a rush of blood to the head
May 26, 2011 3:05 PM   Subscribe

I've been getting lightheaded/dizzy a lot more easily lately. Is this A Thing?

By "a lot more easily" I mean, for example, I just leaned back in my chair to stretch, and when I leaned forward again to reach the keyboard I got a couple seconds of disorientation. Sometimes when I turn my head very abruptly I get a split second. The disorientation isn't very severe, it's just enough to register in my mind as unusual. I was at the doctor's recently for something unrelated, and he checked my blood pressure and said it was fine... Is this something that just happens to some people? I don't know what other details to include, so if you need to know anything else, just ask.
posted by btfreek to Health & Fitness (22 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Have you been checked for anemia?
posted by hapax_legomenon at 3:10 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Do you get allergies? Having stuffy ears can mess with your balance.
posted by momus_window at 3:20 PM on May 26, 2011


Fine? What's fine?

I get dizzy a LOT. But I'm also anemic and I have positional hypotension. My blood pressure is about 100/60 when I'm seated.
posted by elsietheeel at 3:20 PM on May 26, 2011


Are you taking any allergy meds? Loratadine will sometimes make me dizzy or just feel odd. If I turn around suddenly, it feels like it takes a second for my brain to catch up with my body.

If you're over 35 it could be a symptom of menopause.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:21 PM on May 26, 2011


Are you dehydrated or have you been sitting for very long? I used to get this after sitting for a long time and getting up or moving suddenly. It was made worse when I was dehydrated.
posted by patronuscharms at 3:26 PM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


I went through a phase of this last year. I started drinking a lot more water and the dizziness went away. I presume it was related.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:37 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Bit too nebulous a question, I'm afraid. I'd check with a doctor who can see you in person.

My questions would be 'are you young?' 'are you tall?' 'are you stressed/tired?' 'eating enough red meat / spinach?' 'had your eyes checked lately?' 'any nagging problems with your ears? infections etc... they play a big part in our balance' 'anything changed in your lifestyle? sitting at a computer more often than in the past?'
posted by panaceanot at 3:38 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Getting dizzy when you stretch or stand up sounds like a brief drop in blood pressure. When it's worst, do you notice a tunnel-vision effect, or ringing in your ears, coldness/burning in your ears or cheeks, a sudden need to breathe hard? Any of those would indicate a drop in blood pressure, which is very common if you're just a bit dehydrated and otherwise healthy. It can happen more easily if you're getting sick, or if you're anemic, or for lots of other reasons.

Sometimes when I turn my head very abruptly I get a split second. The disorientation isn't very severe, it's just enough to register in my mind as unusual.

However, this makes me think it's something else, something related to balance rather than brain bloodflow. I've had things like that happen to me out of the blue, for no reason, a few times in my life. If it's happening often, you might want to get it checked out, especially if it starts to bother you or interfere with things.
posted by WasabiFlux at 3:46 PM on May 26, 2011


I'm on a lot of different meds and at least two of them say they can make me dizzy. I get dizzy when I'm dehydrated. I get dizzy when I'm hungry. I get dizzy when I'm overheated. I get dizzy when I get up too quickly. I get dizzy when I'm tired. I'm anemic which can make one dizzy. I get dizzy when my blood glucose is too low. I get dizzy when by blood glucose is too high.

There are many causes to intermittent dizziness. Go back to your doctor and get some blood-work done.
posted by deborah at 3:59 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


This happened to me all the time when i did that damned ear candling - messed up the wax balance or something. I went to my doc and he could find nothing wrong, gave me some heavy duty decongestants (guifanesin or something?) and it went away in a bit. Get it checked out to rule out your ears.
posted by bunny hugger at 5:26 PM on May 26, 2011


I get dizzy randomly and sometimes feel light-headed. My psychologist said it was probably anxiety.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:26 PM on May 26, 2011


Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is my guess. I went to the doctor with similar symptoms recently and she immediately jumped to that conclusion even though I thought my symptoms/their seeming causes were poorly described and kind of questionable.
posted by sunshinesky at 5:50 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


By the way, I think it's considered a leading cause for vertigo...
posted by sunshinesky at 5:51 PM on May 26, 2011


I recently noticed the same thing myself. Called my doctor and did the Q &A over the phone and he came to the conclusion of benign positional vertigo. And I'll go in for a follow-up next week, so we'll see. I experience slight dizziness when I tilt my head in certain positions. If raise my head from the pillow too quickly I notice it or if I tilt my head back in my office chair I get that dizzy sensation. Went running yesterday morning and went to the gym today, no problems. Maybe you got the same thing?
posted by Don92705 at 5:52 PM on May 26, 2011


Hydrating usually solves this for me. Did your doc check your blood pressure both standing and sitting (and even lying down)? One reading isn't going to tell much. I get orthostatic pretty easily and it's almost always easily solved by being more diligent with water.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 7:56 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]




Seconding that you should get checked by a doctor, and that anemia is one of the things they should check you for. They should check both your iron levels and your vitamin B12 levels (B12 deficiency or pernicious anemia can cause dizziness.)
posted by gudrun at 9:43 PM on May 26, 2011


I've just taken a few days off work with the same thing. Went to our family doctor, he looked me over and suggested that it's most likely a virus. I had OK blood pressure, slightly vitamin D deficient.
posted by the noob at 11:08 PM on May 26, 2011


As you can see from the answers, it can be a lot of things :) I had bad dizzy spells last year, and not just when I stood up. I'd even get vertigo while seated, ugh. I went to the doctor (do that too! :) ), got my blood pressure checked (we already knew I tend towards hypotension), then she checked my reflexes. Apparently you can kick too hard, who knew - that's what I was doing. She also had me get a full blood workup, which was a little rough, over 10 of those blood flasks to fill, ugh.

Long story short, nothing major turned up, my iron levels were only a little low (I've always been anemic, and was actually taking supplements at the time of the blood tests), and so she figured it might be a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium helps regulate nerve functions, see, and as (in part) evidenced by my karate kicks on reflex tests, my nerves were overreacting. She put me on some super-supplements for three months, and it did the trick. Now I'm careful to take regular magnesium in addition to my iron supplements. (FWIW, it's best to take magnesium in the evenings, since apparently it can make you sleepy.)

She also explained that there can be several causes for that sort of dizziness, and to go back if it ever happens again.

IANAD, do go speak with yours :)
posted by fraula at 6:41 AM on May 27, 2011


Response by poster: Looks like I'm going back to my doctor's! Dehydration or anemia are probably the most likely. Thanks everyone!
posted by btfreek at 7:40 AM on May 27, 2011


Do you where shirt + tie to work? Is it possible that your collar is too tight? Stretching backwards or turning your head quickly in a too-tight collar can temporarily reduce blood flow to the brain. I know someone who thought he was having mini-strokes, but was just fine when he went up a size on his collar. Kind of off the wall, but I thought I would throw it out there.
posted by kamikazegopher at 7:51 AM on May 27, 2011


I was recently treated for vertigo. They did some fascinating tests at the ear-nose-throat doctor, and it turns out there's something off with one of the saccules in my inner ear, the part that senses gravity. Apparently long-dormant viruses can hide out there.

Apparently a 3-month course of really strong antihistamines (taken at bedtime) will "reset" the inner ear. Although the vertigo went gently away in the first two weeks.
posted by themissy at 4:56 PM on May 28, 2011


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