This is the first blog I’ve ever seen where the author updated the post 10 years later with more information. That was shocking enough that I’m bookmarking this blog for future reading. Thank you for helping to enunciate this symptom of anxiety.
Trish
Thank you for your feedback, DB. When I wrote the article, there was very little on the web about floating anxiety so over the first 7 years or so, the post received an overwhelming response. I decided to continue to update re the commenters findings to keep the post current — not only for the reader but for me as well. Much love, Trish
Trish
Maureen approached me via email re her book about floating and how she resolved it. I read the book this past week and it has lots of info on how to release stuck emotions and work with trauma… the tools she used to resolve her floating.
The author has written a blog post for me where she includes a link to the book in her bio. It is scheduled to be published on Mental Health Talk on Oct 21 but I thought I’d pass along the title of the book to you now so you can order it if you like. I got the ebook on Amazon.
“Floating, Healing by Feeling : My Journey through Emotional Neglect and C-PTSD”
By: Maureen Wolford
AntonioElere
While free-floating anxiety can be a sign of a mental health condition such as generalized anxiety disorder, it can also be something that people experience from time to time without having an actual anxiety disorder. Whether your anxiety is more persistent or if it comes and goes, there are things that you can do to better cope with these feelings. Some things you can do include: Avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms : Turning to alcohol or other substances may help in the short-term, but will often create worse problems in the long-term.
Samuel
This article is the closest I’ve come to ANY information on this medical phenomenon. Thank you for writing it! I’ve had a floating sensation constantly for months — since the middle of 2021. I only have vague guesses as to what is causing it. I’m trying to obtain a referral for a neurologist as of now. Am I wasting my time? Or should I do it, and if I do, how should I explain my condition?
I think I had this in only slight instances in the past, so slight that I never thought it was anything to even worry about. One day, about the third day after stopping a two-week stent of Zolpidem, I popped three caps of Valerian extract, waited about an hour, then climbed into bed. I instantly noticed that I felt like I was floating around. I didn’t sleep a wink that night (because of the Valerian) and prayed it would be gone the next night. Nope. I was still floating. From that day forward, I’ve discontinued all uses of all substances. Despite my best attempts at clean, healthy living, I’m not able to help my condition. It remains much the same was it was from the first time I noticed it.
Generally, this is how I perceive my condition: I usually have to be very still, still enough to notice my heart beat, then I feel myself begin to bob up and down, side to side. Sometimes I feel like I’m floating on a magic carpet, including a dropping sensation, or a sudden jerking sensation of changing directions. I’ve never timed how long this goes on, but It continues for about thirty minutes sometimes before the sensations slowly minimize. If I roll over in bed, or get up to use the bathroom, then lay back down again, the sensations will increase again for a while, but the longer I lay down, and hold still, the more they gradually subside again.
Usually, when I wake up, they are about absent or unnoticeable.
There has been ONE DAY out of all the days that I did NOT have the sensation when I laid down to sleep at night. I actually thought that I’d been cured and was very happy. I noticed the sensations upon waking the next morning. I have zero idea if anything I did caused the sensations not to bother me that night. I was just another unremarkable day to my knowledge. I’ve been clinging to that day as a sign that maybe there is hope that perhaps this condition will resolve with enough time.
I should mention that I have HPPD, and have had it for years. I used weed, MDMA, shrooms in the past. I’ve never experienced any floating sensations until now though, but I wonder if somehow HPPD is to blame for my floating condition. None of the official HPPD diagnosis sites mention floating sensations. It’s all visual stuff, and depression and anxiety.
Sorry for the long explanation, but I wanted to be sure that the condition that you mention is the one I had. Peace and love.
Trish
Hi Samuel. Thank you for explaining what you’re experiencing. My advice is that you still see the neurologist and you describe the sensation. I feel it is always good to rule things out. I say this not even being a fan of western medicine. But when I talk about it with medical professionals now just because I’m being asked about preexisting conditions, and after having it since 2007 and finishing all my medical testing around it in 2011, I refer to it as chronic vertigo and explain the sensation as a “floating sensation”.
