Why is there a shakiness inside like intoxication. What not to do

All of us have experienced dizziness at least once. It is called as serious illnesses, and minor external stimuli, can be both an alarming symptom and a harmless short-term sensation.

Sometimes this ailment can manifest itself sharply, in an enhanced form, with an attack of nausea.

In another situation, dizziness is noted for long period without giving the person much trouble.

This article describes in detail why the head is spinning, what varieties of this ailment are, what to do with dizziness and how it can be provoked.

Often this term means something completely different. Feeling darkening in the eyes, flickering, bright light, ringing in the ears, . Some may mistakenly say that they constantly feel dizzy.

Reduced hearing sensitivity in special situations, muscle weakness can be perceived as dizziness.

In fact, this term characterizes only the sensation of apparent rotation, general or “inside the head”. True dizziness is also called “vertigo”.

Why is my head spinning and staggering when walking?

This condition may be due to medication various diseases(diseases of the teeth or ear), on an unstable emotional background or due to overwork.

In this case, there are two main varieties of this disease: peripheral dizziness and central.

  1. Peripheral (not systemic). Comes along with a sudden headache and lasts from a few moments to a couple of hours. At the same time, the person feels that his head is suddenly spinning. He may also experience loss of balance, sweating, thirst, nausea. Very often this is accompanied by pain in the ear on one side, as well as a significant deterioration with sudden movements of the head. Focal neurological symptoms are absent.
  2. Central (systemic). Most often associated with diseases of the brain. It is characterized by an abrupt onset and prolonged action. A person may feel dizzy from time to time. At the same time, there is a violation of coordination of movements for weeks and even months; dizziness almost does not increase when turning the head. There may be focal neurological symptoms.

When visiting a doctor, it is important to be able to correctly explain the nature of your feelings, which will help you quickly diagnose and apply the appropriate treatment.

If you always feel dizzy, then tell about it, remember exactly when these signs of illness began to appear, and when dizziness is most marked (in the morning, in the evening or at night).

It is important to understand that dizziness is not an independent disease, but only a syndrome, and depends on the nature of the disease that caused it.

The manifestation of pathology or a reaction to an external stimulus: how to determine

In some cases, when the head hurts or is spinning, this may be a non-pathological, natural reaction of the body to external stimuli, for example:

  • Water, land and air transport. Just like motion sickness, dizziness all the time while in a moving vehicle is absolutely normal for people with a sensitive vestibular apparatus. According to statistics, this is more often manifested in children under 12 years of age, whose vestibular apparatus has not yet had time to fully form.
  • Carousels. Riding a carousel is often accompanied by dizziness, which is a normal reaction of the brain to a quick change of picture and rotation of the body. After you've been on the carousels, your head may continue to spin throughout the day.
  • Stress. Usually, bright positive or negative emotions are accompanied by an adrenaline rush, which can cause dizziness. A sharp release of adrenaline in stressful situations is also the norm. There are many diseases that cause a person to be in constant fear, panic, rage, and they should not be confused with ordinary stress. They provoke the release of adrenaline and dizziness. Such diseases include, for example, pheochromocytoma.
  • Height. When a person rises to a considerable height, his gaze is directed into the distance and does not have the ability to abruptly switch to surrounding objects. Dizziness in such situations is normal, especially if the person has a fear of heights.
  • Exhaustion, severe fatigue. Usually accompanied not only by dizziness, but also by a headache, which is concentrated in the temporal lobe. After a healthy sound sleep, such dizziness disappears the next day.
  • Lack of food and drink. Dizziness can occur against the background of a sharp lack of food and water. If a person gradually limits himself, over weeks or even months, then the body calmly adapts. Even if you haven’t eaten for only 8 hours, but before that you constantly had a hearty breakfast and dinner, this can even provoke a loss of consciousness. Usually, this is not a pathology, however, irregular nutrition can be accompanied by serious illnesses GIT. In this case, the head does not begin to spin more strongly during sudden movements. If you feel dizzy all day and you haven’t eaten anything, then you just need to eliminate the cause and the condition will return to normal.
  • Sudden change of position. A common reaction when getting out of bed abruptly in the morning is to darken before your eyes, especially if you have not slept well before. In such a situation, you should drink a glass cold water and lie down a bit, try to get up again, not so abruptly.

If you sometimes feel dizzy in the above situations and there are no other complaints, then there should be no cause for concern, and medical assistance is optional.

Dizziness due to medication

Often some medicines do this strong impact on a person that he begins to feel discomfort in everyday life: headache, dizziness, blackouts, nausea.

In the instructions for many medications indicates that the reception this medicine may cause dizziness.

In this case, if the patient strictly followed the instructions and did not use the drug in large doses, this is not a pathology and does not require separate treatment.

The following are some categories of drugs that can cause dizziness:

  1. Antibiotics. Many drugs from this category can have a strong effect on the body, which causes nausea, lack of appetite, headache and dizziness.
  2. Allergy medications. Most often, the intake of this particular category of drugs is accompanied by dizziness, since they extremely affect the vestibular apparatus.
  3. Sedatives. Lower blood pressure, pulse, muscle weakness, dizziness. Sometimes a severe headache or a feeling of pressure in the ears may develop. This usually happens with overdoses.

If you feel dizzy when taking any of the above medicines, and this side effect is indicated in the instructions, then it cannot be considered a pathology and does not require special treatment.

If you are very worried about this feeling, contact your doctor and ask to reduce the dosage of the medicine or replace the drug with another one.

