Dizzy while standing in queues or standing and talking

Thanks.well could end up there.started using mouth guard last nite cause of teeth grinding.i am suspicious of bp meds but I guess he wants to eliminate other possibilities.been a mystery so far.but has to be a answer.thanks again.gonna keep at it

I no longer have the problem with dizziness. It was one of my first symptoms 8 years ago and first appeared when I laid down. The room would spin. Later I noticed if I tilted my head back I would get vertigo really bad. I held my granddaughter up in the air and tilted my head back and almost fell down with my baby granddaughter. Over a long period of time, as I got better that got better. I had a relapse a few months ago, but that did not come back. So yes, it can get better and check to see if tilting your head back makes it worse.

Stopped by this thread and read a few people's descriptions. NONE of you are crazy. I'm a surgeon who also has fibro and CFS. I've always, since young had what was labelled "orthostatic hypotension". Since CFS and fibro got really bad, I decided to start working out and did find my balance improve with trainer doing core strengthening and also horseback riding. I had a month or two where I'd get so dizzy with trainer I felt sick. Go to Google Scholar. They have the actual medical articles on Fibromyalgia and CFS. Dizziness is a WELL KNOWN co-symptom of the disease! I looked for the article to post that described the exact neurological mechanism but I can't find it right now. The physicians who wrote the article had no treatment suggested. I will give an observation of mine. I was on Cymbalta for Fibro, then added Cytomel for possible low thyroid. When I had CFS so badly that I told the Dr. I can only do ONE thing each day, then go and actually sleep for a nap for 2-3 hours (where before I was a really hyper person who could never take a nap or not sleep at night) he told me that he was putting me on Modafanil because his office had done drug trials with it and he has several CFS pts that swear they'd be on disability without it. SWEAR I had no idea what it was and just took it because I figured it couldn't be worse than I was (plus MD is a psychiatrist AND has Phd in pharmacology so I trust him) OMG.....for those of you that have dealt with the "fibro fog" it's GONE! The wanting to crawl back to bed after 4-6 hours of being up is GONE. I swear I feel like I did when younger. But I also noticed that the dizzness was not nearly like it was. In fact, I'd say it was 100% gone for the almost 2 months I've been on it but I had a bit today. I told him he NEEDS to convince Modafanil to do a study for CFS pts. Right now, for insurance to approve it, they have to use a diagnosis of "Work Sleep Disorder" which is basically true because most of us are so exhausted you couldn't work. IMHO Modafanil has been an absolute Godsend for the fatigue symptoms and I don't know WHY but my dizziness on standing has improved, enough that even trainer commented. Hope this helps somebody....

Good to see a lot of stories here. I want to share mine as well.

It started when I was 11 years old. I had to stand in the bus because it was packed and I had no place to sit. I started feeling weird in my stomach and I eventually blacked out. This happened twice, one time I even threw up before I collapsed.

Since then I have trouble standing. Standing in a line of a grocery store, standing at a bus station or while waiting for someone. One time I even fainted after I went to the kitchen to return a dish.

I get hot, nauseous, racing pulse, the feeling I need to throw up (sometimes I do) and then I faint. It goes away when I walk unless it has gotten too bad already or when I sit down. I bought compression socks and they help a little but yesterday I wore them and I still almost fainted. I was so close.

An internist did a blood pressure test while she had me standing. She said if she had me standing for 5 more minutes I would have fainted. She prescribed some sort of steroid which I refused to take because I have already taken so much steroids in my life that I have osteoporosis since I was 28 years old.

It affects me every day an often times people don't believe me. They say I'm lazy and I don't want to work, I make faces, I'm a good actor, it's just anxiety.

The internist didn't give it a name but I settled on orthostatic intolerance. I'm trying to stay hydrated and wear compression socks to help but it's only like a drop in a bucket and doesn't always prevent me from feeling faint. A lot of times I ride one of those electric carts at the grocery store just so I don't get too exhausted and I can take my time. I'm waiting for the day to be stopped by security to tell me to get off of it because they think I'm doing it for fun.

Hi Darren,

I am a therapist and a long-time anxiety sufferer. For years, I get dizzy and unbalanced in settings with fluorescent lights, such as department stores and grocery stores. I believe these lights can simulate the freeze response, and cause depersonalization/derealization. To test my theory, I went on SSRI's and noticed that the lights do not affect me anymore. Hope this helps.

I experience some of the same kind of symptoms when what I eat or drink doesn't agree with me. I can't do sugar or caffiene and I try to stay away from processed foods.

Back about 5 years ago I was dx with chronic subjective dizziness as part of my CFS. Basically your brain becomes locked in a cycle of being unbalanced and can't recover back to normal. This dx was given to me at the Mayo Clinic here in MN even. I was put on Zoloft which if you read has an off label use for this condition. It did help me, cut the symptoms in half I would say. Very low dose by the way, less than what is given for anxiety/depression.

Andrina, thank you for sharing that article. I have struggled with this issue and appreciate the information. You are not alone by any means but I have felt the same way. Again, thanks for sharing. Very interesting article!