Getting Dizzy When You Stand Up

If you feel dizzy when you stand up, you have lightheadedness or are experiencing vertigo. When the dizziness occurs, you may feel faint and even nauseous. While lightheadedness when you stand up quickly is common, vertigo is more severe.

Lightheaded sensation when you stand

Standing up after sitting for an extended period often causes you to feel dizzy. When you sit down, your body relaxes, your pulse rate declines, and your brain requires a low amount of oxygen. When you stand up quickly, there is lack of time to get an adequate amount of oxygen to the brain, so there is a temporary shortage of oxygen there.

You may temporarily feel faint or nauseous. The lightheadedness often subsides after a few seconds. This type of episode, also known as a head rush, is common.

What is vertigo?

Vertigo is more specific than lightheadedness. When your dizziness is severe or happens on a regular basis, the likely cause is vertigo. If you have the condition, you feel as though everything around you moves while you are stationary. It is difficult to get your bearings and keep balance as you have the sensation of falling or tilting.

In severe cases, you also feel nauseous and may even vomit. A migraine, head trauma, or a neck injury can each trigger vertigo. In the latter two cases, the condition often subsides when the body heals.

Another cause is an acoustic neuroma, or tumor in your nerve tissue. Symptoms aside from dizziness when you stand up are ringing in your ears and hearing loss. Vertigo may also result from inflammation of the inner ear. The name of the condition is labyrinthitis, and one form it takes is a bacterial infection in the inner ear. You may also experience hearing loss when you have labyrinthitis.

Other reasons you become dizzy when you stand up

Your dizzy feeling may be due to other bodily issues. You may have poor circulation. Plaques block the flow of blood to and from your heart. The plaques build over time, often due to poor diet and lack of exercise.

When you stand up, dizziness could also be due to experiencing dehydration quickly. For example, you vomit and then stand up immediately afterword. Feeling lightheaded can also be due to heart issues, such as an irregular heart rhythm. Alternatively, you may have anemia, or a decrease of red blood cells or low hemoglobin amounts in your blood.

There are several potential explanations for getting dizzy when you stand up. You may feel lightheaded, which is common, or have the condition vertigo. If the dizziness occurs often, make an appointment to see your doctor. Vertigo treatment often includes medication. Medicine is available orally, by patch on skin, or intravenously. Treatment aims to minimize the disconcerting episodes, lower the risk of your becoming hurt by losing your balance, and help you cope with the condition.
