10 Tips To Stop Fibromyalgia Dizziness

Published: // Updated: March 14, 2021

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Dizziness is a problem for nearly 70% of people with fibromyalgia. When it occurs on a daily basis, like with fibromyalgia, severe dizziness can really inhibit your life. There are some things you can do to address the dizziness and balance issues. In this post, I will give you ten tips to stop dizziness

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The term dizziness means different things to different people. Some people use it to describe feeling light-headed or off-balance while others use it to describe vertigo (the feeling that their surroundings are spinning).

Finding solutions for your dizziness depends on the type of dizziness you are experiencing and what is causing it. If you missed my last post, about the most common causes of dizziness and poor balance in people with fibromyalgia, you may want to read it, first.

Tips to Stop Dizziness

Finding a way to stop or prevent feelings of dizziness can be a process of trial and error. Here are 10 tips to help:

  1. Move Slowly – If you are prone to dizziness, it is important not to make any sudden moves.
    • When you get out of bed, do it in stages. First, sit up slowly. Then, put your feet on the floor. Take a moment to breathe. Slowly stand up and hold on to a stable surface. Relax a moment and breathe before you try walking.
    • When moving from a sitting position to a standing position, flex your legs first. This will help get your circulation going. If you feel dizzy after standing up, focus on an eye-level spot on the wall and breathe. Don’t walk away until you feel stable. Use a cane or some type of support, if you need to.
  2. Watch Your Diet – Eat frequent healthy meals. Avoid artificial sweeteners and highly sweet or salty foods, caffeine, and alcohol. They can all contribute to feelings of dizziness, or even cause dizziness in people prone to lightheadedness, vertigo and problems with balance.
  3. Stay Hydrated – Dehydration can cause of dizziness, so make an effort to drink more water. It is recommended to drink half your body weight of water every day. So if you weight 100 pounds, you should drink 50 ounces of water a day.
  4. Take a look at your medications – Dizziness can be a side-effect of certain medications, including anti-seizure drugs, sedatives, tranquilizers, antihistamines, and blood-pressure medication. If you think your dizziness is caused by your medication, talk to your doctor about alternative medications or changing your dosage.
  5. Breathe Deeply – Anxiety and stress lead to rapid shallow breathing and can cause dizziness. Deep breathing helps soothe nerves and alleviates stress. It also regulates blood pressure, heart rate, circulation, digestion and many other bodily functions. The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen.
  6. Home Remedies – Below are some of the home remedies that can help stop dizziness.
    • Ginger helps dizziness by stimulating blood flow to the brain. Studies have shown that ginger can alleviate dizziness faster than some over-the-counter medications. It also helps with nausea and migraine headaches. Take ginger supplements, chew on a small slice of raw ginger or drink ginger tea.
    • Honey and apple cider vinegar will reduce the intensity and severity of dizziness. Don’t expect instant results, though, it works very effectively in the long-term. Apple cider vinegar regulates blood sugar and blood pressure. Drink two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar together with two teaspoons of honey in a glass of water three times a day.
    • Lemon water with salt and black pepper are good for immediate relief of dizziness. It also helps control blood pressure and nausea. Drink 8 ounces of water mixed with 3 teaspoons of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and black pepper.
    • Ginko Biloba boosts blood flow within the inner ear so it helps correct some inner ear problems. This study provides evidence that Ginkgo biloba extract is at least as effective as the world’s most frequently prescribed vertigo medication, Betahistine.
    • Feverfew is known to help prevent migraine headaches, which can cause dizziness. Feverfew can also lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation within your inner ear. Herbalists claim it helps with nausea, dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and many other conditions.
  7. Treat Allergies – Allergies, congestion, and sinus pressure can make you dizzy and contribute to problems with fluid in the inner ear. This is one reason why I get dizzy and have constant ringing in my right ear. To keep the fluid from building up and causing real problems like severe vertigo and hearing loss. I take allergy medication and irrigate my nasal passages with a salt and water solution. I have tried different allergy meds and have found the only one that helps my inner ear is Zyrtec. I also use a Neti pot at least once a day, before going to bed. The Neti pot is s plastic pot that looks like Aladdin’s magic lamp.
  8. Over-the counter Medications – Two medications, you can buy without a prescription, used to treat dizziness, vertigo and nausea are:
    • Meclizine, available as an over-the-counter medication commonly called Bonine or Antivert, was long used as a prescription medication for vertigo. The drug is thought to help people who are prone to dizziness by decreasing sensitivity in the balance centers of the central nervous system.
    • Dimenhydrinate, known as Dramamine, is used for motion sickness. It settles the stomach and eases dizziness. Dimenhydrinate is often recommended for cases of vertigo.
  9. Trigger Point Massage – Trigger points in the neck (sternocleidomastoid trigger points) create symptoms such as headaches, balance problems, dizziness, nausea, sinus congestion, hearing problems and visual disturbances. The good news is, you can fix these problems in a simple way. You can read the post on how to massage these trigger points here.
  10. Repositioning Exercises – Canalith repositioning can help relieve benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), a condition in which you have a brief, but intense, episodes of dizziness that occur when you move your head. Canalith repositioning consists of several simple head maneuvers. It is quite effective in relieving vertigo and works 80 percent or more of the time, after one or two treatments. Although a canalith repositioning procedure is easy enough to do at home, instruction from a medical professional is recommended to avoid injury. A neck or back injury is one risk of performing the canalith procedure incorrectly. I will publish a post about this soon.

