about a year ago, i was involved in a serious car accident. like, a seatbelt burn, airbag deployed, firefighter digging me out of car it’s a miracle everyone involved is alive kind of accident. i was relatively unhurt, all things considered, although i was in a lot of pain for some time after it happened.
after the accident, i had a lot of dizzy spells. whenever i would go from a sitting position to laying down and vice versa, i’d get really dizzy for a few seconds, and then it would pass. this eventually stopped happening after a few weeks.
fast forward to this past januaryish and it started happening again, and stopped after a few days. now, it’s started up yet again, and it hasn’t just quit after a few days. anyone ever experience anything like this?
i know i need to see a doctor about it, and i have an appointment in a few weeks where i plan to discuss this. i haven’t mentioned it to the doctor before because both other times it went away on its own, but now that it keeps cropping up i’m going to be sure to tell him. trouble with that is there’s really no chance of moving my appointment up, because their wait time is ridiculously long(i have county funded insurance and go to a free clinic type setup, so it’s always crazy busy and takes forever to get an appointment).
does this seem serious? i’ve never experienced dizziness like this before my wreck.
The first thing that comes to mind is the possibility of concussion. Have you recently (since January) had another blow to the head/whiplash? I’m not a doctor, just a hockey fan, but dizziness, fatigue, memory problems, trouble focusing, etc. are all symptoms. Concussion can be serious.
Another possibility could be positional vertigo; the accident could have triggered movement of the little calcium deposits in the inner ear, and when they move around you can get dizzy. My mom suffers from this; it comes and goes and occasionally requires a particular manoeuvre to treat. It’s benign, other than the feeling like shit and the effects that has on her day-to-day life!
You say you have an appointment, but if it’s really bothering you, could you go to an emergency room/urgent care/walk-in?
It’s not absolutely guaranteed that both time its the same cause of the symptoms. The first time its likely concussion, but at the moment it could be anemia, if you haven’t suffered a second, recent, blow to the head?
I’d make an emergency appointment on the off chance it’s something really bad, rather than wait, if it were me in the situation. Get well soon!
As a sufferer of Meniere’s disease, (balance disorder) I have had horrible dizziness, but I can usually tell when my ears are gonna give me issues.
My question to you is do you notice any thing in your ears? Stuffiness, feeling of fullness, ringing in the ears. Are you on any meds? Many medications have dizziness as a side effect, especially sudden movements.
i haven’t had any other blows to the head since the accident, for what it’s worth. no whiplash or anything like that. i haven’t noticed any problems with my ears either.
the only medication i’m on is insulin, which i’ve been on for years. dizziness can occur with high blood sugars, i know, but it’s a different sort; high blood sugar dizziness(for me anyway) is usually standing up and seeing spots. what i’m experiencing is a rocking and spinning sensation.
my blood pressure is fairly consistent. normally the numbers have always been good, recently they’ve been slightly elevated, but nothing that shouldn’t be able to be controlled with diet and exercise.
thanks for the responses and the well wishes, appreciate it!
I recently (two weeks ago) had an almost identical experience, except I fractured a rib or two in the quite high-speed head-on. Same dizziness symptoms exactly. I thought it might be either a mild form of whiplash (no very sore neck though), or a side-effect of Stopayne / codeine type painkillers. Never had that effect before though with such drugs.
Also never had dizziness like this before - yes mine is also a weird spinning sensation and you feel like you might blot out totally. I have very nearly fallen a few times after arising, must take it very slowly. It does pass though.
Although it was encouraging to read I am not alone in this, it would be useful to get a medical opinion, especially since it seems it may reoccur after a period of time as for the poster. Could it be the balance centre in the ears that is affected / damaged?
And will it fully recover over the longer term?