random light-headedness

October 18, 2007 11:46 AM

Random and short light-headedness spells...

They started about a month ago when, out of the blue, I started getting dizzy spells when lying in bed. Very short -- only a few seconds at a time. This went away after a few days but now I get short bursts of light headedness (not dizziness), usually when I'm standing up doing something (not just as I get up! I'm not simply getting up too fast). Never in the car or anything but sometimes as I sit at my desk. I've no ear ache, and my blood pressure is normal. I was taking probiotic tablets when it started but have since stopped. 35-yo male.

posted by long haired lover from liverpool to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

Could be dehydration... how is your fluid intake?
posted by MiaWallace at 11:57 AM on October 18, 2007

Stress?
posted by bashos_frog at 12:08 PM on October 18, 2007

Response by poster: Fluid intake is good (not seeing dark urine, for example), and I don't touch caffeine nowadays. I'm not stressed or worried, and in fact this is one of the less stressful periods of my life. No other physical symptoms at all, really.
posted by long haired lover from liverpool at 12:27 PM on October 18, 2007

I had the dizziness part for a while (just lying in bed all of a sudden the room would spin and I'd clutch the bed so I didn't fall out!), and it was likely just benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which cleared up after I did some of the exercises found here
posted by tristeza at 12:49 PM on October 18, 2007

+1 on the BPPV- I experienced exactly what you're describing, and that's what it was.

One clue might be if you notice the light-headed spells when you tilt your head in a specific direction.
posted by moonlet at 2:22 PM on October 18, 2007

you might still be dehydrated. are you eating frequently enough? how's your iron?
posted by misanthropicsarah at 2:51 PM on October 18, 2007

Response by poster: Food not an issue -- broadly speaking I'm very well fed. Anaemia probably isn't an issue because I'm not pale, and am on the ruddy side when it comes to complection. But my sister is anaemic. I might look into taking some iron tablets and see if it helps.
posted by long haired lover from liverpool at 3:16 PM on October 18, 2007

I had something quite like this once, and a GP said that it was labyrinthitis (I know, sounds like the brand name version). He prescribed something (for the symptoms, not the cause) but it went away after a few weeks without medication.
posted by manyon at 5:15 PM on October 18, 2007

You've probably got something awry with your inner ear.

Likely possible causes:

- vertigo (a viral infection of the inner ear) & its little annoying cousin, labrynthitis (both can be treated w/anti-virals)

- sinus issues that are causing pressure on your inner ear (try some decongestant - ear ache does not matter)

- allergies that are causing congestion and pressure (this year's drought has made a lot of people w/out allergies have nasty symptoms)

- being super duper tired. Try taking naps for a couple of weekends

Good luck!
posted by beezy at 5:47 PM on October 18, 2007

I just went through about 8 months of exactly that though mine was mostly always when I was standing and wasn't correalted to changing positions. I've seen my GP who referred me to a neurologist and had an MRI about two weeks ago. The diagnosis: hyperventilation. They think my breathing pattern just gets out of synch because of stress or something. Stress is basically the cause.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:49 AM on October 19, 2007