What Makes You Dizzy When You Stand Up?

If you've ever gotten dizzy and seen stars for a second after standing or moving quickly, don't worry, it's just your heart adjusting to the sudden change. Learn why it happens and how to prevent it in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/split-second-dizziness.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren vogelbum here the some of our weird bodily phenomena
kind of makes sense. An ice cream headache, for example,
you know what you did to get there, you know
you deserved it, and you have absolutely no regrets. Others

(00:23):
are a bit of a mystery, like when you stand
up quickly and see a dizzying array of stars. The
medical term for this is orthostatic hypotension, and the good
news is a sudden bout of lightheadedness from jumping out
of your seat probably isn't a big deal, oh, whether
you realize it or not. In the split second it

(00:43):
takes to stand up, blood from your brain travels down
toward your feet thanks to you know gravity, Your veins
there helpfully accommodate it, and it takes your cardiovascular system
a heartbeat or two to adjust to the change in
system wide pressure and get the right amount of blood
into your brain. Again, this is exacerbated if your pulse

(01:04):
is a little slow at the moment, as it might
be if you've been sitting quietly for a while. But
there are lots of reasons why your pulse might be slow.
Your heart rate has to do with your cardiovascular fitness,
perhaps obviously, but also your hydration levels, whether you've eaten recently,
and any drugs you're taking, including both medications and things

(01:25):
like caffeine and alcohol. A normal heart rate when you're
at rest can be anywhere from sixty to one hundred
beats per minute. Athletes and other people who enjoy a
good workout tend to have resting heart rates on the
lower end. That's because, in general, exercise makes your heart stronger,
allowing it to pump out more blood in fewer beats.

(01:48):
This is usually a great thing because it means your
heart is strong, but that slow pace can cause dizziness
when you stand up suddenly from rest. You may also
get a little dizzy when you go from intel cardioaction
to your post workout rest phase. If that happens, consider
a longer cool down to ease the transition. Conversely, you

(02:10):
might get lightheaded if you've been just standing in one
place for a while and suddenly walk across the room.
Blood can pool a bit in your legs when you're
standing around, and your heart might take a second to
compensate for the sudden need to supply your muscles with
blood as you get moving again. Dehydration can also be
a cause. After all, your blood is mostly water, so

(02:33):
your blood float can slow down when you haven't had
enough liquids. This can happen first thing in the morning,
when you're getting out of bed, or when you've been
sweating a lot from heat or exercise or both, or
if you're like me and you just forget to drink water.
Water in general is good. This kind of lightheadedness can
also strike after a meal or a sugary snack, which

(02:56):
can send your body into what's called rest and digest mode.
This is an automatic function of your nervous system that
diverts blood flow and energy to your digestive track to
help you digest the food you just ate so it
drops your blood pressure. It can help to eat smaller
and more frequent meals and to limit the amount of
sugar and simple carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, and

(03:18):
skinless potatoes that you consume at any given setting. If
you experience the dizziness of orthostatic hypotension, often try moving
slower when you transition between positions or from stillness into motion,
and try to keep moving a bit more, avoiding sitting
or standing in one place for very long. But let's

(03:41):
note here that there is a difference between a slight
sense of dizziness and a major case of the spins.
If you feel like the room is spinning even once
you've stayed stationary for a moment, you might have an
inner ear issue called vertigo. And nearly forty percent of
American adults experience vertigo at least once over the course
of their life, and it can be a big deal,

(04:02):
So consult a medical professional right away if you suspect
that this is what you're experiencing. The bottom line is
that the occasional about of dizziness is probably nothing to
worry about. But if you're experiencing something more severe than
a slight sensation, or you're feeling lightheaded when you're just sitting,
make an appointment with the healthcare providers. They can assess

(04:23):
any more serious issues. Let's end on some quick numbers here.
The average heart rate is seventy two beats per minute.
That means that in the course of one day it
beats over one hundred thousand times. In one year, the
heart beats almost thirty eight million times, and if you
reach the age of seventy you've experienced some two point

(04:45):
five billion heartbeats. Today's episode is based on the article
ever stand Up and Get Dizzy on HowStuffWorks dot com
written by Michelle Constantinovsky. Brain Stuff is ret of iHeartRadio
in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com, and it is produced
by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit

(05:06):
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your favorite shows.