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THE BASICS: Dizziness makes the world go around. It can make you feel certain that it's actually spinning...it comes at random times, frightens and just keeps on coming, always at those unpredictable times. At times, the attacks will make you feel that you seriously need to grab hold of something, or sit down, or lie down or even lean against a wall, in the fear that you may fall if you do not.
The lightheadedness isn't quite a fit of dizziness...instead of spinning, there is a sensation of head movement and sometimes head-and-upper-body movement that is not being deliberately done by you, yourself. This can be just as frightening as can be the dizziness, but is usually a condition experienced by far fewer people than those with dizziness.
Whichever you are experiencing and whichever it was that brought you here, there are reasons for these conditions and ways to combat them both.
Occasionally, your doctor/s will be completely unable to find the reason. This is not cause to become more worried than you already were...this is reason to do more looking and more thinking for yourself, to find the cause and to maybe make the condition comfortably less or even to go away, again.
Let's list the commonest of the causes of dizziness and/or lightheadedness...
01: Your heartbeat may be going too quickly, due to anxiety, exertion/effort or due to having just done a healthy burst of exercise on a walking machine, stepper machine or in walking or running, indoors or outdoors, for fitness and/or lower body strength. Almost any physical effort is capable of increasing your heart's speed and power enough to make you feel dizzy or just feel lightheaded. If this is the cause, you are not suffering from an illness...you are experiencing a side-effect of vigorous movement causing the heart's beating to bring on brief periods of dizziness, owing to the shifting levels of blood pressure around the ears, scalp and neck.
02: Overbreathing, or hyperventilation during anxious times, anxiety periods or actual panic attacks are perfect candidates for causing dizziness and lightheadedness.
Anxiety attacks (or periods of dizziness that you feel sure that there are no reasons for, at all) are perfectly capable of throwing your surrounding world into fits of spinning and swaying. When you (for any reason) overbreathe, the oxygen level reaching your neck, brain, eyes and ears, becomes irregular; jumping up one moment and dropping, sometimes quite suddenly, a moment later.
All body parts involved in keeping you feeling upright, stable and focussed are affected by the rapidly changing levels of oxygen that they receive...change those oxygen levels too much, too often and, well...you're already experiencing one result, now.
The eyes / brain / ears are all hard workers in keeping us in that upright and stable state. If the oxygen levels, through overbreathing, are varied too much for even just a few minutes, you have a very good chance of experiencing this dizziness or lightheadedness...sometimes, both.
The obvious remedy for this is to get your breathing to slow down and to even out, and there are many ways in which this can be achieved. Research the subject of deep and even breathing exercises and how to make them a part of your daily life...your dizziness and lightheadedness will very probably respond very well to this effort.
If you learn to mix bodily relaxation (executed body-part by body-part) with the correct/corrective breathing habits, your dizziness and/or lightheadedness may drop to dramatic levels.03: If you suffer from migraines, or think that you may be starting to suffer from them (check family history - or, any other precipitating factors, with your doctor), there is a chance that you may suffer from dizziness or lightheadedness because of any oncoming attack of one of these.
Some sufferers from migraine headaches experience dizziness and lightheadedness without an actual migraine having to come on, or be coming on, at all. This is no more serious than for many other of the commoner causes of dizzines, etc.. Some sufferers of headaches that are not even migraines can suffer from dizziness and/or lightheadedness, also.04: If you get up from a chair of any kind too quickly, stand up from a stooping position too quickly, or straighten up from a bent-at-the-waist posture too quickly, your upper torso, neck and head blood pressure will quite probably drop, but not for many seconds.
However, for no matter how few seconds this might occur, one very likely result is either dizziness or lightheadedness (although lightheadedness is the commoner result of this action.)05: Any person who has consumed alcohol (as a one-off or as a habit, but more likely if it is a one-off, given their body's most recent unfamiliarity with it), no matter what the amount, is also a dizziness or lightheadedness attack just waiting to happen.
Part of the reason for this is that the alcohol, being a toxin, is rushed out of the body through urination at a much greater rate than usual and this accelerated fluid loss leads to their body dehydrating. The dehydration means that the thicker blood moves at a slower rate and, in so doing, carries less oxygen to the head, eyes and ears, etc..06: Some who are on antidepressants, tranquillisers, beta-blocker medication or analgesics are also apt to suffer some periods of lightheadedness or dizziness.
