Dizziness

[Nupur]

I have been experiencing dizziness for the last 2 weeks. I am not sure if I should call it dizziness or lightheaded-ness. It happens at rest (well I have not been exercising/walking in the last few weeks). For example, I am sitting at work and I feel like my head feels unstable. Not that I am about to blackout but kind of like a buzz and things slowing down. When this happens, I take my BP with the wrist monitor I carry, and I see that my BP is ok 110/70, heart rate 60-70 ( a little low), but otherwise everything is fine. Sometimes this is followed by hours of very STRONG heartbeat which I attribute to the panic due to the feeling dizzy, and occasionally take Xanax. I have also had headaches this week and taken aspirin for it. I am also feeling fatigue more than usual, which could be because of stress and anxiety.

I am going to see my PCP today, before I see my cardio. What should I ask her? I read the thread Sheila started in the BAV forum. It seems like the causes could be:

- Inner ear problems
- diabetes/insulin/blood sugar
-anemia
- low BP ( which I don't have)
- migraine ( which I don't get)
- the valve getting worse

I am wondering what tests, if any, I should ask for? My issues tend to get dismissed or attributed to anxiety all the time : )

I am due to see my cardio in Oct and I don't know if she will order an echo or not. I had two echo's last Sept and this March and the numbers didn't change, so she might put me on a yearly echo schedule instead of 6-mo.

Thanks!

 

[catwoman]

What time of the day and how frequently do these episodes occur?

Jot these down on a calendar; the information may help your health providers.

My husband has had these symptoms since we were married (29 years). He tends to have hypotension and I suspect he has hypoglycemia, since these seem to occur when he's waited too long to eat. (I get cranky and headaches if I wait too long; he gets dizzy!)

 

[ponygirlmom]

When you are sitting and feel dizzy, does getting up and walking around make you feel better? Do you ever get this feeling while you are standing still or lying still, or only when sitting still? Do you ever get this feeling while sitting at a stoplight, and if so, does it go away when you start driving again?

 

[Nupur]

Marsha, thanks for the suggestion of keeping a log. I don't eat huge meals, but graze. My BP shows no hypotension that's the first thing I thought. Usually happens late afternoon, but sometimes in the morning too, after I have rushed through my morning ritual of getting my son off to school and am about to drive to work myself.

Ponygirlmom, I do get up and walk around, it feels a little wobbly but nothing terrible. If I am outside in fresh air it feels better. When I am driving and feel unstable/dizzy, it's a different story because I think panic sets in and my heart rate probably spikes. Happened yesterday as I was driving from work to my son's Tae Kwon Do class. Once I reached, I felt so horrible I took out my BP monitor there and checked! Heart rate was over 90 and all I had done was walk from the parking lot.

Thank you for the suggestions. I should keep a log.

 

[Mileena46]

I've had dizzy spells for years. I have also had rotational vertigo (something you DONT want), been to every kind of doctor....ENT being the last. He called it inner ear and wanted to put me on a table and cause me to be dizzy and this would make me NOT be dizzy later...(Yea, it didn't make sense to me either), so I passed on that one....this was just a few weeks before my valve suddenly got worse..(don't mean to scare you) and since my surgery I haven't had any serious dizziness. Just a few episodes that were minor. There is a drug called Verti-Go or Meclizine that you can take and it seems to help.

Mileena

 

[Eva]

Hi Nupur,

I was wondering about you and was going to pm you. When you see your cardio, ask for an echo...I was having echos every six months for the last three years before my surgery though the numbers were not much changing. During the same time, I used to feel lightheaded on and off while sitting, after driving a long distance, while standing and I related them to fatigue, stress, all. But indeed, in my case, they were due to lack of proper blood circulation! As Mileena said, they never occured after my surgery. So, to be on the safe side, INSIST on a new echo.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[hensylee]

I, too, have wrist bp thingy. after re-reading the instruction booklet one day, I decided to go back to my arm one because the book said 'if you have a history of high bp, use an arm one' as wrist measurment might not be exact'.

I get those little dizzy spots from time to time. I don't know either what it is. They are quickly over.

 

[Freddie]

Are you drinking enough?
The same thing happened to me and all the test came back negative for anything, even had a CT scan of my head done...nothing showed up.
Personally, in my case dehydration might have been the cause of the symptoms you described as I haven't had anymore episodes since I have increased my fluid intake.