Frequent ‘light headedness’

[Elkay_1954]

Good morning all. Happy Easter. Does anyone who has had a brain injury (or their carer) have any experience of daily bouts of ‘light headedness’ which only last 10-30 seconds, do not cause nausea and are not described as dizziness. It is not related to seizures. Could it be to do with vision? All opinions welcome!

[James1984]

It sounds like 'Orthostatic Hypotension'. Central Autonomic Disorders such as brain injury can cause dysregulation of our body function, and this can cause all sorts of symptoms to present. Many other things can cause this or exacerbate it, such as coffee, vitamin B12 deficiency, diabetes, alcohol, not drinking enough water etc. etc.

Have had a brain injury myself I've found my symptoms have minimised by taking care of myself better and eliminating the above. A brain injury doesn't heal like a broken arm would so it's best to look after ourselves as best we can.

By all means seek professional medical advice, but keep a diary of your symptoms and see if you can minimise the symptoms.

[TreesMTBI]

To me, this sounds very much like disruption to the vestibular system (how our body keeps us upright and stable and knowing ‘where’ we are in space), very common following brain injury (I have had this following brain injury). You can try seeing a vestibular physiotherapist who can help retrain the vestibular system and help with symptoms, the dizziness and vertigo. Or there is also Vision Therapy - neuro/behavioural optometrists and other neurological practitioners who specialise in this.

Good luck!

Trees x

[Pairofboots]

Hi, always have a chat with a professional if you get symptoms that worry you. They may have a simple solution or at least explain the process of what occurs. Identifying when this occurs might give a clue, e.g. when standing, or an increase of effort, that might indicate, as James said 'orthostatic hypotension ' or in simple words, getting up to quickly, it might be as simple as slowing how quickly you stand from sitting, or making sure you have enough fluid, but best to have a chat with your GP or nurse.

[TaIaV]

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[Elkay_1954]

Thanks so much to you all. It’s all very useful. X

[Ideogram]

As someone else has said, have you looked into orthostatic intolerance from orthostatic hypotension or POTS? Basically a form of dysautonomia where your body doesn't control your heart rate or blood pressure properly when you're upright. Can be even harder to stand still (eg in a queue) than walking, might find it hard if you're lifting your arms above your head (eg to hang a picture), and you may find bending down or being upright make you feel lightheaded, short of breath, etc. Generally struggle to tolerate upright exercise (though fatigue can affect this too). And just have an overwhelming urge to sit or lay down.

It might not be as bad every day, may be worse earlier on in the day, and may fluctuate with things like fatigue, menstrual cycle, being otherwise unwell, etc.

If it is, nb you may well need to push to be treated. OI after brain injury seems to get talked about so little but it's one of my biggest symptoms (though awareness of POTS seems to have grown since COVID). My neurologist denied that it could be the case for me though and when I came here for advice even, everyone thought it was fatigue. Luckily my GP was clued up and I've now been diagnosed with OH.

Other issues could be problems with your vestibular ocular reflex (more commonly talked about I think. For me it can mean struggling to deal with a lot of visual 'noise', like looking at rushing water while trying to cross stepping stones - I think (? I struggle to explain this) it basically means there's a disconnect between your eyes and your balance), or other vertigo. Vestibular physio should be helpful, but not necessarily quick.

And obviously worth discussing this with your doctor because it could be all manner of things - maybe even things like low iron (?).

I'd keep a symptom diary and see if you can identify any triggers.