The documented history and pharmacy-provided side-effects details for almost all of those drugs include dizziness and/or lightheadedness as a side-effect, so, if you feel that this may be your own cause for such conditions happening to you, consult the health care provider who prescribed the medication/s for you, about this side-effect.
If you cannot get a timely appointment to see them in person, try to speak with them on the telephone. In the absence of a discussion with your health care provider about this dizziness/lightheadedness side-effect, have a long chat with the person in charge of the pharmacy wherein your prescription was processed.
Pharmacists know amazing amounts of details and are a mine of useful, practical information and advice at times when you are worried about a possible medication side-effect and how to deal with it.07: Poor quality air or a bad oxygen supply in a room in which you spend some considerable time can also lead to feelings of dizziness and lightheadedness.
Ensure that the rooms in which you spend your time ( especially lengthy periods of sitting or sleeping) are well ventilated without allowing yourself or other occupants of the room to get too cold. Never underestimate the role that breathing often plays in the condition of dizziness or lightheadedness.08: Low blood sugar (Hypoglycaemia?) is a well-known causer of dizziness or lightheadedness. This is not a subject that can possibly be covered fully enough in one web page.
If you suspect that you may be experiencing dizziness or lightheadedness because of having low blood sugar, do not make the mistake of automatically suspecting diabetes...you can have attacks of hypoglycaemia all of the way through your life without ever becoming a diabetic. The two things are not the same and there are some major differences in the actual cause of each.09: If you dehydrate, through any reason (anxious overbreathing, running without replacing bodily fluids in the form of plain water intaken at regular intervals, etc.,) you stand a very good chance of experiencing dizziness or lightheadedness.
This is one of the easiest methods to counter because this form of dizziness responds very quickly to the increased intake of water.10: Anaemia can bring about dizziness and lightheadedness, or both, but this is not a difficult condition to treat. It usually responds very well to traditional treatments that take into account your diet, lifestyle, medical history, current medication and family history of such ailments.
11: During colds, influenza or respiratory tract infections (including, or stemming from sinus infections) you can become dizzy or lightheaded.
The reasons for that dizziness or lightheadedness, in those cases are, basically, two-fold:
- (a) ...the inner ear is affected by inflammation/mucous congestion.
- (b) ...the fever that occasionally comes with such viruses or infections brings with it its own brand of dizziness or lightheadedness, for some sufferers.
There is another reason why people sometimes feel unsteady, whether or not that means that they feel actually dizzy or whether it really means that there is 'something' about how physically stable they feel that disturbs them, because it seems, somehow...odd and wrong! And, it can scare them when they feel this odd sensation, also!
They are certain that there is some form of movement going on from around the torso to their heads that is a very vague, hard-to-be-sure-of motion. This movement that they can sense is so slight, they often find it easy to imagine that it's not even really happening.
In some cases, they may be right. In many cases, they were right the first time!
It's their heartbeat that's doing this to them!
It's harmless!
There's nothing wrong with the heart, except that there is a very tense, often anxious Owner wrapped around it, carrying it around with them.
REASON: Those with a relaxed upper body, will very rarely even notice their own heartbeat, even just as a beat. But, in the upper body of a tensed up and anxious person, something else is happening. Their upper body's muscles are so tense, their own heartbeat's 'rhythm' is slowly and noticeably swaying them, under its very beatforce. Seriously!
TRY TO SEE THE REASON THIS WAY: Vibration, through a rolled up length of fabric, would be almost non existent, if you put your ear to one end and got somebody to tap on the other end, in the same rhythm as a heart's beating. But, if that rolled up fabric was switched, suddenly, for an equally wide solid wooden pole (such as a telegraph pole or a tree trunk) and that same person was to tap against the far end, in the same way, you'd definitely feel that tapping, this time if you had your ear pressed up against the other end.
NOW, SEE THE REASON FOR THAT EXAMPLE: The same principle can be seen in the difference between a 'floppy' (relaxed?) person's upper body and a 'stiff' (tensed?) person's upper body. The heart's beat is barely transferred upwards, through the upper body muscles and bones of a relaxed person, to the best of their knowledge, because 'floppy' muscles and ungripped bones don't transmit vibrations as much.
But, in a tensed up person, the heart's beat is very strongly transferred upwards, through the upper body muscles and bones, much to their awareness and concern, because tensed up muscles and bones, like the wooden pole, transmit vibration far more strongly.
Hard (tensed?) stuff transmits vibrations (heartbeats?) more than soft (relaxed?) stuff does!
