Sudden dizziness in bed

I have for the last few weeks been feeling on edge and feeling panic attacks come on every day but they come to nothing. A few days ago I woke up feeling nauseous and tense and got up and lay on the sofa in the lounge and in the afternoon I had a 20 minutes nap (sleep) on the sofa and woke up feeling refreshed and a lot better.

Anyway, that night I went to bed to watch some television while on my iPad. The television is on a table at the left side of my bed and whilst browsing the net I decide to move my head to the left to watch a bit of television. When I did this my head flopped uncontrollably forward and I got a sudden overwhelming dizzy feeling which left me having a horrible falling feeling all night and started off my anxiety.

I eventually got to sleep with that feeling but woke up in the morning with still that falling dizzy feeling.

Does anyone know what this could of been? My head just fell forward as if there was no control from my neck and head muscles and a I got a sudden overwhelming dizzy feeling.

 

If you're thinking 'physically' instead of TMS, then it could be BPVV as that gives a falling dizzy feeling http://www.menieres.org.uk/information-and-support/symptoms-and-conditions/bppv (Ménière’s Society: BPPV) - although I don't know that the head flopping uncontrollably is associated with the condition.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I actually was convinced it was BPVV last time it happened last year but my doctor lay me on a table while moving my head and I didn’t feel dizzy which confirmed that it wasn’t BPVV. My doctor thinks it could be vestibular migraine as I sometimes suffer ocular migraines due to emotional stress and anxiety.

 

Would vestibular migraine account for the head flopping uncontrollably?

 

I was thinking that too because I am really worried about that because my head flopping to the side has never happened before. It’s as if I had fainted for a fraction of a second but I didn’t realise I had fainted and only the head and neck muscles lost control for that brief second hence my head falling to the side when I turned my head to watch television.

 

Has your doctor ruled out Meniere's disease? I know of it because my father had it. With Meniere's 'drop attacks' can occur, which might explain a temporary lost of control of the head and neck muscles. The attacks usually happen when standing, but can apparently happen when lying down in bed. On this forum thread https://patient.info/forums/discuss/question-for-those-who-suffer-drop-attacks-528735 (Question for those who suffer drop attacks | Meniere's Disease | Patient) Eleftherios S. Papathanasiou, PhD, FEAN, Clinical Neurophysiologist, Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology says: "Drop attacks are due to loss of tone in the muscles, or background force if you like. This is related to a direct communication between the vestibular system of the inner ear and the spinal cord, called the vestibulospinal tract. The episode will be like a temporary paralysis if you are lying down." Dizziness/vertigo is a symptom of Meniere's and nausea can be too. My father sometimes used to have to sleep for several hours in order to feel better after he experienced a drop attack. (I'm not sure if he ever had such attacks in bed though.) Here's a link about Meniere's https://vestibular.org/menieres-disease (Ménière’s Disease).

I was experiencing attacks of dizziness myself a few weeks ago over a period of about 3 weeks; I was staggering about like I was trying to walk on the deck of ship in very choppy waters...But then it went away (with me obviously hoping that it won't come back)...However, when it was happening I was trying to research into it and saw that there are quite a number of causes of dizziness/vertigo so, unfortunately, it can all be rather confusing.

 

Thanks for the links.

It’s a coincidence you mention Ménière’s disease because just a moment ago I was drying my hair with a towel and all of a sudden I felt a heavy ringing in my ears along side an overwhelming dizzy feeling which last a few seconds. I’ve had that before but it was a few months ago and I have always thought it could be Meniere’s.

I do suffer at times ultra high pitched tinnitus sometimes when I wake in the morning and I do have slight tinnitus in my right ear that I only notice when I am in complete silence. I recently got my hearing tested and y audiologist told me that I have normal hearing.