My Dizziness Episode Really Scared Me Yesterday

CarolinaReaper

Guest
Some of you may remember a few months back I posted asking about spells of dizziness and lightheadedness. I thought maybe it was Vertigo or motion sickness, inner ear problems, etc. Well it went away within a couple days. But within the last 2 weeks the spells of dizziness have progressively came back and have gotten worse. Yesterday was the first time in my life that I felt scared and felt like my life was out of my control, due to an ailment and I have to tell you all it was flat out terrifying. It started in the morning, right away I was very dizzy the minute I got out of bed, I knew something was NOT right. It stayed the same until I had to leave for an appointment to have my oil changed and tires rotated at 1 P.M. By the time I got there I was feeling terrible. My vision was blurry, the room was rotating and shifting around me. I couldn't for the life of me focus on a certain point for very long. I thought If ate something it might help, so I stumbled over to a McDonald's next door and had something. Did NOT help at all. At this point my symptoms were extremely effecting my ability to walk. Which scared the hell out of me. I made it back to the oil change place and called my dad as I collapsed in a bench. I came REAL close to having him come pick me up and take me to the hospital. My symptoms continued up until the car was done and, admittedly stupid, decided to just drive myself home. At this point it was so bad I was sweating and breathing heavy. The nausea from the world spinning around me hit me like a wall. The second I got home I tossed my cookies big time. I passed out for a few hours and woke up feeling slightly better. But the symptom have yet to go away completely and I'm even now still slightly spaced out and feeling like I'm out of balance.

As a young guy, this was without a doubt the first time in my life that some sort of medical issues has scared me like this. Like i'm not in control of my day. I hope to god it ain't nothing serious. Blood sugar maybe? I don't have any pain in my ears and I haven't been sick lately. Just came out of nowhere and kicked my ass. As i'm typing this sitting still on the couch I'd say the symptoms are at a 3/10. My BP yesterday was 118/80. Don't know if that helps. I have an appointment at prime care in a couple hours. I just hope someone can tell me what to do to fix this. I can't keep living like this, with these bought's of extreme dizziness coming and going. It's starting to effect my life. My job is operating large forklifts and moving around thousands of pounds of merchandise everyday. I can't very well in good conscious do that when I'm having trouble standing. Wish me luck fellas. I hope they can point me in the right direction of some help.
 

Jack's PA

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Blood sugar. Next time you have symptoms call EMS. Have them check your blood sugar. Been there!
 

Rubline

Twelve Pointer
Some of you may remember a few months back I posted asking about spells of dizziness and lightheadedness. I thought maybe it was Vertigo or motion sickness, inner ear problems, etc. Well it went away within a couple days. But within the last 2 weeks the spells of dizziness have progressively came back and have gotten worse. Yesterday was the first time in my life that I felt scared and felt like my life was out of my control, due to an ailment and I have to tell you all it was flat out terrifying. It started in the morning, right away I was very dizzy the minute I got out of bed, I knew something was NOT right. It stayed the same until I had to leave for an appointment to have my oil changed and tires rotated at 1 P.M. By the time I got there I was feeling terrible. My vision was blurry, the room was rotating and shifting around me. I couldn't for the life of me focus on a certain point for very long. I thought If ate something it might help, so I stumbled over to a McDonald's next door and had something. Did NOT help at all. At this point my symptoms were extremely effecting my ability to walk. Which scared the hell out of me. I made it back to the oil change place and called my dad as I collapsed in a bench. I came REAL close to having him come pick me up and take me to the hospital. My symptoms continued up until the car was done and, admittedly stupid, decided to just drive myself home. At this point it was so bad I was sweating and breathing heavy. The nausea from the world spinning around me hit me like a wall. The second I got home I tossed my cookies big time. I passed out for a few hours and woke up feeling slightly better. But the symptom have yet to go away completely and I'm even now still slightly spaced out and feeling like I'm out of balance.

As a young guy, this was without a doubt the first time in my life that some sort of medical issues has scared me like this. Like i'm not in control of my day. I hope to god it ain't nothing serious. Blood sugar maybe? I don't have any pain in my ears and I haven't been sick lately. Just came out of nowhere and kicked my ass. As i'm typing this sitting still on the couch I'd say the symptoms are at a 3/10. My BP yesterday was 118/80. Don't know if that helps. I have an appointment at prime care in a couple hours. I just hope someone can tell me what to do to fix this. I can't keep living like this, with these bought's of extreme dizziness coming and going. It's starting to effect my life. My job is operating large forklifts and moving around thousands of pounds of merchandise everyday. I can't very well in good conscious do that when I'm having trouble standing. Wish me luck fellas. I hope they can point me in the right direction of some help.

Hopefully it's vertigo and nothing more serious.
Meanwhile do yourself a favor and those around you, don't drive and don't operate that heavy equipment until you're feeling better.
Good luck!
 

CarolinaReaper

Guest
Thanks guys. I don't know how the whole blood sugar test works. I would assume the results would be the worst during one these episodes and like now, the readings wouldn't be as bad? Will they still be able to tell if the cause was blood sugar?
 