It's that simple...and that un-dramatic!
YOU MIGHT FEEL ABSOLUTELY NO CONNECTION BETWEEN
THE SLIGHT MOVEMENT AND YOUR HEARTBEAT!
This is especially noticeable in the shoulders and neck transmission of the heart's beat into the head area and it's in that head (eyes and ears, mostly) area that the odd sensation makes itself first known to you.
So, remember the value of learning relaxation as a daily practice and not as an occasional event!
If you have experienced that slight variation in your sitting or standing equillibrium, then it may well be because your heart's beat is slowly being transmitted upwards, through your neck and shoulders, into your head area...there to be felt as this vague swaying sensation.
There is one little addition I'd like to make, here, to this page...
When your eyes, ears and brain start noticing this really vague, faint swaying sensation, they will work together to try to make sense of it.
This, too, is not going on with your permission...sometimes, not even with your own knowledge of it - and, that's the added problem with this strange unsteadiness!
When the eyes, ears and brain start getting to work, trying to make sense out of this amazingly slight motion, each one occasionally tends to fight against the other two, so you are also actually falling victim to your own anxiety-stricken brain trying to end this weird swaying and, well...failing to, for a while.
So, if this swaying or unsteadiness sensation worries you a lot, the extra cycling of newly felt anxiety is actually messing up your brain's attemtps at helping you out of it.This is another very good reason why you should learn to turn relaxation into an art form, for yourself, and for your future...trust me!
A COLLECTION OF MEMBERS' TEXTS ON THIS SUBJECT
"LouBrad" - (March 2006)"...this feeling of dizziness is not at all unusual for those of us with health anxiety. I remember going through a dreadful phase of dizziness, a couple of years ago.
I was given Meclazine, to take 'as needed'. Within a week, the dizziness had gone completely (much to my unqualified joy, as there are few things worse than continuously feeling unsteady and lightheaded) - and I haven't had the problem since.
A week or so ago though, I did, suddenly, have that awful feeling again, momentarily. I became alarmed, but remembered to take the Meclazine to work with me the next day (just in case) and just knowing I had it with me, seemed to prevent a recurrence of the problem."
"Kitty82" - (March 2006)"I have (/had) (dizziness), a few months ago.
If you look back, you'll see my posts. I felt like I was on a boat and rocking, I was soooo dizzy.
Honestly, I'm sure it's Health Anxiety probably just due to tension...it can do strange things to you."
"ROCKETTEE" - (March 2006)"Does anyone feel lightheaded all the time? Like sometimes, it's worse than at others, but mostly throughout the day, on and off?
I went to see a new Neuro today - not very helpful. He said that he doesn't know why I've been dizzy all the time for about 2 years and why the right side of my face, arm and leg get a tightness feeling on and off.
It's so frustrating. How much of our symptoms are really caused by nerves? I mean, I know that most probably are, but how can your nerves cause this many different feelings?"
"ScaredInTexas" - (September 2005)
"I get this too, all of the time! I hate it! What I'm wondering is...sometimes, when I get this, I can just be sitting around, not stressed, and not having allergies or sinus problems, and...BLAM! It hits - and, it's almost disabling!
It happened today, but...I was stressed today! It depresses me when it happens because, most of the time, it comes right out of the blue!
Sometimes, I have it every day for a while...then, it disappears for a while and maybe it'll be back for a day, or for an hour. I just know I hate it, badly! And I'm like Maria - when mine hits, I stay home and don't do much because, sometimes, it makes me feel like I'm going to fall over!
That's the last thing to go when it's anxiety-related, I'm told. Mine has been sticking around like Super-Glue for about two and a half years, now, and I just want it to go away and leave!"
"NANAX10" - (September 2005)
"Sometimes, lightheadness and 'spacey' feelings can be caused by an inner ear disorder. I have had BPV (Benign Positional Vertigo) off and on for about 10 years, now. I can have long remissions, but, when it is allergy season, or change of weather, then I can get hit, and hit hard!
There are many variants of inner ear disorders which bring symptoms like you described. Hang in there, hope you feel better and try NOT to worry..." ... "...it could also be caused from anxiety!"
"Catwoman224" - (September 2005)
"I know I haven't written in a long time, but I've been going through hell since April. I went off Lexapro in February and, about a month later, I started having dizziness, like I am walking wrongly..." ...
