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Dizzy And Very Lightheaded From Talking


carinara

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Hi everybody,

since 2 weeks i feel really really dizzy and lightheaded whilest talking. Its so bad that i wasnt able to do a few important phone calls today. I also get very dizzy and lightheaded only from looking down or turning around. My neck and shoulder muscels also hurt very much. I have experienced these symptoms before but at the moment they are as severe as i last experienced them about 2 years ago when i was very sick. Iam so glad that i have a few days off of work. I cant hold a conversation at the moment and i catch myself whispering a lot. Do any of you have some ideas what i can do about this? Thanks a lot, carinara

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I will follow this post because it's this symptom that debilitates me the most. Even on the days when I have more energy, talking will make me feel so weak and I often flush and get hypertensive. I've found some benefit from carvedilol, an alpha1, beta 1 and 2 blocker. For the first time, I have held conversations without noticing chest pain, flushing, or other symptoms. However it certainly doesn't completely relieve my symptoms, and it might be helping me because of my hyperadrenergic response to talking and its alpha-blocking capability.

Other than being super vigilant treating OI symptoms with salt, fluids, compression, etc., I don't know what to do. I hope someone here has a suggestion.

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When I first started becoming debilitated by POTS I had a job that pretty much consisted of talking on the phone the entire time. So getting dizzy while talking was one of my first symptoms. It's from not getting enough oxygen. I have to have good blood pressure with a low pulse to be able to talk with comfort, and even then I'll run down after a while.

I eventually went to a pain specialist to deal with the constant shoulder and neck pain I had. I now take a muscle relaxer, and I find that not only does it ease my pain, but that many of my other symptoms ease off as well. That fact makes me wonder if the tightness in my neck and shoulders is contributing to my system. Once the muscle relaxers do their job I try to use yoga, lots of stretching, and a posture brace to keep the pain at bay for a while, and to keep me from having to constantly dope up.

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I have that happen to. Not sure if this makes sense, but usually I am middle of a word, and suddenly i lack the oxygen to get it all out. I get very dizzy/lightheaded and exhausted from talking. I used to sing lots that is totally out of the question now. It is hard to listen to music and not be able to join in.

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Thank you all for your replies. Yes, singing, reading loud and playing the flute are also big no goes for me. The pain and muscle tightness that come with it feel like the "coat hanger pain" that many POTS Patients suffer from. I am going to see my physiotherapist next monday.He helped me about 2 years ago when i felt very bad. I hope he can help me on that one also. Take care, carinara

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This thread is very interesting to me too. I also have been having a lot of shortness of breath and breath hunger while trying to talk for the past 5 months. My O-2 Sats are always really high even while I'm feeling so SOB that I'm hyperventilating. One doctor watched me lying on his exam table, panting like I'd just run a marathon, just from the exertion of trying to answer a few of his questions and said "you're breathing like you're in heart failure but your heart and lungs are fine. So, are you just anxious?" If I'd had enough energy or breath, I'd either have screamed at him or slapped him! Nothing quite as frustrating as not having enough breath or energy to set the record straight!! That's the last time I went to a doctor without my husband along. I figure he can speak for me when I'm in that condition. Luckily, it seems to be resolving at the moment. Hope it keeps up and doesn't relapse again.

Wish I had some practical answers for you, but I didn't have anything that really seemed to help me in those situations.

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I too get this .. I always thought it was to do with asthma ... I have asthma and I get wheezing bronchitis especially this time of year ... I find it hard to hold a conversation and talk on the phone ... I used to be a real chatterbox ... and have often wonder over the past few years why this is happening but it is not something I have asked the doctor about ... but I do find it debilitating at times .... short of breath and light-headedness ..... I tend to keep quite and try to say little when I feel like this .....

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Have you tried being adjusted by a good chiropractor? I have found this to be extremely helpful when nothing else seemed to be working!

I go weekly, and it doesn't help this symptom for me. In fact, it seems to make me more prone to excessive sympathetic activity. But my back and neck are too painful to stay away from him for long.

Someone else mentioned singing... I used to lead the worship services at our church, but now I can't even handle standing during church and I usually just mouth the words.

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I totally understand how this feels as I have this symptom. It makes no sense to me why talking makes me feel out of breath and exhausted? But, it does. Singing is impossible.