Conclusion

I hope that at least one of these tips will be helpful for you. Remember, finding a solution depends on what is causing your dizziness. Having you found anything that helps stop dizziness? If so, please share by leaving a comment.

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20 thoughts on “10 Tips To Stop Fibromyalgia Dizziness”

  1. Great tips. I don’t suffer from dizziness anymore, the only exception being if I have a flare. I def have issues with feeling a bit “off-kilter” then. Moving slowing and taking time between lying down/ sitting/ standing is a must. I do think my diet changes have helped the dizziness issues as it used to be a daily occurrence

    Reply
    • Thanks, Donna. I used to have dizziness every day, sometimes so bad I didn’t dare leave the house. I agree, I think diet changes helped my dizziness, too. That and going off most of the medications I was taking.

      Reply
      • What do you eat? I am trying to make good changes. I have low blood pressure so they said increase salt. What diet changes? What specifically do you eat for breakfast lunch and dinne? Can you share a sample.

        Reply
        • Hi, Lisa. I have a smoothie every morning. The smoothie contains strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana, flaxseed, and spinach. The smoothie is so nutritious and filling that it is both my breakfast and lunch. Dinner is a lean meat and vegetables which I eat fairly early, usually around 3 pm. I have a snack around 7 or 8. My favorite snack is a sliced apple with peanut butter. I gave up sugary drinks completely and make sure that 90% of my diet is anti-inflammatory foods.

          Reply
  2. i have had fibromyalgia for 16yrs was treated like I was just depressed and every doctor wanted to give me antidepressants all but one she didn’t know was wrong, because it started in my feet could hardly walk and she told me to take up walking everyday I thought she was nuts. But I did it was very painful and still is but as long as I keep moving it gets a little less painful. But now it’s all over my body. I’ve stated having what I call brain fog can think, concentrate, dizzy, and have had several bad falls, not sleep half of the night sometime not all. My ever thought is on the pain and what to do. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
    Sandy

    Reply
    • My first symptoms were not being able to sleep and migraines. My doctor also said depression. I had isolated pain, but the widespread pain didn’t come until much later. Now I have pain every day, all day and it is very hard to exercise, but you are right…it does help. If you are not sleeping and getting the deep sleep your body needs, your pain will be worse and so will the brain fog and dizziness.

      It is now recognised the lack of deep sleep is a main component of fibro. The experts believe it is the most important symptom to treat and I know it is for me. My suggestion would be to address your sleep issues with your doctor, make it a priority. I wrote a series of posts about improving sleep that you may find helpful. (here is the link to the first post) The last post in this series is about which medications improve deep sleep.

      Reply
    • Movement is essential in the morning, maybe an hour in bed or on the floor stretching, fingers to toes. Magnesium flake baths, 8oz water before, 45 min hot tub, 3 cups milk thistle tea, before bed and Take a probiotic after and at least daily with prebiotic fiber or fauna food. Make sure you sleep in absolute darkness and deep breath 20 min in the dark to lower cortisol and increase melatonin. Eat 80/20 acidic to alkaline, up d dosage and take with a. I would make sure no processed food or supplements with folic acid, you need folate for methalation cycle. Heal your gut maybe with slippery elm, L glutamate, or glycine and once your sure you have no leaky gut consider cleansing your bladder, liver, and then increasing lymph flow. Check out my pinterest board you can message me there and indicate how your improving. Good luck. Make sure you include trace minerals, and the magnesium flake can be made into a spray used as deodorant and all day long where there is pain.

