Type 2 Dizzy lightheaded caused by diabetes??

[normpeterson]

Over the past few months i have been suffering from dizzy spells. I feel lightheaded and unsteady. Its happening more and more often and its almost a daily thing. Could this be caused by diabetes and if so could it go away. Doctor has been no help.

 

[urbanracer]

Hi @normpeterson ,

Welcome to the forums.

We are all different so it's difficult to attribute one persons symptoms to diabetes. I think you should find a different doctor.

What are your blood glucose levels like lately??

 

[Bluetit1802]

I agree, see a different doctor. It could be anything. Low blood pressure or sudden blood pressure drops (like moving too fast from bending down to straightening up), postural vertigo, loads of other things.

 

[Daphne917]

Over the past few months i have been suffering from dizzy spells. I feel lightheaded and unsteady. Its happening more and more often and its almost a daily thing. Could this be caused by diabetes and if so could it go away. Doctor has been no help.

Hi @normpterson are you taking statins? I felt like that when I was on statins but felt a lot better when I came off them!

 

[Mamba]

I am T2 sto[pped insulin injections 6 weeks ago and taking Incretin mimetics (Victoza injections) since then.
I use Statins and always feel dizzy and lightheaded. I will try coming of statins and see.

 

[4ratbags]

I had issues with dizziness last year and I managed to correct it by adding salt back into my diet, unfortunately for the last 3 months I have been suffering from lightheadness and my Dr cant figure out what is causing it either. It is only an issue if I am standing still or sitting down too long though and it seems to be worse if I dont get much sleep. Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it as I know how horrible it can be.

 

[ickihun]

I had it after starting lchf diet. My blood pressure tablets got adjusted by gp. It got worse but now gone. Not so strict with lchf diet but I'm upping the anti as no weight loss lately. I'll keep you informed. Please let us know how you get on after seeing another gp.

 

[Wurst]

Over the past few months i have been suffering from dizzy spells. I feel lightheaded and unsteady. Its happening more and more often and its almost a daily thing. Could this be caused by diabetes and if so could it go away. Doctor has been no help.

I was told by my doctor this is blood pressure related. I had it ~1 year ago then it disappeared for a while but am now suffering from it again for last couple of weeks. It mainly happens to me after standing up and have to immediately sit down again otherwise I can fall. I always check my BS around the time of a dizzy spell but it is never low. I haven't correlated it with anything i.e. weight , exercise , diet.

Let us know how you get on

 

[Spliffdic]

Hi yes I'm type 2 just like you I have symptoms of of dizzy spells and also tiredness and blurred eyes. It's definitely side effects of our medication I'm on metfirmin, Gliclazide and Statin.

 

[Dave_brockers]

Yes i have the same too im also on metformin and feel the same as you

 

[Emerald Teas]

Here's another good reason to not to be getting too alarmed just yet.

I had a bad dose of dizzyness/vertigo 3 years ago. It started about 2 months after suffering pneumonia and pleurisy so I was putting it down to the side effects of that. But I still went to my doctor; had blood tests, MRI/CT scans, etc. Turns out it was BPPV. The symptoms below describe mine to a 'T'

BPPV is the commonest cause of vertigo. It is Benign as although it can be quite disabling, it is not due to serious disease; Paroxysmal because it occurs in short bursts of up to one minute; Positional as it is provoked specifically by movement to or from certain positions; Vertigo – dizziness defined as an illusion of movement.

Symptoms of BPPV
The vertigo is generally rotational (like getting off a roundabout) but sometimes sufferers, on lying down, will feel that they are falling through the bottom of the bed or, on getting up, that they are being thrown back onto it. The classic provoking movements to induce BPPV are: lying flat, sitting up from lying flat; turning over in bed; looking up (e.g. hanging washing) or bending down, especially if also looking to the side. The duration of the vertigo is brief; usually five to 30 seconds but very occasionally lasts up to two minutes.

What causes BPPV?
BPPV is caused when loose chalk crystals get into the wrong part of the inner ear. These microscopic crystals should be embedded in a lump of jelly. The crystals weigh the jelly down and make that part of the ear sensitive to gravity. The crystals are constantly being re-absorbed and re-formed and over time fragments come loose. Lying flat can then occasionally cause some of the loose debris to fall into one of the semi-circular canals; the parts of the ear responsible for sensing rotation. Movement in the plane of the affected canal causes the crystals to move along the canal, stimulating it and giving the sensation of rotation.

How is BPPV treated?
At least a half of all cases will get better without treatment though this may take months. As BPPV is basically a mechanical disorder, drugs have no effect and should be avoided. Most cases that do not resolve rapidly can now be relieved by the appropriate Particle Repositioning Manoeuvre; of which the most commonly performed is the Epley manoeuvre which offers instant relief of symptoms in nine out of 10 patients.
http://www.menieres.org.uk/information-and-support/symptoms-and-conditions/bppv

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There wasn't anything really that the doctors could do other than the Epley manoeuvre, but it did wear off over the coming 6 months or so. Now I only get the one minuet spell when I first lay down each night on my right side, lasts seconds and that's it. Very occasionally I'll get it in the day time now, maybe when I bend down to tie a shoe lace or something but I've not studied what could have brought it on anymore.

It's winter, have you had a bad dose of the cold just recently which might possibly have triggered this? My mother-in-law has had it 18months ago and it was not long after a severe head cold. As the medical profession don't know that much about it yet and it's triggers, it's just my thinking that such things as head colds/pneumonia could be triggers. And, like mine, hers wore off over a matter of months and rarely has any residual spells of dizziness. She's not T2 but does have blood pressure/cholesterol meds.

Might help with your doctor's diagnosis if you kept a record of those spells/what you were doing at the time they occur, how you feel when you lay down at night on your right or left side, etc.

I was diagnosed with T2 a year ago, I'm on 1 x 1.25mg Ramapril for blood pressure, 4 x 500mg Metformin,
1 x 20mg Atorvastatin. None of these have affected my BPPV; still only have that one small dizzy spell when I lay down on my right and the rare occasional one maybe in day time. But the I also go to an osteopath, every 2 months, who works on my arthritis in the hip and disc trouble in the upper back and my BPPV manoeuvres I think that helps a lot Oh, and the weight just melted off me from day one of starting on Metformin, I've lost one and a half stone in the past 11 months, don't really want to lose any more but my doctor wants another half stone off My dietician at the time said doctors are obsessed with wanting their diabetes patients right in the middle of their normal weight on the BMI chart. It's not going to happen.



Link to information has been added by Moderator.

 

[ickihun]

I'm just relieved mine was corrected due to blood pressure not right. I've had no dizziness for a few months now.
I've always been told that blood pressure has no symptoms but GP said my tablet is ment to help with dizzy spells. Just pleased he was right.