dizziness

Just wondering what may have caused dizziness spell-my husband, 55 was at dentist.....started to feel nauseated and had to leave in the middle of just a teeth cleaning visit. His vision was not great, felt like he shouldn`t be driving. made it home..but has continued to be dizzy..both lying down and standing up . Only relief is sitting on the couch bent over a bit. says he does not think he is dehydrated, did eat some lunch and dinner. He is taking piroxicam for a sore shoulder....but says he did not take one today (20mg). It is now about 12 hrs later........

[opinmin]

I would call the physician asap about the side effect of dizziness.  Sometimes the side effects take a while to subside.  In the meanwhile, he should be care with his activities.

Good Luck!

[caregiver222]

Your husbands has two flags for a cardiac event. Nausea and dizziness. These are not strong flags, and the presentation is not typical, but it suggests labs and an EKG would be appropriate. At the very least a complete work-up.  If this happened in a dentist's office and the dentist, having been made aware of the symptoms, did not insist he go to an emergency room the dentist should lose his license. This does not mean your husband is in fact having cardiac problems. "Calling a physician" is an absolute complete waste of time and energy. Wrong direction. Wrong track. Wrong trolley car. You husband needs an evaluation at an emergency room.  Yes, the sympoms, especially at your husbands age, warrant a visit to the ER. Now. Not tomorrow.

[opinmin]

Just keep in mind that lay persons responding to your questions with a diagnosis should be taken more as an personal opinion.  I know I cannot say if your husband's problem is cardiac nor should anyone else.  I do know a QUALIFIED physician needs to be made aware of this problem and he or she can make a PROPER diagnosis.  

[caregiver222]

Just to place things in a proper perspective, I did NOT state that this event had a cardiac etiology.  I did state that nausea is one of the symptoms of myocardial ischemia. One of many. Nausea alone, is likely to be caused by a gastrointestinal problem. Nausea juxtaposed with confusion and dizziness, makes one lean in another direction. What is needed is not a "a qualified physician's" opinion. At least not in the United States, circa 2010. The Emergency room is uniquely set up to evaluate such issues. What one needs is not "a physician" but a multidisciplinary team, consisting of people who do the lab work, the techs who take EKG's, the specialists who perform stress exams, and a "team" of more than ONE physician who can use the so-called "Delphic" method to kick around possibilities. This is the old "two heads are better than one" theory. When one experiences symptoms that MAY involve a cardiac event the proper place to go in America is a modern emergency room. This is not to state your home physician is incomopetent, but in a hospital you can get back a cardiac enzyme test from the lab, for example, in under thirtty minutes. The advice "GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM" when experiencing any symptoms that are potentially life threatening is sound, reasonable, and prudent.