Dizziness, or scientifically vertigo, is an unpleasant symptom in which it seems to a person that the surrounding objects revolve around him, or he himself moves in space, and the floor bends and leaves from under his feet. Such a sensation rarely occurs in isolation: usually dizziness is accompanied by general weakness, nausea, or even vomiting. Often, vertigo is accompanied by headache, fever, rapid or rare heartbeat, tinnitus, cold sweat, fainting and other negative manifestations – it all depends on what pathology caused the ailment. It must be understood that dizziness in itself is not a diagnosis and requires a thorough examination, since it characterizes many serious diseases.
Most often, dizziness occurs when motion sickness in transport, food or alcohol poisoning, problems with the vestibular apparatus, blood pressure or blood supply to the brain. But there are more complex, rare and non-obvious explanations – we will touch on all of them in today’s conversation and tell you which pills are better to take in this or that case. Here you will find a complete list of drugs and drugs for dizziness of various etiologies, their brief overview, pros and cons, approximate cost and available analogues [1], [2], [3].
Why dizziness: causes and possible diagnoses
The pathological causes of dizziness include the following factors:
Diseases of the vestibular apparatus – inflammation of the inner ear, bilateral vestibulopathy, labyrinthitis, Meniere’s syndrome and others;
Violations of cerebral circulation, in particular, due to stroke, ischemia, brain tumor or osteochondrosis of the cervical spine;
Psychoneurological diseases (epilepsy, psychosis) and traumatic brain injury;
Cardiovascular pathologies – heart attack, cardiomyopathy, angina pectoris, hypotension, arterial hypertension, tachycardia, bradycardia, atherosclerosis, heart defects;
Common diseases of various etiologies – anemia, multiple sclerosis, migraine, vasculitis, diabetes mellitus;
Parasitic and infectious processes that directly affect the brain or are accompanied by large-scale intoxication of the body (flu, malaria, cysticercosis, scarlet fever, diphtheria);
Taking ototoxic drugs (harmful to the inner ear), such as antibiotics. In addition, dizziness is a common side effect of many medications;
Visual impairment – strabismus, astigmatism, diplopia, cataract, glaucoma, nystagmus;
Poisoning of any origin – food, medication, alcohol, household and industrial (carbon monoxide, heavy metals and other hazardous substances).
There are also temporary and physiological causes of dizziness:
Premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy and menopause in women – in this case, the problem is due to hormonal status;
Compliance with strict diets or even starvation – then vertigo occurs due to an acute deficiency of glucose in the blood;
Non-compliance with the rules of donation – dizziness due to the collection of too much blood;
Riding on carousels and other entertainment attractions – vertigo begins due to overstrain of the vestibular apparatus;
For the same reason, the head may feel dizzy with a sharp change in atmospheric pressure, raising to a great height or diving to a depth;
Long-term uninterrupted tracking of flickering objects – there is a failure of nervous regulation due to the fact that the brain has to process information coming from the visual apparatus very quickly;
Severe stress, fear – vertigo, as an individual reaction of the body.