Dizzy or faint?

[sugarplums]

Hi there abbo, how are you feeling? It was intresting what you said about the inner ear causing the vertigo.
It's hard to say what causes the lightheaded feeling and the feeling like you might pass out.
Nothing in particular seems to trigger it, it comes and goes sometimes and other times it is there 24/7.
I know a lady in the chemist told me that her son felt ill for months and she said after months of wondering what it could be, they eventually found out he had magnesuim defiency.
I also know that vitamin B12 defiency can cause dizziness, feeling faint etc along with other symptoms.
I have asked my doctor for a vitamin B test but they said that it would show up on the anemia test, which i tend to get anemic anyway from time to time.
Vit B5 and B6 are thought to be very useful for any type of dizziness and anxiety.
have you had any tests for anemia, thyroid, vitamin defiency?
I was wondering, as you had said in one of your previous posts that you thought it may be diet related..?

[Abbo]

Hi all, I have had the general blood test for thyroid and organ function etc, but not had the vitamin deficiency test, can I get this done without seeing a gp?
I have seriously looked into the vertigo symptoms, and I'm no doctor but they can only stem from inner ear problems or even calcium deficiency which is still related to inner ear as the crystals in your labrynth area are made of calcium.
The feeling faint and spaced out symptoms on the other hand can be many things, I wish there was a check list!!!

[sugarplums]

yes i agree, the feeling faint and spaced out symptoms could stem from a number of things. Which makes it more frustrating to narrow the possiblities down.
I think it's worth having a vitamin test to make sure, im trying to look into this too, im pretty sure that a dietican or nutrutionist can run these tests for vitamin tests so it doesnt have to
be done at the gp. I think to have a consultation and tests for vit defiency is around £50 from what I've looked up so far. Quite pricey but worth it if you suspect it could be a vitamin defiency.

Thanks for the info on vertigo and the inner ear , i found that very helpful x

[Margaretanne]

mine is both and its frightening most of the time xx Is this anxiety?

[sugarplums]

hi Margaretanne , i get both types of dizziness too, the actual dizzy spells , sommetimes vertigo, and also the lightheaded kind where i feel faint. Dizziness and feeling faint can be caused by anxiety but it can also be caused by quite a few other conditions and even by a vitamin defiency.
xx

[Kerry B]

What I don't understand is my GP said my dizziness/lightheadness is because I am so Anxious and bringing it on myself, so why carn't I stop it, its ruling my life every morning when I wake up I dread getting out of bed because of feeling dizzy, and its always there. I had it previously for 6 weeks 24/7 and it went, now its back and scaring me to death and usual.

[BasilCat]

Hi, I have had problems with dizziness too. Largely when I had bad anxiety but now I have BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal positional vertigo) which basically means I get really bad vertigo when my head is in a certain position. I have felt dizzy a lot over the years and there are many ways you can feel dizzy as I have discovered. But this BPPV is the worst and it feels like there is something going round INSIDE my head! It first happened 3 years ago. I actually woke up in bed one Saturday morning and was very dizzy! It scared me to death but only lasted 30 seconds or a minute top side. I was in a state of shock when it stopped. Then it has come back a lot but not as severe. It has only come back once, so severe and thats when I was sat in the armchair looking down at my mobile phone. Next news I had that spinning feeling in my head again! But that only lasted the same as above, 30 seconds or so. This was about a month ago.

If there is one thing I am scared of, its feeling dizzy. Its the feeling out of control. I cant bear it. So since that first episode of BPPV in bed three years ago, I have been scared to go to sleep every night in case it comes back. Usually though, when it comes back not so severe, as it did last night, I can stop it by moving myself slightly. But last night I could not get to sleep for it for ages, let alone wake up with it! And other nights I dont get it at all.

I have seen the doctor about this and she says its BPPV. Its a pain because I always thought my bed was the safest place in the world, but no longer since this happened.

BasilCat

[sugarplums]

hi Kerry B and Basilcat , i cant believe that theres so many people with this dizzy feeling like me, i feel like it rules my life too and im so scared of the dizziness aswel, i was told by gp that anxiety is causing the dizziness and lightheaded feeling but was told that the vertigo is inner ear and that once you have had a dizzy (spinning) episode , people are prone to getting more dizziness either as a constant background or random dizzy spells.
I woke up with the dizziness this morning and had to get my kids to school.
When i got home from dropping the kids off at school, i just cried and cried.
No one understands how debiliating the dizziness can be unless they've experienced it.
Katy B when you mentioned you dread getting out of bed in the mornings because of the dizziness.... Im exactly the same too! I find some days are better than others- dizzy wise but the dizziness really limits what i do.
The doctors dont realise how much the dizziness affects day to day life.
Basilcat i have read up on BPPV before, the type of vertigo you have is to do with the crystals in the ear moving away from where they're meant to be.
It was a couple of years ago when i read up on it so i will look it up again because there is treatment involving repositioning the crystals by a gp or someone who will put the head in different positions to resettle the crystals in the ear to where they should be.
Take care everyone, i know how frustrating it can be.
I hope we all feel better soon, xxxx

If i find anything else that helps i will let you all know x

[BasilCat]

Hi Sugarplums, Thats right, my dizziness (when my head is in the wrong position or when I am in bed) is to do with the crytals in my inner ear moving away from where they are meant to be. Its awful though, this dizziness isn't it. I can understand why you would cry and cry about it. It is very debilitating. I have all sorts of dizziness before today but apart from the BPPV, one of the worst ones for me is when I am in a fast moving lift or I am in a plane that is taking off! That is really bad too and puts me off flying. No sooner has the plane left the runway than I am all dizzy and lightheaded and disabled till the plane is cruising at altitude. The first time I flew, I was about 26 years old and going to Nice from Gatwick. The dizziness kicked in straight away. Then everything went White and I found myself waking up with my head on someone's shoulder!!! I feel very similar in fast moving lifts.
And when I had an operation and was wheeled back to the ward, everytime I went round a corner on the trolley, I was dizzy as hell. Very scary.
I have had dizziness/loss of balance randomly too. Like in Woolworths (a couple of year ago) without warning. One minute I was fine, the next I was on my knees in the cafe feeling dizzy! I have had some bad scares with it over the years, I can tell you.

I understand you dreading getting out of bed in a morning. I dread going to bed!

The exercise that you mention is called the Epley manoevre and I would give it a go but I believe it brings on the dizziness to get rid of it and I am scared to death of it.

I have also suffered dizziness/loss of balance as a result of anxiety and that feels very different again. Very scary all the same. So I understand how you feel sugarplum and would not wish dizziness on my worst enemy.

BasilCat

[BasilCat]

Hi Sugarplums, Well at least I did not have much dizziness or lightheadedness in bed last night. Thats the strange thing. It doesn't always happen. Sometimes I am just laying there and my balance starts going or I feel giddy. At least I have not been as bad as that first time when I actually woke up extremely dizzy! It was the scariest thing ever. The problem with lying down in bed and waking up dizzy was, what do I do now, because when you feel dizzy, if you are in a place to do so, you automatically want to lay down. And given that I already was, I didn't know what on earth to do next. Anyway I wasn't as bad last night so thats a relief.

How are you this morning?

BasilCat