Blurred Vision Depressed Mood Dizziness And Headache
Reviewed on 8/5/2020
There are a few different medical conditions that are strongly associated with:
- Blurred Vision
- Dizziness
- Headache
While the symptoms above can be considered a guide to help associate symptoms common among the conditions below, this is not a substitute for a diagnosis from a health care provider. There are many other medical conditions that also can be associated with your symptoms. Below are the top condition matches for your symptom combination from MedicineNet:
Working On Your Sleeping Habits
The quality of your sleep can heavily contribute to the onset of cardiovascular problems like hypertension. The lesser hours you sleep at night, the higher your blood pressure can get. Lack of sleep can also make your dizzying spells worse. As a result, you should aim to work on your sleep hygiene. Try to get at least eight hours of restorative sleep.
Comparisons With Other Studies
The main characteristics of our patient population were comparable with those published in other relevant studies. For example, previous studies reported that the most common age of onset for BPPV is around 50 , and the number of women affected was 1.5-fold more than that of men . In our study, the mean age of patients was 53.90 ± 13.93 and the ratio of females to males was 1.76 . This gender discrepancy may be due to menopause-related hormonal fluctuations: a large retrospective study suggested that low estrogen levels might account for the high prevalence of BPPV in perimenopausal and older women . Another study posited that estrogen deficiency might influence calcium metabolism, thus resulting in degeneration of otoconia . These mechanisms may also partly address why female BPPV patients are less likely to be cured on first attempt of the repositioning maneuver, thus requiring more treatment visits.
We also observed a difference in laterality in our study, with the right labyrinth more predominantly affected . Similar results have been published in a meta-analysis conducted by von Brevern et al. . The PSC served as the most frequently involved semicircular canal in our study group , and those with ASC or LSC involvement received more treatments visits, consistent with previous findings .
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Electroconvulsive Therapy Electric Shock Treatment
If you have severe depression and other treatments, like medication, haven’t worked, ECT might be recommended for you.
When receiving ECT, you will be given an anaesthetic and medication that relaxes your muscles to begin with. Electrodes will be placed on your head that give an electrical “shock” to your brain.
ECT is given over a series of sessions, normally twice a week for three to six weeks.
ECT can cause side effects including nausea, headaches, aches in the muscles and memory problems.
Most people find that ECT is good for relieving severe depression, but the beneficial effects tend to wear off when several months have passed.
Other Causes Of Lightheadedness
Lightheadedness may also be a perceived symptom. During anxiety attacks, weakness around the body is common, and it can be hard to hold on to thoughts. The body may also use up a lot of its energy and cause you to feel weak from head to toe. It is also possible to develop tunnel vision as a result of blood flowing away from the eyes and towards the muscles. All of these types of symptoms can create this feeling as though your body is getting ready to collapse.
Lightheadedness is a complicated feeling, and sometimes the causes aren’t exactly clear. Even the reason that the human body hyperventilates when you experience anxiety isn’t abundantly obvious, and the above ideas are just theories. But lightheadedness is most certainly a common anxiety symptom.
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Dizziness From Anxiety Is Not Dangerous
Generally, when anxiety is causing your dizziness, there is much less concern for serious harm. If your dizziness occurs while operating machinery or a motor vehicle, please stop all activity immediately. It is best to determine the cause of the symptoms rather than to push through and possibly harm yourself and/or others. Overall, dizziness is not likely to have long term effects on brain function.
Anxiety And Dizziness Why Does It Happen
If you experience both anxiety and dizziness, it may be for one of the following reasons:
- Dizziness can be a symptom of an anxiety disorder
- Dizziness can trigger, cause or exacerbate anxiety disorders
- Anxiety and dizziness can occur at the same time, but for different reasons
Within this blog, we will look closely at the different relationships that can exist between anxiety and dizziness. We will also provide information on the support and treatment available at Priory Group for people experiencing anxiety disorders.
It is important to note that if you are experiencing anxiety and dizziness, your dizziness could be a symptom of a physical health condition, so it is always recommended that you seek medical advice to determine its cause.
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Hypertension How It Can Affect You
Having high blood pressure can be pretty worrying. Thats because sometimes, it doesnt have any apparent signs. The worst part is that it can quickly result in other complications if you leave it unattended for a long time.
Unfortunately, according to CDCs latest reports, hypertension is a severe health problem that affects about 50 percent of the US population. CDC further explains that only 25 percent have complete control of their high blood pressure problems. Hypertension, especially the malignant type, causes various symptoms that usually include dizziness or lightheadedness, vertigo attacks, and loss of balance. These disorienting symptoms rarely occur until the condition has already progressed.
