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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Dizziness relieved with stress???
Answered by
Lama Chahine, MD - Neurology
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland - OH
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury.
Dizziness relieved with stress???
by nikki959602, Mar 16, 2009 09:31AM
What if I told you I have been suffering from a kind of dizziness, mostly felt in the front of my head combined with moderate headaches, some nausea for the last year or so and a recent stressfull situation "switched" it off???
The car battery died. The combination of being really annoyed and the physical stress of having to push the car just switched the dizziness off. This happened again after having a bad day spending most of it in bed with a "bad head" I picked up a friend from the airport not feeling well and when she then said she lost the key, I got really annoyed again and it stopped.
I have been to the Doctor and given "travel sickness" meds which do not help in the slightest.
I have stopped taking them and am now looking at visiting the doctor again.
Other symptoms are:
I tend to feel worse after a big meal (this does not happen all the time)
I have had on and off pain in my leg
I am struggling to adjust to my new glasses, the prescription is very slight but sometimes I feel like they make my head worse.
Mood Swings don't cope well with not feeling well.
I feel slight pressure over my right eye and the eye makes a bizarre noise when I rub it
I am a 32 year old male and my diet is not the best, I tend to eat quite alot of salt and sugar but am not overweight.
Any suggestions you might have as to what to ask the doctor when I go would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
The car battery died. The combination of being really annoyed and the physical stress of having to push the car just switched the dizziness off. This happened again after having a bad day spending most of it in bed with a "bad head" I picked up a friend from the airport not feeling well and when she then said she lost the key, I got really annoyed again and it stopped.
I have been to the Doctor and given "travel sickness" meds which do not help in the slightest.
I have stopped taking them and am now looking at visiting the doctor again.
Other symptoms are:
I tend to feel worse after a big meal (this does not happen all the time)
I have had on and off pain in my leg
I am struggling to adjust to my new glasses, the prescription is very slight but sometimes I feel like they make my head worse.
Mood Swings don't cope well with not feeling well.
I feel slight pressure over my right eye and the eye makes a bizarre noise when I rub it
I am a 32 year old male and my diet is not the best, I tend to eat quite alot of salt and sugar but am not overweight.
Any suggestions you might have as to what to ask the doctor when I go would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Doctor's Answer
by Lama Chahine, MD, Mar 18, 2009 08:57PM
, Mar 18, 2009 08:57PM
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.
I am not sure what you mean by the term dizziness. When some people use the term dizziness, they often mean vertigo, or room-spinning. Others mean a light-headed, whoozy feeling.
If by dizziness you mean vertigo (room-spinning), your symptoms may be due to a variant of migraine called basilar migraine. Basically this is marked by several hours of vertigo associated with nausea, light-sensitivity, and sometimes other symptoms. Headache may or may not be present. The treatment is different from that used to treat other migraine types; the treatment in this case is a type of medication called calcium channel blocker, such as verapamil, which is actually used to treat blood pressure but works in type of basilar migraine as well.
The causes of vertigo (room-spinning dizziness) could be either the inner ear or the brain. Inner ear causes of vertigo most commonly include benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, and can be repositioned with simple head maneuvers. The symptoms often include vertigo that occurs with turning of the head, often while turning over in bed. Another cause, if your symptoms are associated with tinnitus (ear ringing) and hearing loss is called Meniere’s disease and can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery. And so on, several other causes from inner ear problems exist.
Less commonly, vertigo can also be due to problems in the brain. The most common is a benign (not cancerous) tumor called a schwanoma (also called acoustic neuroma). This is diagnosed by MRI of the brain. Thyroid problems can also lead to vertigo.
If by dizziness you mean light-headedness, causes could include low blood pressure such as due to dehydration or autonomic dysfunction, cardiac problems, and several other non-neurologic causes. Anemia can cause light-headedness as well.
I am not sure why an emotional situation resolved your symptoms, this is unusual!
I recommend continued follow-up with your doctor; if he/she suspects you may have basilar migraine, referral to a neurologist may benefit you.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, 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.
I am not sure what you mean by the term dizziness. When some people use the term dizziness, they often mean vertigo, or room-spinning. Others mean a light-headed, whoozy feeling.
If by dizziness you mean vertigo (room-spinning), your symptoms may be due to a variant of migraine called basilar migraine. Basically this is marked by several hours of vertigo associated with nausea, light-sensitivity, and sometimes other symptoms. Headache may or may not be present. The treatment is different from that used to treat other migraine types; the treatment in this case is a type of medication called calcium channel blocker, such as verapamil, which is actually used to treat blood pressure but works in type of basilar migraine as well.
The causes of vertigo (room-spinning dizziness) could be either the inner ear or the brain. Inner ear causes of vertigo most commonly include benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, and can be repositioned with simple head maneuvers. The symptoms often include vertigo that occurs with turning of the head, often while turning over in bed. Another cause, if your symptoms are associated with tinnitus (ear ringing) and hearing loss is called Meniere’s disease and can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery. And so on, several other causes from inner ear problems exist.
Less commonly, vertigo can also be due to problems in the brain. The most common is a benign (not cancerous) tumor called a schwanoma (also called acoustic neuroma). This is diagnosed by MRI of the brain. Thyroid problems can also lead to vertigo.
If by dizziness you mean light-headedness, causes could include low blood pressure such as due to dehydration or autonomic dysfunction, cardiac problems, and several other non-neurologic causes. Anemia can cause light-headedness as well.
I am not sure why an emotional situation resolved your symptoms, this is unusual!
I recommend continued follow-up with your doctor; if he/she suspects you may have basilar migraine, referral to a neurologist may benefit you.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.
Member Comments (2)
by Rob2008, Mar 19, 2009 10:39AM
I would suggest there is some chance it could be related to your ears. When under stress, people with stuffy noses are able to breath much better than normal (im one of them)...ears and noses are connected in some unknown way this may well be the answer
