Day 26- severe dizziness for past week

[Mntscale]

This past week has been filled with intense dizziness/vertigo, which my Dr. Wants to treat with anti-nausea medications and suggested I stop this diet. Could I possibly be deficient in a vitamin or mineral? I drink approximately 50-60 ounces of water a day, a cup of coffee, and cup of tea. I take magnesium, probiotics and digestive enzymes. A little sample menu-

Breakfast, ground pork with spinach and sweet potatoes, pineapple

Lunch, chicken and snow pea stir fry over cauliflower rice

Snack-Lara bar, handful of macadamia nuts

Dinner- beef meatballs and basil sauce over spaghetti squash, strawberries

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Physibeth]

How big are your protein portions? Where is your added fat? I'm guessing you are not eating enough in general and not enough fat in particular. Your snack is not helping you either - if you must eat between meals a mini meal with protein and fat is a better choice than nuts and dried fruit. I also get dizzy when I don't eat enough salt. I didn't realize how much I needed to salt my food when I cut processed foods out of my diet. Hope this helps.

[tiva]

I used to get vertigo when I was teaching kayak rolling because I ended up with fluid buildup in my middle ear. It was not fun, so you have my sympathies!

 

Removing sugars, grains, dairy, and additives from your diet is absolutely NOT the cause of your dizziness, and adding them back in won't make it go away.

 

But it may help to be careful about the common vertigo triggers: excessive salt, excessive tyramine, excessive dehydration. Tyramine is found in nuts, smoked and cured meats, chicken liver, bananas, citrus, figs (and a host of other foods that you aren't eating on Whole30).

 

The vestibular syndrome foundation has this excellent website about using diet to control vertigo:

 

http://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorders/treatment/vestibular-diet

 

Allergies are a common cause of vertigo, as are sinus infections (both can lead to fluid trapped in the middle ear).

 

It's also well worth checking out CRT (also called the Epley Maneuver). It's a very, very simple PT exercise that can have dramatic benefits for dizziness. Here's some information: 

http://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorders/treatment/canalith-repositioning-procedure-bppv

 

 

Many doctors don't know about this, but anyone who specializes in vestibular issues will be familiar with it. Briefly, we all have tiny little deposits of calcium carbonate in our inner ears called canaliths. Sometimes they move from where they're supposed to be, and they end up causing tremendous dizziness. Some super simple PT exercises can make them go back to where they belong. It's non-invasive and easy, but a PT trained in the maneuver needs to show you how to do it, if possible. Johns Hopkins Med School has an excellent overview: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_areas/vestibular/conditions/benign_paroxysmal_positional_vertigo.html

I found this made a huge difference to me.

 

Good luck!

[GlennR]

I used to get vertigo when I was teaching kayak rolling because I ended up with fluid buildup in my middle ear. It was not fun, so you have my sympathies!

 

Removing sugars, grains, dairy, and additives from your diet is absolutely NOT the cause of your dizziness, and adding them back in won't make it go away.

 

But it may help to be careful about the common vertigo triggers: excessive salt, excessive tyramine, excessive dehydration. Tyramine is found in nuts, smoked and cured meats, chicken liver, bananas, citrus, figs (and a host of other foods that you aren't eating on Whole30).

 

The vestibular syndrome foundation has this excellent website about using diet to control vertigo:

 

http://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorders/treatment/vestibular-diet

 

Allergies are a common cause of vertigo, as are sinus infections (both can lead to fluid trapped in the middle ear).

 

It's also well worth checking out CRT (also called the Epley Maneuver). It's a very, very simple PT exercise that can have dramatic benefits for dizziness. Here's some information: 

http://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorders/treatment/canalith-repositioning-procedure-bppv

 

 

Many doctors don't know about this, but anyone who specializes in vestibular issues will be familiar with it. Briefly, we all have tiny little deposits of calcium carbonate in our inner ears called canaliths. Sometimes they move from where they're supposed to be, and they end up causing tremendous dizziness. Some super simple PT exercises can make them go back to where they belong. It's non-invasive and easy, but a PT trained in the maneuver needs to show you how to do it, if possible. Johns Hopkins Med School has an excellent overview: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_areas/vestibular/conditions/benign_paroxysmal_positional_vertigo.html

I found this made a huge difference to me.

 

Good luck!

 

I am bookmarking this!

[Mntscale]

I will try salting my food more! I also will do the mini meal instead of fruit and nuts for a snack.

My fat- the basil sauce I made was made of an olive oil base, with onion, garlic and spices. I sauté everything in coconut oil, including my pork and spinach breakfast, and use chicken thighs instead of breasts for most recipes. I am grateful that I'm trying to maintain my initial weight, instead of lose. I'm trying to heal my IBS-C instead of going on lifetime medication. I am adhering to two palm sizes of protein with each meal.

Thank you for the exercise, I'm going to give it a try.

[tiva]

Be careful with the extra salt. If you're lightheaded, it can help. But if you have severe dizziness and nausea, you may need to limit salt, not add it. The vestibular syndrome website explains the different kinds of dizziness.