Dizzy/Lightheaded

[Jnfinney 521]

I am on day 11 of my pre-op diet and am having surgery Monday. The past 3 days I've been experiencing dizzy/lightheaded spells. They come on suddenly and only last a second or two and typically occur when I am standing or walking. Has anyone else experienced this or know what could be causing it? I have attributed it to the fact that I've been on a liquid diet for over a week, but I'm not totally sure.

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

Not an expert here by any means but is it possilby a lack of electrolytes?

What is your liquid diet made up of? Just Protein Shakes or meal replacment shakes?

[Jnfinney 521]

@Hop_Scotch I am allowed to have juice, Gatorade, Powerade, etc. I usually do 1 12 ounce bottle of Gatorade Zero a day and a Propel Water along with my other liquids. I'm not really sure how much I'd need to drink to replenish electrolytes, though.

[Arabesque 7,036]

No expert but it sounds like postural hypotension. Your blood pressure drops on standing - all your blood rushes to your feet & takes a moment or two to re equalise. Consequently your vision narrows or darkens, you may feel a little light headed or momentarily dizzy. At worst you can faint. Stand slowly & wait before moving until everything settles. It happens to me multiple times a day. I always make sure I have a chair, wall, table, person, etc. nearby I can touch to ground myself when my vision goes.

With anything that is unusual for you, feels strange, is painful, etc, on this journey see your doctor.

Good luck.

[mswillis5 127]

My electrolytes were out of balance during my preop and I had to consume quite a bit of salt for my headaches/light headedness to go away. It is very possible that this is the case. To help with my situation I drank the broth of full salt Progresso Soups. It helped to alleviate my symptoms pretty quickly. I also made sure to get plenty of fluids in throughout the day and not drink them too quickly.

[Jnfinney 521]

@Arabesque that sounds like what I am experiencing. Thank you for sharing.

[bohobabemama 1]

I was thst post diet. i started to drink body armor lyte daily. with electrolytes. and my potassium was low and my Dr said those two things would make me feel that way.

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[ms.sss 15,270]

On 3/11/2021 at 4:46 PM, Jnfinney said:

Has anyone else experienced this or know what could be causing it?

Yep, I had dizzy, eyesight-darkening, woozy episodes when I moved from sitting to standing, bending over, or just move suddenly. I had to hold on to something (or someone) to get steady. I never fully blacked out though, but came close a few times. This happened pretty regularly the first couple months, and decreased in frequency as time went on. Now (2+ years out), it happens very rarely (if at all). The last time was probably before xmas.

I understood it to be low blood pressure (even though my doc was not concerned about my BP readings back then). Or that orthostatic hypotension thing that @Arabesque was talking about:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/orthostatic-hypotension/symptoms-causes/syc-20352548