26 years
I've been having a headache with constant nausea dizziness and loss of energy in my no day sensation. I noticed it happens right after I eat. What can be the problem?
Nov 8, 2014
The symptoms you are describing can be due to many causes, such as:
- a migraine headache variant
- anemia: the process of digestion is energy-consuming; if you are indeed anemic, then eating by itself may impose a load on your system when the heart has to pump real hard to keep up and meet the needs of the digestive system during digestion. A complete blood count, possibly iron studies, are needed to rule out iron deficiency anemia, very common in women of menstruating age due to dietary deficiencies
- reactive hypoglycemia: a condition during which after a meal, especially one rich in carbs, you get an exaggerated insulin response (insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas and is released in response to food intake in order to maintain a stable blood sugar level). The symptoms usually occur within 4 hours after a meal, mainly a sugar-rich meal. Diagnosis is made by taking an HbA1c test to measure the blood sugar average over the past 2–3 months. Additionally, a 6-hour glucose tolerance test will chart blood sugar during the past six hours. A blood glucose level below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L) at the time of symptoms followed by relief after eating confirms a diagnosis for reactive hypoglycemia
- postprandial hypotension: This is very unlikely seeing your young age, so it is a diagnosis of exclusion. Postprandial hypotension is an excessive decrease in blood pressure that occurs after a meal. Dizziness, light-headedness, headache and nausea and falls may occur. Measurement of blood pressure before and after a meal is required to make the diagnosis of postprandial hypertension. Eating small, low-carbohydrate meals frequently may help. Postprandial hypotension occurs in up to one third of older people but virtually never occurs in younger people. It is more likely to occur in people who have high blood pressure or disorders that impair the brain centers controlling the autonomic nervous system (which regulates internal body processes), a condition known as dysautonomia. What happens is that the intestine requires a large amount of blood for digestion. When blood flows to the intestine after a meal, the heart rate increases and blood vessels in other parts of the body constrict to help maintain blood pressure. However, in some people, such mechanisms may be suboptimal. Blood flows normally to the intestine, but in parallel there is no concomitant increase in the heart rate and blood vessels do not constrict enough to maintain blood pressure. As a result, blood pressure falls.
- a migraine headache variant
- anemia: the process of digestion is energy-consuming; if you are indeed anemic, then eating by itself may impose a load on your system when the heart has to pump real hard to keep up and meet the needs of the digestive system during digestion. A complete blood count, possibly iron studies, are needed to rule out iron deficiency anemia, very common in women of menstruating age due to dietary deficiencies
- reactive hypoglycemia: a condition during which after a meal, especially one rich in carbs, you get an exaggerated insulin response (insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas and is released in response to food intake in order to maintain a stable blood sugar level). The symptoms usually occur within 4 hours after a meal, mainly a sugar-rich meal. Diagnosis is made by taking an HbA1c test to measure the blood sugar average over the past 2–3 months. Additionally, a 6-hour glucose tolerance test will chart blood sugar during the past six hours. A blood glucose level below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L) at the time of symptoms followed by relief after eating confirms a diagnosis for reactive hypoglycemia
- postprandial hypotension: This is very unlikely seeing your young age, so it is a diagnosis of exclusion. Postprandial hypotension is an excessive decrease in blood pressure that occurs after a meal. Dizziness, light-headedness, headache and nausea and falls may occur. Measurement of blood pressure before and after a meal is required to make the diagnosis of postprandial hypertension. Eating small, low-carbohydrate meals frequently may help. Postprandial hypotension occurs in up to one third of older people but virtually never occurs in younger people. It is more likely to occur in people who have high blood pressure or disorders that impair the brain centers controlling the autonomic nervous system (which regulates internal body processes), a condition known as dysautonomia. What happens is that the intestine requires a large amount of blood for digestion. When blood flows to the intestine after a meal, the heart rate increases and blood vessels in other parts of the body constrict to help maintain blood pressure. However, in some people, such mechanisms may be suboptimal. Blood flows normally to the intestine, but in parallel there is no concomitant increase in the heart rate and blood vessels do not constrict enough to maintain blood pressure. As a result, blood pressure falls.
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