"I went through so many tests (CAT Scan, Blood Work, ENG tests & MRI) and evaluations by numerous doctors. I have severe Health Anxiety..." ... "All my tests came back negative..."
"Lorgirl" - (September 2005)
"Coming off of antidepressants can make you dizzy - plus, when you have severe anxiety, that can also make you dizzy. My husband has been experiencing dizziness (along with many other symptoms) for over a year and has had every test imaginable and they cannot find a cause. Since he doesn't have Health Anxiety, he just lives with it. If it were me, I'd be freaking out."
"ToooScared" - (September 2005)
"I had something happen to me, yesterday, that got me real scared. When I woke up, I opened my eyes and looked around and felt very dizzy. Everything was spinning around.
I lay there, hoping it would go away and it didn't. In fact, it lasted about 2 -3 hours. After a while, it seemed it wasn't that I was dizzy as much as my vision was jumping up and down ('Oscillopsia'?).
I was very unsteady and had to hold onto something as I walked. Even sitting, I felt like I was going to fall over. I knew if I needed to get to a doctor, I wouldn't be able to do it on my own - no way would I dare to drive like that.
Then, I worried about sitting in the waiting room and feeling like I was going to be sick! What would I do? And, thinking about walking from the waiting room chair to the examining room...how would I do that? Along with this, I was so terribly tired and my hips and legs felt weak."
"LouBrad" - (September 2005)
"I had a bout with this. It came right out of the blue and I still don't know what suddenly caused it. Everything started spinning, as though it were spinning away from me (as opposed to spinning in a circle).
I've written about this quite a few times, here on the board. Whenever I lay down and put my head 'just so', on my pillow, this would start up again.
My sister asked the Chiropractor she works for about possible reasons for this and he said that something as simple as a hair touching a membrane in your ear can cause this.
I (one of the world's great doctor-avoiders) made an appointment to see about this, because I couldn't stand the dizziness.
The Nurse Practitioner said that it was a touch of vertigo and gave me a prescription to take 'as needed' and, in no time at all, the problem had completely cleared up. It wasn't caused by anything dire - and I've never had this again, since.
The reason you're fatigued today (and somewhat weak) is doubtless from the worry of having this experience. If this continues, simply make an appointment with the doctor and get some pills to combat the vertigo."
"ReeAnn" - (September 2005)
"Have you been doing any swimming at all, lately? Have you had any sinus infections or a bad cold, lately? If so, one of these could have caused an inner ear imbalance. My mother has this, badly! Some days she is almost normal...other days, she can barely move her head (although it's been almost non-existent for the last 6 months or so).
Middle ear imbalances will make you feel dizzy, as if the room is spinning (and may also be accompanied by nausea). Fortunately, they are harmless (unless you fall down!)"
"BackyGirly" - (September 2005)
"I had this happen and it caused my second worse Health Anxiety flare-up, ever! It turned out to be my sinuses causing it. I now get dizzy spells whenever the weather changes. Great, huh?
Sometimes, I feel like I'm spinning, but my most common feeling is that the ground is moving, underneath me. It is extremely annoying, and scary. I've been fine for the last few months, but Fall has hit here, and I'm getting my spells again. Hence, the reason I found this board!"
"Awanza" - (September 2005)
"I've started excercising in the mornings for about two weeks, now. I get on the treadmill and walk different speeds and inclines for about 30 to 45 minutes. I almost always feel really weird when I get done. I'm never really out of breath, or feeling any pain...just lightheaded and dizzy."
"JSMink" - (September 2005)
"Yes, I totally feel like that whenever I get off the treadmill. It's freaked me out a few times, but it always goes away after a few seconds. I think it's totally normal." ... "I also noticed that it helps if I stay on the treadmill for a few seconds after it stops, before walking away. But, I don't blame you."
"Awanza" - (September 2005)
"I have started walking in the morning. The first 3 days went fine. I did about 30 minutes, broke a little sweat and felt great for the rest of the day.
This morning after my shower and on my way to work I started feeling really weird...dizzy, and I had floods of panic - no chest pain, but very, very flushed! I got to work, took some deep breaths and I feel a little better, but still kinda lightheaded and just a little 'off'. Anyone ever have anything like this?"
"Laura_Jane" - (September 2005)
"I experience this almost every time I start a new exercise routine, or when I get into a pattern of going to more rigorous Yoga classes." ... "I'm not sure what causes it, but it seems to me like it's just the body's way of 'waking up' to the increased activity.
