That’s why there’s The Dizzy Diagnosis Conundrum: Why Dizzy Patients Struggle to Get Answers.įollowing up with your primary care physician and getting medical clearance is important. Unfortunately, too often, people visit the wrong doctors to treat their dizziness. The Right Way to Treat Dizzinessįirst and foremost, if you experience frequent dizzy or vertigo spells, then you need to find the right doctor to diagnose your problem. They can be used to alter the severity of symptoms (a good example of this would be when vestibular suppressants like anticholinergics and benzodiazepines are used for Ménière’s disease and briefly used for vestibular neuritis), or when prescribed to address the underlying cause of migraine associated vertigo (prophylactic agents L-channel calcium channel antagonists, beta-blockers and tricyclic antidepressants).įor BPPV and bilateral vestibular disorders, medications (over-the-counter or prescription) are not currently recommended and starting vestibular rehabilitation therapy is vital. And working with your physician will determine what specific regimen makes the most sense for your cause of symptoms. There are a few classes of prescription medications useful in the treatment of vertigo. When working with your physician and knowledgeable vestibular specialists, it will be determined if medications are necessary and the potential risk certain medications can have on slowing down the vestibular compensation process. So what’s the right way to treat dizziness? For instance, you might be taking Antivert when your dizziness is actually caused by high blood pressure. There are too many types of dizziness and sources of dizziness to just take a pill and expect it to solve your problems. It might work for a day or a couple of hours, but you’re committing to changing those paper towels every day… And who wants to do that?! Using over-the-counter medications for dizziness is like patching a hole on your roof with paper towels. An accessible, temporary fix that only temporarily alleviates symptoms. However, these dizziness medications are a band-aid solution. These are some of the most widely-used medications for short term dizziness: And they can be used short-term on patients who are really in a bad state. Undoubtedly, the pharmaceutical industry has developed some great medications for dizziness. However, many dizzy patients find themselves using OTC dizziness medications for years of their lives without ever getting the proper treatment. Are they something you should use long-term? Most certainly not. But that’s beside the point.Īre over-the-counter medications for dizziness effective? Sometimes. Ironically, there’s a long list of medications that cause dizziness. That’s why there exists an entire class of medications for dizziness which are widely prescribed and used. As long as it requires the least amount of effort. It doesn’t matter if it’s the best solution. As creatures of habit, we prefer the easiest solution.

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