In many cases, vertigo is accompanied by concomitant symptoms such as headache or nausea. Nausea and vomiting can occur in benign positional vertigo, for example, but also in dangerous causes such as a stroke. Likewise, they may indicate Meniere’s disease or an inflamed vestibular nerve. Because nausea and vertigo often occur together, it is not possible to draw conclusions about the underlying cause based solely on this accompanying symptom.
Dizziness and headache
“If dizziness occurs together with headache, vertigo migraine is often the cause. This is especially likely if several attacks of dizziness occur spontaneously without hearing disturbances,” Strupp explains. “If dizziness occurs for the first time together with headaches, however, it is essential to have a hemorrhage in the brain ruled out,” the expert warns.
In vertigo migraine, which is also called vestibular migraine, the dizziness attacks can last from a few minutes to several hours. Acutely, vertigo migraine can be controlled with antiemetics, which fight nausea, and classic painkillers such as acetaminophen or acetylsalicylic acid. If the vertigo attacks become more frequent, prophylactic treatment, for example with a beta blocker, should be considered.
In about one-third of cases, vertigo migraine occurs without headache, which presents a challenge to the physician in making a diagnosis. In such cases, however, accompanying symptoms such as sensitivity to light and noise, as well as previous migraine attacks, may provide clues to the correct diagnosis.
Vertigo migraine in children
Vertigo migraine is also a common cause of dizziness in children. “If a child suffers from vertigo attacks more than three times a month, a prophylactic treatment should be discussed with the pediatrician,” Strupp recommends. To prevent the child’s dizziness attacks, a therapy with beta blockers is suitable, he says. However, the administration of magnesium is often sufficient.
