Dizziness WHEN I'm eating / drinking

[YogiYoni]

For the last few months (maybe longer, maybe a year or so?) I keep getting dizzy spells as I'm eating or drinking. I don't think it's blood sugar related as it usually happens as I'm chewing the first bite of food, or immediately after having a drink. Does anyone have any idea what it could be? Dr Google didn't reveal much.

[IamSweetdee]

I’m sorry to hear this. I wish I had some answers for you. For me caffeine seem to be the only connection. I have changed nothing else. Not even my doc or neurologist has answers. So many people seem to have this issue but there are no real answers. I do hope you can find some answers soon.

[nikitoni]

Hi i already am caffeine free. Never drink caffeine for years as I am allergic to it. But I still get the woozy feeling sometimes when I eat food😢no answers!

[IamSweetdee]

This does not happen anymore for me. I have stopped eating and drinking anything with caffeine. I drank a bottle of Bai hydration juice a couple months ago and started drinking a second bottle the next day and it happened. I checked the bottle only to find out it had 65 mg of caffeine. Coincidence? I don’t know.
Whether stopping caffeine will work for you, I don’t know. But if is definitely worth trying as it is such a terrible feeling. My eating and lifestyle habits are still the same, trying to eat healthier but still have the odd fast food and sweet treats once in awhile. It took a few weeks after stopping caffeine that I noticed I didn’t have the dizzy feeling anymore. I really hope it works for you if you decide to try. Good luck.

[nikitoni]

Is it still happening to you? It happens to me

[IamSweetdee]

I am just updating my thread from about a year and a half ago. Since cutting back my caffeine, my symptoms have subsided. I do not drink pop, coffee or tea. I cut back on my chocolate as well… (can’t cut it out completely tho!). I am of average health and try to do the treadmill 1-4 times a week. Sometimes it is 0 times a week tho! My diet is average, I have treats/desserts but try to eat salad and veggies with dinner. I do not have TMJ or any serious health issues. I hope that if some of you try going without caffeine, that it helps. Even tho the dizziness lasts 15.-25 seconds it is a very scary, annoying, bad feeling thing to have. My doc and a neurosurgeon do not have answers either. 3 mri’s are normal. So, I will continue to drink decaf tea and hope that this momentary dizziness continues to stay away. Good luck to u all!

[nikitoni]

what did your doctor say? Are you still having these symptoms? Thanks

[nikitoni]

Hi! Are you still having these problems. I have been having this for a while now! dud you find out why? Did you see a GP about it? Thanks

[Cervicogenic]

I’ve been following this thread for awhile because I was having the same symptoms and it was driving me nuts trying to figure it out.

I decided to investigate more the relationship to TMJ/Cervicogenic Vertigo. It made sense to me because it seemed to be directly related to chewing and I have had issues with TMJ in the past and am a big time jaw clencher.


For the past week or so I’ve been focusing on my posture, doing the chin tuck exercise (it’s like you’re giving yourself a double chin) and doing some basic TMJ massages (maseter, sub occiput, SCM, temples) and it really seems to help. I hope this helps others 🙏

[Als2017]

Did you get an outcome for this as I’m having the same thing since I have birth 14 weeks ago and it’s freaking me out….. esp when I eat and drink

[MJMSAMM]

Finally I found something related to my problem. I've asked so many doctors over the past 8-9 years of in all medical fields and all I ever got was a huh.. I've always suspected this issue was related to my jaw, mouth and obvious nerves. Let's be clear, this problem is not after swallowing food/drink, it occurs seconds or almost instantly after putting food/drink in your mouth so those of you that have issues once food/drink is in the stomach, have other issues. So I have had issues with TMJ for almost 20 years. This member: shaqun5 posted a similar statement on: 24/06/2021 02:40 and he was right on target. The fact it can occur even with my mouth barely opened to drink makes me think it's more related to the nerves in the roof of my mouth but nonetheless, all of what he states is right on. For me, it's not all the time either, more random and maybe more in tune with anything that may be affecting my jaw or mouth area. It was so good to finally find something on this subject and although not a good thing, it's somehow comforting to know there are others just like me. The fact this is not a constant occurance is an indication to me anyway that there just might be a way to counteract the momentary affect it causes so there is some hope. Take care.

[ginhouseacres]

My husband also has this. Our daughter has vasovagal syncope, so I became curious of a link back to that & here is what I found:
Per Dr Russ on justanswer.com
DrRussMD
Verified board certified physician

This is a more common symptom than you might think and there are blogs that you can find where people describe this/
My best guess [and this one has stumped even neurologists] is that you have a version of a vaso vagal reaction. When first swallowing, the vagus nerve, involved in eating and many other involuntary nervous system functions [heart beat] is stimulated, briefly causing a vascular response and some light headedness. I've even heard someone somewhere refer to this as the vaso-bagel syndrome. My guess is that this is stumping the docs because vasovagal responses usually occur upon standing up.
I don't believe you are in trouble here, but you need a good neurologic exam either from your GP, internist, family practice doc or a neurologist.

