Dizziness While Sleeping

I too have been suffering from these same symptoms for many years. After almost 2 decades - I have had just about every test related to the ears, nose & throat & have come up "clean." The only exception is that of some scar tissue built up on my right ear due to a mishap with sticking a bobby pin in my ear @ a young age. I may add it did not puncture my ear drum though. Most recently I endured the ENT test (water balance of the ears) to see if there were "crystals" formed in the ear drum, thankfully no. It was determined however that I do have vertigo. I have MAV & PPV. MAV=Migraine Associated Vertigo, in a nutshell means one has dizziness rather than a migraine headache. The other, PPV=Paroxsymal Positional Vertigo is likely to be caused by an inner ear abnormalty & just moving a certian way (or even laying down) can trigger this. I know personally I can not lay on my right side at all. Not to mention my ear always feels "full" when it's not (like water is stuck in there) & my neck is always sore, even feels like I am carrying around a cement block on my shoulders. Out of all the ENT tests, I settled for the MAV & PPV diagnosis. BUT, recently this so called vertigo has gotten way out of control, no medication even comes close to stopping them. They even happen all night long on & off, scary feeling to be sleeping & then all of a sudden a jerk of a dizzy spell forms. Basically I am having the exact same symptoms as yourself. I felt compelled to write to you & let you know that I will be seeking a neuro doc on July 28th (as I am begining to now feel it's all nerve related since my fingers & feet will tingle occasionally) & I will certianally do my best to keep you posted. Sorry to hear someone else suffers with these symptoms, as I wouldn't wish these on my worst enemy!

I have the same problem........... Just recently within last two years I feel like I am fainting (very strong feeling) in my sleep. It is sooo strong that it wakes me up. It's scary.... It comes and goes, two weeks straight then it stops for a while, then maybe once or twice and stops again. I am trying to research t on the internet right now. I think we need to see a cardiologist, or neourologist(spelling).

CERVICAL VERTIGO -------- can be caused initially by any injury to head or neck for example car accidents slips or falls can even be caused by your chiropractor. usually lasts for one or two weeks or just about the time you finally get around to seeing your doctor. this can reoccur and is usually from placing your body in an uncomfortable position like bent over under the hood of your car or painting your ceiling. Please see a doctor because cervical vertigo can also be due to compression of the artery which may cut off blood flow causing stroke.

I have suffered with this for years. I found this on the net and truely believe this IS my problem. There is an exercise you can do to help get a bit of releif called the Epley manuever. I was never so glad as to find this finally!!What is BPPV? (ALERT! Epic Discourse ahead!)

The main balance organ is in the middle ear. There are three fluid-filled rings called the semicircular canals. These rings are in the three main planes - horizontal, vertical, and frontal. As you move around or move your head, the fluid flows in these rings signalling the direction of movement to the brain. The way this happens is this. In each ring there are groups of tiny hairs sticking up into the fluid. Sitting atop these hairs are tiny little crystals called "otoliths." Yep! Ear rocks. As your head moves the weight of these crystal causes the hairs to sway back and forth and signal movement back to the brain.

Sometimes the little crystals come loose and float freely in the semicircular canal. When the head moves in the right way (into the right position) the crystal falls rapidly in the ring and causes a sensation of whirling or falling or a giant, fast movement.
The whirling sensation only lasts several seconds, but for several seconds after that you can see objects appearing to "bat" back and forth. Everyone uses different terms to liken what the sensation is. Then the room settles down an you feel very diagreeable for the next several hours.

The crystals can come loose spontaneously - it is common as we age. Or they can be knowed loose by a snap of the head, whiplash, a good bonk on the noggin, etc. I knew a woman who got struck in the head by a little peice of candy, but she saw it coming and reflexly snapped her head out of the way giving herself a minor whiplash injury & BPPV. I brought on an episode after cleaning the garage and had a spasm of violent sneezing.

