Dizziness while lying down

In a dizzy spell while lying down, the cause is often a sudden change in the position of the head. Especially in the early morning hours, some patients complain of very short but severe dizzy spells. Often this is the so-called benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo.

This special form of vertigo is triggered by small pieces of the so-called otoliths that have broken off. Otoliths are small crystals in the inner ear, which are essential for the perception of gravity and changes in velocity. These small pieces can move freely in the ear, especially when the head is turned, and depending on their size and position they lead to the classic symptoms – the body registers stimuli that do not actually match the actual movement and reacts with dizziness.

Dizzy spells and pregnancy

The cause of a dizzy spell can also – especially if it is accompanied by nausea – lie in an existing pregnancy. During a pregnancy all kinds of completely normal changes in the female body occur. Some of them, however, unfortunately also favour unpleasant phenomena such as dizziness.

Many women suffer from anemia during pregnancy, which may have existed in the past and can be aggravated by changes in the mother-to-be’s body. The most common reason for such anemia is an iron deficiency, which is not an unusual deficiency symptom, especially in women. Due to water retention, the blood volume continues to increase during pregnancy without the number of red blood cells also increasing.

The blood is “diluted” so to speak. As already mentioned above, such anemia can be the cause of dizziness. This is because under certain circumstances not enough oxygen can be transported and for a short time too little blood reaches the brain of the person affected.

The resulting oxygen deficiency leads to short-term dizziness. Through a similar mechanism with a different cause, very low blood pressure can also lead to dizzy spells during pregnancy – during the first half of a pregnancy the blood pressure drops noticeably in almost all women. This phenomenon is one of the completely normal adjustment processes that the body of an expectant mother has to perform.

As a rule, the blood pressure then rises again in the period after the 22nd week of pregnancy. Women who already had a very low blood pressure before the beginning of their pregnancy suffer greatly from the initial drop in blood pressure at the beginning, as an already low blood pressure now drops even further. In extreme cases, this can lead to a short-term oxygen deficiency in the brain.

The reason for this is that a certain blood pressure must be present in order to pump enough blood into the head against gravity. Most of the time, however, the resulting dizzy spells are short-lived and are not dangerous for either the mother or the child. In combination with the problems already explained, symptoms of pregnancy-related nausea often occur, especially at the beginning of a pregnancy.

Emesis gravidarum, i.e. morning sickness during pregnancy, is observed in almost 90% of all pregnant women. Only rarely, however, does it develop into a severe form that even requires treatment. During the first twenty weeks of pregnancy, expectant mothers often complain of morning sickness, which can also be accompanied by vomiting.

It is not uncommon for the women to feel dizzy. Another – also not uncommon – cause of dizziness with nausea during pregnancy is the so-called vena cava compression syndrome, which is caused by a pinching of the main drainage vein. If a woman who is already at an advanced stage of pregnancy is lying on her back, the uterus, which is greatly enlarged as a result of the pregnancy, can squeeze the adjacent vena cava and thus reduce further blood flow.

This leads to nausea, sweating and very rapid breathing. The patients are usually pale and restless.If a pregnant woman suffering from vena cava compression syndrome is turned onto her side (preferably the left side), all symptoms disappear almost instantly and the woman feels much better. However, most women intuitively know this themselves and automatically turn into the correct position.