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The smart thing is certainly to goto a doc. Let me restate this - I am currently with NO family doctor. I need to find one, and just ask any Canadian how difficult it is and you will understand my dilemma.
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Is there a primary care doc shortage in parts of Canada? There are in rural areas of the US.
Dizziness is a vague symptom and can come with a whole lot of medical conditions. Generally doctors would probably want to know if other symptoms are present with the dizziness and to do labs or such to figure out what it is. It's hard for anyone here to say without the right tools available.
Things that come to mind when I'm thinking of dizziness could be (besides the ones you mentioned):
-Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
-Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
-Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD)
-Mal de Debarquement (MdDS)
-Ear infections
-Migraines
-Seizures
-Brain tumors
-Anemia
-Atherosclerosis
-Blood clots
-Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
-Parkinson's Disease
-Stress
-Anxiety
-Cervical spine/neck issues - injuries, sprains, strains, could even be caused from something like 'whiplash'.
-Concussions
-Other head injuries
-Long COVID Syndrome
I hope you're able to see a doctor and get a diagnosis so that you hopefully get some peace about this problem you're experiencing.
I experience short (5 seconds) mild dizzy spells like when you stand up too quickly several times a week. Once every 18 months or so I get a more severe episode. Lose orientation, and sight, unable to prevent myself from falling. Can take 30 seconds or more to feel strong enough to try to stand up.
Have been lucky with the where and when. Could easily have had injury.
Been to the Neurologist and ENT guy, nothing amiss. Go Figya.
Look into POTS. My daughter has it. We have a connective tissue disorder. She goes to a specialist heart Dr who deals in POTS and EDS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HodgePodge
Lol, so many possibilities... from reasonable common things (dehydration) to scary stuff (MS, cancer etc).
Thank you all, I will certainly digest them all.
I have to admit, maybe low blood sugar and / or dehydration. More probably the latter. Though the allergy twist and inner ear problem is certainly intriguingly possible.
The smart thing is certainly to goto a doc. Let me restate this - I am currently with NO family doctor. I need to find one, and just ask any Canadian how difficult it is and you will understand my dilemma.
I like to see what people's experiences are in real life. Sometimes they are much more useful than docs trying to diagnose and getting nowhere (just read the horror stories on lyme disease).
I'm so thankful we have the healthcare we do in the US. Good luck finding a new doctor. See if you can find one that deals with POTS. I know a lot of Canadians come to the US for POTS treatment, or used to. Canada is pretty far behind the US with our illness.
Okay, this has developed recently and has gotten a bit worse in the past month.
Basically sometimes I feel dizzy and can't walk a straight line when doing a brisk walk.
I've done the traditional ask the Great Google and some explanations were:
- low blood sugar
- dehydration
- medication side effects
And I have discounted all of the above.
Other more scary possibilities are:
- stroke
- heart attack
Also there was an indication that lung cancer can present itself by limiting your oxygen uptake and hence maybe less O2 makes it to your brain = dizzy? Lung cancer is insidious because it rarely causes any pain unless it's advanced an presses against your other organs etc.
BTW I am fit, workout regularly (free weights), have a healthy BMI so it's not a matter of having a horrible aerobic ability.
What do you think it may be?
Low blood pressure is a possibility. The walking a straight line issue may just be related to the dizziness.
Do you get nauseous, too? Dizziness, nausea may be related to inner ear...infection or inner ear crystals get out & swirl around in head. But that's vertigo.
Is there a primary care doc shortage in parts of Canada? There are in rural areas of the US.
Here in BC the shortage is due to a lot of doctors retiring. 40 percent of family doctors will be retiring in the next 10 years. Plus burnout from the pandemic.
20 percent of BC'er's don't have a regular family doctor. That said, you can go to any doctor, at any clinic, anytime. The doctor you see may not be considered your family doctor, but you can book with the same doctor over and over, if you prefer.
As for that poster, he can go to a clinic, hospital or urgent care centre and see a doctor easily. However if he they live out in the boonies, then like anywhere on the planet, they may have to drive a bit.
Someone I knew had dizzy spells frequently. They couldn't stand without feeling whoozy and ill. One doctor thought she wasn't eating enough and told her to eat more.
The dizziness continued and she went to another doctor Turns out she had a clot in one of her arteries and she got surgery for it.
HodgPodge, please keep us posted because I like knowing what is founded for people's ailments. It's helpful to me too to possibly know what to look for.
Is there a primary care doc shortage in parts of Canada? There are in rural areas of the US.
Oh yeah, for sure. Where my bf retired to in a rural lake-country area of Ontario, there were always signs, like politicians' signs, stuck into the ground along the roads advertising for doctors to come to the area.
He was on a list for a family doctor for five years. To get his BP and cholesterol meds, he would go to a clinic at a pharmacy, which had a nurse who eould do a vitals check, then he would have a doctor visit via video with a doctor who was somewhere in the GTA, three hours away. He could get labwork done up there, and then she would prescribe the meds. He finally got assigned to a local doctor after his paraneoplastic syndrome symptoms began, but then it was too late. We had to leave his retirement house on the lake and go to his old house in the Toronto suburbs because now he needs home care and winter in the country is out of the question.
Someone I knew had dizzy spells frequently. They couldn't stand without feeling whoozy and ill. One doctor thought she wasn't eating enough and told her to eat more.
The dizziness continued and she went to another doctor Turns out she had a clot in one of her arteries and she got surgery for it.
I also had a friend who developed this problem, and it ended up being a serious, fatal, degenerative neurologic disorder. Really, it could be any of a hundred different things!
Consult a doctor for such a non-specific symptom; not City-Data.
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