Dizziness as a symptom

Feelings of rotation of oneself in space or other objects around oneself, when everything is spinning, can often indicate dozens of dangerous diseases.

Fortunately, dizziness is not their only symptom, and the disease is diagnosed based on the study of a complex of signs. Below is information about the diseases that can cause rotational sensations.

Ear diseases

What makes your head spin if your ear hurts? The reason is that inflammation of the middle and inner ear affect the work vestibular apparatus.

This is a special organ responsible for a certain position of a person in space, from which any inflammation or other violations of its function are necessarily accompanied by dizziness and disorientation.

These disorders include otitis media, labyrinthitis, or trauma to the inner ear. Dizziness in such cases can occur with a sharp tilt of the head or torso.

With otitis media, the inflamed zones tend to increase in size and put pressure on the inner ear, where the vestibular apparatus is located.

At the same time, erroneous signals about the position of a person in space enter the brain, which causes a feeling of rotation of oneself. If your head is spinning for the second day and your ear hurts, contact an otolaryngologist.

How to treat this disease in such cases? It's only worth finding true reason and remove it, that is, the cause of the inflammation process.

The labyrinth is inflammatory process the inner ear, which is in direct contact with the vestibular apparatus. The patient is very dizzy for several days, there is congestion in the ears and a feeling of pressure, headache, as well as nausea and vomiting.

When you feel dizzy when eating, especially hot food, and there are also severe pains in the ear, this can be caused by inflammation of the inner ear.

Injuries of the inner ear are accompanied by a violation of blood flow, rupture eardrum increased pressure in the inner ear, mechanical damage statolitic apparatus (part of the vestibular apparatus).

One way or another, this leads to severe dizziness, nausea, vomiting and severe pain. These symptoms occur immediately after the injury.

There are also pathologies associated with tumors near and directly in the VA, damage to the vestibular nerve, etc. All of them are also accompanied by a feeling of losing oneself in space.

By the way, in this case, they can be assigned.

Brain tumor

A tumor, benign or malignant, is a dense formation that presses on nearby areas of the brain, thereby impairing blood circulation, causing a violation of the functions performed by these areas, the occurrence of edema and an increase in intracranial pressure.

If the tumor is one and localized in a zone of the brain remote from the center, then pathological symptoms often occur on the one hand - on the one where the neoplasm is located.

In the presence of a brain tumor, a person experiences short attacks of dizziness, which are accompanied by an unpleasant feeling that the ground is slipping from under their feet, or a feeling of constantly falling.

If you often feel dizzy for no reason, the brain tumor may be the source of this ailment, especially if it happens every day.

Meniere's disease

This ailment is characterized by a sharp increase in the volume of fluid in the inner ear, which leads to an increase in intra-ear pressure. The disease can cause loss of balance, an unpleasant feeling of hum in auricles, as well as their congestion.

Often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

Most vivid symptoms observed from the musculoskeletal system. At first it is difficult for the patient to walk and navigate in space, then he loses the ability to move independently, his gait becomes shaky.

All this is accompanied by severe dizziness.

Pathologies of the nervous system

In diseases of the nervous system, general weakness and slight dizziness are observed. Almost never there is nausea, loss of consciousness, increased heart rate, vomiting, rise or decrease in pressure.

If you are constantly dizzy and everything is floating, while there are no other signs of pathology, the reason may be precisely in the disruption of the nervous system. If this happens every day, you should consult a doctor. He must prescribe treatment.

Atherosclerosis

This disease is associated with increased level cholesterol. Plaques form on the walls of blood vessels from cholesterol, as a result of which the lumen of the vessels narrows and the blood supply to certain parts of the body worsens.

If the vessels of the brain are narrowed by atherosclerotic plaques, a person experiences not just dizziness, but a feeling of loss of balance, he is constantly shaking, and his head can spin at any moment.

The patient feels as if the ground is slipping from under his feet, and he himself is constantly falling. In addition, atherosclerosis is accompanied by headache, increased pressure, nausea, and vomiting.

Skull injuries

These are serious mechanical defects that often damage not only cranium but also the brain itself. Such an injury is accompanied by dizziness, unbearable pain and increased pressure inside the skull.

Nausea, vomiting, and loss of consciousness are also often present. With a concussion, a person feels all of the above symptoms. Unfortunately, more serious damage often occurs.

Epilepsy

The manifestations of the disease are very diverse. In some cases, this seizures, in others (in case of temporal lobe epilepsy) – severe dizziness.

Before a seizure, a person with epilepsy experiences dizziness, which is accompanied by numbness of the head and muscles responsible for facial expressions.

If you look closely at the patient, you can see that his face is calm, and his eyes are empty. After such a state, a seizure usually occurs.

In the case of temporal lobe epilepsy, it is dizziness, and not convulsive seizures, that is the only symptom.

Multiple sclerosis

It consists in inflammation of the nerve endings in the brain, while the person feels dizzy, and his head is spinning with attacks.

Often accompanied by more severe symptoms: nausea, muscle weakness, impaired speech, hearing, vision, movement, skin sensitivity, and so on.

Migraine

The disease is characterized by severe unilateral headache. But few people know that migraine sufferers also experience dizziness.

At the same time, it is more felt when the pupils move, when you try to say something, raise or lower your head, lie down or sit down. Any movement during a migraine provokes an increase in pain and dizziness.

According to statistics, migraine occurs more often in women than in men.

