If you’re waking up feeling dizzy in the morning that’s not a sign of optimal health. 🙂

But don’t worry, you can fix it!

This used to happen to me quite some time ago so I’d like to share some tips on how to reverse this dizzy feeling when you wake up.

Let’s talk about some possible causes first and some natural remedies you may try for each of those causes.

I do want to say that I’m not a medical doctor and this isn’t medical advice. It’s simply health tips based on my research. I’m a natural health researcher with a primary focus on sleep.

Medications

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I feel safe saying that many health conditions people experience are a direct result from taking drugs and pharmaceutical medications. We know that the pharmaceutical industry is a for profit endeavor. They’re in it to make money and they’ll do it at the expense of your health if they have to. There’s no profit in curing anything so keeping people taking drugs long term is the goal.

Just because a doctor gave it to you, doesn’t mean it’s safe, or helps to heal you. These drugs are dangerous and it’s also dangerous to blindly follow a doctor.

Some medications that may play a role in waking up feeling dizzy are…

• Trazodone
• Elavil
• Antidepressants
• Sedatives
• Hypnotics (sleeping pills)
• Benzodiazepines
• Antipsychotics
• Opiate painkillers
• Antihistamines (e.g., diphenhydramine found in Benadryl)
• Beta-blockers
• ACE inhibitors
• Diuretics
• Appetite-suppressing drugs
• High blood pressure medications
• ADD and ADHD drugs
• Over-the-counter cold medications
• Corticosteroids
• Analgesics
• Asthma drugs (bronchodilators)

If you are taking some of these drugs, I would contact your doctor to see what he or she says about that. Then I would work with a doctor skilled and knowledgeable in natural medicine at the same time. I would try to get the two of them to communicate with each other with the goal of gradually reducing the dosages of the medication that could be causing morning vertigo or dizzy spells.

In my experience it takes a few months to fix the health problem you have that you’re taking the medication for. Then at the same time, you’ll probably be encouraged by your natural doctor to get comprehensive blood testing and start taking targeted supplements to help correct the underlying condition.

The point is you want to be leading your team (you and your two doctors) in the direction of lowering medication and fixing the root cause of why you’re taking that particular medication. This will take a lifestyle change and environmental change.

But the good news is that if you fix the root cause of the health problem, the problem will no longer give you symptoms. Win. And on top of that you will not have to take a drug. Another win. On top of that you will not experience the side effects of those drugs.

Win. Win. Win.

If you’re waking up feeling dizzy and disoriented in the morning, it could simply be the side effect of a medication. Fix that problem first and there’s a good chance the instability in the morning will self correct.

But maybe you’re not on any medications so let’s look at a few more options.

How to fix: 

Build your wellness team. Work with your medical doctor and naturopathic doctor to slowly wean off of medications while at the same time healing the underlying cause for which you’re taking the drugs.

Food Allergies

Food allergies is not something that people think about when they have health issues. But if a person has a mutated gene or has been damaged by injections (my wife has a peanut allergy caused by being injected as a toddler) they could have food allergies that could lead to dizziness.

I would recommend getting a comprehensive test to see what foods you’re allergic to and to what degree. This can be done rather easily and my guess would be that you’re consuming many foods that your body doesn’t agree with.

If you don’t want to get a food allergy test you can guess that foods you could be reacting too are foods high in histamines and oxalates.

High oxalate foods include…

• Spinach
• Chocolate
• Cruciferous vegetables
• Beets
• Nuts
• Almond milk
• Soy
• Potatoes
• Chili

There’s more but are you eating any of those? Do you eat them before bed?

Some high histamine foods include…

• Aged cheeses (e.g., cheddar, blue cheese, gouda)
• Processed meats (e.g., salami, ham, sausages)
• Fermented foods (e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi, miso)
• Alcoholic beverages (e.g., wine, beer, champagne)
• Smoked fish (e.g., salmon, mackerel, sardines)
• Pickled vegetables (e.g., pickles, olives)
• Vinegar and vinegar-containing foods (e.g., salad dressings)
• Certain fruits (e.g., strawberries, avocados, bananas, tomatoes)
• Spinach
• Eggplants
• Canned or processed seafood (e.g., tuna, anchovies)
• Fermented dairy products (e.g., yogurt, kefir, sour cream)
• Soy products (e.g., soy sauce, tofu)
• Yeast and yeast-containing foods (e.g., bread, baked goods)
• Chocolate and cocoa
• Nuts (e.g., walnuts, cashews, peanuts)
• Dried fruits (e.g., raisins, apricots, dates)
• Ready meals and fast food
• Foods with artificial preservatives and dyes