The way you describe the sensation in your comment is very familiar to me, however I have it all the time. It is worse when I lay down.
I am not familiar with HPPD though I did look it up to see what it was about. A couple of commenters have reported it starting after recreation drug use but it’s not a common occurrence as per the comments on this post. I can tell you that I went through an 8 year period of madness at the time the floating started (please note the madness was caused by psychological/spiritual crisis not the floating) that involved visions, hallucinations, delusions, trippy visual perception issues, anxiety, depression, dissociation, ED and mania and though I have worked to resolve most of that, the floating still persists.
From my experience, I know that my floating has lessened considerably in intensity — almost nonexistent — when my nervous system was able to regulate itself. For the most part, I have a nervous system that is constantly in hyper-arousal and have other disorders that have developed because of this. So perhaps your day of no floating was stress free and did not include anything triggering — consciously triggering but subconsciously as well.
Keep us posted on you’re doing.
Much love,
Trish
Mike
Please look into the MTHFR gene mutation and it’s correlation with MAO Enzyme function. Especially in relation to histamine and tyramine intolerance. I think these cofactors contribute to anxiety disorders and the above described sensations in many people including myself.
https://www.beyondmthfr.com/comt-mao-brain-support/
Ray
Nice to see more work on floating. I wouldn’t be surprised if histamine plays a role in anxiety causing stress and triggering floating. I get stung 1000 times a season.
So, how to stop floating?
I just stopped floating since last episode 2019 flight from LAX to SEA. How? You aren’t going to like it. I prayed to my alien friends and fought hard to vanquish the floating. And it worked, three weeks no brain dismemberment feeling
After three more years of floating I’m wave free, only tired
I haven’t worked a regular job
many times over floating. I believe the population so high in psychos caused by inbreeding ( they have all the top positions) is the maim cause for my floating. Not many will embrace my remedy or causes for floating, yet how many have seen aliens, Sasquatch and dog man? See what I’m saying. By the way dog man is deer man, has a wife and kids. I don’t sit behind a desk, worked in the woods over 50 years. Good luck everyone.
Trish
Thanks for your comment, Ray. I don’t think everyone here is going to be opposed to your experience. Much love, Trish
Eve
Can I just say that everything you described at the top of this page is exactly how I feel, as I write this sat at my desk I feel like my head is a balloon being pumped up and wants to float away. It would be interesting for you to create a poll of common associated symptoms, this might help others to normals other scary feelings and put them into the same umbrella of anxiety.
STORY SUMMARY- I experienced emotional trauma from a cardiac episode alongside serious family issues
STORY:
I am a 22 year old female student from the UK, in june 2020 I experienced my first ever UTI, which with lack of experience wasn’t properly treated and led to a small kidney infection. I was in bed for a week with fever nausea, fatigue and side pain untreated. By the time I had finally gone to the doctor to receive antibiotics I had noticed pressure on my chest and weird loud heartbeats. I have always been a hypochondriac at heart and anxiety is common on both sides of my family. But it was my first ever hospital experience that led to the trauma I have been dealing with ever since.
I was diagnosed with a small Myopericarditis, I had immediate CT, MRI, Echo, and multiple ECGs and Blood tests, at one of the best cardiac wards in england. The doctors were all very confident that I have a good strong heart and this infection is actually benign and common in young healthy people, it goes away on its own but can be treated with simple over the counter anti inflammatories. I was happy with this news, but months of scary heart sensations proceeded and I became very self limiting. I was scared to leave my bed for fear that I would drop dead from Sudden cardiac death, I let my anxiety take complete control of me.
By september, the last day of my beta blocker and colchicine treatment, my heart seemed happy and relatively normal (I had learnt to ignore the occassional PVCs), but it was then that the floaty dizzy panic began. This symptom was actually more worrying and debilitating to me. I immediately assumed it was a brain bleed/tumour/resurfaced heart problem. It was also at this time that my mum fell into a deep depressive episode, she was on suicide watch and had to be taken away from me because my illness was causing her depression. This was definitely a trauma that worsened the floatyness. I paid for a brain MRI to make sure everything was fine and sure enough, I also have a healthy young brain.
