i stand up and

[curiousforever]

then bam i'm on the floor.

i get really lightheaded.

i'm so sick of feeling sick right now.

[suede]

CF, I know the feeling, it sounds like you are getting the double whammy!!
Are you making sure you get up slowly and don't make any sudden movements?
My Dr's tell me all the time to get up and turn slowly and no sudden movements and I always tell them if they were in my body they would know nothing I do is sudden or fast.
Hope your feeling better
Linda

[Mark N]

Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad. If you have a walker or a cane you should keep it with you to avoid falling down again. I hope you feel better tomorrow.

[ErinENj]

The one thing that I would seriously recommend is making sure that you're getting enough water/liquids during the day. I have the same problem when I'm dehydrated, and if I don't pay attention the next thing I know, I'm waking up on the floor, bleeding from something. The last time was a broken nose, the time before that it was stitches right by my right nostril.

Something a doc told me, which may be kinda gross, but the darker your urine, the more dehydrated you are. Clear is good. Dark yellow, bordering on brown, very, very, very, very bad. That's when you go find a bottle of water and start chugging. If I get to that point, I think it's just earier to go see my doc and get him to hook me up to an IV so that I get the fluids in me as quickly as I can.

So take a look at your hydration level and if that's been less than usual or noticing that your urine is darker than usual, start drinking a lot of water and see if that might help. I hope that this was just a freak kind of thing and that you'll be better asap!! :D

[BrokenBladder]

Curiousforever that sounds very scary!! I hope you're feeling better today, let us know!!

[Kathi49]

Curiousforever,

That does sound scary. I hope you are feeling better today too. :)

I am like Erin in that I was told a long time ago to increase the water. When I experienced the dizzy spells from the cervicogenic headaches I had all the time, the docs told me to drink or sip on some water right away. It seemed to help. So, ever since then I always have a bottled water with me at all times. And Erin is right the darker the urine the more dehydrated you are. It is something to consider since dehydration can occur without you even knowing it. The docs also told me to put my head down and breathe slow, deep breaths. This was tough to do considering I was having panic attacks from the pain and the dizziness. But it did help with the dizziness. Again, I hope you are better today. I know what it is like to feel dizzy and sick all the time. :eek:

[curiousforever]

Thanks.

My blood pressure jumps I guess when I stand up.

[BrokenBladder]

Thanks.

My blood pressure jumps I guess when I stand up.


My blood pressure has been high over the last year and my doctor told me that when it drops too quickly and I stand up I will get lightheaded and maybe even pass out. Also have you had blood work done recently? Possibly your potassium is low? Just making some guesses here.:confused:
I sure hope your feeling better today.:)

[Bobbi]

I have the same feeling, but mine stems from my heart probs. I have low BP. My cardiologist advised that I stay well-hydrated, which others have already pointed out.

My situation may be different, yet he also told me to stay away from sodas (which I don't drink anyway, and also avoid caffeine - in beverages or in, i.e., chocolate and other products. I don't consume caffeine anyway. Some OTC products, such as Exedrin and so on, also contain caffeine.)

When feeling lightheaded, he told me to hit the ground (or floor) and stay there and not make sudden moves - such as from a sitting position. (I was on vacation when it was the worst for me, and on a wharf when it hit. In California, who knows? But... I thought, possibly it was an earthquake, only the feeling did not pass throughout the week I was on the coast. A fluke? No. The feeling persisted and intuition went into high-gear and I sat on the ground rather than finding myself impaled by a picket in my fence - before my cardio doc gave me pointers.)

Have you spoken with your doc(s) about how you feel?

[Mark N]

I drink too much water any more as my meds make me dried out too much. I get the same lightheaded feeling when I get up from my zero gravity chair so I have learned to just stand up and wait until the feeling passes before I try to move. I have got so used to it that it s second nature to me and I hope you learn to stand up and wait until you are ready to move.

[Bobbi]

I just thought of something else that I know both myself and Tbackpain1 (Theresa) encounter. Vasovagal or syncope.

I don't want to insert words into Theresa's experiences but she led me to understanding what it entails, which, in turn, gave me the info. for my cardio doc and PM doc to check out.

Mine is, essentially, how my body responds, at time, to extreme pain. When I first described it (at the SD forum), some thought I was alluding to feelings that some have that accompany migraines. I don't have migraines. Mine is from physical pain; the vasovagal nerve is tripped.

Knowing what the "signs" of its onset are for me or within my body, I know to stop everything, since it does tend to be a "blinder," whereas all I can see is akin to a black sheet with tiny spots of pin-hole light... and sudden stomach upset. I break into a cold sweat and am too afraid to move when it's the vasovagal response.

[ErinENj]

Bobbi: I actually have that too! They diagnosed me after I fell and cut my upper lip open a few years ago. In order to figure out what it was, they strapped me on this table and kept flipping me so that my head was near the ground and my feet were in the air, then back to normal quickly where they made me stand there for I think it was like 20 minutes, nothing to read, nothing to do but stare at the nurse who wasn't very talkative and my mom wasn't in the room with me, and then they'd do it again and make me stand for another 20 minutes. I think they had to do it like 4 or 5 times to make sure that I wouldn't pass out when they flipped me back up. I think it would have been a LOT easier if I did pass out!!