Dizziness Can Trigger Cause Or Exacerbate Anxiety Disorders
If you experience dizziness regularly, or do so because of a health condition such as low blood pressure, anaemia or a vestibular disorder such as paroxysmal positional vertigo , labyrinthitis or vestibular neuritis , you may have started to feel anxious for one of the following reasons:
- You are worried about falling or hurting yourself because of your health condition
- You are anxious about drawing attention to yourself by falling or fainting
- You are concerned about your health and what is happening to your body
If you havent received medical support for your dizziness, it is highly recommended that you do so. With the right treatment from your doctor, you can start to better manage your dizziness, reduce your symptoms and stop it from having such a big impact on your life.
When it comes to your anxiety, remember that you can seek medical support for your mental health as well as your physical health. Speak to the healthcare provider treating your dizziness about your anxiety too, so that they can determine the best way forward.
You may also want to seek advice and treatment from a mental health specialist, such as Priory Group, so that you can start to put steps in place to manage your anxiety and improve how you feel overall.
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Increased Heart Rate And Blood Pressure
Depression and stress are closely linked and both have been shown to impact the heart and blood pressure. Unmanaged stress and depression can cause:
found depression to be common in people with uncontrolled high blood pressure. It also mentioned that depression may interfere with blood pressure management.
Models For Associations Between Psychiatriac Disorders And Vestibular Dysfunction
Simon and associates reviewed three explanatory models regarding the known association between anxiety and dizziness.
- Psychosomatic model — a primary psychiatric disturbance causes dizziness
- hyperventilation and hyperarrousal increased vestibular sensitivity.
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Preventing The Dizziness From Returning
Keep in mind that dizziness can be both the result of anxiety and also its cause. If your primary care physician has ruled out other medical causes that could start dizziness, the next thing to consider would be controlling your anxiety. Because until your anxiety is resolved, the symptoms will continue to return.
First, make sure that you are practicing your breathing techniques. Work on retraining your body to breathe deeper and slower to lessen hyperventilation episodes. When you suffer from certain types of anxiety conditions, you can hyperventilate spontaneously without any triggers.
Next, make sure that you are eating healthy, drinking water, exercising, etc. Once again, anxiety can cause dizziness that can induce more anxiety, in one vicious circle. To prevent both anxiety and dizziness, you should maintain your health to the best of your ability.
Finally, create an anti-anxiety routine. There are various ways to control anxiety symptoms. You will need to start by finding out what type of specific anxiety you are suffering from, and then you can pinpoint certain anxiety management options that will lessen your symptoms.
SUMMARY:
Dizziness with anxiety when health issues have been ruled out is typically related to breathing, a rush of adrenaline, or a reaction to the perception of mild natural dizziness. It typically needs to be waited out, but altering breathing habits and simple tasks like drinking water can help.
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Chronic Subjective Dizziness Also Known As Pppd
Staab and Ruckenstein outlined a new acronym for unexplained dizziness — “CSD” for Chronic Subjective Dizziness. They stated:
“Chronic subjective dizziness is a specific clinical syndrome with the cardinal feature of persistent nonspecific dizziness that cannot be explained by active medical conditions. It is not a diagnosis of exclusion”.
To our way of thinking, if it “cannot be explained by active medical conditions”, it is a “diagnosis of exclusion”. Active medical conditions are excluded. In other words, the the definition of this entity is problematic.
Paraphrasing their criteria, from their paper in 2007, CSD is dizziness that has these features:
- Lack of other explanation
- Persistent nonvertiginous dizziness or imbalance on most days
- Chronic motion sensitivity
- Exacerbation with use of vision
These are broad criteria, nearly identical to later criteria proposed for PPPD. In other words, in our opinion, someone diagnosed with “CSD” is being told by their doctor that they don’t know why they are dizzy. It primarily differs from PPV, in that PPV is defined as being episodic and triggered.
Again, we remind the reader of what Clark pointed out ,
“The patient with chronic dizziness should never be labeled with psychogenic dizziness. Chronic does not mean psychogenic. Chronic means that health care has been unsuccessful” .
Here Clark is pointing out the logical difference between “lack of proof”, and “proof of lack”.
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Hypertension And Dizziness And What You Can Do
As someone with hypertension, you might be familiar with the debilitating symptoms like dizzying spells. You likely experience it whenever your blood pressure levels fluctuate. While its generally harmless, it can increase your risk for accidents or injuries. Learning how to stop dizziness naturallymight come in extra handy in preventing hazards and ensuring your safety while moving around.
Depression And Drugs And Alcohol
“Drowning your sorrows” is actually a bad idea when it comes to depression. Alcohol is categorised as a “strong depressant” which can make depression worse, and drinking or taking drugs to cope can lead to a downward spiral by having a negative affect on other parts of your life.