      Reply
  3. Good tips! My doctor recommended more salt and gatorade, I find this eventually works but it takes a few days, if anyone has tips to stop the dizziness sooner it would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

    Reply
  4. I also have fibromyalgia. I’m 35 now and can remember the symptoms as early as 17. This past January I was on my computer and all of a sudden the numbers looked distorted and I felt like I could pass out. I have been dizzy every day since. I have been seen by my primary doctor and an ear nose and throat Dr. Also been under enormous amount of stress the past 2 years. My Dr treated me as having a virus get into my central nervous system but its not helping. Now I’m to start vestibular rehab and was referred to a neurologist.II can’t even get in to see him for months. I’m so scared and don’t know what is considered as normal with fibromyalgia. My question is…was there an onset of your dizziness like mine where out of nowhere things are distorted and feel faint an dizzy ever since? They ruled out MS several years ago by having a brain MRI and having to wait to have another one 6 months later to then diagnose me with fibromyalgia. But now I’m terrified it truely is MS. Any help would be so appreciated!

    Reply
    • Hi, Danielle. Yes, there was a sudden onset to my dizziness. It was maybe a week after having surgery on a bulged disc in my neck. I was back and forth to the doctor for months. They kept giving me antibiotics which didn’t help. After several months the dizziness wasn’t as bad but I lost my hearing. I had to have tubes put in my ears twice. I still had spells of dizziness pretty regularly until I went off Lyrica and two antidepressants 3 years ago. I do get dizzy once in a while but not as bad or as often anymore. I think dizziness is definitely part of fibromyalgia. Then when you add in other factors like STRESS, medications, and inner ear problems it gets out of hand and very scary. I have been under a lot of stress for the last couple years also and it makes all the crazy symptoms of fibromyalgia much worse. Hopefully, the vestibular rehab will solve the problem for you and it works quickly. It took losing my hearing for my doctor to take the problem seriously, thankfully, it wasn’t permanent. Try not to worry (I know that is easier said than done). Contact me anytime.

      Reply
    • Our symptoms are very similar. I remember my first clue that something was wrong at 13 years old. Now I’m dizzy everyday to some extent. Some days are better than others. Went through the neurologist appts too. Hang in there. Even after you get the diagnosis, it’s still an uphill battle with doctors. None of mine believed that the dizziness came from the fibromyalgia. Still dealing with that and I was diagnosed 2 years ago.

      Reply
  5. I know that I have problems with my anxiety, and sometimes that causes me to feel dizzy before I get a panic attack. I really appreciate how you listed these tips that can help me stay focused and less dizzy. I’ll try breathing deeper whenever I feel dizzy. Hopefully this will help me feel better.

    Reply
    • Thank you, Alice. I use deep breathing to help control my anxiety and it also helps when I feel an asthma attack coming on. It helps to practice deep breathing a few times a day. That way it becomes second nature and is easier to accomplish during an actual panic attack.

      Reply
  6. This info is great, thanks. I have been dealing with this off, balance feeling for a few years now and I am sure my anxiety doesn’t help. Anxiety- extremely tight neck muscle-dizziness. I went to a massage therapist that specializes in the neck and she massaged the sternocleidomastoid really good, my dizziness seemed better. I spend a few thousands of dollars already to figure this dizziness out, trigger point massage seemed so far the best help, but I oily had it done ones so far, seeing the massage therapist next week again. Wishing everybody good luck. ????

    Reply
    • Hi, Carmen. I am sold on trigger point massage. It is too bad that not many insurance companies cover alternative treatments like this. Good thing TPM is something people can learn to do theirselves. Take care!

      Reply
  7. I did not know about Ginkgo Biloba and Feverfew for dizziness and vertigo, but will be trying those. I have fibro and suffer from extreme bouts of dizziness and vertigo at times. They can both be very debilitating!

    Reply
  8. Thank you for all your experiences..I now know I am not alone ! I suffer daily..will try anything…I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia….a few years ago….it gets worse each yr…
    ..Thanks again …for all your comments .

    Reply

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