Cervical osteochondrosis

It involves damage to the cervical vertebrae and intervertebral discs. Often, after sleeping in awkward posture, people suffering from osteochondrosis experience severe dizziness throughout the day.

And the head is spinning with such a disease because the nerve endings passing in the disks can be damaged.

Vascular pathology

Both a strong narrowing and an increase in the diameter of blood vessels contribute to the onset of dizziness. With excessively narrowed blood vessels, it is difficult for the heart to pump blood, and the body lacks oxygen.

The same symptoms are observed when blood pressure is too low, when a person may experience oxygen starvation. Such manifestations are often accompanied by dizziness, general weakness, sweating, nausea.

Loss of blood causes a drop in blood levels blood pressure, a decrease in the number of blood cells that are responsible for the delivery of oxygen, which is also accompanied by headaches and dizziness.

Anemia (decreased hemoglobin and red blood cell count) is often accompanied by weakness, dizziness, and lethargy. Anemia can be congenital or acquired, for example, with long-term dieting for weight loss.

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract

Abdominal pain and dizziness may be the first symptoms severe poisoning, dysbacteriosis, intestinal infections, malabsorption of useful components from food.

One of the manifestations of this type of pathology is.

Other diseases

Dizziness can also be a sign diabetes, diseases optic nerve, beriberi, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease, thrombosis, etc.

Often this symptom is combined with others, and for the diagnosis of the disease it is important to evaluate the whole complex of clinical symptoms.

Often, dizziness occurs in women when carrying a child, especially in the first months of pregnancy.

In women, during menstruation or for 1-2 days after ovulation, dizziness may also occur.

There are dozens of diseases that cause dizziness, and it is difficult to determine which one of them caused this ailment, based on this complaint alone. The doctor takes into account the complex of signs of the disease and the dynamics of the patient's condition.

There is also dizziness, which is really caused by ordinary events, actions that do not harm a person. This, for example, riding a carousel or a trip in transport, severe stress, exhaustion, starvation, rise to height.

Prolonged dizziness

What to do if you feel dizzy for a long time?

It is necessary to consult a doctor if you find, along with dizziness, a complex painful symptoms, such as headache, nausea and vomiting, incoordination, sweating, exhaustion, lethargy and others.

If you feel dizzy, but there are no other symptoms, then it is best to drink coffee, lie down, do deep breath and lie down for five minutes with closed eyes.

We hope that our article helped you figure out what to do if your head is spinning. If so, rate the posts 5 stars and share the post on social media!

In the modern pace of life, a person is daily exposed to stressful situations that stimulate the development pathological processes in organism. If you periodically feel that you are dizzy when walking and feeling intoxicated, then this may be a symptom of various diseases that require urgent examination.

Dizziness (vertigo) is a condition in which there is a disorder of control over own body in space. It is manifested by a violation of coordination when walking, a person has a feeling of intoxication due to the instability and rotation of surrounding objects.

This violation is formed when the anatomical structures responsible for the balance of the body in space are damaged. Pathological changes occur in the visual, auditory and muscular regions. The main cause of dizziness is a structural lesion of the peripheral part of the vestibular nerve or the apparatus of the inner ear. This type of vertigo is called peripheral. In diseases of the brain, central vertigo develops. As a result of psychovegetative disorders, non-systemic dizziness occurs.

Causes of peripheral dizziness:

  • inflammation of the inner ear;
  • inflammation of the vestibular apparatus;
  • after viral and bacterial infections;
  • sulfur plug in the auricle;
  • poisoning with toxic substances;
  • chronic otitis.

The cause of central vertigo is:

  • traumatic brain injury;
  • violation of cerebral circulation;
  • changes in the outflow of blood in a certain area of ​​​​the brain;
  • brain tumors;
  • atherosclerosis of the vessels of the head;
  • pinched nerves of the cervical spine;
  • sudden changes in atmospheric pressure.

Factors contributing to the development of psychovegetative dizziness:

  • conversion disorder;
  • depressive state;
  • after the transferred stress;
  • emotional overstrain;
  • hormonal changes;
  • neurological disorders;
  • mental illness.

The well-coordinated work of all systems ensures a good orientation of a person in space.

Important! All types of vertigo occur as a result of a violation of the interaction of the visual, vestibular and somatosensory systems, therefore there are no clear boundaries between the causes.

State Development Mechanism

The peripheral part of the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear sends information to nerve cells brain, where the vestibular nuclei are located. From there nerve impulses go to temporal region the cerebral cortex, where in the center of balance control over the position of the body in space is exercised. If the transmission of nerve impulses is disturbed at any stage of the path, it provokes the formation of dizziness.

The mechanism for the development of systemic dizziness is a violation of the transmission of impulses to the vestibular ganglia and semicircular tubules, which receive information from the organs located in the inner ear.

Symptoms of pathological processes

The defeat of the vestibular center entails a number of clinical symptoms that manifest themselves in vegetative disorders. In patients, there is a violation of the work of the nervous and cardiovascular.

Symptoms of peripheral and central dizziness:

  • feeling of intoxication;
  • sensation of rotation;
  • darkening before the eyes;
  • body balance disorder;
  • acceleration of the pulse;
  • violation of sensitivity;
  • lowering blood pressure.

characteristic psychogenic symptoms are:

  • feeling faint;
  • rapid loss of consciousness;
  • growing anxiety;
  • panic attacks.

Patients often reveal complaints that they have dizziness when walking, concentration of attention is disturbed, weakness in the limbs develops, which interferes with work. The circling of the head increases with the rotation of the body and can last up to 2 days.

