What vertigo feels like

Some people feel as if the room is turning; others feel their own body rotating, rocking on a boat or drifting sideways. Nausea, sweating, unsteady walking and a need to hold onto furniture may follow. Brief attacks after turning in bed or looking upward can occur with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Longer spells with ringing, ear pressure or hearing changes may involve the inner ear, while migraine can bring dizziness with headache or sensitivity to light. Feeling light-headed when standing is different from a spinning sensation and can have other causes.

Lower yourself onto a bed or the floor if you feel unsteady, and keep the route to the bathroom clear. Turn your head and body slowly, hold a stable rail, and avoid driving or climbing until the sensation has passed. Drink small amounts if you can keep fluids down. Write down the exact feeling, its trigger, duration, associated ear or headache symptoms, and any new medicine. That record helps a clinician separate vertigo from faintness or general imbalance.

Call emergency services for vertigo with weakness, numbness, facial drooping, speech difficulty, sudden severe headache, fainting, chest pain, new double vision or inability to walk. Seek prompt medical advice if it follows a head injury, comes with sudden hearing loss, repeated vomiting, fever or ear discharge, or keeps returning without a clear trigger.

Ask whether your description fits a positional, inner-ear or migraine pattern, whether your medicines could contribute, and what examination or balance treatment should come next.