Welcome to PC JLH,

Sure does sound similar to when I started having anxiety attacks that effected my daily living. I am sure I had anxiety attacks that I could handle most of my life since I went through college & got my BS in computer science. Got married while in college & had my daughter 10 months before my graduation. I really pushed myself all of my life.

It wasn't until my career had a major change & ended up in a position that I hated & they wouldn't let me transfer into a position where I fit. On top of that, the Northridge earthquake hit & it took me 6 hours to drive to work & 6 hours home. I would sit in my office in tears with my door closed. I couldn't control my shaking & felt like an animal that had been backed into a corner with no way to escape. I ended up first going to my GP thinking I was having some heart problems...I didn't understand what was going on with me....it was something I had never felt before. She put me on busbar for the anxiety & it had no effect on it at all & no increase dose worked either. My Dr made sure I had extended medical leave & because of that, the medical insurance forced me to go to a psychologist & then to a pdoc. They had me going to so many different pdocs & psychologists, I didn't know whether I was coming or going. Then the pdoc's decided to put me on a stronger anti-anxiety med which at the time really knocked me out & like you described...very light headed. I wanted so bad to feel like myself again...but it just kept getting worse even when I wasn't going to work. I would really get shakey when the people from work would call to see how I was doing....I didn't want to talk to them at all. The worst part was that I didn't understand what was happening to me. I thought I was having the old term "a nervous breakdown"...I was afraid of what was happening to me....it was such a strange feeling that I had never experienced before. The hard part for me was that I had no idea how to talk to a psychologist. I had never had to talk to anyone like that before & I was afraid of saying something wrong.

I hope that things will go better for you than for me. 12 years later, I am still on disability & have had many other problems that have just piled on top of the initial anxiety attacks. What you are feeling can be both from the anxiety you are going through (when I have an anxiety attack, I feel light headed....& my meds can also cause me to feel lightheaded). You have found a great internet site for support.....they have been great here helping me understand some of the things I have since gone through in the last 2 years. Hope you are able to find it to be as much help as I have.

Take care.....hope I might have helped a little,
Debbie