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Suggest Treatment For Postural Hypotension
Question: A few weeks ago I was getting dizzy when I turned in bed or went from a lying position to an upright position. I haven't had any dizziness for about 2 weeks but a few minutes ago I was lying down and then got up and I got a spell. I got up this morning and just had my medications and a little bit of water and no food and then went back to bed because I didn't sleep well. I got up just now and I felt dizzy. Could the dizziness been from not eating or drinking something for over 12 hours? By the way when I went to the doctor they found that my left ear was full of wax and they cleaned it out but after the cleaning I got a few spells and called and spoke to the nurse and she asked me if I was drinking a lot of water during the day and I told her no and she told me to drink about 64 ozs. of water a day. After I started drinking more water I had no spells until this morning. Please advise.
Brief Answer:
postural hypotension
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for trusting us at HCM, I will answer your question to the best of my knowledge.
What you described is classic case of postural hypotension; meaning when you are laying down and move to upright position your blood pressure decreases slightly due to blood pooling in the lungs, until your heart pick up pace and retain normal pressure. This leads to feeling of dizziness or light headedness you described. It is often mild and does not need any treatment.
It happens most commonly due to dehydration so yes not drinking or eating anything for 12 hours can lead to it, other less common reasons are heart problems, endocrinology problems, or neurological problems. Middle ear infections can lead to vertigo a total different symptoms than light headedness you described, so it is good that your ENTdoctor got the wax out but that is not the reason for what you are complaining from here.
What it needs from you is to be careful not stand up promptly once you were sleeping. To be careful not to stand up promptly is important to make sure you do not end up with head injury from falling down if you happen to feel so much dizzy. So next time you are sleeping you need to first set at the edge of the bed for a couple of seconds then from there stand up wait another couple of seconds and then and only then you start moving.
To make sure all other serious issues covered I do recommend that you visit a cardiologist, get an ECG for your heart activity, get your blood pressure and sugar level tested.
If you have any other quesitons please feel free to ask.
Kind regards,
Dr. Nazzal
postural hypotension
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for trusting us at HCM, I will answer your question to the best of my knowledge.
What you described is classic case of postural hypotension; meaning when you are laying down and move to upright position your blood pressure decreases slightly due to blood pooling in the lungs, until your heart pick up pace and retain normal pressure. This leads to feeling of dizziness or light headedness you described. It is often mild and does not need any treatment.
It happens most commonly due to dehydration so yes not drinking or eating anything for 12 hours can lead to it, other less common reasons are heart problems, endocrinology problems, or neurological problems. Middle ear infections can lead to vertigo a total different symptoms than light headedness you described, so it is good that your ENTdoctor got the wax out but that is not the reason for what you are complaining from here.
What it needs from you is to be careful not stand up promptly once you were sleeping. To be careful not to stand up promptly is important to make sure you do not end up with head injury from falling down if you happen to feel so much dizzy. So next time you are sleeping you need to first set at the edge of the bed for a couple of seconds then from there stand up wait another couple of seconds and then and only then you start moving.
To make sure all other serious issues covered I do recommend that you visit a cardiologist, get an ECG for your heart activity, get your blood pressure and sugar level tested.
If you have any other quesitons please feel free to ask.
Kind regards,
Dr. Nazzal
Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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