Like me if you are in your mid to late 30's I strongly advise you to take a Lipid profile of your blood and check for your Cholestrol (HDL/LDL)and Triglyceride (TGL) levels. For the first time in my life I had some severe bouts of dizziness and had to take off from work. It remained for almost two weeks and more. Though the feeling subsided I must tell you that it is certainly not a pleasant thing to happen. After consulting a doctor I first checked my neck for cervical spondylitis as the doc said my too much staring of the monitor while at work and at home without adequate exercise might have caused the dizzy feeling. It wasn't a problem of spondylitis. I then followed this with an ECG and a chest X-ray with a subsequent visit to the cardiologist. Nothing was wrong with my heart either. I continued to take my medication for the dizziness though the dosage was reduced.
I then recalled what my mother-in-law had asked me to do. Check my ear. I had dismissed that as rubbish only to recall later that the middle ear was responsible for the balance of the body after all. I did some searching on the net and located an ENT specialist in Chennai who was also an expert at treating giddiness. He first cleaned my ears and asked me to take an exhaustive blood test. This was followed by an audiology exam and then the ENG where giddiness is induced in the body and the body's reaction to it monitored. All these exams turned normal. But then where was the problem? The culprit - High Triglycerides in my blood. If you have anything above 150 mg/dl you can expect all kinds of trouble in your body including vertigo. Mine was at 200 mg/dl, already in the High range. As they say Vertigo is only a symptom and not a problem or a disease. I was given tablets to keep my TGL levels under check. I was then told to be catious of my diet like staying away from fatty and fried foods as the problem could recur if I were careless about stuff I am eating. A walk everyday would also do me a lot of good.
I then did some research on the net and hit upon this fantastic site which I highly recommend to not only people who have high Triglycerides in their blood but to all those who want to live a healthy life. This site also opened my eyes and nailed the one single thing that I was doing for many years that had sent my triglyceride level soaring, i.e the consumption of sugar. Although I don't have a sweet tooth I was gulping litres of "pop" (Sprite, Coke, Pepsi, 7up...) every day particularly along with meals. Over the years I had also developed a strong liking for chocolates. The other bad habit was the consumption of fried items (chips, pappad, and to some extent meat). There are tons of other very vital information you can dig and those you'll be surprised about, particularly about the oils we use for cooking, the problems with wheat consumption and the misleading facts about soy. Check it out. This site is truly a Godsend.
www.reducetriglycerides.com
Thursday, January 12, 2006
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8 comments:
Hi subash,
For starters,it looks like there's no chicken for you on wednesday. he he
well, it looks like you have joined the diet club...but actually maintaining a diet from youth itself is a very good idea and will help you more in the days. But then with all the junk food that is out in the market, its the safest to have good home food cooked with lots of love :)
D
Hi Subash:
I am having identical symptoms as yours... dizziness, giddyness etc.; and my triglyceride level was 687 about 1 month back. Now it is normal (130) but the symptoms of vertigo still remain.
I want to know how you treated your disorder. Mail me at sundaram.krs@gmail.com
Thanks
Hello KRS,
I am replying here on the blog so that it may benefit others with similar symptoms. This is a fairly long reply so please be patient.
Also please understand that I am no doctor and that you need to consult a physician or specialist if you continue to suffer from the problems and ailments you have mentioned. So following my advice is at your own risk and so be responsible and use common sense.
Here I am outlining how I got rid of the problem. After this post of mine I was o.k for sometime but then it came back even more severely. Right now it has left me and I'll tell you what I did to get rid of it.
If you suffer from Vertigo I am told that it is only a symptom of something else. Vertigo is not a disease by itself. I cannot point a finger at what your problem is because you could have Vertigo/diziness/lightheadedness for a number of reasons.
If you are an IT person follow rules of posture and sitting and working at the computer desk. I know a friend of mine who is now getting dizziness every time he wakes up from bed, say after a nap in the afternoon. After some diagnosis it turned out that he was suffering from an advanced state of Spondolytitis which he wasn't aware of. I believe continuously keeping the neck in one single position without taking adequate breaks and not periodically (every half hour) turning your head and neck in exercises/relaxation can cause spondolytitis. So this is one thing you may want to check out. We IT people lack exercise very badly.
Not that triglycerides cannot cause dizziness but mostly that is not the case. But it pays to keep them low.
As for me when the problems surfaced I was dumb-founded. I am a hypersensitive (to food, air, smells etc) person and I realised that I felt much better in the fresh open air than inside air-conditioned enclosed areas. If you are sensitive you may want to check that. Note that in many places the AC air though cool is very unhealthy. I also realised that after a big meal particularly lunch I used to feel dizzy. All the other times of the day I am fine. First I again suspected sugar levels and even took a GTT and insulin level test (at an Endocrinologist) and all turned out to be negative. I was asked to take more protein. I was also pretty stressed up at work and I wanted to quit. So stress and depression can be other causes. Finally I quit my job in late 2006. My condition improved a lot but it wasn't fully gone. At the same time it wouldn't be there for weeks and then it would happen all of a sudden again. I started paying a lot of attention to diet. I started taking more unpolished grain (ask for Kerala rice at Spencers) for rice instead of white rice. I replaced all cookies, chocolates, fried stuff with fruits. I do take chocolates now but I try to control the intake. Limit your sugars. For months now I take plain milk without sugar. Also try and get used to non-pastuerised milk. For the most part of my life I have been taking only non-pateurised milk, no Aavin or packeted milk. Seriously for the money people spend on chips and other junk food if only they replace them with fruit.
