Dizziness

[red37 116]

Hi, I am about 13 weeks out and been having bad dizziness off and on. I have not been to make any correlations as to the cause. I just moved, got new insurance and am waiting to see my new primary care dr next Friday, new ins does not cover wls!!!!! I did manage to get old ins to cover a visit to a surgeon here in my new turn and had him do labs which are fairly normal. I think I will need to educate my new pcp. Anyone else have dizziness? What was the cause?? I get about 60g Protein a day and do a decent job with Water. Not taking any meds.

[Summermonkey 22]

Are you taking Vitamins?

[KristenVSG2014 1,871]

How many calories a day are you eating? It might be time to increase them a bit. Do you have a nutritionist you can see?

[SkinnyDown 409]

I had some serious issues with dizziness and feeling faint. It turned out to be one my medications. My heart rate was 43 when they figured out what was wrong with me. A few days after stopping the medication, I was fine.

It's important if you do take meds, to keep on top of how they are affecting you as you lose weight. I can't even take a whole dosage of my pain medication anymore. I'm in la la land if I do. LOL 1/2 dose is fine.

Hope you figure out what is causing your dizziness! Keep us updated.

[little_mrs 145]

Low Iron and low Thiamine can cause this. Both are serious. I had low thiamine and had severe dizziness. Came to find out my chewable Vitamin didn't contain Thiamine

[red37 116]

Thank you for the replies! I use my fitness pal religiously and my calories are mostly between 500-675. Should I increase this? I do take multi Vitamin, B12 and calcium citrate, the multi does contain thiamin. The blood test I had two weeks ago showed ferritin was fine, I think that is a marker for Iron? So strange, last night I had a hard boiled egg, just plain and shortly after got real dizzy again. This is the first time I noticed a worsening after eating. No nausea-just dizzy. Ugh.

[KristenVSG2014 1,871]

When I went to my 3 month check up I had been dealing with dizziness and muscle cramps. My doctor reviewed my MFP charts and told me I needed to increase calories to 800-1,000 depending on activity and add some more carb in the form of fruits and vegetables. I thought he was crazy but now I eat a banana every other day.

I'm not suggesting you do this without consulting your surgeon or nutritionist but if you are 3 months out you may need to bump those calories up a bit, especially if you are exercising at all.

[red37 116]

Thank you krisrpaz, I will increase a little over the next week before I see my new pcp on Friday. I will also ask about nutritionist. I have a feeling my new insurance is going to be hard to work with with. Hoping pcp will refer to nutritionist, esp given that they don't do wls. Ready to be over the dizziness.

[wildGoose 207]

Your body is trying to adjust to very rapid weight loss. Medications are all confused. your brain is confused. It was hard for me. A year later and everything is good. Allow yourself rest!!

[TXMissy 211]

I too agree you calorie count may be a bit low. I am between 850-900 daily. I was having reaction to the amount of sugar/carbs in my diet causing similar effects. I remember getting up one morning and nearly passing out in the shower. Luckily my mom was over and she heard me use the wall so I didn't fall, scared me. At about the 3 month mark and watching everything it got better. I take in very few carbs and sugar. Even watermelon set me off. The surgeon said I may be more sensitive than others.

[cadladykim 55]

I am almost a year out from RNY and I still frequently have theses bouts, although not as bad as I use to get them.

Most of the times everything will go black for a few seconds with the dizziness and I have to hold onto something or I will fall down. This occurs mostly when i stand up. It is very scary and can be so intense.

All that being said - I found that if my calorie count is low AND I don't have and carbs in my system, it makes it worse. I always get my Protein in and I am always hydrated. I know most WLS patient and doctors tell you to avoid carbs - and it's true! But for me, it seems my body needs a certain amount. I just make sure to avoid the white flour based when possible. Start with increasing your calories first. Carbs isn't the answer for everyone. Actually some people will have this reaction if they do eat carbs. Take this seriously. Your body it trying to tell you something.

Good Luck!

[Sajijoma 1,324]

I've had a few bouts of dizziness and the two things that helped were drinking a glass of v8 original everyday because I was low on potassium and sodium and that one drink gave me both of those things I so desperately needed. The other thing was my Iron was low and I was getting dizzy and tired from that, so as soon as I started to get my Iron sorted, the dizziness left.