Hi everyone,
I just have a couple questions about some issues I’m having at the moment… I have anemia and previously had some iron treatments once a week for 5 weeks…those ended about 6 or so weeks ago, my iron levels are still low but just by one number over the low cut off on my labs…I’ve now been getting dizzy spells and feel even more sluggish again, so I wondered if anyone gets random dizzy spells without it being due to anemia with your lupus or should I be maybe asking about getting more iron treatments again?
If your iron tests were still low, that absolutely could be the cause. It's the first thing I'd suspect. My daughter has to take iron at all times. She also takes lots of magnesium or vitamin C to keep from getting the dreaded side effect of iron, constipation. There are a lot of things that can cause dizziness. I get dizzy spells but I'm not anemic. Sometimes its due to low blood pressure, sometimes due to needing magnesium or potassium, sometimes because I am just weak and haven't had enough to drink or eat. With the severe fatigue that lupus causes, I think a lot of us get dizzy. Right now I have permanent dizziness due to lupus causing inflammation of the blood vessels in my body and brain (vasculitis). Anti-inflammatories are helping, but I just have to wait for this flare to settle down. Spending a lot of time unable to even lift my head, so I feel what you're going through. Mine gets so bad I get nauseated. Looks like you might already have a diagnosis and an idea of what to use to treat it. I hope you feel better soon.
Not just iron. Ur get your b12 and MMA checked. Low b12 causes severe dizziness and pins and needles feelings in extremities Etc. Took over 50 years before dr checked mine and it was way low. B12 shots every month and that’s gone. Plus tons of energy. Now. Many lupus patients have b12 issues. Not just an iron issue
I am also anemic as well so hard to pinpoint exact reason why anything happens with us also lots of headaches in having issues with feet now bottoms are bright red inflamed on padding under toes and heals also very dried areas patchy hard to walk
I really appreciate your guys advice and helpful input about this… I do get very bad headaches probably once or twice a month that make me bedridden and sick to my stomach too … when I get those the only things that helps is burying my head and face in my pillow and use ice pack and wait for the morning to come …
That headache might be a migraine.
Shelia…that’s what I was thinking 
the weird thing Is that it is only on one side when I have them ( like right now I have been struggling with one all day ) and it even is bothersome towards the front of my neck and the back of it too…
Niki,
I have some of the same symptoms, mine was my vitamin D level that was very low. It was so low that I had to get a RX for vitamin D.
Hi it could be occult blood in stools,easy test your doctor can give you a little pad to tell good pluck
It could be related; I am also anemic and also have incidents with dizzy spells, but, I was also told once when I went to the ER (despite the fact that I drink water like a fish) that I was dehydrated. When I talked to my rheumy about this, he said that of course anything is oddly possible, but it could also take into account all of the medications that I am on and the heat of where I'm at. Talk to your doctor about maybe taking Ferrous Sulfate (Iron) daily; it's over the counter and is only like $5 a bottle
Migraines are always only on one side. There are also headaches caused by a nerve in your skull. There are many nerves that cause pain in different areas. Yours might be migraine or could be related to occipital neuralgia. Both have preventative medicine you can take to keep them away. Here's an article about it. It says it can be confused with a migraine. I have neuralgia in another area, called Trigeminal Neuralgia. REALLY painful, so I feel for you.
Niki B said:
Shelia..that's what I was thinking ;) the weird thing Is that it is only on one side when I have them ( like right now I have been struggling with one all day ) and it even is bothersome towards the front of my neck and the back of it too..
Shelia thank u so much for that info and all your help …I’m grateful. . I’m glad u are an ear that understands my pain… also I wanted to know is it a neurologist that is the one that can diagnose u with those?
Yes a neurologist could do it, but often even a GP has seen them enough to diagnose them.
Do they do a mri for diagnosis? I only am asking because I rather a neurologist do it then my GP, he kind of thinks I’m just ab lost cause cuz of what the specialist have diagnosed me with … he tends to not agree with some of them…
I'm not sure what they do about the diagnosis of ON (occipital neuralgia). Maybe that article says something about how it's diagnosed? My TN (trigeminal neuralgia) was diagnosed just by the description of the pain. Later I had an MRI, but many years later. There is usually a vein pressing on a nerve in TN, but I don't know if that's the case in ON. They already knew the diagnosis on my third ER visit. It was my chiropractor who figured it out, and when I mentioned the possibility to the E.R., they confirmed that is what it is. OK here is what that first link says about diagnosis.
Diagnosing Occipital Neuralgia
If you think you may have occipital neuralgia, make an appointment with your doctor. Your doctor will ask questions about your medical history and any injuries you may have had, perform a physical exam. He should press firmly around the back of your head where the occipital nerve resides to see if he can reproduce your pain. Although occipital neuralgia is a “clinical diagnosis” he may order blood tests or an MRIscan if he feels your case is not typical. Your doctor may also give you an anesthetic nerve block to see if it relieves the pain. If it works, occipital neuralgia is likely the cause of the pain.
For treatment to work, it is very important that you receive an accurate diagnosis. For example, if you have occipital neuralgia and are prescribed migraine medication, you may not get relief."
The anemia from lupus is not necessarily helped by taking iron supplements. It’s an anemia from chronic illness, essentially you have enough iron but the chronic illness messes up your red cell production mechanism. So, your hemoglobin and hematocrit are low, but your MCH is normal. Your iron is within the normal range, but you didn’t mention your CBC results.
So, while I don’t know what is the cause of your dizziness, don’t assume it is going to be helped by iron. Have your doctor investigate other causes.
Nikki
Thank u 4 the helpful info. . I did feel more energy when I did get the iron infusions for the 5 wks I had it and I can feel a difference now that I haven’t been getting them however I wondered what other anemic disorders could maybe be contributing to the already there autoimmune diseases that possibly could be causing the anemia and dizziness etc. And besides blood is there another way to diagnose other anemia diseases?