In violation of cerebral circulation, there is an increase in blood pressure, severe headache, which ends in vomiting, memory disorder.

Important! Attacks of dizziness do not pose a threat to human life.

Help with dizziness

An attack of dizziness, accompanied by a feeling of extreme intoxication, can unsettle and greatly frighten.

In such a situation, you should act immediately:

  1. You need to sit or lie down, which will facilitate the sensation of rotation and protect against injury.
  2. Sit with your head between your legs and press on the back of your head to improve blood flow to your brain.
  3. Drink a glass of water to relieve nausea.
  4. Concentrate on one subject.
  5. Apply the deep breathing technique.

When a person gets dizzy with low blood pressure, it is necessary:

  1. Lay down the victim.
  2. Get rid of tight clothing.
  3. Provide fresh air supply.
  4. Raise your legs to restore cerebral circulation.
  5. Impact on active points at the back of the head.
  6. Drink sweet tea before the arrival of specialists.
  7. You can apply aromatherapy (moisten cotton wool in essential oils eucalyptus, mint or ammonia).

When to see a specialist

If dizziness is accompanied by the following symptoms:

  • speech disorder;
  • sensitivity disorder;
  • stiffness in the limbs;
  • increased body temperature;
  • loss of consciousness;
  • sudden changes in blood pressure.

Diagnosis of the disease

If you are worried about dizziness and a feeling of intoxication, you should urgently visit your doctor, who will assess the condition and prescribe proper treatment. To confirm the diagnosis, a consultation with an otolaryngologist and a neurologist can be prescribed. With dizziness of unclear etiology, you need to undergo a number of laboratory and instrumental studies.

Functional tests to determine the state of the nervous system:

  • finger-nose test;
  • heel test;
  • Romberg's test (march walking);
  • determination of the frequency of vision.

Instrumental research methods:

  1. Magnetic resonance imaging of the vessels of the brain (allows you to determine the state of the vessels and exclude their narrowing).
  2. Videonismatography (determines the state of the vestibular apparatus).
  3. X-ray of the cervical and head sections (reveals past spinal injuries).
  4. Audiography (helps to assess the qualitative functions of hearing).
  5. Electrocochleography (hearing test in the high frequency range).
  6. CT temporal bone(performed with damage to the bone structure).
  7. Electroencephalography (allows you to establish bouts of dizziness in epilepsy).

Important! Do not use on your own medicines before taking a specialist consultation is required.

Medical treatment

Therapy is aimed at stopping the underlying disease that caused the condition. The basis of treatment is the calming of the vestibular apparatus with medicines and its strengthening with the help of physiotherapy.

Medicines improve cerebral circulation, relieve spasm and accelerate the metabolism of the walls of blood vessels.

In the fight against dizziness when walking, the following groups of drugs are used:

  1. Alpha-blockers (Sermion, Nicergoline, Artezin).
  2. Antispasmodics (No-shpa, Drotaverin, Eufillin).
  3. Combined drugs (Vazobral, Stugeron, Instenon).
  4. Nootropics (Piracetam, Citicoline, Cerebrolysin).
  5. Vasodilators (Tanakan, Cavinton, Vesibo).
  6. Antihistamines (Suprastin, Loratodin, Promethazine).
  7. Means for improving brain function (Glycine, Undevit, Aminalon).
  8. Vitamin complexes (Rheomacrodex, Askorutin, Parmidin).
  9. Homeopathic (Cavinton, Vinpocetine, Telektol).

Physiotherapy will help normalize blood circulation in the cervical spine and brain, increase oxygen access to brain tissues, and reduce muscle tension.

Physiotherapy uses procedures such as:

  • neck massage;
  • physiotherapy;
  • phonophoresis with hydrocortisone;
  • electrophoresis with vascular preparations;
  • magnetotherapy;
  • therapeutic baths;
  • acupuncture;
  • acupuncture.

Dizziness is a symptom, not separate disease, and occurs when the brain does not have a clear orientation about the position of the body in space (for example, in a dark room). Approximately 1 out of 10 representatives of the population sometimes suffered a feeling akin to a feeling of intoxication when walking (this is how dizziness can be characterized). Especially people over 65 complain about this condition. Unpleasant situations, when, are the leading reasons for visits to the doctor. This conclusion is not surprising since dizziness is present in more than 100 diseases as an accompanying symptom.

The position of the body is reported to the brain by a statokinetic device located in the skull via the 8th cranial nerve. However, vision and other information from sensors in the muscles, bones and tendons contributes their share. Dizziness or vertigo is defined as a condition in which apparent movement is perceived, in view of the affected organ, in different directions. An “unbalanced” organism is not able to accurately recognize the position of the body in space, so it is afraid of losing balance and falling. Along with the situation when walking or other movement makes you feel dizzy (there is a so-called feeling of intoxication), there may also be calls for vomiting or, directly, vomiting.

Causes may lie in inflammation of the statokinetic system and the 8th cranial nerve, multiple sclerosis, cerebral arterial insufficiency, tumors, or disturbances in the endolymph circulation in the cranial space. Dizziness can also occur with nicotine poisoning or other drugs, after a traumatic brain injury, with circulatory failure and impaired internal environment organism. If the head is spinning, including when walking, without obvious reason, you need to contact a neurologist as soon as possible. In the event that, along with dizziness, vomiting and headaches appear, it is necessary to call an ambulance. If the head is spinning after being hit with a blunt object, an examination for surgery or traumatology is recommended.