I do have some "good" days in which I can do a bit of singing, and I can talk with no problems.

I attribute the problem to POTS. I'll lip synch at church when I'm supposed to be singing. And I'll refrain from talking, if possible, when I'm feeling SOB. This is part of my "new normal".

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Thankful,

That is exactly what I do when I am having a bad day. I just "mouth" the words at church when I sing. My husband knows I'm doing it, but no one else does. I always feel like a fraud ;) (ha ha) but at least I can stand up with everyone else.

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Yup, same thing here. I had to push myself to keep a conversation going last night at my husband's sister's house and I was feeling so weak, lightheaded, and oxygen deprived just from carrying on the conversation I thought I would faint. However, I'm not even talking right now and am feeling so lightheaded, dizzyish, etc., so sometimes it does this on it's own just because!

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Yeah i really like the chiroprator cause i get a lot of neck pain. I also have a hard lump in my neck which sort of feels like a bone and it is on the right side of my neck. I showed my parents and they are worried that a chiropractor could damage me or something. IDK

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  • 6 years later...

Oh my gosh! I can't believe you guys are describing what my issue is!! I have been been having this issue for over two years and keep getting blown off by doctors who say I'm anxious. I admit I'm a bit stressed out, but who wouldn't be if you're constantly exhausted from talking. Like all of you, it waxes and wanes to some degree with some days being terrible (can't say "hi" without getting extremely lightheaded) and other days being able to have short conversations before becoming ill. For some reason I haven't found someone to diagnose me yet. I saw a neurologist several months ago and he basically took a look at me, and said I was just anxious. It's true I might be anxious but getting exhausted while talking is not normal! :rolleyes:  

Does anybody have head and ear pressure as well? I'm trying to figure out whether this other symptom is related or unrelated to speech problem. It could be unrelated but it's just weird to me that I lately have constant head pressure AND trouble talking. 

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I noticed that these posts are several years old, but the fact still remains that people with POTS have an awful lot of trouble breathing.  I wasn't sure where this fit in to the dynamic of my daughters (and myself), but I couldn't have described the feeling any better than all of your old and new posts.  My daughters used to help lead the singing at church, sing in the choir and do special duets at times.  Now, when they are actually able to be there, they have to sit.  They can sing a little, I think, only because they have refused to quit.  They sit and sing at home.  Some days a lot, some days just a little.  Depends on their exhaustion level.  I am always telling them I can't hear them (I have very acute hearing) or understand them.  They say it's because it takes too much energy to raise their voices and to enunciate.  If they stand and sing, they get really lightheaded and dizzy.  Think it's the combination of both.  Standing in general is bad, especially those of us with EDS, with the blood pooling in the feet.  But, when you add in the singing, just compounds it. 

Thanks for the post, Percythetrain!  Btw, my oldest daughter has a lot of trouble with ear and head pressure.  She is currently trying out amytriptiline and it seems to be helping some.  Lately, it's been worse, but this time of year is so horribly bad for her. 

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Hi DizzyGirls!

Thank you for replying! You know, I haven't been to this site in a long time because I still don't have a diagnosis and my parents keep telling me to just relaxed, that I'm OK. It's so frustrating. So today I was really fatigued and tachycardic from having a normal conversation and I google "tired and dizzy from talking" and it leads me to this topic! I was so surprised to read everyone's experiences because it sounds so much like my problem. 

 
I have been to lung and heart specialists just for them to tell me it's just not that particular organ. I sought second and third opinions and have pretty much given up on the medical profession, lol. At least I know it's not my heart or lungs, so now I'm pretty positive it's disautonomia.  
 
I do have other POTS-like symptoms like going temporarily blind from moving about or turning my neck. There's also these very strong neck palpitations that I get where I feel my neck might explode, they also seem worse from moving about. This is circulation or blood pressure related, right? Also part of POTS? 
 
I hope you and your daughters are being well taken care of. It's so difficult to find a trustworthy physician that takes one's symptoms seriously. 
 
Hugs!
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This use to be a really bad sympton for me the effort of talking made me feel exhausted and dizzy along with the inability to find the right words. Getting my BP up has made a huge difference in its severity for me. 

