Symptom: Dizziness

Introduction: Dizziness

The word "dizziness" is used with many meanings in everyday language. The exact type of dizziness symptom is very important to determine. The symptom of "dizziness" needs to be separated from vertigo, which is a feeling that the room is moving or spinning, or that the person is moving when they are not (or even a floating sensation). Balance difficulty is also a separate topic where a person feels they are about to fall, has difficulty staying balanced, or may actually fall. Some people also say dizziness when they really mean weakness. True dizziness is a lightheadedness or a sensation that you are about to faint. Dizziness can arise from various medical conditions including ear conditions, brain conditions, cardiovascular disease, anemia or hypoglycemia. Dizziness is also the side effect of numerous medications (both prescription and alternative). Any dizziness or vertigo symptom needs prompt professional medical advice.

» Review Causes of Dizziness: full list

Causes of Dizziness:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Dizziness. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Vertigo - see also causes of vertigo
• Emotional stress
• Lightheadedness
• Fainting - see causes of fainting
  • Syncope
  • Blackouts
  • See many other causes of fainting
• Balance problems
  • Balance difficulty
  • Balance disorders
• Ear conditions
• Labyrinthitis
• Meniere's disease
• Brain conditions
• Cerebral hemorrhage
• Cardiovascular disease
• Anemia
• Hypoglycemia
  • Hypoglycemic attack
  • Diabetic hypo
• Low blood pressure
  • Hypotensive attack
  • Postural hypotension
• Alcohol
• Food allergies
• Other possible causes include:
  • Viruses
  • Common cold
  • Flu
  • Allergies

See full list of 461 causes of Dizziness

» Review Causes of Dizziness: full list

Dizziness: Multiple Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Dizziness, as listed in our database. Visit the Multiple Symptoms Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Multiple Symptom Checker - Other Symptoms

• Dizziness: Multiple Symptom Checker

Multiple Symptom Checker Combinations

• Dizziness and Fainting (328 causes)
• Dizziness and Syncope (325 causes)
• Dizziness and Nerve symptoms (253 causes)
• Dizziness and Pain (252 causes)
• Dizziness and Sensations (250 causes)
• Dizziness and Head symptoms (194 causes)
• Dizziness and Weakness (174 causes)
• Dizziness and Respiratory symptoms (171 causes)
• Dizziness and Digestive symptoms (170 causes)
• Dizziness and Muscle symptoms (166 causes)
• Dizziness and Heart symptoms (160 causes)
• Dizziness and Breathing symptoms (154 causes)
• Dizziness and Breath symptoms (153 causes)
• Dizziness and Muscle weakness (152 causes)
• Dizziness and Headache (144 causes)
• Dizziness and Breathing difficulties (143 causes)
• Dizziness and Fatigue (143 causes)
• Dizziness and Behavioral symptoms (142 causes)
• Dizziness and Heart rhythm symptoms (138 causes)
• Dizziness and Personality symptoms (125 causes)

See full list of 1649 Multiple Symptom Checker combinations related to Dizziness

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Fainting (493 causes)
• Syncope (787 causes)

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Dizziness

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Dizziness:

• Vertigo (108 causes)
• Balance difficulty (345 causes)
• Weakness (2028 causes)

Diagnostic Guides for Dizziness

Medical Books Excerpts Read excerpts from published book sections related to Dizziness from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Dizziness. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Dizziness

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Misdiagnosis and Dizziness

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild traumatic brain injury ...read more »

TIA's must not be missed: Transient ischemic attacks are sudden in onset and complete clinical recovery occurs in less than 24 hours. Average duration of the attack is 5 minutes. Usually five years after a TIA 1 in 3 people will have stroke....read more »

Dizziness in children: Dizziness although not a common cause in children can have threatening causes and requires quick diagnosis as the possibility of tumours such as medulloblastoma is possible but the most...read more »

Rapid heart rate in Wolf Parkinson White syndrome: Wolf Parkinson White syndrome can present with anything form mild chest discomfort or...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Dizziness

Diagnostic tests for Dizziness:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Dizziness. Some of these are listed below :

• Physical examination
  • Observe for pallor of skin or conjunctiva. Moderate or severe anemia will cause lightheadedness and dizziness, but usually not true vertigo
  • Blood pressure taken when lying down and again after rapidly arising to standing position. High blood pressure may cause true vertigo or lightheadedness. Low blood pressure or postural drop in blood pressure is more likely to cause lightheadedness not true vertigo
  • Examine the ear for abnormalities. Abnormalities on ear examination with nil other abnormalities found on nervous system examination may suggest ear wax, otitis media (middle ear infection), cholesteatoma or petrositis
  • Complete nervous system examination should be performed including visual acuity, inspecting for nystagmus, cranial nerve and cerebellar examination. If abnormalities are found may suggest multiple sclerosis, advanced brain stem tumor, acoustic neuroma or basilar artery insufficiency

See full list of 22 diagnostic tests for Dizziness

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Dizziness. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• How long have you had dizziness? - to determine if acute or chronic.
• Is it true vertigo? - i.e. episodic sudden sensation of circular turning motion of your body or your surroundings - this is a sign of nervous system or ear disease.
• If not true vertigo, how would you explain your sensation? - e.g. lightheadedness, swimming, giddiness, unsteadiness, fainting - all known as pseudovertigo and are more likely to be a sign of cardiovascular disease.
• Is the dizziness episodic or continuous? - e.g. benign positional vertigo attacks are brief, usually lasting a minute, and then subside rapidly; Meniere's syndrome is characterized by paroxysmal attacks lasting 30 minutes to several hours of vertigo, tinnitus, nausea and vomiting, sweating and pallor and progressive deafness.
• What is the effect of position (of head or body) or a change in posture on the dizziness? - e.g. benign positional vertigo is a common type of vertigo that is induced by changing head position, especially tilting the head backwards, changing from lying to sitting position or turning to the affected side.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Dizziness (20 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Dizziness) may include:

