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Ongoing Dizziness
I can't seem to stop worrying about my dizziness. About 3 years ago I had what the doctor thought was Laryrinthitis. Dizziness, fainting, nausea and generally feeling unwell for a couple of weeks. Ever since then I have had periods of dizziness - not always the same feeling though, usually occuring every couple of months. Sometimes light headedness, sometimes a feeling of the room spinning, sometimes unable to focus properly. Sometimes it lasts for a couple of weeks sometimes a month or more. I have only fainted twice in those 3 years but this is something that causes me a lot of anxiety - when I start to feel dizzy - am I going to faint? I have been to the doctor about 5 times with this complaint but each time they reassure me that it is related to my inner ear and nothing to cause concern. I realise there are people who suffer a lot worse than I have described here - however, the anxiety this causes me is starting to really get me down. I have lots of intrusive thoughts about what could be wrong with me daily - could it be a brain tumour or MS being the most common.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.
Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
Vertigo or a spinning sensation can be localized to two areas. It can be caused by problems in the inner ear or problems with in the brain. The most common cause if conditions of the ear.
If it is coming from the ear, it tends to be episodic and in between episodes one is completely normal. The episodes come on suddenly, with a severe spinning sensation, severe nausea and vomiting and may make you fall. The most common condition is Benign Positional Vertigo. As the name implies this is positional and episodes are triggered when one turns their head in a certain direction. Another condition is Menier's disease . In this condition episodes can occur after months, it is associated with a feeling of ear fullness, decreased hearing, ringing in ears, with severe vertigo and vomiting. People feel really unwell when the episodes come.
If there is a problem in the brain, usually the symptoms are milder, they are constant and do not resolve on their own. It is less likely that you have a central nervous system disorder as it is coming in episodes rather then being persistent. Also over 3 years, if there was something like a brain tumor or MS, it would have declared itself with other symptoms.
There are numerous other things which can cause dizziness. Sometimes it can be related to one's blood pressure. If the feeling tends to come only when standing from a sitting position , it could be that your blood pressure drops when you stand up which makes you feel dizzy,a condition called postural hypotension. This can also cause one to faint. This can be easily treated by increasing one's salt and fluid intake, and wearing graded pressure stockings which prevents the blood for pooling in one's legs. It can be diagnosed with a tilt table test where they check the blood pressure and heart rate in different positions.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck
Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
Vertigo or a spinning sensation can be localized to two areas. It can be caused by problems in the inner ear or problems with in the brain. The most common cause if conditions of the ear.
If it is coming from the ear, it tends to be episodic and in between episodes one is completely normal. The episodes come on suddenly, with a severe spinning sensation, severe nausea and vomiting and may make you fall. The most common condition is Benign Positional Vertigo. As the name implies this is positional and episodes are triggered when one turns their head in a certain direction. Another condition is Menier's disease . In this condition episodes can occur after months, it is associated with a feeling of ear fullness, decreased hearing, ringing in ears, with severe vertigo and vomiting. People feel really unwell when the episodes come.
If there is a problem in the brain, usually the symptoms are milder, they are constant and do not resolve on their own. It is less likely that you have a central nervous system disorder as it is coming in episodes rather then being persistent. Also over 3 years, if there was something like a brain tumor or MS, it would have declared itself with other symptoms.
There are numerous other things which can cause dizziness. Sometimes it can be related to one's blood pressure. If the feeling tends to come only when standing from a sitting position , it could be that your blood pressure drops when you stand up which makes you feel dizzy,a condition called postural hypotension. This can also cause one to faint. This can be easily treated by increasing one's salt and fluid intake, and wearing graded pressure stockings which prevents the blood for pooling in one's legs. It can be diagnosed with a tilt table test where they check the blood pressure and heart rate in different positions.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck
Thank you for your answer. It was helpful in that it reiterates what my own doctors have been saying, which does help to put my mind at rest. I think I still have anxiety about my dizziness as it doesn't fit neatly into any of the conditions you have mentioned - as I suppose a lot of people find with common things like this.
My symptom aren't severe in that I'm not vomiting or falling over. It doesn't seem to be affected by head movements or changing positon. I have no real problem with my ears in terms of fullness or ringing. My blood pressure never seems to change much when measured always 120/70. The dizziness does come and go but I would say it is getting more frequent and perhaps lasting longer.
My symptom aren't severe in that I'm not vomiting or falling over. It doesn't seem to be affected by head movements or changing positon. I have no real problem with my ears in terms of fullness or ringing. My blood pressure never seems to change much when measured always 120/70. The dizziness does come and go but I would say it is getting more frequent and perhaps lasting longer.
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