I decided that the best thing to do was go back to uni and continue my studies, trying to cope and distract. the floatyness got less and less, but never fully went away. And this easter 2022 I had my first panic attack since that summer which has resurfaced that constant floaty feeling again. I believe this came about from experiencing a tight chest for a week prior; the worry that this could be linked to my heart brought about that same fight or flight I had felt constantly in the summer of 2020. Over the last 3 months, I have found this floating anxiety to be more chronic, I am beginning to feel anxious all the time, and my body scanning is constant and compulsive. I seem to be on a wheel of symptoms that I am consumed by and trigger the floaty feeling. Symptoms such as chest tightness, achy legs, headaches, PVCs, and urinary irritation (which I am sure is imaginary). And all these symptoms were felt at the time of my trauma. Sometimes I sit here and feel several things at once, and all I can do is be still and feel like I am dying.
This evening I commence my second round of counseling, two years on from when it happened, I have never committed to CBT before and I definitely don’t want to try medication, So I am hoping this will help me reset my belief system and approach bodily sensations in a different way.
I would be interested to hear of any experiences with hypnotherapy? does my experience sound like something suitable for hypnotherapy treatment?
Thank you for taking the time to read all this waffle, it feels good to get it all on one page.
I am so thankful there is a community here that understands this problem.
Trish
Hi Eve. Thank you for sharing your story and I’m glad that it felt good to do so. You will find the percentage of commenters who have certain symptoms related to the floating at the bottom of the post — hopefully that will help.
I have not tried hypnotherapy but if you find a practitioner you can trust, then it may help with the trauma. I have used an advanced form of EFT called Matrix Reimprinting for trauma resolution which worked well for me. Did it resolve my floating? No, but I’m sure it helped.
My floating has been at it’s least intense when my nervous system was regulated. What does that mean? When my nervous system was able to move between parasympathetic response and sympathetic response when appropriate. How does one get there? Well anything that reduces stress — not only emotion/mental but physical stress on the body (i.e. inflammation).
My suggestion is that you address the trauma first with the intention of minimizing your triggers around your health. This will help your nervous system. There are so many different trauma resolution therapies now… somatic experiencing (by Peter Levine), EDMR, EFT/Matrix Reimprtining, Compassionate Inquiry (by Gabor Mate), Internal Family System (by Richard Schwartz), reading Bessel van der Kolk’s work, yoga…. etc. Some have also found hypnotherapy works well for trauma resolution.
Good luck,
Trish
Sunny
Hi all,
As a frequent visitor to this blog, I feel the need to leave a mark here. While I do not suffer from the floating sensation, I believe my story could be related in some way and help alleviate any distress fellow sufferers may be experiencing. Please do read this post, even though it may be rather long.
I suffer from a condition over the past three years that is not well-defined in the medical industry, but I’ll simply refer to it as “chronic disequilibrium”. My symptoms first began on 25 September 2019 when I was 32 years old and were very intense the first few weeks. Out of the blue, I experienced a frightening sensation where I felt like the ground was uneven or shifting as I walked. During the initial three months, the attacks would come randomly and I would get a series of abnormal sensations such as:
1. Feeling like the ground was bouncy, as if I was in a bouncy castle or a trampoline.
2. Feeling like the ground was dropping beneath me several inches, as if there was an earthquake that sucked me down under. At times, it would feel like walking on peaks and valleys or on a pogo stick where the ground level had extremely uneven depths.
3. Feeling like walking on clouds. This one is a bit less severe than the first two and some doctors say it is a common symptom of vestibular migraine.
4. While standing still, I would be floating up and down. I assume this is similar to the “Floating Anxiety” symptom described on this blog.