When you have BPPV you find that certain positions seem to bring it on. (like bending over and turning your head to look up under a table. Or leaning your head way back to look straight up. Sometimes it's only at night when you roll into the right position and awaken right in the middle of the whirling. Between attacks often you may just feel a little unstable in space or spacey. The crystals often replace themselves. If they don't they can be treated almost 100% of the time by a series of rotational manuevers called the Epley Maneuvers. (BTW Dr. Epley is my personal vertigo physician ) Untreated some people suffer periodically for decades.

I have the same problem now.
This monday, while sleeping, when I shifted my head towards the right, the room started to spin.
I now could only sleep straight or to my left.
When I was young, I had a check-up that mentioned one of the "otholiths" came off, and sometimes I would experience dizzyness.
But it has not occurred from then on till now, about 15 years later.
I had a ear infection about 3 months ago which has already gone away.
But I suspect that all these has been occurring because I flew when I had a very bad cold that causes my ear to be blocked (For almost 2 days on both side of the ear).
Is there any cure?

I feel like I'm at my wits end, I'll be sleeping and suddenly wakened and I'm dizzy while sleeping!!! I go for an ENG this Wednesday. They think I have BPPV. This happens sometimes night after night. Sometimes I feel nauseaus
and sometimes not. I feel like my right ear is full at times and my neck is sore.
I do have anxiety however, how can dizziness occur when sleeping? I'm doing nothing to provoke it.

thankyou for explaining your symptoms of dizziness, i have been having the same experiences since i moved to the wheat belt country 6 months ago, one day i was sitting on the sofa and i leaned to the left, tilting my head back to adjust the blinds behind me when a spinning dizzy spell occured, then they kept happening when i was asleep, which really started freaking me out, i saw the local doctor, he said i had a mild ear infection, and severe allegies to grass, animal fur, cockroaches etc, and he advised me to get out of the wheatbelt area. i was given some mild antibiotics. the dizzy spells stoped for about 3 months but last night it started again and the tingling sensation in my left hand the fingers felt almost numb, some breathing difficulties too, it's so horrible to be woken up by dizzy spells, what a life!

My guess is Anxiety. I say this because I also suffer from these symptoms but have many check ups as i've the thought the problem to be related to many different things. I wake up already dizzy and sit up a little disorientated. After about 30 seconds it passes and I can go back to sleep. If it wakes me again in the same night I will get up and move about to keep my mind occupied with something other than how i'm feeling. Soon after I will go back to sleep and generally sleep well after that. I'm not sure what causes it to happen during sleep but the encouraging sign is that this has happened to me on and off over the past few years and i'm still here. Once you get through a few of them it becomes easier to dismiss them as something that although uncomfortable, not life threatening. If you think they are life threatening then by all means see a doctor but I can tell you that over the past 3 years i've had heart and cholesterol checks, all sorts of blood tests and x-rays and all have come back fine. It's most probably nothing. Learn to not be frightened of them and they should become less frequent. Usually I have minor ones but last night I had about 4 episodes. Good thing is i'm still sitting here to talk about it so it's nothing major in my eyes. Would be interested to know what the outcome was for maxpower who made the original post.
For the record i'm a 33 year old Male and quite active. Would be nice to know other peoples ages who suffer from this to see if there is any common patterns. If anyone wants to discuss this further I don't mind if you e-mail me.
[email protected]

Mark, my father will be 80 in less than a year and he has similar episodes. We determined that he had a kind of sleep disorder (and now the name of it is totally escaping me) whereby he gets paralyzed for about 30 - 60 seconds after waking when he's been sleeping in a sitting position (e. g. he falls asleep in front of the television; this doesn't happen when he sleeps in bed at night). He has apnea and uses a CPAP machine in the bed so that may also be why there's a difference between the two types of sleep.

I hope you are well and continue to be well -- from the looks of your post, you're doing okay with the whole thing.

hey I read ur post and have similar feelings...when I and trying to sleep I have like a jolt and start to get dizzy but then when I open my eyes everything is fine there is no dizziness?? i have been to ENT'S and a balance speicalist and had my heart checked and every is fine...my neck hurts but idk if that culd be it...i have a huge phobia of being dizzy and have been to therapy and stuff but it didn't help. so I am very very anxious and stuff soo I am not sure if that could be causing it?? wondering if this sounds like what u had????

