Bizzare dizzyness

[Obs cop]

This is indirectly aviation related, but I'm hoping someone will know the answer.

Over the past couple of years, and indeed at the moment, my colds seem to become a thing of hell. Symptoms after the first couple of days include nausea, pain directly behind my left eye, profuse sweating, hot flushes, headaches and a burning sensation behind my cheeks. Oddest of all, when I try to blow my almost permanantly blocked yet dripping nose, I get intense dizzyness which is so severe I need to hold onto things or sit down or else fall down.

Am I simply a wuss? :{

I suspect I may suffer occasionally with acute sinusitis, but I don't quite understand where the dizzyness comes in. Likewise should I be suffering sinusitis each and every time I get a cold?

From a confused Obs cop.

[alberto86]

I think you should contact a doctor and he will probably tell you to do a blood test and something else.
Anyway don't worry, maybe you've recently been sick or got some cold and never fully recovered..

best wishes

[gingernut]

If your symptoms are intermittent, self limiting, and concurrent with your viral sounding illness, I wouldn't be too concerned. It sounds like you've got a bit of sticky fluid stuck behind your eardrum, affecting your balance mechanism.

Unfortunately, there is probably no cure other than time and fluids.

I suspect you 'aint a wuss, just male- never underestimate the effect of "man flu." :)

Again, I wouldn't be to worried about the connection with sinusitis, if things are intermittent.

Oviously, you shouldn't fly if affected....contact your doc if things persist ....blah blah.

[Saab Dastard]

I suspect I may suffer occasionally with acute sinusitis, but I don't quite understand where the dizzyness comes in. Likewise should I be suffering sinusitis each and every time I get a cold?

Well the nose and ears are very much interconnected by the eustachian tubes, so significant pressure / blockage / infection in the nose can be very closely linked to middle / inner ear infection / blockages which in turn impinge upon ones balance mechanism.

I can't comment on the second question - sinusitis every time you get a cold - other than to say that I have a propensity to suffer the same problem! When I have a cold I find it most beneficial to try to keep my face warm, and to loosen blocked nasal passages with steam. This really does help to prevent sinusitis.

Finally, do discuss this with your GP - there may well be an underlying issue that needs investigation.

Commiserations, btw! :)

SD

[Bob the Doc]

I would definitely get this checked out. It sounds like you have a chronic sinus problem (that's what causes the cheek pain and probably the eye and head pain too). This needs to be investigated properly and sorted. Not because it's going to kill you or anything but because it's a real annoyance for you and can probably be cured. There are a variety of treatments from steroid sprays to nose and sinus surgery that can be contemplated but only an Ear Nose and Throat specialist can give definitive advice.

[Farrell]

There was a post on here about a year ago from someone else who got an ear infection / cold that had them lying on the floor doubled over with dizzyness.

Might be worth a search. Sounded horrible.