Lightheadedness is when you feel like fainting or about to pass out. Some people call it feeling woozy. Lightheadedness is related to dizziness. Dizziness is, when you feel unsteady or are having trouble keeping your balance.
Common causes of dizziness
migraine – dizziness may come on before or after the headache, or even without the headache. stress or anxiety – particularly if you tend to hyperventilate (breathe abnormally quickly when resting) low blood sugar level (hypoglycaemia) – which is usually seen in people with diabetes.
Generally, see your doctor if you experience any recurrent, sudden, severe, or prolonged and unexplained dizziness or vertigo. Get emergency medical care if you experience new, severe dizziness or vertigo along with any of the following: Sudden, severe headache. Chest pain.
“Red flag” symptoms should alert you to a non-vestibular cause: persistent, worsening vertigo or dysequilibrium; atypical “non-peripheral” vertigo, such as vertical movement; severe headache, especially early in the morning; diplopia; cranial nerve palsies; dysarthria, ataxia, or other cerebellar signs; and ...
Sit or lie down immediately when you feel dizzy. Lie still with your eyes closed in a darkened room if you're experiencing a severe episode of vertigo. Avoid driving a car or operating heavy machinery if you experience frequent dizziness without warning. Avoid using caffeine, alcohol, salt and tobacco.
If symptoms last more than 15 minutes, he says it's time to seek medical help in an urgent or emergency care setting. Even if symptoms are brief, and even if you think you know the cause, report the lightheadedness to your doctor.
In most cases, dizziness associated with heart problems is accompanied by other symptoms. These may include shortness of breath, swollen extremities, frequent fatigue or chest pain. In the event heart disease is suspected, you will undergo one or more tests to get to the root of your problem.
In general, if dizziness lasts longer than a few days, or is severe enough to keep you from normal activities, you should talk with your doctor. Depending on the cause, there are medications and physical therapy options that may give you some relief.
The most common cause of lightheadedness is orthostatic hypotension, which is a sudden drop in blood pressure when a person stands up. Positional changes, especially quick ones, divert blood flow temporarily from the brain to the body.
In some cases, people with high blood pressure may have a pounding feeling in their head or chest, a feeling of lightheadedness or dizziness, or other signs. Without symptoms, people with high blood pressure may go years without knowing they have the condition.
Dizziness is a common symptom of vitamin D deficiency, along with fatigue and brain fog. If you are feeling dizzy all the time, it is worth checking your vitamin D levels. Insufficient vitamin D can cause dizziness because it plays a role in maintaining blood pressure and fluid balance.
High blood pressure and dizziness are often associated because a person with uncontrolled hypertension may present with dizziness; indeed, dizziness may be the only symptom of hypertension.
Dizziness Can Be a Symptom of an Anxiety Disorder
Your breathing changes – when you feel anxious, you typically start to take in quick, deep breaths. This reduces the levels of carbon dioxide in your blood, which can cause dizziness as well as light-headedness, nausea and tingling in your hands and/or feet.
Warning signs and symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, chronic coughing or wheezing, swelling, fatigue, loss of appetite, and others. Heart failure means the heart has failed to pump the way it should in order to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
Dizziness has many possible causes, including inner ear disturbance, motion sickness and medication effects. Sometimes it's caused by an underlying health condition, such as poor circulation, infection or injury. The way dizziness makes you feel and your triggers provide clues for possible causes.
Light-headedness usually goes away or gets better when you lie down. If light-headedness gets worse, it can lead to a fainting spell. It is common to feel light-headed from time to time. Light-headedness usually is not caused by a serious problem.
The most common causes of imbalance without dizziness are related to dysfunction of the muscles, joints and peripheral nerves (proprioceptive system), or the central nervous system (brain). People with bilateral vestibulopathy have balance issues but no dizziness if the damage affects both ears at the same time.
Losing your balance while walking, or feeling imbalanced, can result from: Vestibular problems. Abnormalities in your inner ear can cause a sensation of a floating or heavy head and unsteadiness in the dark. Nerve damage to your legs (peripheral neuropathy).
However, if blood pressure is low enough, brain damage can still occur. Also, fainting can result in serious injuries to the head or other parts of the body. Low blood pressure occasionally causes shortness of breath or chest pain due to an inadequate blood supply to the heart muscle (a condition called angina.
Low blood pressure is also known as hypotension. People with a reading of around 90/60, or less, are commonly regarded as having low blood pressure. Some people who have low blood pressure experience symptoms as a result of it. There may be an underlying cause that could need treatment.