Dizziness! Any nurses / healthcare professionals out there?

Jane - Thanks for your concern - I am very aware that this fourm is not a replacement for a doctor visit.  Just thought it would be another place to ask questions as I thought maybe it pertained to WLS.  I am smarter than the average bear.... no worries I have already called the doctor and have an appointment tomorrow.

Imagine an old fashioned water pump where you hold the handle and pump it up and down to ge****er out.  Then imagine a hose attached to the pump that is 200 feet long.  You have to work the handle on the pump hard enough to get the water out 200 feet and keep it flowing.  That takes a lot of pumping and a lot of pressure.

Now imagine you have been keeping tha****er flowing out 200 feet for a long time and then one day, the hose is shortened and you have only 100 feet to pump.  If you keep pumping at the same rate it is too fast and you flood the area that you were trying to keep watered.

So you have to slow down your pace so that you have the right pressure to only cover 100 feet.  That takes some trial and error to get the right pace and rhythm to your pumping.  Sometimes you go too and sometimes too slow.  Soon you learn exactly what pressure is needed. 

That is the challenge that your heart takes on when you drop a lot of weight quickly.  When you are sitting or standing in one position, the pump starts to go slower because it is still trying to learn the right rhythm for your lighter body.  When the dizziness happens, start to move your legs.  Sit down if you are standing, but pump your legs for a minute or so until the dizziness goes away. 

Once someone explained this to me, I started to pump my legs for a minute before I stood up.  That stopped the dizziness and after about a week everything seemed to adjust and I no longer had the problem with getting dizzy. 

Wow!  I never thought of that!  That is a great way of explaining things - I am going to try pumping my legs!  Thank you!  Hope you are having a great day!

We all went through the same thing to some extent. Most people don't even remember because the adjustment is so quick and automatic once it happens. Let us know how you are doing.

I am also 7 months post op and having similar symptoms that have gotten worse over the past month as well. I contacted my doctor today about getting tests thinking it may be hypoglycemia. I have no idea how it will pan out, but it's worth looking into especially if you find you have some of the other symptoms as well. Feel better!

What are some of the other symptoms that you are having??  I am just curious - I only have noticed the dizziness.  Hope you feel better too!

I've noticed dizziness when standing up or working out especially. I've also noticed a lot of anxiety and irritability if I go too long without eating (I never had anxiety issues pre-op). I get shaky too. Most of my symptoms happen when I've gone more than three hours without eating (even if I am drinking Crystal Light in between)

I'm 9 months out and about the same time i was started having dizzy spells. I still have them occasionally but my nutritionist and I realized it's cause I was waiting to long in between meals.  I know try to have a small snack between meals and it helped a lot! Every once in a while I'll stand up to quick and have the same reaction but in general I'm ok.  Good luck!

Also I think mine is related to my blood sugar going down.

I eat breakfast around 9:00

Snack at about 10:30

Lunch: 12:30-1pm

snack: 2:30-3pm

Dinner: 6

and sometimes a snack about 8 ( but i try to skip this one if possible)