what causes lightheadness?
612046
Lightheadedness happens when there is not enough blood getting to the brain. This can happen if there is a sudden drop in your blood pressure or if you are dehydrated from vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or other causes. Many people, especially as they get older, experience lightheadedness if they get up too quickly from a lying or seated position. Lightheadedness often accompanies the flu, common cold, or allergies.\n\nMore serious conditions that can lead to lightheadedness include heart problems (such as abnormal heart rhythm or heart attack), stroke, and severe drop in blood pressure (shock). If any of these serious disorders is present, you will usually have additional symptoms like chest pain, a feeling of a racing heart, loss of speech, change in vision, or other symptoms.\n\nThe most common causes of vertigo are benign positional vertigo and labyrinthitis. Benign positional vertigo is vertigo that happens when you change the position of your head. Labyrinthitis usually follows a cold or flu and is caused by a viral infection to the inner ear. Meniere's disease is another common inner ear problem. It causes vertigo, loss of balance, and ringing in the ears.\n\nMuch less commonly, vertigo or feeling unsteady/off balance is a sign of stroke, multiple sclerosis, seizures, a brain tumor, or a bleed in your brain. In such conditions, other symptoms usually accompany the vertigo or imbalance.
222583
sounds verys serious. they may want to see a doctor. also, the dizzyness, tiredness, and feeling like the are gonna pass out is probably dehidration. they should try to drink more water as well.
466910
are you doing anything just before or during that makes them come on?  like standing up?  a lot of dizzy spells are from low blood preasure, especially when standing up (it's called orthostatic hypotension).  also it can come from low blood sugar.   so make sure you're not getting too hungry by snacking on fruits during the day and drink plenty of water.
601447
Depends on the medication. Some can cause chemical imbalances in the brain, while they try to correct another imbalance. They can also cause imbalance of the inner ear and that's a prime cause of dizziness. This is likely a side effect and if it doesn't go away, or is just too strong to live with, you will need to talk to your doctor about making a change.
782442
could be several things\n\nhigh blood pressure-when your blood pressure gets to high-your body's autoimmune response is to try and shut itself down for protection. this means causing severe dizziness,faintness,complete loss of consciousness, chest pain,numbness,and blurry vision\n\nlow blood sugar-when the body's blood sugar gets too low-one can have feelings of extreme weakness or fatigue,dizziness,passing out,breaking out into sweats,confusion or disorientation.\n\npanic/anxiety attack. symptoms of these are:\n\n-overwhelming feeling of panic ( like you are going to die)\n-chest pain/tightness\n-dizziness or faintness\n-confusion or disorientation\n-blurry vision\n-heart palpitations\n\nany one of these situations can require immediate medical attention. but first try these things\n\n-lie down in a dark,quiet,and comfortable room\n-place a cold washcloth on your forehead\n-take slow,deep breaths and try to focus on relaxing\n-have someone get you something cold to drink or get it yourself before lying down. take small,frequent sips\n\nrest for about 20-30 mins. if you are still having the same symptoms have someone take you to the emergency room. if there is nobody available to drive you-call 911 and have an ambulance come get you. since you are having vision problems-it is not safe for you to drive.
772435
That happened to me about 10 years ago.  Apparently, it's caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure.\n\nI just checked and found this text from Merck's website:\n"Fainting may occur if the vagus nerve, which supplies the neck, chest, and intestine, is stimulated. When stimulated, the vagus nerve slows the heart. Such stimulation also causes nausea and cool, clammy skin. This type of fainting is called vasovagal (vasomotor) syncope."
796303
I am like that now. The light headed, weak, and tired part. I deal with it by going for a walk outside. Being out in the weather tends to get me used to it and the things wrong don't happen anymore. You could try this.
129269
Get someone to drive you to the doctor or ER right away. Best if you don't drive yourself if you are dizzy, since it could be so many different things, some of them quite serious.  Most likely it is a middle ear infection or some virus, but in case it is blood pressure related, or some kind of seizure on-coming, ask a friend to take you in now.  Good luck--you will be fine!
16949
Orthostatic hypotension\n\nClick here for more info: http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/medical/orthostatic.html
1096326
Dizziness, or vertigo, is sometimes caused by excessive motion, like a carnival ride going too fast. Your brain cannot assimilate all the sensations that are going on to help you keep your balance. So, if you eat a couple of elephant ears, a pronto pup and a burger and chase it down with a Coke, then you get on the scrambler, your brain is going to try to help you keep your balance while you are on the scrambler. You will "hurl your lunch" because your brain is busy helping your body keep it's balance. \n\nDizziness can also be a symptom of the flu or some other ailment. Throwing up can just be because your body is run down and it is rejecting the work of digesting your food because it needs to concentrate on whatever it is that is making you sick, like the flu or an infection or something.