Other foods that could contribute to feeling woozy in the morning could be…

• Gluten
• Dairy
• Wheat
• MSG
• High fructose corn syrup
• Eggs
• Shellfish
• Excess sugar

I would try to go over your diet and see if you have a reaction to any of these foods. You can take your pulse before you eat a high allergen food and then 30 minutes after to see if you notice any difference.

Here’s how you can do that.

• Place your index and middle fingers on your wrist, just below the base of the thumb.
• Press lightly until you feel your pulse.
• Count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by 2 for your heart rate in beats per minute.

How to fix:

Either get a food allergy test or avoid eating any foods you are sensitive to. Simple but not always easy.

Low Blood Sugar

When the glucose levels in your brain become too low during the night (as in the case of hypoglycemia) than this can most definitely contribute to waking up feeling dizzy. If you have weak adrenal glands (which we’ll talk about in a moment) low blood sugar can be an even bigger problem.

If this is happening to you it’s going to be viewed by your body as a stress which will then raise cortisol too soon in the night. Regular cortisol levels should be peaking around 6am.

How to fix:

I recommend taking a teaspoon of raw organic honey before bed along with 1 ounce of clean filtered water with 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt. This will give you a easily digestible usable sugar and the sodium which will help regulate the adrenal glands during the night. You may also want to include a quarter of an avocado before bed as a raw healthy fat that can stabilize glucose during the night.

Low Blood Pressure

If your blood pressure is too low (hypotension) during the night it can definitely be a major factor in waking up feeling dizzy in the morning. If your blood pressure is too low it can create less blood flow to your brain. If this is the case you’ll notice it when you go from laying down to standing up. That change in posture and angle of the body can cause you to feel supper lightheaded.

How to fix:

Increase overall blood volume by drinking filtered water. I drink 3 mason jars per day with added salt and minerals. I’m 185lbs so I’m drinking 96 ounces of water per day. For me that’s the perfect amount. I drink one full glass immediately up on waking. The other two mason jars I’ll sip on throughout the day up until dinner time.

You may also consider getting more potassium and regular exercise.

Weak Adrenal Glands

Having weak adrenal glands is going to mean you’re going to have elevated cortisol levels. It’s just the way the body works. The adrenal glands produce cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol is used to mitigate any physiological stressor. Adrenaline is released by the inner part of the adrenal gland for “life and death” situations.

If there is not enough cortisol you will have trouble with your balance and stability when you get up in the morning.

How to fix:

Regulate stress with mediation yoga and all the regular things. For supplements I would consider, vitamin c, Pantothenic Acid, Chromium, Vitamins A and vitamin E, Ginseng, extra salt, topical DHEA, adrenal formulas and you can research something called cell therapy.

Dehydration

When the body lacks water some of the symptoms can include blurry vision, lightheadedness, fatigue, disorientation, blacking out, slurred speech etc. These are more extreme versions of being dehydrated to the point of death.

I highly recommend getting a program where you drink a certain amount of water per day. I drink 96 ounces (3 full mason jars) per day. I guzzle one down in the morning immediately up on waking. I’ll usually take a powerful blend of proteolytic enzymes to help lower overall inflammation with my water. These are powerful.

After that I’ll have my breakfast and coffee and sip on the other two until dinner.

How to fix: 

Easy. Drink more water. It’s not rocket science. 🙂

Conclusion

Waking up feeling dizzy in the morning is not fun. I would look at it as an invitation to improve your overall health. When you do that, we sleep well, we have a healthy appetite, we have 1 to 2 bowel movements per day, we have a healthy sex drive.

With every ailment or health challenge like waking up lightheaded or dizzy, just look at it as an invitaiton for life change.

Questions:

1. How long have you felt dizzy when waking up?
2. Does it make you think something more serious is going on?
3. Did you see a doctor about it?
4. What do you eat before bed?

Comment below!