I know it can feel like a panic attack, but I try not to think of it as a bad thing. Remember that, when you increase your activity level, you are also increasing circulation throughout your body and jump-starting your entire metabolism.
People with Health Anxiety are so sensitive to bodily sensations, I think we just tune into this stuff more than most folks would. Congratulations on starting an exercise program! Keep it up! Don't let this stop you! You are giving yourself a great gift!"
"Cornish Pixies" - (September 2005)
"I agree with Laura Jane. When you start a new exercise regime, sometimes the body reacts like that.
I think you just got a bit dizzy from the adrenaline (epinephrine?) pumping through you (which is normal) and, then your mind went into overdrive because of the fear of the dizziness and that's when the anxiety kicks in.
I think the more you do, the better you will feel. Exercise can only do the body good. Don't let this scare you out of doing it. Hang in there..."
"CatzMeow" - (August 2005)
"I've been having major sinus issues the past couple of weeks. I will have the usual stuffy nose, face pressure, ear aches and dizziness. But, yesterday, it seemed that my dizziness came in bouts more than usual, but I just shrugged it off as sinuses.
Well, today I'm at work. I get stomach flutters, sometimes, when I'm a bit gassy (sorry), so I'm having bouts of stomach flutters and dizziness (both just last a second or two, and come and go). Well, right before lunch, I got a stomach flutter and dizziness at the same time. That is what caused my Health Anxiety to spiral, big-time.
I tried passing it off as sinuses and gas (what a strange combination). But, I couldn't do it. I went to the parking lot and called my husband on my cell and cried to him and, God bless him, he again reassured me that I was fine and told me it was sinuses and gas and to go and get something for the sinuses and to eat lunch to help with the gas."
"JSMink" - (August 2005)
"I can definitely relate, particular to the sinuses. I've had bad sinus pressure the past few weeks, which actually started my lastest bout of Health Anxiety. The pressure was so bad that it caused me to feel dizzy and that I was going to faint, which then caused a mini panic attack.
I've also suffered from nausea on and off, since. The point is, I think the sinus pressure caused the anxiety, which in my case led to the nausea and dizziness. In your case, anxiety probably manifests itself with the stomach flutters. I'd bet the flutters are all related to anxiety and have nothing to do with your heart. I realize how scary it can be...just rest up and realize that you're fine."
"Xandria28" - (August 2005)
"I have been feeling dizzy - a lightheaded type feeling, on and off now, for a year. It is really bothering me. I had a feeting thought that...perhaps I need glasses, and...spending time on the computer makes me feel worse.
I just cant stand this weird sensation in my head. It feels like my head is about to start spinning but doesn't get that far. I have been having really strong heart palpitations on and off, also. I will be sitting or laying down when they start and it's scaring me. The dizzy feeling is what is really bothering me, since it's been going on for so long."
"LouBrad" - (July 2005)
"I used to get this all the time when I got out of bed too fast, or even when I stood up too quickly, from a sitting or prone position. I trained myself to move more slowly when doing this, because I knew this lightheaded, 'am-I-going-to faint?' problem would be the result.
It certainly was a very strange and disconcerting sensation, but now I never get this feeling at all. I think it's a phase that many of us with Health Anxiety tend to experience - and, it can be easily eliminated by simply taking your time when changing positions. I never once passed out, though - and I'm sure you won't, either."
"Sila" - (July 2005)
"Count me in on this one, too. I believe it's a positional thing. I've also trained myself to rise more slowly from a sitting or lying position, to standing. Otherwise, if I move too suddenly, I get that dizzy feeling. But, once blood flow is restored, it goes away."
"MomAndMore" - (June 2005)
"I've been experiencing dizziness, today. Not lightheadedness, but true dizziness - where I feel as though I might tip over, or that things are beginning to spin. I'm not having any vision problems, or headache. What can cause this and what should I do?"
"Laura_Jane" - (June 2005) (In response to MomAndMore's post, above this?)
"Your sense of balance has a lot to do with the fluid in your ears...I am pretty sure it's possible to experience vertigo in conjunction with sinus problems. Have you recently had a cold or sinus infection? Also, Louise is right about the low blood sugar thing...that can definitely make you dizzy."
CLICK HERE TO GO STRAIGHT TO WHAT OTHER MEMBERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN MENU FOR THESE PAGES. CLICK HERE TO GO (OR GO BACK) TO THE HEALTH ANXIETY CENTRE MESSAGE BOARD.