What should you know about hangover vertigo?

Vertigo is a false sense that you or the room is moving. After drinking, fluid loss, poor sleep, reduced food intake, and alcohol's temporary effect on the brain can make you feel dizzy, unsteady, or light-headed. Moving your head quickly may intensify the sensation. Nausea, headache, thirst, and sensitivity to light may occur alongside it.

A hangover can be a trigger without being the only explanation. Recurrent spinning, hearing changes, ringing in the ear, or symptoms that occur when you roll over may need assessment for an inner-ear condition such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or Meniere's disease. Headache with light sensitivity can occur with migraine, while ear pain or discharge may suggest a middle-ear infection.

Sit or lie down until the sensation passes, then rise slowly with support. Take small, regular sips of water or an oral rehydration drink and eat a light snack if you can swallow comfortably. Keep your surroundings clear, use a handrail, and ask someone to stay nearby if you are at risk of falling. Avoid driving, swimming alone, heights, and machinery.

Do not attempt head-position exercises while intoxicated or without knowing the cause of the vertigo. A clinician may recommend an Epley manoeuvre when a specific positional inner-ear problem is confirmed. Ask a pharmacist before using medicine for dizziness or nausea, since some products cause sleepiness and can interact with alcohol.

Call emergency services for sudden trouble speaking, facial drooping, one-sided weakness or numbness, inability to walk, fainting, a severe new headache, chest pain, seizure, confusion, trouble breathing, or repeated vomiting. After a fall or head injury, urgent assessment is needed even if the spinning seems like a hangover.

Seek prompt medical advice if you cannot keep fluids down, symptoms are worsening, hearing becomes reduced, severe ear pain develops, or the vertigo does not settle as the hangover improves. Do not stay alone if you are difficult to wake or unusually confused; place an unconscious person on their side and get emergency help.

Ask whether your pattern fits vertigo, dehydration, migraine, or an inner-ear problem, and whether any medicine is safe after drinking. Describe whether the room spins or you feel faint, what movements trigger it, how long episodes last, and whether you have headache, hearing symptoms, weakness, trouble speaking, vomiting, or a recent fall.