Hope this helps!

[IamSweetdee]

Posting again. My first bite/drink dizziness has been great for over a year now. Now for the last month, it has been subtly returning with a strong hit a couple days ago that I had to hold onto the counter until it passed. Now I get a strong hit every now and then, but for the most part it is just letting me know it is there. My best guess is that with the Christmas season, I have been indulging in my steeped tea double doubles way too much and too much Christmas baking! Caffeine and sugar overload! I cut out the sugar and tea and felt okay. So I figured I would have a tea yesterday which lasts me all day in my thermos. By the time I was done, I was dizzy off and on for the evening. So back to zero caffeine and no sugar and will monitor from here. Just some side notes, I am not an anxious or stressed out person, I do not drink, smoke or do drugs, I do not have a gall bladder or appendix (for over 30 years now). Fast/fried foods are sparingly. I will post again in a few weeks to see if cutting out the sugar and caffeine has helped!

[BER79]

Hello everyone! Been feeling exact same things, kind started in the beginning of this year. When I take my first bite of food or a drink, I get dizzy and nauseous for a few seconds and then it all gets normal. I agree with what Ramanbaby said that it is all about stress and anxiety. My last year has been very much like all round "Stress and anxiety", and never in mylife felt 2 two together , I was always a person that controlled stressed and never felt like anxiety would control me...but I guess this time it did. I'm 54 and healthy, do not smoke or drink and do exercise, but usually I have low blood pressure and acquired more responsibilities at work :(.

Read something that someone wrote about anxiety and it is true, at least for me...I will post it, because he shows some good hints to overcome this condition.

"It happens when your brain wants you to act fast for the reason you are anxious but you choose to stay calm or suppress this response instead.
Your brain wants more blood supply because it gets in action mode. But your heart don't supply in appropriate amount because you decide to look calm by suppressing your anxiety.

This in between situation of half anxiety and half calmness confuses the body what to do. So in such situation this malfunction occurs.

So whenever you feel anxious just stop thinking and move your muscles and let your heart pump enough blood to brain.

Another thing is when you don't move in response to your anxiety your muscles start contracting to protect your bones and organs. This contraction also occurs in neck muscles and they become stiff and compress blood carrying vessels which supply blood to brain.

Just stretch your neck and give a gentle massage with your own hands. If you feel the cracking or popping sound in neck then that's it. That compression is the reason behind your dizzines" written by
Bikk Panesar, Expert in human psychology and emotions.

[Taelerh]

I have this happen to me all the time before I had a baby and after. It sucks. Google hasnt helped me and neither has the doctors. Any ideas?

[shaqun5]

This is related to TMJ and Ear issues. Both are related and both triggers eachother as well. I have been living with this problem for about 8 years. It is not blood sugar or blood pressure. If it happens the second you bite one or two, it is surely TMJ or Ear problem and both can exist at the same time. People who have TMJ usually have inner ear vertigo as well.

TMJ disorder is a jaw problem, it is exsit on people who has bruxizm while sleep. It results jaw problems in time which is called TMJ. And this problem affects your face nerves which then affects inner ear and cause vertigo, this is why it happens on the first few bites of food.

Unfortunately, there is no solution. One thing helps and slows down the dizziness is to get your all teeth checked fixed completely by a dentist and get night plaque for your mouth from the dentist and sleep with it every night. Also try not to squeeze your jaw and teeth in daily life, if you care about it you will realize that you are squeezing your teeth and jaw while you are under stress or doing something heavy work.

[PurplePumpkinDream]

I get hot as soon as I start eating! Normal or sugar problem?

[Jessicalt]

So for over the past 20 years I’ve been going through Dizzy while eating see the odd thing is that the spells come on while eating and then cause me to pass out which is odd. I am unusually saddened because all medical procedures have been done an nothing is to come of this except possibly. one more area to check I’m not over weight but did have had surgical gallbladder removed so this might be possible. Which would be dumping syndrome but that is a fine line not much of indication of this because even if I don’t eat I get dizzy n pass out for more than 3 mins use to be a lot less years ago but not so much more intense now that I’m older. It has to be something not able to be tested what do ever is my theory. But back to the medical booms from us an Canada I’ll find the answers I promise you we will get us all fixed if it can be

[Freeman86]

I just had a sonogram to check my gallbladder also. It was partly obscured but from what they could see, there wasn’t any stones. I’m supposed to go back in a week if problems persist.