The factors that induce dizziness are diverse, precisely because this phenomenon is often a symptom of various diseases. In many cases, it is not possible to determine the cause.

In accordance with the localization of the initial disorder, peripheral and central dizziness are distinguished.

Peripheral vertigo is also called otic, labyrinth, or vestibular. The disorder is located within the inner ear, as a rule, most often, we are talking about insufficient blood flow, which may be associated with a general circulatory disorder. Causes may also lie in damage to certain drugs, such as the antibiotic streptomycin or acetylsalicylic acid(aspirin) or infections caused by viruses or bacteria. It comes to violations of the vestibular apparatus (an organ in the inner ear that maintains balance), or its complete failure.

The cause of peripheral vertigo may also lie in the brain stem, defined cerebral nerve or in the brain.

Cases of the so-called benign positional vertigo are not uncommon. Most often, it occurs with certain movements and postures of the head or body: it manifests itself as a situation in which the head is spinning from a rotational movement, while the feeling of intoxication lasts about 1 minute. Calcium carbonate particles are responsible for this, which are released from the otoliths (mineral crystals) blocking the semicircular corridor of the labyrinth. There they irritate sensory cells, stopping the functioning of the coordination between the vestibular apparatus (which responds to changes in position and speed) and optical and tactile sensations.

Central vertigo is caused by disorders in the brain, hence also referred to as cerebral. In older people, it is often caused by impaired blood supply to the brain caused by hardening of the arteries. This leads to oxygen deficiency in the brain and disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses to and from the brain. The result is dizziness.

Elderly patients often complain that their head is spinning when looking up. In this case, the cause is calcification of the posterior inferior small cerebral artery.

In young people, in many cases, dizziness is caused by low blood pressure, which also comes to a lack of oxygen in the brain. An elevated or fluctuating blood pressure has a similar effect.

Dizziness can cause various injuries cervical spine, also leading to a deterioration in the blood supply to the brain tissue. Such damage occurs, for example, in osteoporosis or arthrosis of the vertebral joints of the spine. Similar Effects may have some cardiac arrhythmias. Psychological factors (fear, phobias) can cause dizziness, as well as excessive consumption of alcohol and coffee.

A rarer cause of dizziness is brain tumors.


The symptoms of dizziness are very different. Peripheral arises from rotational movement, there is a feeling of "as in a dream." If the head is spinning for hours or days, this is a symptom of Meniere's disease, inflammation auditory nerve or damage to the inner ear. These diseases are often accompanied not only by dizziness, but also by sudden nausea and vomiting.

Central vertigo manifests itself as a feeling of dreaming, intoxication, sometimes - darkening before the eyes.

Hearing loss and ringing in the ears often occur together with dizziness.


Dizziness can make a person feel insecure because it usually starts without any warning sign. In addition to the possibility of falling, there is a risk that a person will increasingly avoid moving in an unfamiliar environment, prefer to stay at home and not dare to go out. In the future, this will lead to the absence physical activity and a decrease in the balanced functioning of the body.

Detection - Diagnosis


First of all, it is necessary to determine primary disease accompanied by dizziness. It is very important that the patient accurately describes his difficulties to the doctor. This will give him the information he needs to determine what is the root cause of the problem. For example:

  1. In which phase of the day does dizziness occur?
  2. For what types of activities?
  3. How does it manifest itself?
  4. How long did the last episode of dizziness last?
  5. What symptoms are accompanied?
  6. How often do seizures occur?
  7. Do you always feel dizzy with certain activities or movements?

Measurement of blood pressure or ECG (electrocardiogram) will help to find out if the causes are circulatory disorders, heart problems, and others.

Electronystagmography can additionally be used to establish the diagnosis. Depending on the speed and direction of spontaneous and artificially induced eye movements (nystagmus), the nature of vestibular disorders can be determined.


If possible, the first attempt should be to treat the underlying disease. If this is not possible, or treatment of the underlying disease (for example, atherosclerosis) does not give any improvement, only the symptoms are treated when acute complaints appear.

One of the goals of treatment is to calm the vestibular apparatus. This is done with sedative antihistamines, drugs that block histamine receptors, improve circulation in the inner ear, and have a sedative effect.

For the preventive fight against dizziness, vomiting, nausea, dimenhydrinate is often used. We are talking about an antihistamine drug that blocks H1 receptors in brain cells in the vomiting center. But, since this drug leads to fatigue and has a sedative effect, their use should be very well thought out.

To relieve severe dizziness, Diazepam is suitable, which reduces the excitability of the vestibular apparatus. Although the treatment is quite long, and the patient must take medications regularly, there is always a limit on the duration of taking medications. The brain is a very adaptable organ, and can, over time, get used to the changes caused by drugs and begin to handle nerve signals inappropriately.


Ginger can be tried as a supportive treatment. Both ginger powder and capsules are available on the market. Herbal remedies that promote blood circulation also include extracts of ginkgo biloba and garlic. To increase blood circulation in atherosclerosis, preparations from mistletoe are recommended.


play an important role in the treatment of vertigo special exercises to maintain balance and improve coordination. Such trainings are designed for each patient, no matter what type of dizziness he suffers from. Partially complete exercises drug treatment, reduce acute symptoms and are well suited as preventive measures. Ask your doctor about suitable exercises.

In addition, there are also a number of homeopathic medicines(simple or complex) that support the basic treatment of vertigo.


