Is dizziness a sign of pregnancy?

Women are more likely to experience dizziness than men, especially women are most prone to anemia. People with poor eating habits and postpartum women are all at high risk of anemia. The most common symptom of anemia is dizziness. In addition, young women lose a lot of blood every month due to menstruation, which is also an important cause of anemia. So, does dizziness in young women mean that they are pregnant?

Is dizziness a sign of pregnancy?

Dizziness and blurred vision after pregnancy are one of the common symptoms among pregnant women. In mild cases, patients may experience dizziness, unsteady gait, and in severe cases, patients may experience black spots in front of their eyes, blurred vision, or even fainting when suddenly standing or walking. Common causes of dizziness during pregnancy include hypoglycemia, hypotension, supine syndrome and physiological anemia.

Hypoglycemia: Due to the accelerated metabolism after pregnancy, the blood flow to the pancreas increases compared to the non-pregnant period, so the physiological function of the pancreas is very strong. The insulin level in the blood of pregnant women is relatively high, resulting in low blood sugar (especially fasting blood sugar) in pregnant women, resulting in symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, fatigue, hand tremors and cold sweats. In addition, due to the increase of progesterone in the blood of pregnant women during early pregnancy, pregnancy reactive vomiting occurs. In addition, women generally eat less at this time, and their bodies consume a lot of energy, so it can also aggravate symptoms of hypoglycemia such as dizziness.

Countermeasures: Eat more and better for the three meals, especially breakfast. You can eat more high-protein, high-fat and high-carbohydrate foods such as milk, eggs, meat porridge, cakes, sugar water and noodles. You can have a fourth meal if necessary. In addition, you can also carry some convenient foods such as biscuits, candies, sugar water and fruits with you, so that you can eat them immediately if the above-mentioned hypoglycemia symptoms appear, so that symptoms of hypoglycemia such as dizziness can be relieved in time.

Hypotension: This is due to the formation of the placenta during the early and middle stages of pregnancy, which diverts part of the blood and causes a slight decrease in the blood volume of the pregnant woman; compared with the non-pregnant period, it can generally decrease by 5-15 mmHg. Due to the drop in blood pressure, the brain may not receive enough blood, resulting in symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision and blackouts. Due to the lack of blood supply to the limbs, symptoms such as fear of cold, general fatigue and weakness in the limbs may occur. At this time, the body can improve brain and limb ischemia and hypoxia by increasing heart rate and cardiac output, but pregnant women may also feel palpitations, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. This situation usually occurs around 2 months of pregnancy and returns to normal at 6-7 months.

Countermeasures: Posture movements (the process of changing from lying, squatting and sitting to standing) should be slow to avoid sudden blood supply deficiency to the brain; try to wear tight clothes and elastic socks to help blood return; when dizziness occurs, you can eat salty food and drink more boiled water to increase blood volume; avoid sweating when exercising, and avoid high water temperature when showering to prevent blood vessels from dilating and blood pressure from dropping; do not ride bicycles or motorcycles to avoid dizziness and car accidents; when dizziness occurs, you should sit down or lie on your side to rest immediately, and go to the hospital to ask a doctor for symptomatic treatment if necessary.

Supine syndrome: In the late pregnancy, the enlarged uterus can cause the diaphragm to rise, compressing the heart and causing it to shift to the upper left. At the same time, the enlarged uterus can compress the inferior vena cava and obstruct venous return, reducing the amount of blood returning to the heart and the cardiac output. This can lead to cerebral ischemia and hypoxia and cause symptoms such as dizziness and blurred vision. This is more obvious in the supine or semi-recumbent position, while the symptoms are alleviated in the lateral or standing position. If you lie in a supine or semi-recumbent position for a long time, it may also lead to varicose veins in the lower limbs, ankle edema and hemorrhoid formation.

Countermeasures: Try to sit flat. If you feel tired after sitting flat for a long time, you can change to side-lying position, or take a walk indoors or outdoors. In short, try to avoid supine and semi-recumbent positions. Once supine syndrome occurs, you should lie on your side immediately, or slowly sit up after lying on your side, to relieve the pressure of the uterus on the heart and inferior vena cava and restore blood supply to the brain.