366165
dizziness and fainting
594746
wow, dizziness or vertigo can have many causes from inner ear problems to sinus problems to nerve or brain abnormalities not to mention heart related causes...i think it is imperative you see a doc.....
627288
Quick answer... there are many causes, but one of them can be anemia, or internal bleeding, or the side effects of some medications. Low blood pressure can make you feel dizzy, or you can faint if you stand too quickly after sitting or lying down.
486742
vertigo is the feeling that you or your environment is moving when no movement occurs. Imprecisely called dizziness, the term vertigo is the specific term used to describe an illusion of movement. Unlike nonspecific lightheadedness or dizziness, vertigo has relatively few causes.\nertigo can be caused by problems in the brain or the inner ear.\n\n    * Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common form of vertigo and is characterized by the sensation of motion initiated by sudden head movements.\n\n    * Vertigo may also be caused by inflammation within the inner ear. This is known as labyrinthitis. This condition is characterized by the sudden onset of vertigo and may be associated with hearing loss.\n\n    * Meniere disease is composed of a triad of symptoms: episodes of vertigo, ringing in the ears, and hearing loss. People have the abrupt onset of severe vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, as well as periods in which they are symptom-free.\n\n    * Acoustic neuroma is a type of tumor causing vertigo. Symptoms include vertigo with one-sided ringing in the ear and hearing loss.\n\n    * Vertigo can be caused by decreased blood flow to the brain and base of the brain. Bleeding into the back of the brain is known as cerebellar hemorrhage and is characterized by vertigo, headache, difficulty walking, and inability to look toward the side of the bleed. The result is that the person's eyes gaze away from the side with the problem. Walking is also extremely impaired.\n\n    * Vertigo is often the presenting symptom in multiple sclerosis. The onset is usually abrupt, and examination of the eyes may reveal the inability of the eyes to move past the midline toward the nose.\n\n    * Head trauma and neck injury may also result in vertigo, which usually goes away on its own.\n\n    * Migraine, a severe form of headache, may also cause vertigo. The vertigo is usually followed by a headache. There is often a prior history of similar episodes but no lasting problems.\n\nMedical Treatment\n\nThe choice of treatment will depend on the diagnosis.\n\n    * Vertigo can be treated with medicine you take by mouth, through medicine placed on the skin (as a patch), or drugs given through an IV.\n\n    * Specific types of vertigo may require additional treatment and referral:\n\n          o Bacterial infection of the middle ear requires antibiotics.\n\n          o For Meniere disease, in addition to symptomatic treatment, people might be placed on a low salt diet and may require medication used to increase urine output.\n\n          o A hole in the inner ear causing recurrent infection may require referral to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist for surgery.\n\n    * In addition to the drugs used for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, several physical maneuvers can be used to treat the condition.\n\n          o Vestibular rehabilitation exercises consist of having you sit on the edge of a table and lie down to one side until the vertigo resolves followed by sitting up and lying down on the other side, again until the vertigo ceases. This is repeated until the vertigo is no longer inducible.\n\n          o Particle repositioning maneuver is a treatment based on the idea that the condition is caused by small stones in the inner ear. Your head is repositioned to move the stones to their normal position. This maneuver should be repeated until the abnormal eye movements are no longer visible
1166480
Your problem should be addressed by a physician...however, symptoms of dizziness followed by a headache sound like migraine induced vertigo. It is just another type of migraine headache and the dizziness may be part of your prodromal symptoms. A neurologist would be able to correctly diagnose this. As other people have said, nutrition is important, especially if this is a migraine problem. Many headache sufferers can pinpoint specific things that can cause their headache symptoms. You should schedule an appointment with your physician and keep a headache journal including how frequent, severity, duration, what you had been doing prior to onset, how long specific symptoms last (minutes, hours vs days) as this will all help to get the propper diagnosis. Good luck.
225438
It is caused by a vasovagal reaction where your heart beat slows down and your blood pressure drops causing less blood flow to the brain. Happens to me with needles and its kind of embarrassing.
515689
could be signs of dehydration, especially if the dizziness occurs when you stand up rapidly or stand up after being in a crouching position. do an experiment where you make a conscious effort to drink more water (pee nearly clear by noon and stay that way until bedtime) and see if it helps!