I also get migraine headaches starting in the occipital bones and the coat hanger pain however starting midodrine has really help this, from a daily occurrence for two years I now experiencing it as little as once a week. I still have vision problems where everything is blurry and if I and reading it takes ages for my eyes to refocus once I stop

Really sorry to hear you having such a hard time getting a diagnosis I would encourage you to keep trying to find a Dr in dysautonomic field , it took many years for me to get diagnoised with numerous hospital stays eventually it was my GP who put the puzzle together when I went with a list if symptons 

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Hi Dancer65! I'm glad you're doing better :) I'm hoping I will find someone to diagnose and start treating me soon. I have the strangest symptoms and I'm often confused about whether they're all the same condition or several conditions. I'm pretty sure my tachycardia and hypotension are related to POTS but it's hard to tell if the head pressure is. I get jaw stiffness and clicking as well so I'm thinking it could be a mix of TMJ inflammation and dizziness from the POTS as well. So confusing lol. I'm going to try seeing someone at the university hospital near me and will report back any news.  

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Yes just as you seem to figure this out another Radom problem seems to appear ! I am pretty sure I  read somewhere headaches/pressure can be a cause of fluctuating BP but can't remember where that was! 

Good luck with your appointment

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The TMJ issues could also be the result of Ehler's Danlos Syndrome.  Do you know if you have that?  My daughters do and it is suspected that my husband and I both do.  We are a very bendy family!  I don't know about the throbbing in your neck.  I know that neck issues are a big part of EDS, though.  I know a lot of us here have it.  I agree that it is so hard to find a good doctor.  Having some frustrations at the moment with that also.  Saw a good hematologist today for possible mast cell issues with my oldest.  Very articulate.  I liked that!  Hope you find some answers soon, I know how hard this is! 

Gentle hugs!

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Hi! I heard a little bit about EDS, I have no idea whether I could have it. It's supposed to have something to do with joints right? I haven't really noticed any hyper-mobility in my joints but IDK. All I have are the low blood pressure, going blind, palpitations and faigue/inability to talk issues. Glad you found a doctor you liked, the individuals can definitely make a difference, I hope everything's looking good with your daughter :)

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I absolutely have that too!  I get very light headed and out of breath from talking.  I always thought I just wasn't a social person, and thought I had horrible stage fright.  I realize now that every time I had to stand in front of a class to give a presentation, I was standing for a long period and talking a lot (similar with many social encounters).  Ironically, I'm a high school teacher (on sick leave now).  I get the same symptoms when teaching, but usually sit on a desk at the front while talking, pace my speech, shorten what I want to say (when it gets worse), deflect back to the kids so that I'm just guiding the learning as they discuss, answer and question, etc.  Oddly enough, teenagers have never been judgmental when I forgot what I was saying mid-sentence, took pauses, jumbled my words, lost my place when reading out loud, went off balance, etc.  It's just to the point now where I can't compensate for it any longer with strategies.  

Socializing, even just talking on the phone has always left me completely exhausted too.  I figured I must be a little low in social skills.  Some people thought I was shy...but I never felt shy.  And I never felt like I was missing some skills.  It all makes so much sense now. 

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  • 1 month later...

Percythetrain - I just read your post about going temporarily blind from turning your neck. I am not giving medical advice but I will share a brief story as another thing to consider when you see your new dr.

when I saw my new cardiologist he did a carotid massage. A major artery that runs up both sides of your neck. It was fine on the left side. When he did the right side I almost lost consciousness, my left hand went numb and my vision started going black. This is one set of symptoms I have when I move my head certain ways: to the side or to look up to get something from a higher cupboard or to put on eye makeup. The condition is called vasovagal syncope and often coexists with orthostatic hypotension (OH) and POTS.

just more food for thought. 

On the other subject I never thought of it in these terms but I get it. I know sometimes I feel it is so much work just to breathe and I get anxious or frustrated in my own skin about it and trying to talk is way too much work. 

Hugs all ?

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  • 9 months later...

I just googled the topic "dizziness while talking". The really scary thing is that this happened to me while driving. i was facetiming someone and it started making me dizzy, so dizzy that i thought i would have to pull over.

After i stopped talking, i noticed i was okay.

wierd huh? i though maybe inner ear, because i swim twice or even three times a week, and went swimming something like 3 times in a row one week. That seemed like the logical answer, but then i noticed i wasn't dizzy until i started talking.

Thanks for information.

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