Luckily, all of these sensations faded away during the first three months but they didn’t totally disappear. While my symptoms have waned, they still linger and manifest themselves into different forms. The only good thing is they only occur while walking and I feel completely normal whenever I am sitting or lying down. The symptoms I now have for the remaining two years are:
1. Feeling like walking on a boat where the ground is moving up and down like waves.
2. Feeling like the ground is shifting at many levels. At times, the ground feels very hard on the feet like the Earth is pushing me up and at times it feels soft like a sponge.
I have noticed that there is a pattern to my symptoms. They tend to be more severe during the evening such as the last few hours of work and at night before going to sleep, whereas it is almost non-existent in the morning. Whenever I spend long hours on the computer or feel stressed, this often triggers the attacks. Other observations I had was that the disequilibrium is triggered when I go up and down the elevator or when I perform a series of balance tests such as standing on one leg, tandem walking, etc. However, whenever I take a vacation, the symptoms rarely occur. I also feel a strong pulsating sensation in my right ear at times.
After spiraling down to depression, feeling suicidal, and desperate to find answers, I went to a total of 18 doctors during the first year. FYI, I live in Thailand so the hospital costs are probably cheaper than the US. I am a 35-year-old male from Thailand but used to live in the US from 2001-2011. The first 16 doctors didn’t understand what I was going through and misdiagnosed the condition as a form of Meniere’s disease, panic disorder, chronic stress, and neck tension (tight neck muscles) that cause poor circulation of blood to the cerebellum part of the brain which controls balance. My MRI scan turned out to be normal as well. I tried everything from traditional medicine, dry needling, and acupuncture but they didn’t work. Luckily, the last two doctors I went to were respected neurotologists who saved my life. Finally, a diagnosis came on 3 September 2020. The first neurotologist was able to read through the report of my vestibular function tests (which I had earlier with a different doctor who was very incompetent and told me I had nothing wrong) and found out that my VEMP (Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential) test results were abnormal.
I was diagnosed with “otolith dysfunction”, which is a hypofunction/impairment of the vestibular organ that is responsible for linear acceleration (horizontal and vertical movement) as well as receiving sensory input from our body’s position relative to gravity. The otolith is comprised of two smaller organs called vestibules which are the utricle (horizontal acceleration) and saccule (vertical acceleration). https://dizziness-and-balance.com/anatomy/ear/otoliths.html.
Otolith impairment can occur for a number of reasons such as a virus attacking the otolith portion of the inner ear, trauma to the inner ear, or from ototoxic medication (drugs which are toxic to the inner ear). Here is a list of ototoxic drugs published by Dr. Neil Bauman: https://www.soundrelief.com/list-of-ototoxic-medications/. I suspect that I got it from taking two rounds of ciprofloxacin for a streptococcus infection I had since June 2019. Ever since, my balance didn’t feel normal. I would constantly feel like fainting, disoriented, dizzy, but the damage the drug caused didn’t fully manifest until September 2019.
For my treatment, I was directed to a vestibular rehab specialist who told me to perform a series of exercises for 6-12 months for complete resolution of the symptoms. I first began my exercises on 10 September 2020 and did them until the end of 2021. However, while the symptoms have improved to around 80-90%, they have not completely vanished which got me even more desperate. I went back to my neurotologist and asked him for stress-relief medication. He prescribed me Fluoxetine (Prozac) 20mg tablets, which I began taking since 8 January 2022. At first, I hated taking SSRIs because I have tried taking Zoloft and Lexapro and had to withdraw from its effects after two weeks. Luckily, my body seems to accept Prozac. Miraculously, the symptoms began to get better to the point of vanishing. Up until this day, I would say they are 99% gone (almost being perfect). While I may not be permanently cured, it has improved to the point where it is acceptable and does not interfere with my daily life function.
Prozac is an SSRI for panic disorder, so is my case a multiple condition of otolith dysfunction and panic disorder? Not exactly. Here is why. When our vestibular system is impaired, our body has to rely on other sensory information to compensate for the loss of balance as the vestibular organ has limited ability to repair itself. This process happens when the brain compensates by learning to not receive errant sensory information of the inner ear. Vestibular rehabilitation trains the brain that way, but the process is often slow. Prozac helps rewire the brain faster by changing its neural pathways. After taking 20mg tablets for the first three months from January to March 2022, I tapered the dosage to 10mg. I couldn’t be much happier. I feel I am getting my life back.