Jack's PA

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Blood sugar test is a pin prick on finger. Results in seconds. If you are feeling ok now, it would not indicate what your problem was. Needs to be taken during episode. When I have an episode, I know to eat something. It takes 15 minutes for the food to kick in to start feeling better. I will still usually feel “different” for a day or so if it was a bad episode.
 

Inshore duck

Eight Pointer
Dizziness and vertigo are not the same. Dizziness is lightheadedness, you feel like you are going to pass out. Vertigo is “you are spinning or the room is spinning”. The symptoms of hypoglycemia would have improved with eating, even junk food. A hemoglobin A1c which is a 90 day average of the blood glucose can give a good idea but remember it’s an average so if episodic hypoglycemia is the concern then it is not the best test. You need a full cardiac and neuro work up. Your symptoms are consist with vertigo but vertigo has a rather lengthy differential diagnosis.
 
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aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The one thing you didn't mention in your post is the biggest thing you need to do ASAP: GO SEE A DOCTOR!!

Visiting a Prime Care facility is a start and they're good for minor issues like colds, minor cuts, and physicals, but you've got something possibly serious going on. Hopefully it's minor & treatable, but only an exam and tests by a doctor will be able to determine that.

If its bothering you enough to affect your functioning in daily activities, its worth a doctor visit - you took your car in for an oil change / tire rotation, now get in your car and get yourself checked!

Best of luck, and here's hoping its nothing too serious.
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
I had a nasty bout of vertigo about 20 years ago. Miserable, scary feeling. I tipped over at work and they took me to the ER on a gurney and ambulance. They couldn't tell me what it was, but I took decongestants and cleaned out my ears with hydrogen peroxide and it cleared up in about 1 week. I'm convinced that was it. I still clean 'em out periodically with H2O2 and won't hesitate to take a decongestant if I feel something 'funny' coming on.
 

Part-time hunter

Ten Pointer
I agree with Inshore Duck that your description sounds like vertigo to me and I have had it a couple of times. The nausea is the key to me because when I experienced the dizziness I felt like if I didn't get really still really quickly I was going to throw up. I am diabetic too and I've had episodes of lightheadedness but that never leads to nausea. And when I eat or drink a sugary beverage it levels me out very quickly. FYI there are medications that can help if you take them within the first 24 hours, like Antivert. And even better there are exercises you can do when you feel it coming on that may even stop them cold but at least they will make it less traumatic. So go see your primary care doctor and get it checked out. Good luck.
 

JFH3006

Ten Pointer
Nothing to play with. Friend had similar and ended having a stroke. SEE A DOCTOR!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You need labs and possible imaging that a Prime Care. provider may not be able to order or furnish.
Your BP was good but there are many more considerations. Don't let the give you an RX and call it done.
That is a symptom, find out the cause.
 

ahales

Four Pointer
First off, sorry for long post but.......I went thru about 9 months of being dizzy while having test done At multiple docs. Dizziness ranged in severity. I had blurred vision sometimes and felt like pressure from a sinus infections.

Started with primary care, eye doctor, and ENT. They ran bloodwork, dizziness test (not fun), brain scan, eye test, etc. After they all exhausted all possibilities I was referred to a neurologist who prescribed meds to treat it as a headache. I thought it was a waste of time since I had no classic symptoms of a headache but it actually cured the Dizziness. Just take 3 pills before bed.

As I went thru all this there was a couple times it got bad and my heart would race, sweating, burning on back of neck. Looking back now I think not
Knowing what was wrong with me and fearing the worst put me into a panic attack.

Not sure that you have the same thing as me but I can tell you from experience to go to the doctor and don’t give up hope. Don’t read on the internet about your symptoms and try to self diagnose because you’d swear your dying with cancer or some worse disease. Hang in there and get to the doc to get checked out. Good luck!
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
Nothing to play with. Friend had similar and ended having a stroke. SEE A DOCTOR!!!

^^^THIS, I find it hard to believe you have not seen your Dr yet,,,,, especially since it happened before.

Being anti-Dr is not wise for folks with families that count on us.
You may have made the condition worse by not seeking treatment earlier.
MY WIFE did that, and I didn't know, NOW she needs injections IN HER EYES, to save her vision.
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
You need to go to a doctor ASAP. And do not drive. You are putting other people at risk. It's one thing for you to just ignore what is going on and try to tough it out, but when your symptoms run the risk of harming other people, time to stop being a hard ass and seek treatment. What if you get one of these spells next time you drive and you plow into a van full of kids?
 

CarolinaReaper

Guest
UPDATE:

Went to Urgent Care yesterday. Honestly, for most of yesterday I felt pretty good overall. Especially in comparison to 2 days ago. They did the usual preliminary tests and then did a series of exercises on my head that they said should have induced an immediate response if it were 100% vertigo. Which it really didn't do anything to me. So, honestly they couldn't give me a straight answer as to what it is. They took blood to be sent off for several different types of tests and told me they would refer me to a Neurologist. I should be hearing back from them fairly soon. They prescribed me Dramamine of all things. So I am supposed to take 1-2 of those each day or as needed for symptoms. So, now it's just a waiting game to hear back from the doc and see what the blood tests say and what the neurologist come up with as well.
 

PPosey

Twelve Pointer
Do not drive when having problems! I hope your alright but crap, you may as well be driving drunk in the situation you discribed.
 
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