Dizziness
I am nearly always dizzy. Can’t get a satisfactory answer from my pulmonologist or GP. I see online on many websites that it is often caused by low oxygen to the brain. However, my blood oxygen is consistently 95-97%; never lower than 93. Does anyone have any insight?
Hi again, revbobmat, and thanks for your post. You may be aware we cannot provide medical advice or diagnostics over the internet (for your own safety), but your concern certainly warrants a reply!
You may be interested to know there are various medical conditions that may cause a level of 'syncope', or dizziness. As well, an unsteady gait, loss of balance as well as other symptoms may be included. It is also possible the pulmonologist and/or general practitioner may not be familiar with these conditions.
My suggestion would be to seek out the advice of a good neurologist. I will share I was experiencing something similar and, after a battery of diagnostic tests, all which turned out to be negative, it was determined that I was mildly dehydrated. When I investigated further, it turned out I was NOT drinking a sufficient amount of water during my day. It was subtle, but it was there. It took a fairly well known neurologist (and his PA), to diagnose this even though I had been followed by several other high level physicians concurrently!!
I share this not so you'll think you're having the same condition but, more importantly, so that you will consider seeking out a physician who can properly assess your condition.
What do you think?
Leon (site moderator COPD.net)
Similar here.
Random dizziness - plus extreme dizziness 20 seconds after standing.
Good O2 numbers.
Turned out to be caused by heart drugs.
Made some adjustments.
I've been almost event free for a couple of months now.
I'm learning to control the conversation with my doctors.
(without being over the top)
I bring a page of notes and questions now.
Make sure they fix the problem. 😉
Hi Glenn, and thanks so much for lending your own support and encouragement here. We also appreciate you sharing your own personal experiences managing this (and other aspects) of your medical condition(s). I like the way you kept after this until you found a resolution with your physician. It serves to underscore that everything that is occurring is not necessarily directly related to COPD.
As a new member, it's gratifying for us to see you are already actively engaging here in our community.
Keep up the good work!
Leon (site moderator COPD.net)
I'm sorry to hear about the dizziness. Leon had some good suggestions that I agree with. There can be so many reasons for dizziness that it's almost impossible to speculate. Keep complaining to your GP until you get to the bottom of it. If they need to do a complete physical with blood work, let them. It may be something no one has thought of and completely unrelated to your COPD.
Feel better and please let us know what you find out.
Best,
Lyn (COPD site moderator)
You might research Miniere's Disease. My son has this. He is a USMC combat veteran who fought in the last Iraq war. His MOS was EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), and his unit was the lead unit in the USMC assault column from day one in the war. He suffers it because of too many instances of close exposure to extremely loud detonations. He takes a medication for it when it bothers him, which is good, as he is a truck driver now and cannot drive if it gets bad. But this can also be caused by several other issues, such as infections. There is testing for it. Just FYI.
