VERTIGO AND GIDDINESS
Vertigo is a feeling that you or the room are spinning. Giddiness is a wider word that people also use for feeling light-headed, unsteady or about to faint. They have different causes, so the first job is to find out which one you have.
The most common cause, a short spin when you turn in bed or look up, is harmless and can often be put right in the clinic in a few minutes.
Sudden vertigo or giddiness can be a stroke when it comes with any of these:
Also go the same day if the vertigo is new and constant and has lasted for hours, especially if you are older or have diabetes or high blood pressure, even without the signs above, or if you suddenly lose hearing in one ear.
Go to a hospital with a CT scanner and an emergency department, not to a clinic. Caspian Healthcare has no emergency department and no CT scanner. With a stroke, every minute counts.
A short spin, under a minute, when you turn over in bed, lie down, or look up. Caused by tiny crystals moving in the inner ear. Often fixed in the clinic with a simple head movement treatment (a repositioning manoeuvre).
Severe spinning that comes on over hours and lasts for days, often with vomiting, sometimes after a cold. Slowly settles over days to weeks, helped by balance exercises.
Spinning for hours with ringing in the ear, a full feeling in the ear and some hearing loss, coming back from time to time. Needs an ear specialist as well.
Repeated episodes of giddiness, with or without headache, often in people who have migraine. Treated as migraine.
If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, feeling giddy or light-headed is often not vertigo at all. Common causes are:
Do not stop or change your medicines on your own. Check your sugar and blood pressure if you can, write the readings down, and bring them. Diabetes and blood pressure care at Caspian is with Dr. Khizer Hussain Junaidy and Dr. Sayyed Muzammil.
Read more: headache: when to worry and after a stroke.
Dr. Mohammed Imran, Neurosurgeon & Spine Surgeon. MBBS, MS (General Surgery), MCh (Neurosurgery), Gandhi Medical College. Telangana Medical Council 60634.
Monday to Saturday, 4 to 5 pm. Walk in, no appointment needed. Consultation ₹600, valid for 6 days or 2 visits, whichever comes first.
There is no operation theatre at Caspian. If you need surgery, Dr. Imran operates on you himself at Mahavir Hospital or CARE Hospitals, Nampally.
Bring any MRI, CT or X-ray you have had (the films or CD and the written report), and the list of every medicine you take.
Most vertigo is not dangerous. The common kinds come from the balance organ in the inner ear. Vertigo is an emergency when it comes on suddenly with a new severe headache, double vision, slurred speech, weakness or numbness on one side, a drooping face, or being unable to walk. Then call 108.
Yes. If you take insulin or some diabetes tablets, giddiness with sweating, shaking, hunger or confusion can be low sugar. Check your sugar if you can. If it is below 70 mg/dL, take glucose and follow your low sugar plan. If the person is drowsy, confused or cannot swallow safely, give nothing by mouth and call 108.
Blood pressure can drop for a moment when you stand, especially with blood pressure tablets, water tablets, some diabetes medicines that make you pass more urine, dehydration, or diabetic nerve damage. Stand up slowly, drink enough water, and tell your doctor, because the dose may need changing.
Tablets for vertigo help for a few days in a bad attack. Taken for weeks, they can slow the brain's natural recovery of balance. Ask your doctor before continuing them long term.
Not usually. The common inner ear causes are found by the history and a simple examination in the clinic. A scan is needed when there are warning signs, or when the pattern does not fit an inner ear cause.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Mohammed Imran, Neurosurgeon & Spine Surgeon, Telangana Medical Council 60634. Last reviewed 12 November 2026. General information for patients of Caspian Healthcare: your own doctor’s advice comes first.