Author Topic: Dizziness and fatigue  (Read 2863 times)

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Dizziness and fatigue
« on: 22 April, 2016, 01:52:10 pm »
I'm 51, a little overweight (14.5 st and 5'11"). I stopped smoking in Jan and have cut down on sugar and alcohol in the same period.

In the last 4 weeks I've had dizzy spells. Not many, but now and again. Once after I'd climbed a flight of stairs and a few times after getting up from sitting, but sometimes just out of the blue.

Then on the way home last night I bonked. It's only a 4 mile ride, and I do it twice a day every day, but half way home it was as though I'd done 80 miles. I dragged myself the last mile or so, got home, ate and went straight to bed.

This morning I'm okay (I chose a geared bike for the commute today just in case), but definitely not 100%. There's some family history of low BP (mum), none of diabetes that I know of.

Coincidentally I have a GP appointment on Tuesday and will raise it then, but I wondered what the panel thought.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #1 on: 22 April, 2016, 02:28:06 pm »
Get thee to a doctor; your Tuesday appointment will do.
List and describe your symptoms.
Get your blood sugar checked, preferably repeatedly.
Get your blood pressure checked, preferably repeatedly. (Home BP machines are now around £20 on the interwebs.)
A 24 hour or 7 day ECG might be helpful.

Chris S

Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #2 on: 22 April, 2016, 04:28:53 pm »
^ What the Doc said :).

FWIW - I had several months of occasional dizziness when I stopped smoking. I put it down to not being used to full use of my red blood cells!

See what your doc says on Tuesday.

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #3 on: 22 April, 2016, 06:27:18 pm »
Thanks both (and my PM-er). Will do.

Looks like I picked a bad year to stop...



(I jest. Ditching the fags and cutting back on booze & sugar can only be good in the long run.)
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #4 on: 22 April, 2016, 07:29:15 pm »
All the best, Paul. Hope the doc is helpful!

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #5 on: 26 April, 2016, 12:03:23 pm »
Get thee to a doctor; your Tuesday appointment will do.
List and describe your symptoms.
Get your blood sugar checked, preferably repeatedly.
Get your blood pressure checked, preferably repeatedly. (Home BP machines are now around £20 on the interwebs.)
A 24 hour or 7 day ECG might be helpful.

Doc says BP is fine (or was this am when she checked it. I will have an ECG this pm and a blood test tomorrow am.

Isn't the NHS amazing?
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #6 on: 26 April, 2016, 04:22:21 pm »
The NHS is indeed amazing.

Hopefully your issues will turn out to be nothing serious and will pass.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #7 on: 26 April, 2016, 05:32:12 pm »
Get thee to a doctor; your Tuesday appointment will do.
List and describe your symptoms.
Get your blood sugar checked, preferably repeatedly.
Get your blood pressure checked, preferably repeatedly. (Home BP machines are now around £20 on the interwebs.)
A 24 hour or 7 day ECG might be helpful.

Doc says BP is fine (or was this am when she checked it. I will have an ECG this pm and a blood test tomorrow am.

Isn't the NHS amazing?

Worth fighting to keep I reckon.    :thumbsup:

Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #8 on: 26 April, 2016, 11:08:53 pm »
Get thee to a doctor; your Tuesday appointment will do.
List and describe your symptoms.
Get your blood sugar checked, preferably repeatedly.
Get your blood pressure checked, preferably repeatedly. (Home BP machines are now around £20 on the interwebs.)
A 24 hour or 7 day ECG might be helpful.

Doc says BP is fine (or was this am when she checked it. I will have an ECG this pm and a blood test tomorrow am.

Isn't the NHS amazing?
Yes, but what you get from it reflects what you put in.

I have a view that I am responsible for my health and that doctors are consulted as experts whose advice I almost invariably follow. I hope that's not controversial in this forum.

There are missing bits. Hellymedic's advice is inarguably sound and expert. The bigger problem is how you deal with the procedures & your own approach to the problem.

I offer my experience as a category of mistakes to avoid. Sorry if it's rather long...

First serious problem since 2011 (connection with that date only from hindsight) was after walking a moderate distance over easy ground one nice sunny morning. We caught a bus to complete our trip (as planned), but I suffered faintness once on the bus. We reached lunch destination & I thought I was dehydrated. A pint of Rutland tapwater later I felt better.

I went on with normal life.

A month or 2 later on returning from a Sunday CTC ride I bonked badly, though quite close to home. I misjudged it & had to stop & wait while the world stopped moving.

So I went to GP, describing my symptoms of dehydration & hypoglycaemia. GP duly organised a battery of blood tests which failed to find anything.

I went back to normal life.

A few months later, after a day's haymaking in Alcester, I was trundling homewards up the Alne valley & discovered that I was unable to climb the gentlest of gradients. At the time I was reflecting that the last time I'd had problems riding home from that reserve had involved cycling knee-deep through flood water that hadn't yet reached the rivers. On this occasion I had less need to hurry & the trains were working OK. It was a slow journey.

So I went back to GP, who checked out the remaining likely causes for my symptoms. You may remember (or can look up) what the cause was. That's irrelevant to your problem; I'm not a doctor. The critical point is that the time lag between my first symptoms in Rutland & getting to GP to receive a rapid diagnosis of cardiac problems was 6 months, and I'd guess that 5 of those were due to me.

Go thou and do not likewise ;).

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #9 on: 27 April, 2016, 01:55:21 pm »
When I mentioned the dizziness and fatigue to my GP yesterday morning she whipped out her stethoscope , slapped the sphygmomanometer on me then poked around inside my ears all the while interrogating me. Then she made an appointment for an ECG in the afternoon and blood tests this am.

Maggie carried out the ECG yesterday pm (looked fine to her, but she reminded me I'd need to see the GP to discuss the results).

The phlebotomist this morning was amazing. I was in and out in under 3 minutes, all of them pain-free!

Now, the wait...
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #10 on: 27 April, 2016, 02:46:00 pm »
Fingers crossed for all. I have recently had a few funny turns with dizziness and general fatigue.

ECG and blood test seems to be the first course of action (after BP tests).

I am on the mend (with no real answer as to what was wrong (other then nothing with BP, heart or blood!)).

Good luck all!
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #11 on: 04 May, 2016, 02:35:19 pm »
Well, ECG normal and bloodtests likewise. Cholesterol a little high, I gather, at 6 point something but, taken with the normal everything else, the doc was relaxed.

Because I'm still getting the dizziness (or perhaps light-headedness is more accurate) and fatigue, the next thing is a 24 hour ECG.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Dizziness and fatigue
« Reply #12 on: 27 July, 2016, 12:53:25 pm »
Update: the 24 hour ecg revealed nothing, so doc happy that it's not heart-related. He said that there's not much else to do for the time being, but to come back if I start passing out.

I think that's good enough for me for now.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?