Dizziness is a common and uncomfortable symptom of many different medical conditions. It is usually nothing to worry about. Dizziness when lying down can have different causes than other types of dizziness.
Feeling dizzy can affect your quality of life, and you may even be at risk of falling and injuring yourself if you feel lightheaded or lose your balance. If you are unsteady or feel like the room is spinning when lying down, there are treatments that can help.
Migraines, the flu, or ear infections are common causes of dizziness. Less commonly, dizziness can be a sign of a serious medical emergency, such as a stroke or brain tumor. A common cause of extreme dizziness when lying down is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), which is not dangerous and can be treated with simple exercises.
What Causes Dizziness When Lying Down?
Dizziness, lightheadedness, and vertigo are all very common complaints. Dizziness when lying down is less common than dizziness in other positions and can indicate a serious problem, such as a tumor in the brain or inner ear. However, dizziness when lying down is usually not caused by a tumor.
One cause of dizziness when lying down is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), which causes symptoms of dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. This condition can be treated with specially designed exercises that can help rebalance the fluid in your inner ear.
Other common causes of dizziness include:
- Being sick: Any infection, including a cold or flu, can make you feel dizzy. An ear infection can make you feel like the room is spinning.
- Migraine: Headaches and dizziness are the most common symptoms of migraines. Vestibular migraine is a type of migraine that can cause dizziness with or without a headache.
- BPPV: This condition causes extreme dizziness, especially when lying down. You may feel like the room is spinning and may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Although the symptoms are severe and disrupt your quality of life, BPPV is not dangerous. The condition is related to a fluid imbalance in the inner ear and can be treated with special exercises that help rebalance the fluid.
- Neuropathy: Diabetes, inflammation, chronic alcohol use, and other conditions can damage nerves. Neuropathy affects sensation, especially in the feet, and can cause you to lose your balance.
- Blood pressure changes: High or low blood pressure can make you feel dizzy, and the sensation can change with your position. Low blood pressure often causes dizziness, which gets worse when standing, but not always.
- Parkinson’s disease: This movement disorder causes tremors and can make you feel dizzy or off balance.
- Medications: Many different medications, such as chemotherapy, can damage your nerves, leading to neuropathy. Additionally, some medications can increase or decrease your blood pressure, which can make you feel dizzy as a side effect.
- Neck dizziness: This common condition can include neck pain, headaches, and dizziness.
- Hearing loss: Changes in the structure of the inner ear, nerves, bones, and fluid flow can cause dizziness, which can get worse in different positions.
- Perimenopause: The years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, can cause a variety of symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, headaches, aches and pains, and dizziness.
What is the best treatment for dizziness?
If you experience dizziness when lying down or when not lying down, this can affect your quality of life. Chronic or recurring dizziness can be distressing.
Treatment for dizziness depends on the cause. In the short term, the best thing to do is to get into a position that makes you most comfortable. Staying hydrated, avoiding stress, and getting plenty of rest can also help.
You will also need treatment to make sure the dizziness doesn’t come back.
Treatments may include:
- Head and neck exercises to treat BPPV
- Medications to treat migraines
- Physical therapy to improve balance if you have Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy, and hearing loss
- Surgery and medications (usually steroids or chemotherapy) to treat tumors
- Blood pressure medications for irregular blood pressure
- Medications to treat anemia
- You may have more than one cause of dizziness, which can make your symptoms worse. Diagnostic tests will help identify all the causes of dizziness so you can get treatment.
