Lightheaded

[Guest]

Has this happened to anybody on here it been happening a lot to me I forgot to tell my Heart doctor the last time I was in but man sometimes I get really light head that I need to stop wat I am doing and go sit down like it happened just last night and I could feel my heart it seemed like it was beating weird but my heart doctor said my echo looked good so idk was just going to ask on here thanks

 

[CazicT]

Well, its something to definitely bring up to your doctor.
What was weird about the beating? Was it fast? Or weird rhythmically? Or harder?
Maybe skipped a beat? Normally it should be a regular string of 1/4 notes like in music, measure after measure. If it skips, there will be like rest between measures instead of the regular beats. Like 1 2 3 4 pause, 1 2 3 4 pause. or some variation on that.

Do you ever take your blood pressure when this happens?

I had some lightheaded episodes before that turned out to be panic attacks.

Are you short of breath too? Does it seem to happen with activity or just any time?

 

[epstns]

This could also be related to your heart rate. Before I had my aortic valve replaced, I occasionally felt like my heart was ready to stop. In fact, one time at the gym (while wearing a heart-rate monitor) I noticed that my heart rate was around 50 as I stood still. I just stood there to see what would happen, and my rate went down. . . down. . . down. Finally at around 42 BPM I decided that "I'd better get moving or this thing might just stop." As soon as I increased my activity, it went back to normal.

It turns out that I had a heart rhythm disorder that was only diagnosed after valve replacement surgery. I now have a replacement valve and a pacemaker, and no more rhythm issues.

 

[tom in MO]

It could be allergies. That's what causes me some head problems after valve replacement. Antihistamine, a nasal lavage and some pseudoephedrine hydrochloride helps if it's allergies. If you are in the waiting room, it may be heart related, but I had BAV with stenosis and this symptom didn't show up until I was ready for surgery and my echo wasn't looking good.

 

[JWalters]

Looking back to 1-2 years prior to surgery , I had a handful incidents where I was about to pass out from lightheadedness - but NEVER while exercising and getting good bloodflow. I would also get a minor incident about 1x/day that would pass in 2 minutes, where it seemed 1 eye was blurry. Docs where not helpful in diagnosing this (even when it was known I had a degrading BAV)

Once I had a new AV installed 6 months ago, have not had a single incident.

 

[Warrick]

Prior to surgery everytime I bent down and stood up I was lightheaded, never fainted though , I still get it happen occaisionally but it's only minor

 

[LondonAndy]

I notice it happens when you are exercising, and another thing to check could be your hydration level. If your body is dehydrated it will lower your blood pressure and result in feeling dizzy or worse.