Dizziness lightheaded

[Honeylamb]

Shortness of breath and mild chest pain. Thought I had got angina so I was sent for tests everything came back normal. However about12 months ago my hubby went in hospital for a heart bypass and new valve I was so stressed out with worry about him he was in for two months I would not have thought it’s anything to do with stress now but I have had to give up riding my bicycle because I don’t feel safe and I get lightheaded. I am a 70 year old female I wonder if age has got any thing to with things

[FRreedman]

Generally, as we get older, we have to calm down and do things at a more sedentary pace. As my late grandfather used to say "What I used to do all night, now takes me all night to do"

[Honeylamb in reply to FRreedman]

Hi thank you for that a few people have told me it could still be stress as my husband has got slight copd and his breathing is causing him problems

[johnsmith]

You say: "age has got any thing to with things". Age is an excuse for not investigating what you can do and what you no longer can and finding ways to enable you to continue to do things at a slower place. Investigating enables one to look for different ways of doing things.

You say: "I get lightheaded." This could be the result of no longer being stressed as you once were. I will explain. You were worried and stressed about your husband for about two months. The stress causes muscles and fascia to tighten up. You now have less room for blood so the amount of blood in the body decreases. You now have now de-stressed. The body musculature has untightened. The amount of room for the blood has increased. There is a drop in blood pressure. This will cause a little bit of being lightheaded. This hopefully will disappear as the body produces more blood. Do not know the time scale for this. You can observe this and see if things improve or not in this regard.

You say: "Shortness of breath and mild chest pain." This can be due to over tight lungs and pressure being applied to the nerve because of over tight chest. This could have come about from the stress you were under.

My Grandmother used to play solitaire. I never knew the reason for this. As I have got older I play Freecell a solitaire type card game on the computer for stress relief. I now understand why my Grandmother played solitaire.

Also what may help is a walking meditation type exercise. The movement helps free the fascia and thus the thinking. The meditation gets the mind to move the thinking from something stressful. The movement also gives you some valuable walking exercise. In the exercise it is important to move the legs with as little effort as possible. This will help free the chest. Example of the walking meditation is shown in the Youtube video that follows below. It can be practised by a person of any religious belief without going against their religious belief.

youtube.com/watch?v=_IFvabl...(Not working as expected?)

Hope I have been helpful.

[bantam12]

You could have Microvascular Angina which cause symptoms but don't show on cardiac tests, you need to see a cardiologist who understands MVA, also be aware that women with cardiac symptoms are frequently dismissed and ignored, they are labelled hysterical hypochondriac and everything is put down to stress so you need to be persistent.

[cyberbarn]

I agree with Bantam, we can't diagnose here, you need to pursue this with dr. I also agree that age is no excuse if you don't know what is causing it. If it was just age then no one would be riding bicycles over the age of 65!

[chairbasedIns1]

Age can contribute.I am 80 and I have to remember that our blood vessels loose some of their elasticity as we get older,so especially in the morning on waking you may feel dizzy, as blood doesn't get to the brain' radar' as quickly as we can change postion.

I sit up-count to 5,sit on edge of bed-count to 5,stand up-count to 5,then GO. I also do breathing exercises-breathe in-hold to 5,breathe out-visualising down the body to toes,count to 4 or 5 and repeat 5 or 10 times,slowly.Also helpful to get to sleep!

Some people say 20, but I can't manage that.Also try and walk for at least 10-15 mins a day.Take the bike somewhere quiet nearby,sit for 5 then go slowly for a short distance and build it up.There are some groups for elderly bikers- I believe. Go slower and think positive