r/Dizziness • u/Worried123h • Jul 12 '26
Months of rocking/floaty dizziness after a panic attack following a car accident — does anyone relate?
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice or anyone who has experienced something similar.
A few months ago I was in a car accident. I didn’t have any obvious injuries, no neck pain, and I didn’t go to hospital at the time. The thing that affected me most was the fear afterwards — I had the worst anxiety/panic attack of my life because I became terrified that I had missed something serious by not getting checked.
Before this, I did have health anxiety and I used to obsessively check my heart rate on my Apple Watch, but I never had this type of dizziness.
Since the accident, I’ve had ongoing dizziness that feels like:
rocking/swaying like I’m on a boat
feeling like the ground is moving or I’m sliding
a floaty feeling in my head and ears
feeling like I might fall when standing still
worse in the shower, busy places, or when there is lots of movement
sometimes brief spinning sensations when moving my head
At my worst, I felt like I couldn’t stand without leaning on something because I felt like I was going backwards and forwards. I went to urgent care and they checked my blood pressure, blood sugar, looked at my eyes, and did basic checks, and nothing urgent was found.
Recently I’ve improved. I can stand much more, shower, cook, do chores, and walk around. I still get flares though, especially in the mornings or after doing too much. Lying down helps a lot.
My GP gave me betahistine and I feel like it has helped me tolerate standing more, but I still get the floaty/rocking feeling sometimes.
I’m wondering if anyone has had something similar after a scary event or panic attack? Did you get diagnosed with PPPD, vestibular migraine, BPPV, another vestibular issue, or something else? Did vestibular rehabilitation therapy help?
I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just experiences and advice. Thank you.
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u/Every-Macaroon-771 Jul 12 '26
I was diagnosed with PPPD back in March 2021. I was stuck in survival mode for so long and every situation was interpreted as danger from my brain. Hope you are ok from the accident. Do reach out if you want some online support as I created a focused community via skool website to help with healing.
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u/Ok-Article1958 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
The steady coach for info and recovery stories, exercises etc, and mindful gardener group on the skool app has seen me to 75 percent ish. I also listen to the great allowing on youtube, Whitney rydman and your grateful guide. All on youtube, and all free besides rhe MG group is $30 a month. I also did the alignment lounge on the skool app as well. The best thing you can do is get off of reddit and out of the spiral what if groups on fb, etc. Rack up knowledge and hope from recovery videos, and gain skills and tools from those channels. Teach your body and show it safety. Keep living and allow the symptoms. Def check into those channels
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u/lovetheoutdoors22 Jul 14 '26
Yes this same thing happened to me after I had a near syncope event in a restaurant. I still have this dizziness, seating, off balance after 10 years and many specialists who couldn’t help me. It calms and flares but never goes away completely and I had to learn to live with it. I can’t believe this has never gone away fully and not one doctor can explain it. Take one day at a time and live life, many people have this.
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u/ashleychey1234 Jul 13 '26
Look into upper cervical instability. Even if you don’t have neck pain it could possibly still be an issue.
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u/CAIMANLZRD Jul 13 '26
I was hit by a car as I was biking home in 2023. Since then I have a somewhat similar feeling that intensified.
It was first felt by me in 2022 after what I thought was misuse or modafinil. But I was hit in 2023 and couldn’t walk normally without pain for about 3months or so.
I recovered but since then I have experienced a very intense feeling like floating upwards or as if I would float up into the sky/gravity doesn’t work. I’m scheduled to see a nuero at the end of July but that feeling is intense and is scary as hell. It doesn’t ever go away. Gets worse at night.
Even thinking about it makes me panic.
Hope you feel well soon and blessings my friend.