• Tinnitus or deafness? - if either or both are present and the ear examination is normal it may suggest a more serious ear or nervous system condition e.g. Meniere's disease, cholesteatoma or acoustic neuroma. If neither tinnitus or deafness is present may suggest benign positional vertigo or vestibular neuronitis.
• Hyperventilation (rapid breathing) during an attack of vertigo? - should consider hyperventilation syndrome.
• Visual symptoms? - may suggest multiple sclerosis.
• Nausea or vomiting? - may suggest vestibular neuronitis or increased intracranial pressure from a brain tumor.
• Heart palpitations? - various arrhythmias can cause dizziness or fainting such as Stokes-Adams attacks caused by complete heart block, aortic stenosis and myocardial infarction.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Dizziness (20 listings)

Stories from Users for Dizziness

Real-life user stories relating to Dizziness:

• Extreme fatigue, short of breath, light headed to almost passing out PLEASE HELP!
• Can't get a diagnosis
• Weird light-headed feeling
• dizziness, feels like "shocks" for 7 days
• I can't stand this anymore
• I cant get a diagnosis!! Help!!
• Pressure in head and chest/ light headed
• Dizziness and light headed feeling
• weird feeling
• Dizziness HELP!!!!
• does anyone feel the way i do?
• I can't get a diagnosis, please help!!!!!!!
• Dizziness and many other symptoms?!?!
• Lightheadedness and Fatigue, going on for 2 years.
• please help! i keep getting worse by the minute
• Dizzy episodes, becoming more frequent
• strange visions/memories and light headed
• Unexplained dizziness etc... please help
• Feeling hypothyroid, but tests indicate hyperthyroid
• Strange visions/memories? and light headed

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Dizziness or relevant symptoms:

• Eyes (218)
  • Sudden blackout in vision??
  • Halo around the streetlights, glaucoma or something else?
  • Flashers, floaters, and more
  • Seeing spots
  • Flashes of almost lightning type light with sound
  • More user stories
• ENMT (Ears, Nose, Mouth and Throat) (275)
  • Swelling in roof of mouth
  • Pain on one side of throat
  • Please help! Mucus/dark circles/bad breath...
  • Painful white bumps on tongue
  • Sinus headache & eye area pain
  • More user stories
• Cardiovascular (Heart and Blood Circulation) (171)
  • Chest pain and shortness of breath
  • Hand numbness
  • Purple-blue skin color
  • Need help with diagnoses
  • Anxiety and high BP
  • More user stories
• Neurological (Nerves) (357)
  • Could this be MS?
  • Numbness and tingling all over
  • Tingling/numbness in arms/hands/legs/face/head [more symptoms]
  • Eye twitch
  • Essential tremor
  • More user stories

Videos for Dizziness

Patient Surveys for Dizziness

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about diseases related to your Dizziness
  Take Survey  View Results

Causes of Dizziness listed in Disease Database:

Other medical conditions listed in the Disease Database as possible causes of Dizziness as a symptom include:

• Altitude sickness, acute
• Amiodarone
• Amitriptyline
• Arnold-Chiari malformation
• Bromocriptine
• Bupivacaine
• Bupropion
• Cabergoline
• Calanolide A
• Candesartan
• Carbamazepine
• Carbon monoxide toxicity
• Cerebellar hemorrhage
• Cerebrovascular accident
• Cervical spondylosis
• Chediak-Higashi disease
• Cilostazol
• Colistimethate
• Cyanides
• Cycloserine

See full list of 461 causes of Dizziness
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Medications or substances causing Dizziness:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Dizziness as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Salt in the diet
• Certain medications
• Blood pressure medications

See full list of 2818 medications causing Dizziness

Drug interactions causing Dizziness:

When combined, certain drugs, medications, substances or toxins may react causing Dizziness as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Aldactone and alcohol interaction
• Spironolactone and alcohol interaction
• Aldactone and barbiturate interaction
• Spironolactone and barbiturate interaction
• Aldactone and narcotic interaction

See full list of 1635 drug interactions causing Dizziness

Definitions of Dizziness:

Dizziness: Imprecise term commonly used to describe various symptoms such as faintness, giddiness, imbalance, lightheadedness, unsteadiness, or vertigo.vertigo. [A. S. dyzig, foolish]
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Dizziness is a medically indistinct term used to describe a variety of conditions such as lightheadedness, unsteadiness, giddiness, a sense of turning, spinning or rocking.
- (Source - Diseases Database)

A reeling sensation; feeling about to fall
- (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Organs affected by Dizziness:

The list of organs typically affected by Dizziness may include, but is not limited to:

• Brain
• Ear

Detailed list of causes of Dizziness

The list below shows some of the causes of Dizziness mentioned in various sources:

• Abdominal Aneurysm - light-headedness
• Abetalipoproteinemia - balance problems
• Acid-Base Imbalance - light-headedness
• Acoustic neuroma - dizziness
• Acquired Aplastic Anemia - dizziness

See full list of 461 causes of Dizziness

How Common are these Causes of Dizziness?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Dizziness. Of the 461 causes of Dizziness that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 14 causes are "very common" diseases
• 14 causes are "common" diseases
• 8 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 6 causes are "rare" diseases
• 22 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 421 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 461 causes of Dizziness

Conditions listing symptoms: Dizziness:

The following list of conditions have 'Dizziness' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

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Causes of Dizziness Based on Risk Factors

This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Dizziness based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient: