Hello! Dizziness and Gerd?

Hi there everyone!

I am 19, about to be 20, and have been dealing with GERD for almost 5 months now - started in beginning of December.

Well, I just have a question... This past month, I've been feeling dizzy and woozy every single day. At first I thought maybe it was a side effect from taking Reglan - so I stopped that treatment since this past month. Yet it's still here and it is starting to really affect my ability to do anything. Does the dizziness have anything to do with GERD? Like it's a side effect of having it and that it's not from the medication?

The dizziness is like things are shifting in and out, kinda like 3D and moving left and right, sometimes I even feel as though I'm swaying back and forth. I've been drinking A LOT of water like you're supposed to, I've done a blood test and everything is fine, and I've told my doctor and he told me that it'll eventually pass (because he thinks its the Reglan).

I haven't been able to drive because every time I do, I feel nauseous, dizzy, and woozy (been taking online courses except for one for school). It is making it very hard to do anything without feeling really sick especially reading textbooks and using the computer to do papers and research. I've been exercising but sometimes after or during the exercising, I get dizzy as well.

It is really starting to frustrate me (I tried taking motion sickness medication to try and stop the dizziness, and those have no effect) and I was wondering if any of you guys have any tips as to how to get rid of the dizziness? And do any of you have an estimation of maybe how long this dizzy spell will last because it's really starting to affect my social life with friends and school along with my well being.

Thanks!

HI! sorry so late for my response - it sounds as if you have vertigo - i've had GERD for over 2 yrs now and last year was diagnosed with vertigo - my symptoms were exactly like yours - felt as if i was really drunk and just came off a roller coaster - as kitt stated you must see your primary - vertigo does go away on its own however everyone is different - i had 4 episodes last year and each lasted for a month - lost my job could drive look down walk, etc.

After seeing numerous specialist ( ent, neaurologist etc ) to rule out anything major - i saw an allergist and a physical thereapist- both worked out the best! the three major issues that can cause vertigo is stress, lack of sleep, salt intake

I kept a food journal - wrote down foods that i ate and if they bothered me i would highlight it- then next to it i would write down the sodium content ( as of now my salt intake per item has to be 50 mlgrms or less - anything above i start to feel dizzy ) - cutting out a lot of salt helped so much but at times i was still feeling some of the symptoms - thats where the allergist came into play - i brought my food journal and as he looked it over there are things that i can no longer eat b/c they contain a natural preservative that seems to trigger my vertigo symptoms - the preservative is : vaso amine - this is in chocolate, cheese, alcohol, bannanas, grapes, tomatoes, avacado - in staying away from all of these my symptoms became less and less

what vertigo is- is the crystals in our ear canals became loose and logged themselves in the canals where they shouldn't be

so after seeing the allergist i went to the physical therapist she did head exercises with me to help loosen the crystals and get them back to where they belong - after seeing her i was able to drive again- i felt great within a couple hours

you can google vertigo and it will explain it all as well as give you those exercises

before you take anything into your own hands i would see your dr again - if he doesn't believe you get a 2nd opinion

my diagnosis is begnine posterial vertigo ( but my treatment was for menieres disease )- i still feel symptoms when it becomes that time of the month or when im sick - mine is a pretty serious case- but like i said everyones different some are very highly serious and others only have it a week -

i hope this helps any questions dont hesitate to ask - good luck!

ok let me explain the crystals - everyone has these crystals in their ear we also have fluid in our ear -the crystals helps to keep balanced - getting up sitting down walking etc- when the crystals dislogde from the ear and move into the actual ear canal ( the ear has 3 canals with microscope hairs) we are no longer balanced b/c they are stuck

for me when i start to get symptoms i get pressure in my ears (like a clogged feeling) and head pressure - when you are already feeling this pressure reg noise level will bother you - its like 10xs worse then a migrane - tylenol will help as far as inflamation goes but yes the dizziness will stay

as far as test goes - the dr should be seeing your eye movements (ex holding a pen in front of you and you only follow it with your eyes) they eyes (even tho you wont feel it) will "twitch" you wont be able to do the exercise for too long dont worry not painful or anything - its more of focus and balance testing

what a physical therapist will do is exercises to your head to dislodge the crystals (please google this i forgot what its called) she will at 1st do some balance testing then the procedure - you will sit up straight on a bench then she'll pull you down (she'll be sitting behind you) really fast so your head is hanging over the side of the bench (she'll hold your head) yes you will get a head rush but you need to keep your eyes open so she can see if your eyes are "twitching" she will do this 2xs (down with your head to the left sit up and then back down with your head to the right)

there is no permament damage like i said some people get it for a brief moment to a week to longer like us

if you still have this then it is your food intake - you need to look at the sodium amount in the back on the nutritional panel of all foods - if i were you i would stick to 50 mlgs or less - you also need to check the back of your meats - do not eat any take out (sorry that does mean no more pizza or chinese! lol) - do not add any salt to your food

b/c you dont exactly know what food is causing your veritgo to stay you need to do a process of elemination - if you like bread dont eat it, it can have up to 400mlgs of salt - eggs have 70 mlgs of salt per egg, pre-cooked chicken or pre-packaged food is no good you need everything fresh

whoever does the food shopping in your house hold please go with them - its a learning experience since you dont think certain things have salt but they do - no canned veggies - FRESH only - no more frozen dinners etc no junk food (unless you can make it without salt)

as soon as i started cutting out the salt i felt such a difference - the dizziness became less and less the pressure became less and less - the only reason why it lingered was b/c the crystals were still lodged.

my personal email is [email protected] if you care to send me a message on there as well - just put something in the memo like "lyphta from healing well" so i wont delete you

oh once you bring up the vertigo to your primary he will want you to go see an ent and a neurologist also to get an MRI - i know it'll feel like you are running in circles however these drs are to rule out anythng (more) major - people can get vertigo by head injuries - just be patient

also once you are getting your stress and salt level under control and youre still having lingering symptoms thats when you see the allergist b/c by then a lot of food will be removed from your diet so what ever is left find out if they have a common element (only the allergist will know) then you'll have to stay away from them as well

i have a web-site that i also food shop from its called " healthyheartmarket.com" there you'll find things that have very little to no sodium
its a life saver!

any questions im here!

(btw im 29 going on 30 - GERD over 2 yrs ago vertigo only last year)