  1. Limit your intake of coffee, black tea, and alcohol.
  2. Try to limit your sugar and salt intake.
  3. Before you get out of bed in the morning, lie down or sit on the bed for some time. Always try to get up slowly, especially after eating.
  4. If you feel unsure walking, try not to walk alone or carry a cane. Periodic movement is extremely important.
  5. Drink enough fluids - this improves blood flow and blood supply to organs.

Such an unpleasant change in well-being as dizziness is familiar to almost everyone. As an option normal feeling in humans, the pathological rotation of objects around occurs when being at a height, riding on a swing, with increased rotation. After the cessation of such actions, the general state of health returns to normal and there are no negative consequences. But sometimes it happens that dizziness occurs without any special external and internal causes.

A turn of the head or body can provoke an attack of dizziness; this condition has provoking factors of various origins. In order for the patient to completely stop the attacks of the disease, it is necessary to identify the real cause of dizziness that periodically disturbs a person, and this can be done only on the basis of a comprehensive diagnosis and with careful collection of anamnesis from the patient.

Causes of dizziness

Approximately 70% of patients who complain of episodes of short-term dizziness do not show serious changes in nervous system and other organs. After examination, such patients are diagnosed with BPPV, the term is deciphered in medicine as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

The probability of developing BPPV increases with age, the largest number of patients is recorded after 50 years. The disease after a series of past attacks may stop on its own, without medication.

The causes of benign positional vertigo, as revealed after research, are violations in the vestibular analyzer, it is located in the middle ear. Under the influence negative factors in the canals and the dome of the labyrinth of the ear, otoliths are formed - small crystals that move freely in all departments. During the movement carried out by the head, these crystals affect the sensitive receptors responsible for the orientation of the body in space. Irritation of prescriptions causes a change in the hydromechanics of all fluids in the inner ear, due to this, dizziness develops.

The reasons leading to the development of unnecessary otoliths have not been fully established, but when examining some of the neurologist's patients, an ear, head injury or a virus that precedes the disease is detected. The disease is characterized by the absence of a deterioration in well-being at rest, dizziness occurs only when a person turns his head to one side.

Causes of the development of dizziness lying down

Some patients complain of the onset of symptoms of dizziness without changing the posture of the body, that is, lightheadedness occurs when he lies down and may occur during daytime or nighttime rest or after waking up. There are a lot of reasons for the appearance of dizziness in the supine position, most of them are associated with the pathology of the blood circulation of the brain, in turn, diseases such as:

  • Hypertension and hypertensive crises.
  • A sharp drop in blood pressure.
  • Osteochondrosis of the vertebrae in the cervical region.

These diseases, in addition to attacks of increased false rotation, are most often accompanied by other symptoms, these can be headaches, sudden and unmotivated weakness, flashing dots before the eyes, numbness in the hands, and restriction of movement.

Causes of dizziness in a horizontal position

Sudden and quite severe dizziness can appear quite unexpectedly for a person when he is in a standing position. The causes of sudden and severe dizziness may be circulatory disorders in different parts of the brain that occur when the corresponding arteries are compressed.

In old age, an attack occurs when atherosclerotic plaques form in the vessels, heart problems, in women menopause. In addition to these reasons, unexpected dizziness develops with the following ailments:

  • Cerebellar ataxia - pathologies of the cerebellum. In addition to obvious dizziness, with this ailment, disturbances in the performance of movements are also recorded - the patient spreads his arms and legs wide, avoids turning the body to the side and can easily fall under the influence of an insignificant provoking factor.
  • Vegetovascular attacks. Such a condition is characterized by the patient as severe dizziness, increased heart rate, unreasonable anxiety, and a number of other symptoms.
  • Meniere's disease. The disease is characterized by the accumulation of excess fluid in the ear, due to this, the desired orientation of the body is disturbed and noticeable dizziness occurs.

Dizziness during normal life activities can also occur when you are in a stuffy room, sharp emotional stress. Probability of development similar condition increases with anemia recovery period after suffering severe colds or inflammatory diseases.

Causes of dizziness when walking

Unexpected rotation of the head in some patients occurs when they walk. Often, dizziness during habitual walking is recorded in patients with the following problems:

  • Intoxications.
  • Parkinson's disease.
  • sclerosis processes.
  • With depression, neuroses.

Causes of an attack of dizziness when turning

For some people, the rotation of nearby objects is determined only when the head is turned in one direction or another or when tilted.

If there are no other changes in well-being, and the attack stops after the head returns to its original position, then the most probable cause such a pathology is BPPV.

Also, intermittent faintness when turning the head can be observed with cervical osteochondrosis, Meniere's disease, neoplasms, neuritis, persistent migraines.

In order to correctly identify the cause of dizziness when tilting the head, and accordingly prescribe a course of therapy, the doctor needs to conduct many relevant examinations and carefully ask the patient about all the symptoms of the disease and the sensations that arise in him. True attacks of dizziness include such a change in well-being, in which a person feels his own rotation or vibration of the objects surrounding him.

In most cases, a feeling of lightheadedness when changing the position of the head is a symptom.

Learn more about diagnosing and identifying causes various kinds dizziness you can find out.

Some patients refer to dizziness weakness, faintness, nausea, veil before the eyes. All these conditions are usually attributed to a false attack of dizziness, which is why the doctor always needs to detail all the symptoms.

Elena Malysheva in her program talks about the causes and method for diagnosing positional vertigo:

Symptoms associated with dizziness

With BPPV, almost the only sign of deterioration in general well-being will be an attack of dizziness, lasting for several seconds or minutes, less often it lasts an hour or more. The erratic movements of the patient and his fussiness provoke new attacks of nausea, which can occur one after another and are accompanied by nausea, and sometimes by severe vomiting.