I consider myself lucky as I learned from my doctor that some people suffer from this condition for at least 5-10 years. For the unlucky few, they have experienced it for more than 20 years or their entire lives. This condition is often misdiagnosed as anxiety, but it is not. However, they are closely related. Anxiety/stress triggers the symptoms and makes it harder for the brain to compensate. Of course, a normal adult who gets stressed would not experience such symptoms but all of us on this blog have a vestibular/neurological deficit in some way, which is why they exist. The possible cure which seems to work for me is a combination of vestibular therapy and Prozac for at least a year.
I would also advise everybody here to get test a couple of vestibular function tests (i.e. ENG/VNG, Posturography, SVV, VHIT, VEMP). If you suspect otolithic impairment though, the most important ones would be SVV and VEMP. Many thanks to Trish as well for creating this blog and helping others who are suffering connect together as a community. I really appreciate your efforts.
Take care,
Sunny
Trish
Thank you very much, Sunny, for taking the time to comment with this excellent information. I will add to my post that a person experiencing floating may want to look into getting vestibular function tests. I’m very happy for you that your symptoms are resolved. And thank you for your kind words about my blog post.
Much love,
Trish
Sunny
No problem, Trish. Best of luck to you and the others as well on the road to recovery with the floating sensation. I hope you find a permanent cure for it so it no longer impairs your quality of life. It is a shame there is not much research in the medical industry about this condition, as many doctors are unfamiliar with it.
Forgot to add as well that there are two more links that I found useful and wanted to share. The first is a more detailed article on specific drugs which are ototoxic, while the second is an article about the link between serotonin and the vestibular system.
1. https://dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bilat/ototoxins.html
2. https://dizziness-and-balance.com/anatomy/physiology/neurotransmitters.htm
Julie Abbuhl
I’m so glad it is not just me, though I am sorry others are suffering.
It’s been 6+ months. Today, after I read this I forced myself to go get a haircut and pickup food. I’m still worried about a PET scan that said I may Alzheimer’s but at least l am living instead of staying in bed all day.
Trish
Thank you for your comment, Julie. Congratulations on venturing out of your safe place — I know how incredibly difficult that is given the sensation and the anxiety that goes with it. It’s taking these little steps that will help you to get used to the sensation. Please keep us posted. Much love, Trish
Matt
Hi all,
I started reading this thread when I got my symptoms and thought I’d share. It’s been 5 days since my symptoms begun. At first when I stared at an object for a few seconds, the object would start to warp and distort a bit like a optic illusion. The background would also shake a little. By the third day I also developed this “floating” symptom. Just like being in a boat that slowly bobs up and down. My vision would go up and down and my bodily sense of balance. It goes on non-stop and I’ve noticed stress, anxiety and fear makes it even worse. Even at times when I’m not feeling stressed my floating and vision distortion would still be there, just not as significant.The only time it seems to improve is when I’m deeply engaged in conversation or driving in a car. It’s when I’m concentrating hard on a task or distracted that I don’t notice the symptoms or that they’ve calmed.
The doctors (neurologist, opthamologist) ruled out from the blood tests and mri of my brain, and eye tests that I don’t have any viruses,physical issues and it isn’t neurological. Their explanation was “Sometimes our brain converts stress into these unexplainable physical symptoms. Maybe they would disappear one day.”
And I think at least in my case, they are right. As a counselling student I’ve read about cases of how people who suffered from trauma of have gone through prolonged stress have developed phantom illnesses that doctors can’t diagnose. Their bodies are physically fine and the tests show nothing. It was only when their trauma was explored and accepted or that their stress and anxiety was managed that these clients started healing. Not all of them were cured, but their symptoms were reduced.
And from what I learnt, chronic stress changes the circuits in our brains which makes it start to process things inappropriately. This is reversible but can take a long time. Part of it is reducing that anxiety and stress.
