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What Causes Dizziness, Nausea, Blurred Vision, Heart Palpitations And Shortness Of Breath?
Question: When I take an extended shower, I start to feel dizzy, I get nauseas, I have shortness of breath, my vision starts going dark around the edges, and my heart starts racing. The only thing that relieves these symptoms is lying down. This has been going on for a long time now and I've learned to take warm showers versus hot showers and a lot of times I'll go with completely cold water before I get out. This has helped marginally but it still happens pretty often. I've tried to do some research to figure out what is going on and the closest thing I can find is PoTS. The problem is that I work in retail and I'm standing up all day and I never have this problem. This only happens when I'm in the shower. Is this something you've heard of before? Thanks for your time!
Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I carefully passed through your question and would explain that your symptoms are caused by a decrease in blood pressure.
You should know that hot water can cause vasodilation of the skin vessels, leading to increased blood flow to the skin.
This causes a decrease in circulating blood in other organs like the brain ( as there is a reorganization of the blood flow).
The decrease of blood flow to the brain is responsible for your symptoms.
This happens in every healthy individual but is more expressed in sensitive persons, especially with low blood pressure.
I would recommend you to closely monitor your blood pressure.
Some blood lab tests ( complete blood count for anemia, blood electrolytes for possible imbalance) are also necessary.
A head up tilt test would help rule out possible orthostatic intolerance which could trigger this symptomatology.
Meanwhile, I would recommend increasing salt and caffeine intake in your diet and avoid shower with hot water.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would explain as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I carefully passed through your question and would explain that your symptoms are caused by a decrease in blood pressure.
You should know that hot water can cause vasodilation of the skin vessels, leading to increased blood flow to the skin.
This causes a decrease in circulating blood in other organs like the brain ( as there is a reorganization of the blood flow).
The decrease of blood flow to the brain is responsible for your symptoms.
This happens in every healthy individual but is more expressed in sensitive persons, especially with low blood pressure.
I would recommend you to closely monitor your blood pressure.
Some blood lab tests ( complete blood count for anemia, blood electrolytes for possible imbalance) are also necessary.
A head up tilt test would help rule out possible orthostatic intolerance which could trigger this symptomatology.
Meanwhile, I would recommend increasing salt and caffeine intake in your diet and avoid shower with hot water.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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