How to respond to dizziness

Dizziness can mean lightheadedness, a feeling of faintness, imbalance, or the sensation that the room is spinning. Brief spinning brought on by turning in bed or moving the head can occur with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Dehydration, heat exhaustion, low blood sugar, anaemia, anxiety, and medicine effects can cause lightheadedness. Irregular heart rhythm, including atrial fibrillation, is another possibility, so timing and associated symptoms are useful clues.

Stop what you are doing and sit or lie down until your balance returns. Rise slowly, hold a stable surface, and avoid ladders, driving, or machinery. If you have been sweating, vomiting, or drinking very little, take small sips of fluid unless a clinician has restricted your intake. Keep a record of what you were doing, how long the episode lasted, whether the room spun, and any palpitations, headache, hearing change, or weakness.

Get emergency help for sudden one-sided weakness or numbness, facial drooping, trouble speaking, severe new headache, fainting, chest pain, severe breathlessness, or an inability to walk. Arrange prompt medical review when dizziness is new and persistent, repeatedly returns, follows a head injury, or comes with palpitations, hearing loss, or ongoing vomiting.

Does the pattern suggest an inner-ear problem, dehydration, anaemia, blood-sugar change, or a heart rhythm issue? Could a medicine be contributing? Do I need blood tests, an ECG, or positional testing?