Dizziness, lightheaded

Could be. It depends on the type of dizziness. I've had two episodes in the past 20 years ago, the most recent at the beginning of this year. It was definitely diagnosed as posterior canal BPPV both times. Each time I had it, I got violent spinning with nystagmus when first lying down, getting out of bed, or tilting my head into the wrong position. During these attacks I felt as if I was in a plane falling into an air pocket, and if standing up I'd actually fall over.

The rest of the time - when keeping my head upright and steady - I didn't get spinning, but constantly felt vaguely seasick and had the sensation of the ground moving slightly under my feet. When walking in the street I had to avoid looking at the distant horizon, as it wouldn't keep still and appeared to be jumping up and down with each step I took, which also produced mild nausea.

Look up the Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre on-line and try it for yourself at home. If you do have posterior canal BPPV it will bring on an attack of spinning when turning your head to the affected side, but you're basically doing a Dix-Hallpike when you get into bed every night so you don't need to worry about it being harmful. You also don't have to hang your head over the end of the bed. A professional will position you like this when doing the test to produce maximum nystagmus, but it's not necessary to get a result. However, I understand that about 10% of BPPV cases are due to crystals in the lateral or anterior canal and I don't think this kind can be diagnosed by the D-H. Try it anyway. It won't do you any harm.

Doing a home test is only for your own satisfaction though. At least you'll know if it is posterior canal BPPV. But you need to see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis. Some GPs (PCPs) know about vertigo, but you'll probably get a referral to either an ENT doctor or a vestibular physiotherapist.

Bingo, might be the answer then, basically anytime I turn my head to the left things get a lot more dizzy and I slightly lose my balance. Sometimes get a ringing in my left ear also and it pops quite often. I'll say again. Anytime I go to the pub to watch the football with my friends I need to be facing a to face on because anytime I'm sitting side on with my head turned to the left I literally need to change my position because I feel like the world around me is spinning and I'm going to keel over off my seat it's the strangest sensation. Does this sound like it might be what you're talking about?

*i need to be face on to a TV because anytime I'm sitting side on....

Yes to the head-turning bit, but no to the tinnitus and ear-popping. The latter sound more like some kind of viral vestibular neuritis. However... Eleftherios, our undisputed expert on here, says it's now believed that a viral infection can trigger BPPV so you could be onto something there.

Interestingly, when I had my most recent attack of BPPV (January to March this year) it was in my right ear, but in the week or two prior to the vertigo starting I'd been having ringing, popping and a feeling of fullness in my left ear. This quickly subsided - or at least when the vertigo started for real I had something more to worry about and stopped noticing what was going on in the left ear!

When I finally got referred to a vestibular physiotherapist in March (having had no luck at all with an ENT doctor I saw in late January) he did tests on me using video goggles and said I'd got something minor going on in the left ear, as well as full-blown BPPV in the right one. I hadn't had any kind of respiratory infection prior to that, but there was a nasty bug going around all over northern Europe at that time. Both the physio and my GP said you could get vestibular neuritis from a flu/cold bug without having the respiratory effects.

As to whether it's serious, it depends on the exact diagnosis, which is why you must go and see a doctor. The worst-case scenario is Ménière's disease, which a couple of people in here are suffering from. Fortunately that's only rarely the cause of vertigo. Statistically it's way more likely to be BPPV or a viral infection.

BPPV is the least serious as it can be fixed in minutes by a practitioner (ENT doctor, GP or physiotherapist) skilled in the Epley manoeuvre. Also, it will clear up spontaneously in a year max if untreated. Viral vestibular neuritis can drag on a bit, but the vast majority of cases clear up without treatment. I have to say that since the physiotherapist fixed my BPPV two months ago, I haven't had a single symptom in spite of being told I probably had a touch of viral vestibular neuritis in the other ear.

The important thing now is to go and see your doctor.

Okay I already told her about the dizziness but I didn't even think about ear problems at the time I also told her about fatigue and things but they are most likely due to my anxiety as I have really bad anxiety so she more than likely suspects that's what the dizziness is from. And the ear popping and ringing aren't usual things maybe happen every so often. I can imagine they happen as much to the average joe blog. I didn't tell her that when I move my head certain ways it's worse. The funny thing is when I try to recreate the dizziness I can't do it. It's like it gets shy lol. But when I'm just walking around or sitting pre occupied it just hits me when I move my head a certain way. I'm almost always slightly light headed/dizzy right now but when I move certain ways it's like getting hit by a train of dizziness lol. I'll follow up on this after i get my bloods taken.

I'd be surprised if it was Ménière's disease because it's just more a constant dizziness made worse by having my head in certain positions. Also, I would suspect an ENT doctor to be a specialist in dealing with something like you're talking about haha

Hmmm... well, some of us on here have have less than good experiences with ENT doctors. I think they're OK with things like feelings of fullness, pain, popping etc., but by the time I got to see the ENT doctor this phase was largely over. I was way more concerned about the positional vertigo in the right ear, so that was all I raised with him. His reaction was to look in both ears. He found a partial wax blockage in the left ear, ordered his nurse to irrigate that ear, then sent me for a hearing test, which was normal for someone my age. At least this was useful as I'm now in my 70s and hadn't had one since the previous BPPV, 20-odd years earlier. When I got back into his office after all this and asked about the vertigo, he just said: "The consultation is over", his medical student grabbed me by the arm and all but frogmarched me out!

A few posters have got lucky with ENT doctors but many more have reported the same situation as mine - ENT doctors aren't always good at dealing with vertigo, especially if it's down to BPPV.

In the event, I went back to my GP, who referred me to a very good vestibular physiotherapist, who fixed me with the Epley manoeuvre in a single session.

Yes, I too would be very surprised if it was Ménière's, if only on statistical grounds. Also your symptoms don't sound bad enough. When you go back to the doctor, make sure you describe your symptoms more fully. Maybe you could even ask her to do the Dix-Hallpike test? In the meantime, try not to worry about it too much. Anxiety will always make your symptoms worse even if it's not causing them.

Ahhh I see! The problem is with my doctors I can really go in and tell them that I think I might have something because it just instantly suggests I've been surfing the web to diagnose. Sometimes when I turn my head it doesn't give the intense dizziness but I suppose this can be expected because I think it's particles in your ear that are floating about that brush against something and it can't be expected to happen every time you turn your head. It happens a lot in the day though. Can't really self diagnose myself either on this but it seems the most likely just because of the intense moments of dizziness when my heads in a certain position. I've read about so many people online that never find out the reason for their dizziness. Some peoples dizziness is down genuinely just to anxiety and can't accept it because it's just so hard to believe that anxiety can be causing 24/7 dizziness but it is actually the case for a lot of people. The body is a crazy thing

I tried doing these manuoevers but nothing happened when I done the head movements like I didn't get hit with massive dizziness. I wonder if this means it's not BPPV. It's weird because sometimes I'm dizzy when I do turn my head but it feels like when I'm trying to get the mass amounts of dizziness from head movements it doesn't happen

Well then, it's probably not posterior canal BPPV, though it could be another type. Doing the Dix-Hallpike test was only a suggestion, to maybe put your mind at rest. But it's not a substitute for seeing a doctor.

The trick when seeing your doctor is to describe your symptoms as accurately as you can, but keeping emotion and anxiety out of it as far as possible. And - as you've already realised - never, never suggest a diagnosis.