Male' 40, dizzy spells, any ideas?

Nurses General Nursing

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A friend of mine emailed me about a problem her husband is having. Below is a copy of the email.

Any idea what this could be, nurses?

(Please, no flames! :D )

My husband is having frequent bouts of dizzy spells where he gets lightheaded and just doesn't feel right .... it happens whenever it feels like it .... whether he's been having a hectic day doing lots of work or a day of doing absolutely nothing but laying on the couch watching football .... whether he's eaten full meals or just picked .... it happens a lot when he bowls {every sunday night} when he gets to the approach line and like i said, quite a few times during the week ....

I have taken him to the ER worried that it was signs of a stroke or something, and to the regular MD .... we got absoluetly NOWHERE at the Er ... after sitting there for more than 3 hours and NEVER seeing a DR, we left. The MD says he wants to run some tests {EKG, Stress, heart monitor} but hasn't given us any further info yet {almost 3 weeks have gone by}. He did get blood work done, but we can't even get the info from that.

The strange part is that his Bp is perfectly normal everytime - at the ER, at the MD before he started complaining about these episodes and even after we went back. If we stop at a machine - it's normal .... even during an episode.

The only thing he was diagnosed with about 2 mos ago, was high cholesterol and he's taking crestor. But he says that this was happening before he started taking any meds ... it's just getting worse. P.S. He just turned 40 last week .

Oh yeah - the triage nurse at the ER said something about male menopause. When I mentioned this to the MD, he said that male menopause is a bunch of BS and that that nurse was "wrong" and "out of line" for saying that. Is there such a thing as male menopause? Any ideas? Should I be so worried that he's going to have a heart attack or something?

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If three weeks have gone by since the doc said he wants to do these tests, I'd get myself a new doc. At the very least, start calling and nagging to get them done.

Did the doc say anything at all about the blood results? Even if they're normal he should have the courtesy to call, knowing how worrisome this is to them.

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Specializes in ED staff.

Could be a multitude of things, anything from inner ear trouble to GI bleed. Without more information I really can't form an opinion. I would say that given his relatively young age and the fact that whatever this is hasn't killed him yet, whatever it is will probably be benign in nature. I'm a good diagnostician, get me more info and I can take a stab at it. Hope he feels better soon. Wendy

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i won't be a nurse for a while, but i've heard of this sort of thing before...

a very close friend of mine is a 35 year old male who recently started seeking medical help with a similar issue he's lived with for a long LONG time.

not only does he get dizzy, but he sometimes sort of passes out. i've never been around him when it's happene, so i don't know exactly what he experiences. it doesn't happen very often -- once every couple of months or so. his doctor immediately set up appointments for EKG, CTT scans, did blood-work, etc... he's still waiting for the results. the number and variety of tests they've set up for him indicates to me that they are looking at every aspect because it could be anything.

i hesitate to say this because i am in no way qualified to speak on any diagnosis, but they suggested that it could be a type of seizure. i think that can probably be effectively controlled with medication because my brother's epilepsy (major big scarey seizures) are under control that way...

don't know if that helps, but maybe it's not so unusual and the answer can be found if the health care personnel just look in the right place (?)

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This has happened to me off and on for 15 years. It is an inner ear thing . . I get fluid in there (from the shower or swimming or ear infection) and I get dizzy.

steph

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Specializes in Critical Care.

OK, my jaw just dropped. I just spent a good part of the 3 months with bouts of lightheadedness (I also had episodes of leg cramps and heart palpitations that were independent of the lightheadedness). I went to my doc first in October and had a complete physical. My physical exam was completely negative, no murmurs, neuro exam negative, etc. He ordered a CBC w/diff, BMP, lipid panel, and TSH (all within normal limits). By the way, I got the lab results the next day. If your friend is having trouble getting the lab results after calling the office, they need to find a new doc.

Anyway, I spent the next month working on my lifestyle. I got on a good sleep schedule (I work nights), started taking my vitamins and calcium. Still I had episodes of lightheadedness. I returned to my doc and he ordered more labs: ANA, sed rate, and checked me for rheumatoid arthritis. All negative.

So, at this point, I was convinced I had an aneurism, brain tumor, or cancer. (Nurses just know too much). I had a CT of my head which was also negative.

So, heres my diagnosis for myself: I am 24 years old. I work in a very busy ICU. I see people with devastating illness everyday. I truly believe that what I was experiencing was anxiety regarding my own mortality. I was even thinking about leaving the ICU and getting a less stressful position. About a week after I had the head CT, the lightheadedness subsided. I really think that just knowing that I was in good health helped me to know that I was probably not going to keel over anytime soon.

So, my advice would be for your friend to get the lab results from the doc. Get her husbands thyroid checked, etc. If he has any cardiac symptoms, get a stress test or echo. Mitral regurg can cause lightheadedness. Who knows, maybe it's not "male menopause" but it could be kind of a mid-life crisis of sorts.

Just my two-cents. Good luck!

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

Hellllllo -- How's his exercise tolerance? Does he fatigue easily during exertion? Anyone checked his HR before, during and after? Is it strong, weak, and / or irregular? How's his fluid intake?

Any heart disease in his family?

Think he may need a check-up by a cardio -- stress test and echo.

Do let us know once a DX is made.

Good luck to him!

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I would recommend at the least a Halter monitor for a few days, week even an event recorder for a month.

If this shows any brady or tachy episodes, I would recommend an EP study.

A Tilt Table tests is pretty easy and non invasive.

JMO

Sheila

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my mother have severe dizzy spells with nausea and vomiting...it usually happened when changing position...turns out she had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo....there is good info about it on the net....hope you find out what's going on with your friend.

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I've sent all of these replies to my friend. Thanks, everyone!

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Specializes in pre hospital, ED, Cath Lab, Case Manager.

pghfoxfan suggested what I would have. Tilt table test. halter monitor. You would be surprised at the number of people who have a positive Tilt. Very easy to do.

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Isn't it called a Holter moniter?

I thought it was named for a Dr. Holter or something, but I keep seeing "halter" here. Am I mistaken?

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