I'm a 45 year old female that has begun experiencing dizziness while sleeping. Specifically, when I turn during my sleep to the left and right, I get so dizzy that it wakes me. I've been losing sleep because of it (being awakened each time I turn). I haven't been to the doctor yet and I'm hoping that it's just an ear infection. I never thought that anxiety could be a possibility. There hasn't been any changes in my life that would warrant anxiety and I do work out 3 - 4 times a week so I know it isn't lack of exercise.

i have questions for the people who have this sleep dizziness.... how many of you also get dizzy while awake? Is there pain associated with the sleep-dizziness? Do any of you suffer migraines or a seizure disorder as well?

hi littlek

I dont get dizziness when I am not sleeping unless I had my head in a position for a long time and occisonally i had dizziness when i put my head down or up or sideways but it isnt frequent and i went to an ENT who told me I did not have an inner ear problem and I also got a hearing test and my hearing was fine. I think it is a neck problem or major anixety with I have??

anyone else have any new news about this problem???

The numbness bothers me. It (and the dizziness) could well be from a bad disc in your neck. If it were me, I would go to an orthopedist, and get a
C-T scan of my neck, pronto. It might not be that, but I would want to rule it out.

I have been sick since August 30th with cold like symptoms, but the last 2 and a half weeks I have had a constant heaviness feeling while sleeping in my head with a feeling of falling or dizziness. I feel like I'm about to fall asleep and then my body shakes and I feel like my upper body is starting to fall asleep. Anyone know what might be happening t0 me?

I have the EXACT problem, and have had no diagnosis. Did you find anything out?

Hello all! I had the dizziness while sleeping today. I am 39 and I had recently had a fatty tumor removed from my lower back about a month ago so I have been more alert to my body and whats going on "feeling of getting older and not invincible anymore " Until I read all the posts the only way I was able to describe it was because it was similar to my recent surgery when they knocked me out and gave me the gas/ oxygen stuff you get this heavy feeling and spins and then your out. Mine was in reverse. I was sleeping and then my head felt heavy and then got the spins and it woke me up. The only other site I found that had a related symptoms was about lucid dreams. They say that can occur. Humm..I'll have to see if it occurs more often now. Hoping just anxiety or ear infection at the worst. Best a lucid dream Good luck to all. Thank you for sharig it does help others.

Hi. I am 26 and I just recently started experiencing the waves of extreme vertigo while sleeping. I work a wierd shift so I am usually laying down around 4 in the morning. These waves of vertigo start around 9 or 10 in the morning. I would wake up feeling like I was on the most extreme carnival ride ever. I had a hard time focusing and was really only able to scream to let someone know somthing was wrong. Once they ended, anywhere from 10 seconds to 1 minute later, I was drenched in sweat. For the first 2 or 3 of these that I experienced that morning I was slightly sick to my stomach but by the time round 5 ended I was vomitting and had horrible diarrea. I had a total of 8 or 9 episodes and spent the rest of the day feeling very sick to my stomach and feeling off balance. I had a single episode this morning and realized I was laying in sweat when I had woken up so I slept with no covers and my fan on high and I didn't have en episode after doing that. I am terrified of what may be causing this. Brain annurisms are common in my family. I have lost both my uncle and my grandmother to brain annurisms. I also have slightly low blood pressure but nothing significant. I have an appointment with my family Dr Monday but I don't know what to ask her to check me for. Anybody with the same symptoms have a verified diagnosis?

I'm sorry to read this. I don't have anything to offer, except I hope your doctor finds the issue, and soon. All I can think of is if you've got an undiagnosed concussion.

Definitely mention to your doctor that brain aneurisms run in your family. Low blood pressure is no protection against them. Good luck.