For the past four months I have been having light headedness. Not every day but most days. It last from a few minutes ( twenty- thirty ) to all day. Friday morning I got up feeling great, went in and made coffee. Wife came in and started breakfast. I sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, we were talking. I picked up my harmonica blowing softly into it as I listen to the sausage fry, maybe a minute or two. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with light headedness, almost dizzy. When I stood up sit the table I lost my balance and staggered, feeling a great urge to sit down. That lasted until noon, gradually went away. I was fine the rest of the day. I ran the subject by my nurse practitioner a couple of months ago, discusing possibilities of Orthostatic hypotension because of differences in my blood pressure sitting vs standing. It has gotten so I won't drive when I'm light headed. Added to that for the past several weeks I find it difficult to talk. I sometime read the morning paper to my roommate because of her vision problems. I was unable to do that the past few mornings; not enough breath. I guess you could say I'm a man with one foot in the grave. But don't expect me to jump in. I've got another minor problem but it's hardly discussable. Anyway I'm watching my breathing, doing what it allows me to do, watching my light headedness and my bleeding. I try between my spells of light headedness to run get a few groceries, etc. Pay me no mind. Sometime I talk to merely use another font. I may chronicle some of my improvements here. By tphe way, I'm accepting advice, cures, home rememdies, and deserts right here.
@Shirley Martin said,(as always, I wish you well. And, yes, I'd love to have this dance with you.) Did I say thank you? Probable not. Thanks.
Bill, it could be Orthostatic Hypotension as you said, but it could also be BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). I have no blood pressure problems, but I had a period of a year or so when I would get sudden attacks of vertigo to the point that I couldn't stand or walk, and was severely nauseated. I first thought it was the onset of Meniere's Disease, but I haven't had another episode in over a year. Something that was recommended to me a number of years ago for blood pressure (even though I really don't have the problem) was a supplement called L-Arginine. L-Citrulline does the same thing but is longer-acting. Both supplements raise the NO level in your blood and make you feel better even if you don't have a problem. They are also reputed to aid in brain function. I believe someone received a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research in 1998. Here is a link to an interview with the researcher (unfortunately embedded in an ad: I think the folks who were diagnosed with COPD or Emphysema who were cured were simply misdiagnosed. There are diseases that mimic COPD (which in the old days was COLD--you can see why the acronym was changed) that are frequently diagnosed as COPD but are not. I had a friend who was diagnosed with COPD and was near death's door. She used a walker and toted her Oxygen Concentrator around with her everywhere she went. Out of desperation, she went to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ, and they discovered that she had been misdiagnosed and mistreated for years. They thought she could be cured by surgery, but after a scope and lung scan, they decided surgery was not the best option, so they put her on a drug regimen, and now she walks upright with no walker and no oxygen, and she is slowly being tapered off the drugs. It is like a miracle. Her husband is a Deacon in the Catholic Church, and he claims it IS a miracle--he got his wife back from the brink.
@Bill Boggs , I am not a doctor but I helped my DH deal with COPD for over twenty years so I do have a little experience with it. The dizziness could be caused by a drop in your oxygen level. Playing the harmonica, you could have been breathing slower or more irregularly. Normally, the oxygen will be set at 2. When you are playing or doing something more strenuous, try setting it at 2.5 or 3 for a while. There will be a $5 charge for the medical advice. I take cash, check or credit card.
@Don Alaska Appreciate your comments, Don. I've used a couple of pulmonoligist along the way and sever annual lung function test over the years have documented my lung deterioration over the years. Tests at the VA have confirmed my lung condition. There is a difference between light headedness and dizziness or vertigo. Many years ago i had a spat with inner ear infection that caused some months long difficulties. What i have now is not the same. Frankly I don't know what the problem is but it has been going on some four month pretty regular. It's been an off and on thing but mostly on; it has interrupted the way I live my life. I plan to discus s it further with my nurse practitioner, who is also a geriologist, someone who works with the elderly. Neither of us know what it is. Orthostatic Hypotension was my diagnosis, but I don't know. I just know it's a problem. I am about to come to theopinion I'll just let cnature take its course. We keep filtered water in the fridge in a large jug with a filter. I pour two smaller containers, keep one in the fridge, one on the counter for my roommate. I poured up a bottle a short while ago, my blood oxygen dropped down into the sixties merely holding the jug up and pouring. I've taken to wearing around my neck, this finger blood oxygen whatever you call it. But hey, I'm just talking, not crying about my condition. I've lived with it long time. I just need an outlet to talk. Friends have all died and this is my outlet. They have tended to put up with me here.
@Shirley Martin, I appreciate the advise and know a caregiver is a treasured asset. I moved my machine up to three last year, in September I think, I have it back on 2.5 now. Yet I am aware too much oxygen can mess up your brain, sometimes cause a stroke. Put that five on my tab and I'll take care of it first time I see you.
I realize that "light-headedness" may be different than vertigo, but I didn't know how you described your symptoms, and with an O2 sat as low as yours, I am sure your lung diagnosis is correct, but some of the folks on the thread were describing being diagnosed with COPD but being cured. Those are the ones that I thought were probably mis-diagnosed. Accuracy of diagnosis depends on how much time a practitioner wants to spend on it and their quality of education. My friend ended up actually having micro pulmonary emboli. The blood clots and resulting pulmonary hypertension resulted in symptoms that fooled the folks she saw up here and they didn't bother exploring like they should. Probably economics as much as anything else.
p I don't know what's causing my light headedness.and at my age I'm sure the VA is not interesting in finding out. However, I'm on Home Based Primary Care with the VA and my nurse practitioner may have an interest.