The accompanying symptoms

In the symptomatology of vertigo, a distinction is first made between different types of vertigo. Mostly a rotary vertigo (comparable to a merry-go-round) or a swindling vertigo (like on a ship) occurs. But also an elevator vertigo, which feels as if you are riding in an elevator, can occur.

Such vertigo attacks are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and headaches. A dizziness attack can also lead to acute hearing loss, a sudden deterioration of hearing. In general, dizziness is also used as a term when affected persons become somewhat “dizzy” due to circulation problems.

Nausea and vomiting can also occur in this context. In addition, complaints such as cold sweat, blackening of the eyes or a fainting spell are associated with such blood pressure-related dizziness. Nausea and vomiting are frequent symptoms accompanying dizziness attacks.

Dizziness leads to sudden confusion in the brain, as the information from different sensory organs usually does not match. For example, the organ of equilibrium senses movement, while the eye sees that the body is not moving. These different sensory impressions suddenly lead to severe dizziness – this also causes discomfort or nausea. In the case of particularly pronounced dizziness attacks, the nausea can be so severe that the affected person also vomits.

The occurrence of the vertigo attack

Many people are affected by morning dizziness, so they have to get up slowly to avoid falling over. These attacks of dizziness occur when people try to stand up from a lying or sitting position. This symptomatology is based on a natural effect.

Standing up suddenly and too quickly causes a relatively large part of the blood in the lower half of the body to be lost. The vessels that normally ensure a constant blood pressure cannot react quickly enough at such a moment. For a brief moment, there is a lack of blood in the head and upper half of the body to maintain blood pressure and supply the brain with oxygen.

The result is dizziness. Blood pressure is raised by appropriate countermeasures that the body automatically initiates, such as narrowing the blood vessels. After a short time, the person affected should no longer feel dizzy.

These dizzy attacks particularly often affect tall, slim and elderly people. But also a permanently too low blood pressure (hypotension) can trigger a short dizzy attack when getting up. You can find more information on this topic under: The dizziness when getting up.

Dizziness at night can have various causes. In some cases it may be caused by Meniere’s disease. This disease of the inner ear is accompanied by an increase in pressure due to water retention.

This dizziness therefore occurs independently of movement and can therefore also occur at night. Another cause can be positional vertigo. This form of vertigo is caused by detached ear stones (otoliths) that move freely in the arches of the vestibular system and thus irritate it in an uncontrolled manner.

Especially at night, when the person concerned turns and changes the position of the head, a sudden unpleasant dizziness attack can occur. Sudden dizziness attacks, which occur mainly when sitting, can be caused by strong tension of the muscles. The muscles of the neck, jaw, the entire back and the eye area can be constantly exposed to tension due to an incorrect posture while sitting, which cannot be released properly in the long run.

Such tensions can also be the cause of dizziness attacks. The symptoms can be relieved by specific muscle exercises. The dizziness attacks should be clarified by a doctor so that the correct therapy can be initiated. In case of muscle tension, the muscles can be loosened. The person affected should also ensure an upright and straight sitting posture so that the incorrect posture does not lead to further complaints.