There’s evidence that cannabis can cause depression, particularly in teenagers, even if it helps you relax.
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Diarrhea Upset Stomach And Ulcers
Your brain and gastrointestinal system are directly linked. Depression, anxiety, and stress have been shown to affect the movement and contractions of the GI tract, which can cause diarrhea, constipation, and nausea.
Your emotions also appear to impact stomach acid production, which can increase the risk of ulcers. Theres some evidence that stress may cause or worsen acid reflux.
There also appears to be a link between gastroesophageal reflux disease and anxiety. Depression has also been linked to irritable bowel syndrome .
Dizziness Can Be A Symptom Of An Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety disorders typically cause you to experience dizziness for the following reasons:
- Your breathing changes when you feel anxious, you typically start to take in quick, deep breaths. This reduces the levels of carbon dioxide in your blood, which can cause dizziness as well as light-headedness, nausea and tingling in your hands and/or feet
- Your fight or flight instinct kicks in your fight or flight instinct is often triggered when you feel anxious, as your body prepares for the dangers that you believe are ahead of you. This can lead to a rush of adrenaline, leaving you feeling dizzy and/or lightheaded
For some people, their anxiety and dizziness can intensify to the point that they experience panic attacks.
You may have found that your anxiety and dizziness increase when youre in scenarios that you fear such as in crowds or on public transport. Your dizziness may also be accompanied by other symptoms of anxiety, including fearfulness, racing thoughts, an increased heart rate and an inability to concentrate.
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Other Causes Of Depression
There are a number of things that can lead to developing depression.
- Stressful events big changes in your life, like bereavement, the end of a relationship or the loss of a job, can be difficult to deal with. When these things happen, it’s important to keep seeing friends and family instead of trying to deal with problems alone this increases your risk of developing depression.
- Giving birth pregnancy and birth can make some people vulnerable to depression. Postnatal depression can happen as the result of physical changes, hormonal changes, and the responsibility of taking care of a new baby.
- Loneliness your risk of depression gets higher if you aren’t in contact or spending time with family and friends.
- Personality some personality traits can put you at a higher risk of developing depression. These include low-self esteem or a habit of criticising yourself too much. These personality traits can come from your genes, which you get from your parents, or they can be as a result of experiences in your early life.
- Family history it’s more likely for someone to develop depression if a family member, like a sibling or parent, has experienced it before.
How To Tell If You Have Anxiety Lightheadedness
One of the problems with intense anxiety is that it can be hard to tell the difference between anxiety and a different underlying medical condition. Unfortunately, certain medical conditions might produce symptoms that closely resemble those of an anxiety disorder. For this reason, its important to be seen by a doctor who can rule out possible underlying medical conditions.
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How To Stop Dizziness Naturally With Upper Cervical Care
Besides practicing the tips we shared above, you might also find effective relief from dizziness with upper cervical chiropractic. Its among the leading remedies used by patients who frequently deal with vertigo attacks and dizziness. The approach focuses on your spinal health, specifically your neck alignment.
As studies explain, a neck misalignment can increase ones risk for many health problems, including vertigo attacks or dizzying spells. The faulty alignment of the bones tends to impact the central nervous systems efficiency in sending and processing signals. Consequently, this causes your brain to receive mixed-up information on your position or motion.
If you have been struggling with vertigo or dizziness because of hypertension or other health conditions, you can consult with an upper cervical doctor.
Learn more how to stop dizziness naturally through upper cervical care by scheduling your appointment with a nearby upper cervical chiropractic doctor today!
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Why You Might Get Dizzy When You’re Constipated
First, know that constipation isn’t a common cause of dizziness, says Michael D. Brown, MD, gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. However, in certain circumstances, it might contribute to it. Here’s what might be going on.
Straining or having a rather large or voluminous bowel movement or a GI bleed, can cause, as Dr. Brown explains, a vagal event. What’s that, exactly?
The overstimulation of your vagus nerve can lead to a drop in your pulse rate, and without enough blood going to your brain, you can get dizzy and faint yep, on the toilet.
Fainting is pretty extreme, but pooping can be a trigger. If this happens to you, it might also be the result of a condition called orthostatic hypotension, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
If you are constipated, you might be spending a little too much time on the toilet trying to make the magic happen, right? And so, if you spend an hour sitting down, only to get up, then you could experience orthostatic hypotension, which is when your blood pressure drops when you stand up.
Blood pools in your legs as you sit, less blood flows to the brain and as a result, you may feel dizzy, have blurred vision or confusion, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Sitting down for long periods of time can also make your legs go numb, Dr. Brown says.
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