A hallmark of BPPV is a worsening of well-being only when the position of the head changes, its usual tilts forward or backward. BPPV can also cause dizziness when standing up abruptly. Most often, an attack occurs suddenly after sleep or during a night's rest.

Dizziness may be a single episode or recur from time to time BPPV is also characterized by self-resolution of the disease without drug therapy.

With a benign nature of dizziness, neurological signs are not detected, hearing does not deteriorate, but with prolonged seizures some period of time there may be unsteadiness of gait.

In rare cases, BPPV occurs frequently, up to several times a day, which greatly complicates the life of the patient and leads to the development increased anxiety and depression.

Dizziness, as a symptom of disease, is accompanied by a number of other signs, these include:

  • The appearance of spots, flies or flashes of light before the eyes. There may be a temporary decrease in vision.
  • Tachycardia or bradycardia.
  • Dizziness does not go away with other positions of the body or increases.
  • There is weakness throughout the body, trembling of the limbs.
  • Sweating increases.
  • Breathing quickens.
  • There are violations of other senses - hearing loss, change in taste, intolerance to odors, or vice versa, the lack of their perception.
  • A semi-conscious state is fixed.

All these symptoms, together with periodic dizziness, indicate a wide variety of serious or mild diseases, ranging from damage to the central nervous system and ending with a violation of the internal organs.

Examination and diagnostics

The diagnosis of BPPV is made only after the complete exclusion of all possible pathologies leading to dizzy spells. The survey plan includes the following activities:

  1. X-ray of the neck.
  2. Duplex scanning of vessels in the cervical region.
  3. MRI of the brain.
  4. ECG of the heart.
  5. Ultrasound of the thyroid gland.

Confirmation of the diagnosis of BPPV is carried out by conducting special tests, among which leading value assigned to the Dix-Holpike test. The patient is seated on the couch, his head is taken 45 degrees to the side, when turning to which an attack of dizziness is recorded. Then the patient is abruptly placed, providing a tilting of the head by about 30 degrees, while the position of the head does not change.

Dix-Halpike test to detect symptoms of BPPV

With BPPV, dizziness is fixed after about 1-2 seconds, and nystagmus may occur. An attack with nystagmus lasts no more than 30 seconds. When performing a test in the other direction, there are no changes in well-being with true BPPV.

Treatment

dizziness, which is secondary symptom any diseases are treated with appropriate therapy by a neurologist, cardiologist or endocrinologist. Attacks of faintness decrease only after a medical course.

BPPV lasts on average up to two weeks, then stops on its own and may recur again after one to two years. There is no specific medication course, it is possible to use sedatives and agents that affect blood circulation.

The leading role in the elimination of attacks of dizziness is played by training vestibular analyzer, which, after training with a doctor, is quite capable of being carried out independently.

A simple set of exercises also helps:

  1. It is necessary to sit down, turn your head to one side and lie down without changing position.
  2. Then the patient should sit down, but the head should already be turned to the other side.
  3. Classes are held for several minutes, at least five times a day.

In severe cases, an operation is performed in which one of the parts of the inner ear is blocked with a special substance, which avoids the movement of fluid. The prognosis of BPPV is favorable, with early detection diseases with it can be managed in 90% of cases with special sets of exercises.

Complaints of dizziness, as a rule, are a symptom of a disease and are not an independent pathology.

When you feel dizzy on the street when walking, most often, to exclude a serious pathology, the patient needs to seek medical help.

The article will focus on the possible causes of dizziness, diseases in which this complaint occurs, as well as symptoms and diagnosis.

Dizziness is one of the symptoms when the patient cannot describe his condition specifically and clearly. It most often worries the elderly. It is one of the leading complaints in neurological patients, but there is a possibility of dizziness due to pathology of cardio-vascular system, with diseases of the ear, eyes, mental disorders.

Dizziness is described as a violation of the sense of one's position in space, a feeling of rotation of one's body or nearby people and objects when they are motionless, loss of balance, instability.

Exists clinical classification dizziness, in which there are 4 types:

  1. Vertigo (otherwise called true, or vestibular vertigo).
  2. Pre-fainting state or fainting.
  3. Balance imbalance.
  4. Other types of loss of balance or vague sensations.

True dizziness often occurs when the vestibular system is disturbed. At the same time, patients are disturbed by the appearance of rotation of the body or surrounding things. As a rule, it has a paroxysmal character. The duration of sensations can be from a few seconds to a day or be permanent. There are factors that provoke an exacerbation.

Pre-syncope or fainting means a feeling of a possible loss of consciousness or an immediate temporary loss of consciousness. The duration of an attack can range from a few seconds to several hours.

When evaluating given state it is necessary to find out if there is a loss of consciousness during the episode, and also what is the reason for the onset of deterioration: possibly with medication, feeling short of breath or chest pain, against the background of an increase in the number of heartbeats.

State of instability

Loss of balance creates a feeling of unsteadiness. Typically, this condition has the following symptoms:

  • sensations are more localized in the lower extremities;
  • dizzy when walking or standing, there is a feeling of intoxication;
  • decrease in horizontal position or in a sitting position;
  • occurs .

Other sensations of dizziness are sometimes associated with visual impairment, a change in body position, the influence of factors external environment accompanied by a state of anxiety. This category includes all sensations that do not fit the criteria of the first three groups.