It always happens to me when I have the stomach flu. I can remember, ever since I was a kid, whenever I got the stomach flu, I'd pass out in the bathroom, or, I remember once, I was running to the bathroom when the next thing I knew I was on the carpet face down with my dad standing above me in his underwear and mom coming running out of their room. And no, dad didn't wear boxers. It was quite the scarring incident. Something along the same lines of seeing your parents getting it on. I woke up and immediately ran into the bathroom. My parents were yelling through the door, "Erin, are you okay? What's going on?! What's wrong?!" I think they got the hint when they head me start throwing up. I remember a couple of times when I would put a pile of towels on the counter right next to the toilet so that if I felt the passing out coming on, I'd just lie my head down and would wake up later on, head on the towels, and luckily not on the floor.

But back then I never thought anything of it. I just attributed it to the stomach flu and didn't worry about it. As soon as it became something that could really hurt me, or even kill me (if I had landed a few inches to my left, which was entirely possible and it's actually really weird that I didn't land there, when I passed out when I had the stomach flu, move-in day for college my sophmore year, I can promise that something much worse would have happened to me. I would have put my head through 2 thick panes of shower-door glass.) It turns out that when I passed out the second to last time (the incident I just referred to) I laid there for awhile, I think a little over 20 minutes before I woke up and I was bleeding the whole time. If I had hit an artery, I probably wouldn't have woken up, and my mom wouldn't have known a thing. I actually had gotten up, seen my face, walked to the top of the stairs and called to her before she realized anything was up. She told me later that she thought she heard me hit the floor, but figured it wasn't anything major. Guess she figured wrong!

Syncopi can be something that just happens from time to time, and is a pain in the butt, but it can also be something that's really dangerous, if you don't pay attention to it. The biggest thing is knowing the signals. I get the feeling that I'm going to throw up, so I'm usually running to the bathroom when it happens. Now, if I feel that's going to happen, I grab a garbage bag that I have in my room, and a bottle of water and start drinking. I had one time over this past christmas break where I was having some GI issues thanks to withdrawls (let's just say my stomach didn't get to enjoy any of the good food I ate over the holiday!) when I felt it coming on one morning. I knew that was what it was, so I actually grabbed the stuff I said earlier and laid down in bed to sip my water. It worked out that I just needed some water and didn't end up losing consciousness. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I think it's really important to get this figured out. You need to be sure that you know the signs for when you get lightheaded and make sure that you aren't somewhere where you might end up getting hurt if you fall. I have average blood pressue, but for some reason, when I get dehydrated, it drops like a rock. The only time it happened at school, they took my blood pressure before deciding to send me to the ER (I had only broken my nose. There wasn't much the ER would do for that alone) and it was the second time I'd seen the top number be in the double digits, even after I was feeling okay and had drank some water. I had walked to the health center, and was feeling perfectly normal besides my nose hurting. It may even be that if your blood pressure has recently gone up that maybe it's dipping a bit more than usual. It could be a number of things. I'd say that if it continues to be an issue, get it checked out. Like I said before, it's better to be safe than sorry.

[mickeysblog]

Just a thought, but it could be your meds doing this as well. I know that when I took one muscle relaxor that was new to me it for some reason had me loose track of time and bang down I went over and over again. If your on certain pain releavers it could also do this. Do you ever have times when you feel very cold? Just can't get warm, and is it worse when you wake from sleep. At times does the cold ever wake you?
Worth looking into. I also agree with the water intake. Very important indeed.

Good luck,
Mick

[Pharmacist.steve]

I drink too much water any more as my meds make me dried out too much. I get the same lightheaded feeling when I get up from my zero gravity chair so I have learned to just stand up and wait until the feeling passes before I try to move. I have got so used to it that it s second nature to me and I hope you learn to stand up and wait until you are ready to move.

Some of the TCA (Elvail type drugs) can cause this .. it is called orthostatic Hypotention .. basically .. your body is slow to repsond in raising your blood pressure when you rapidly change positions.

[Kathi49]

Bobbi,

Exactly! The same thing would happen to me when I had those intense headaches...extreme pain! And, the last time it happened was due to the colonoscopy prep. My husband had to call the paramedics and they explained that it was that vasovagal response. SCARY! And my responses to it are exactly the same as yours; cold sweat, dots and extreme nausea and a feeling I am going to pass out.

And, not to be funny or gross, but my husband once got up out of bed, went to the bathroom and passed out while going. The same thing happened to my friend's husband. And I suppose it is as pharamciststeve said; a rapid change in positions.

[curiousforever]

Just a thought, but it could be your meds doing this as well. I know that when I took one muscle relaxor that was new to me it for some reason had me loose track of time and bang down I went over and over again. If your on certain pain releavers it could also do this. Do you ever have times when you feel very cold? Just can't get warm, and is it worse when you wake from sleep. At times does the cold ever wake you?
Worth looking into. I also agree with the water intake. Very important indeed.

Good luck,
Mick

Actually just my feet and hands. Freeze.

Doesn't wake me though.

And I think that I've forgotten to eat more than usual. AND instead of my regular water - we've had coke around (cola ya know).

This happened before I got on the toprol - due to a pulse jump. Do meds like that ever need adjusted?

My BP is always normal - except when in a great deal of pain.