Finally I went to a doctor here in Perungudi who laughed at all what I was doing and gave me a tablet. Surprisingly the giddiness went away like magic. However it would return after stopping the medication for say 4 or 5 days. To my utter shock I discovered that he had actually given me a presciption for mild depression, 25mg of Sertraline. Maybe I suffer from some sort of depression (I am stressed out and I do have other depressing problems) but I went back to him to complain and he said only a 100mg dosage will qualify me for a depression patient. He asked me to contine to take the tablets. Although I agreed I was very reluctant. I was told by a Dentist friend of mine that depending on an anti-depressant would only make me feel more dependant on it later on and 25mg could subsequently become 50mg and so on. I immediately stopped taking it but taking it did give me relief.
My final moment of triumph (Thank God) came in the form of a food suppliment from Amway. If you notice my second blog post was against the pracises of Amway but I always did think their products were good. So after a recommendation I started taking Nutrilite Daily (the Multivitamin and Multimineral food suppliment). I took a dosage for two months. After taking for two weeks of this suppliment (one tablet a day) my dizziness was completely gone. I cannot tell you what a relief it was. Maybe if I get the same symptoms again I may have to try some other treatment. Buf for now I think I can clearly say that the Nutrilite suppliment helped me and even saved me. I even became an Amway agent for a second time(honestly so that I can save on the price). Nutrilite daily costs 1050 mrp for 60 tablets (discounted price depends on agents you buy it from). You can buy it from me or from any other Amway distributor and try it on yourself. Being a food suppliment it doesn't cause you any harm and it is not a drug. Also don't be misled by other similar food suppliments that cost much lower. Centrum is very popular in the U.S but I am allergic to it. Other cheap alternatives are no good. You are better off not taking them. Talking of allergies you may also want to check if you have any food allergy too. That is one test I haven't taken yet but there is no need for it now.
Please don't misunderstand that I am trying to sell Amway products. Like I wrote before this thing called Nutrilite Daily worked for me. If my problem surfaces maybe I'll do another course of the suppliment. But for now I don't need any anti-depressants.
If you think you have only vertigo or dizziness check out Dr. Ganapathy's clinic on TTK Road. It is called the Giddiness Research Institute. I went there and had myself fully checked (they do a thorough test and even induce giddyness and check you) but I was perfectly o.k. While I was there a fellow patient (much older) told me how he thinks he got this problem due to doing the yogic exercise "Shirshasan" or head stand. The head stand is called the King of Asanas. I used to do it too. But I strongly advise you to discontinue it if you have dizziness or giddyness. Advanced yogic postures in Hatha Yoga needs to be performed under great care and guidance.
I hope this advice helps. Do write to me if you have benefited from any of the things I have written.
Praying for the better health of all.
Subash
Hi,
I have this giddiness or dizziness problem for as long as I can remember. Its a constant unstable feeling as if one is on a ship at sea a heaving and swaying sensation almost all the time. Being to ENT, Nuerologist, Brain scan, MRI and nothing. Chicropatic, Massage, Reflexolgy,Blood cupping, yoga, traditional faith healers also of little help. Food supplements this and that over the years. I am exhauted in trying. So search in the internet and read your blog. My friends also mentioned Amway for many years but I didn't pay much attention. I found out Naturallite is not one products. So I bought Naturalite Double X, Lecithine-E, Natural B Complex, Calcium Magnesium as per recommended by an Amway fiend. Could you be precise what was the Amway products that you consumed. I desperately wanted to try.
Thankyou
Hello Anonymous,
I took Nutrilite Daily. But I won't say that was the magic pill. I haven't been taking that for years now but after years I recently got those dizzy spells again after getting back to regular work. On one ocassion I even had to take permission to go home. I visited the Doctor and explained to her all the things I had done in the past (sans Amway pills) and she said I could be having spodylitis which may be partially true considering how many hours I sit in front of the computer. I had taken an x-ray earlier when one of my earlier doctors suggested I do so but I may need another MRI scan or cervical x-ray taken. I also have stopped using fat pillows. Another thing to do is never keep yourself hungry. Apart from the 3 big meals keep a snack and snack before lunch and dinner and never skip your breakfast. For years while at college and in high school I skipped breakfast and I guess I am paying a price now. The only other thing that I need to check if dizziness still persists is an angiogram. Did you check your ears, the balance and stuff. If you live in Chennai thers is a Giddiness Research Centre on TTK road. You may want to check that too.
Rgds, Subash.
By the way Hypoglycemia is the opposite of Hyperglycemia (Diabetes). Hypoglycemia (low sugar) can also cause dizzy spells.
Subash.
Went to see ENT doctors many times and did the BPPV. I am in Brunei.
Thanks
Suffering from lightheaded feeling (similar to the feeling after drinking one pint of beer) from Jan 26th 2016(yes Republic day). After three weeks nothing changed and I badly wanted to check with doctor. Finally the blood test shows 296 for triglycerides (normal is less than 150). Oh bull shit now I am taking medicines + trying to move my assignment :(
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