The other part is, to my speculation working with the somatic psychotherapist, psychologist, counsellor or whoever has experience in this to address the brain neurology part.
I’m going to give that a go, find a therapist, reduce my stress and anxiety and see if any changes happen. I can empathise with everyone here, it sucks. I’ve had panic attacks, depression, fear that my old life is over. Taking a walk in the park is a struggle, holding a conversation is hard, even if I close my eyes I still have the floating sensation. It’s scary having to re learn the things you used to be able to do and finding out you’re now limited. I’m still struggling with this nightmare, but I know as long as we take each day at a time, we will manage.
Good luck to us all! If any recovery with my condition happen I will keep you updated.
Trish
Thank you so much for sharing with us, Matt. I hope that with your approach you find recovery. I know when my nervous system is most regulated, my floating is much less intense. And yes, please keep us posted. Much love, Trish
Alexis
Hey Guys, I’m really glad I found this article because I’ve been dealing with a floating sensation for about 3 months now. I don’t feel it when I run or when I’m walking outside. But if I sit down and move my legs or any part of my body it feels like my body shifts up then down but if I don’t move I won’t feel anything. It’s really weird and annoying. I’ve had anxiety for as long as I can remember and I am now 22. I’ve been with many doctors and they say it’s most likely anxiety because I do not show any other neurological symptoms. I do have an acute chronic ear problem but currently taking Claritin and Flonase for it. Im hypochondriac and it’s very stressful on the daily. Im pretty the floating sensation is due to my chronic stress that I’ve had for a very long time especially this past year. What do you think? Im very stressed about it and would like an idea of what it could really be. Thanks.
Trish
Sorry, Alexis. I was not notified of your comment and just saw it now. Please forgive me for taking so long to approve it.
Yes, I hear you and see you how stressful it is to have the floating sensation. It is a horrible thing when you’ve only had it for a short time. If you are satisfied with the testing and procedures your doctors have done to clear you have any conditions that could be the cause, I think it’s reasonable to consider stress/anxiety as a possible cause. Even more specific, dis-regulation in your nervous system. But I am not a doctor and this is just a suggestion.
Love,
Trish
mubashar
Hei,
I have similar ripples effect while sitting, standing and lying on bed like buoy moves up and down and sideways just like liquid is bushing inside vessels. I have this effect since last year went to doctor and he did blood tests/MRI/ECG everyhing is normal.
During summer time it was reduced abit and in december 2022 when i was on vacations it disappeared completley . But now again back the same time it started lasted year.
I feel it more active after driving, long walks, eating and drinking tea.
Trish
Hi mubashar. I agree with Desti about the main culprit being stress — that’s what I believe as well. Specifically the dis-regulation of the nervous system. So any thing you can do to regulate your nervous system (breath work, meditation, etc.) or stimulate the vagus nerve (lots of exercises — google it), may be helpful.
mubashar and I have discussed via email, that I think understanding your triggers is also helpful and can lead to insight. I asked mubashar, “what was your emotional/mental/spiritual state like when it started? What was going on in your environment when it started? How about these things when it went away?” When it came back?” xoxo
DestiNova
Hi mubasar, ray here. It feels so good when it goes away…. yet when it returns what a bummer… My floating started after a dream abduction, I went out of body and visited the alien council, I had my life review on a huge screen in front of many aliens. How embarrassing ever second of my life on the screen, when they showed me drunk, i couldn’t take it anymore and walked out an imaginary door to just blue air, light as nothing… an alien guide appeared an said its ok, you passed your life review just do anything stupid anymore… i drink once a year, cautious as hell…kkk… later… 3 years a portal exploded in my car on the passenger side, i looked inside, i saw another dimension.. then it imploded, i was frantic, took a pic before i ran off the road.. next day no floating the portal is defined as Centropy, its in The Book of Enoch… on vacation, no floating for two months then… stress triggered the floating back, 7 years of broken brain… I’m living with it everyday
Hang in there… i believe stress is a main culprit brought on by life’s unexpected experiences.