[Freeman86]

I’ve just started experiencing something like this. Not sure if it’s because I’ve cut back on caffeine and carbs recently, but it’s possible.

[Ozzy555]

I had the exact same issue and did a little write-up for my therapist who was thinking it (at least partially) may have to do with stress and anxiety. It is long and all over the place.... but may be useful to some. Here goes nothing:

• The issue of lightheadedness is light dizziness after the first or the second bite of eating. It is NOT after the stomach starts digestion. It is instant! It had this for months last year and a few times this year.
• It is not blood sugar related, I checked my sugar often and have no issues with blood sugar.
• It is not after a meal, where blood flows to the stomach to digest, the lightheadedness is instant... sometimes as early as chewing the first bite.
• I mentioned this to my PCP and was dismissed. The GI doctor also shrugged his shoulders. The cardiologist made me wear a heart monitor for two weeks and I logged symptoms in a log. It turns out I do have occasional PVC (premature heart something something) but that is common and not significant enough to require treatment. The data collected by the monitor provided NO correlation to my eating lightheadedness and the log.
• I am not alone! Check out this thread I found of people describing the same symptom I had on and off over the last year (ignore the initial replies but see how many people later posted "me too" and no one knows why). It is 25 posts long. Please read through it all if this topic is important to you: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2977349-Dizziness-WHEN-Im-eating-drinking

My special circumstances and personal, layman, insights:

• I do have somewhat low blood pressure. I am at 115/80, HR70. That is slow for my weight, size, and sedentary lifestyle. I got this from my mom. I don't believe that BP is very significant for this issue though because I never had the "first-byte dizziness" before in my life. It may play a role.
• Anxiety/depression/panic disorder was often blamed for my physical problems... I started to notice early though that my GI played a role...
• I, for months, theorized that the dizziness was caused by my body "telling me" not to eat. I theorized this because I was getting old and my unhealthy lifestyle was catching up with me at age 47. Now that there is a gallbladder involved, I feel even stronger about my theory that my body didn't want food intake and it was telling me so through lightheadedness as soon as starting to chew the first bye.
• I did see a correlation between how (un)healthy the food is and the lightheadedness. the prime example is the night before I went to the ER and kept for 4 days in April... we actually had pizza the night before and I remember feeling bad eating it! I don't recall the dizziness per se but I recall feeling that I am doing "something wrong" .. my body felt it.

• What changed in April 2020 when "first-byte dizziness" started is the following:

---- life-changing events introducing initial panic attacks that later settled into increased anxiety.
Gallbladder inflammation/1 inch gallstone, which remained undetected until December 2020. It was detected after I finally got myself together in Nov and asked my PCP to refer me to a gI doctor who ordered the ultrasound and found the gallstone right away.

If you have someone you care about suffering from this strange first-bite dizziness, humble me recommends:

• Check blood sugar before and after eating to rule out.
• Log the event (include what the food was and how the person perceived it ( healthy, bad, I shouldn't etc.) and talk to a therapist/psychiatrist/etc. if there is a correlation.
• Consult a GI doctor paying attention to any recent changes in GI behavior/habits. I personally started to have more gas and constipation... it wasn't significant enough in April to be considered but gradually got worse until it was enough in Nov to actually see a GI doctor.

So FOR ME it was gallbladder + increased anxiety is probably to blame.

This is not medical advice obviously... just sharing what I went through in hopes it may help. Best wishes to all.

[sgmayflower10]

I have been experiencing the same symptoms for a several months. When I checked google I found information related to getting a feeling of dizziness postprandial but I get dizzy and feel faint almost as soon as I start eating and only when I’m eating dinner not breakfast nor lunch. I’m usually fine after about 10 to 15 seconds. However, I had a particularly intense attack when I started eating dinner last night that prompted me to search for answers again. I’m female, 49 and otherwise healthy and active. If anyone finds out anything about this condition please post it. I will do the same.
Thanks.

[Sof123]

This happens to me as well. I’ve correlated it to eating sweets/fast carbs, any one else? I also experience mild symptoms of day sleepiness and loss in muscle control when feeling strong emotions (also known as cataplexy). These are symptoms on narcolepsy, anyone else experience this?

[Jimmyzip]

I get the same exact thing. I hate it. I still have not found a solution. Have you had any luck?

[gadz]

I have looked at your solution. The thing is I don't get it when chewing gum. It only happens with food? I heard of someone who had this problem for quite a few months then it gradually disappeared. I don have a problem with the inner ear because of a road accident but that was 16 yrs ago.

[gadz]

I get this as well. It is strange isn't it. Just one or two bites and I feel dizzy. As I keep eating it eases a bit but occasionally it comes back again. total mystery.