One of the reasons anxiety-related dizziness can be a problem is because anxiety-related dizziness can trigger an automatic stress response, which means your body may involuntarily respond with a stress response as soon as it senses you are off balance. These automatic stress responses can be fast, strong, and seem uncontrollable.
Many symptoms of an anxiety attack are caused by hyperventilating. During times of intense stress and anxiety, your breathing tends to become irregular, causing you to exhale too much carbon dioxide while also making you feel like you are not getting enough oxygen.
It is important that the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body are balanced. When you hyperventilate, you do not have enough carbon dioxide in your blood, which causes changes in your body. For example, your blood vessels constrict, your heart beats faster, and blood flow to your brain decreases. This can lead to feeling dizzy.
How to stop feeling dizzy?
Since feeling dizzy when you’re anxious is often caused by hyperventilating, the best way to prevent it is to make sure you stop hyperventilating.
This is often easier said than done. During a panic attack, regaining control of your breathing can be a challenge. But there are tips that can make the process easier.
It’s important to remember that:
Hyperventilating makes you feel like you need to take in more air, but in reality, you need to exhale more slowly to rebalance your carbon dioxide and oxygen levels.
Hyperventilating isn’t just about breathing faster. It’s also about trying to take in more air than your body needs. If you try to yawn or take deeper breaths, you’ll continue to hyperventilate as long as you’re breathing faster.
Hyperventilating doesn’t always go away quickly
With that in mind, the idea is to simply slow down your breathing and try to resist the urge to take deeper breaths than necessary or to take deep breaths too quickly. You can do this by counting seconds. Breathe in for about 5 seconds. Hold for a few seconds. Then breathe out for about 7 seconds. Try not to worry too much about how much air you’re taking in, just breathe slowly and naturally.
Hyperventilation disorders often cause many other symptoms, including chest pain. It’s important to remind yourself that hyperventilation can cause this. If you fear these sensations – pain, lightheadedness, dizziness, etc. you risk making your anxiety worse. This, in turn, increases your risk of hyperventilation.
Some Other Common Remedies to Get Rid of Dizziness Quickly
Ginger is another quick remedy for dizziness and motion sickness. You can take ginger through supplements, ground or fresh ginger, or make ginger tea. However, consult your doctor before taking any supplements as they may interact with other medications.
Other options include lifestyle changes such as acupuncture, Epley maneuvers, physical therapy, and regular exercise. Doctors often recommend treating both conditions at the same time. In general, you may get better results with diuretics, anticholinergics, and antihistamines.
Sometimes chronic or acute vertigo can resolve without medication. Usually, the human body will adapt to whatever is causing the vertigo after a few weeks.
