dizzy spells

In another context and another century, a swooning woman would be almost romantic -- indicative of a delicate female corseted in whalebone -- but at 38 Elsa is a strong, healthy married woman who wears flowing garments and claims that dizzy spells have literally turned her world upside down.

"I was turning in bed one night and my head started spinning," says Elsa. "It was only on one side of my head that I felt dizzy, and when I sat up the spinning stopped."

"I couldn't even explain it to my husband," says Elsa. "It was such a strange sensation."

"I went back to sleep, thinking it was just one of those things," says Elsa, "but when I got up next morning I went totally dizzy and nearly fell flat on my face."

"My husband took me straight to consult with a local doctor, I was given an A1 bill of health, and we were told it was probably a virus and would go away," says Elsa, "and within a week, thankfully, it did."

"Imagine my shock, then, when two months later it started all over again," sighs Elsa. "This time the dizziness wasn't confined to when I was lying down in bed. It was all day long and of course I couldn't go to work or do anything. I was bumping into furniture and on the verge of passing out."

"Again, the local doctor said it was a viral thing," says Elsa. "He gave me a script for a dizziness medication and suggested I rest up for a few days."

"I called in sick at work and did exactly as the doctor told me to do," says Elsa. "I slept propped up and kept my head erect at all other times. I couldn't do any housework and had terrible difficulty with personal care."

"I can't imagine how awful these dizzy spells would be for a single woman living alone -- or for any woman, married or not, who has children to look after," says Elsa. "I was totally incapacitated by the head swims."

"If that were not bad enough," sighs Elsa, "on the fourth day I started to get very worried about not having had a bowel movement."

"Terrified that I had a bowel blockage and that the dizzy spells were related to it, not a virus, my husband took me back to see the doctor who reassured me that all was well and that I should stop taking the medication," sighs Elsa. "He suggested a laxative preparation and the next day my bowels opened. I was angry by this development because I was given no warning that the dizzy medication might cause constipation."

"Eventually, after a week, the dizzies went away -- just like the very first dizzy spell I had," says Elsa, "and now that I'm back to normal, what worries me is what causes these dizzy spells and when am I going to get another one?"

"If it is a viral thing -- as my local doctor insists it is -- what virus caused it? Will I be forever plagued by these dizzy spells? And why hasn't my husband been affected? In fact, why hasn't anyone I work with come down with similar viral dizzy spells? If a virus has been going around, why has it just struck me? And why have I never heard of the complaint before?"

"We haven't exactly planned to sail the oceans or climb Mt Everest," laughs Elsa, "but my husband and I are active, outdoors people and if I am now prone to getting dizzy spells every few months our weekend trips and long vacations are more or less ruined. How can we go away anywhere, now?"

"I keep on thinking that it has to be something particular to me, my physiology, that makes me dizzy and not my husband or anyone else I know," muses Elsa. "And then I started wondering about my eating habits. I know I eat more carbohydrates than my husband (he's a big meat eater), so maybe I could have hypoglycemia?"

"When I returned to my local doctor for a final check-up I had so many questions I wanted answered but he sort of shrugged and gave me the impression that either he didn't know or didn't care," says Elsa. "Doctors are busy people, I know, and I guess it's my responsibility to do as much research as I can on the subject and help myself."

"It's crazy really," laughs Elsa, "here I am at 38 and I know very little about how my body works! Apart from an occasional cold, I've never really been ill before. My weight is fine, I don't smoke, I rarely drink, I eat sensibly, exercise regularly and have no family history of disease (my parents are in their 60s and apart from a bit of arthritis are in perfect health)."

"My husband has been very supportive through my ordeal, but I can't help thinking that I've let him down and I worry about becoming a burden to him," says Elsa. "He says it could just as easily have been him, but dizzy spells always seem to be an almost exclusive female thing, right?"

"He says I worry too much," sighs Elsa. "And maybe that's what the doctors think about me, too -- without saying so -- but I had NO worries before all this started and I believe I have every right to feel worried about dizzy spells."

"I've started researching the subject and found PubMed the best place to do a search," says Elsa. "There are hundreds of articles about dizziness and just as many causes. It made me dizzy just ploughing through them so I gave up!"

"So, as much as I don't like to passively wait for another disaster to befall me it would appear to be the best course of (in)action I can take," says Elsa. "No wonder dizzy spells are hushed up -- who wants a complaint for which there is no reliable diagnosis or treatment?"

See also:

vertigo and hypertension

deaf and dizzy invalid