Often, patients find it difficult to describe their complaints, they characterize them as general malaise, lightheadedness, perhaps a feeling of movement of the surrounding space in the form of a tilt to the side. The described symptoms can disturb from several days to several years.

May be accompanied by visual impairment unpleasant sensations in the eyes, increased breathing, the presence of a state of anxiety. It is important to clarify with patients, against which the condition arose.

Often, in addition to dizziness, patients are also worried about other ailments:

  • hyperhidrosis, that is, increased sweating;
  • vomit;
  • bouts of nausea;
  • change in heart rate;
  • decrease or increase in blood pressure;
  • possible severe headache.

Causes of dizziness

The basis of imbalance and the occurrence of dizziness may be the pathology of the cerebellum or a disorder of the motor / sensory system.

Cerebellar pathology can be acute, subacute and chronic. Leads to the development of impaired coordination of movements. Acute cerebellar dysfunction can occur with stroke, neoplasms, and multiple sclerosis. Characterized by the presence of symptoms of a lesion on one side.

Subacute and chronic cerebellar dysfunction can develop with alcoholic degeneration, spinocerebellar degeneration, hypothyroidism, drug intoxication.

Motor or sensory disturbances may occur when:

  • sensory neuropathy;
  • pathology of the parietal lobe;
  • damage to the posterior columns and spinal ganglia.

There are several reasons why the head is spinning.

Factors in the development of dizziness include:

  • labyrinth attack;
  • pathological changes in the cerebellum and / or brain stem;
  • benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV);
  • pathology of the vestibulocochlear nerve;
  • drug vestibulopathy;
  • Wallenberg-Zakharchenko syndrome;
  • other reasons.

With labyrinthitis, that is, with inflammatory lesion of the inner ear, patients are disturbed by an acute sensation of rotation of the body, especially pronounced during physical activity.

The most frequent etiological factor is an otitis media, however, it also occurs viral defeat, trauma and vascular disease. Characterized by the presence of such manifestations as nausea and vomiting.

Damage to the cerebellum can develop as a result of acute cerebrovascular accident, neoplasms, and inflammatory diseases.

Examination of patients reveals ataxia (inconsistency in the work of individual muscle groups while maintaining their strength, characterized by awkward movements, unsteady gait), nystagmus, and postural disorders.

Nystagmus is an oscillatory movement of the eyes of an involuntary nature, it can be spontaneous or with head movements. There are three types of nystagmus:

  • vertical;
  • horizontal;
  • rotary.

Stem damage is caused by stroke, trauma, infections, tumors, and other causes.

BPPV manifests itself when the position of the head changes, the state of health worsens, for example, when lifting, turning in bed. Often the causes are unknown, it is believed that trauma, ischemia, intoxication play a role in its development. There is a special technique for relieving symptoms with exercise, for this you need to contact a physiotherapist.

Episodic dizziness with nystagmus, tinnitus, transient hearing loss is a symptom of Meniere's disease (an inner ear disease characterized by an increase in the amount of endolymph and increased pressure in the labyrinth).

Drug vestibulopathy occurs with prolonged use of certain drugs: aminoglycosides, anti-tuberculosis and chemotherapeutic agents, and partially anti-inflammatory drugs.

In addition, dizziness is possible with an overdose, as side effect or with improper use of a particular drug, with individual intolerance to the components.

Wallenberg-Zakharchenko syndrome is determined by vascular occlusion: vertebral (including at the level of the cervical spine) or posterior cerebellar artery. Patients complain of dizziness when walking. The syndrome is also characterized by paresis of the soft palate and vocal cords, Horner's syndrome, trigeminal nerve lesion.

Other causes of imbalance are high blood pressure, pathology of the circulatory system, heart disease, mental disorders, hypothyroidism. Frequent dizziness in women may be due to migraine. The so-called physiological dizziness is associated with starvation or violation of the principles of proper nutrition, alcohol intoxication.

First aid

Dizziness can occur suddenly under various circumstances: when a person is walking or stationary, when going outside or indoors. Falls are possible with dizziness.

Help with sharp deterioration well-being consists of the following:

  • lay the person on his back, raise his legs;
  • if you have a tie, loosen it;
  • unfasten the gate;
  • loosen a belt or belt;
  • free your feet from shoes.

These actions provide maximum and unhindered air access. Loss of consciousness may be preceded by pallor, a feeling of dizziness. In the absence of consciousness for more than 3-5 minutes, you need to call an ambulance.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of the disease consists in a thorough history taking and physical examination of the body.

When clarifying the anamnesis, it is important to identify associated symptoms. During a physical examination, the doctor may detect nystagmus in the patient.

It is also necessary to study the fixation of the gaze. To verify the diagnosis, biochemical studies, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, electroencephalography, fundus examination, skull radiography, and angiography are used.

Treatment

Treatment of dizziness when walking is to identify the causes and treatment of the underlying disease. What to do if you feel dizzy with an incurable disease or for unknown reasons? In this case, symptomatic remedies are indicated.

To improve the condition, in addition to drugs, it is successfully used physiotherapy, which is aimed at training balance.

For some diseases and their treatment, in the absence of contraindications, folk recipes are used.

Conclusion

The feeling of dizziness, loss of balance, when the patient literally staggers when walking, can be a manifestation of various pathological conditions: diseases of the brain, vascular pathologies, traumatic brain injury, intoxication and tumors.

To reliably determine the causes, a doctor's consultation is indicated. Important timely appeal to him for diagnosis and prevention of complications.