Why Am I Dizzy?

If you find yourself reading this and asking yourself the same question, why am I dizzy, you are certainly by no means alone. Dizziness is one of the top three reasons why patients visit their primary care provider, with headaches and back pain as the other two.

In the old days, you would receive a prescription for meclizine, generic Antivert, which does nothing to correct the ailment, and little to reduce symptoms. The drug actually makes you more dizzy and increases your likelihood of an unexpected fall, not only from dizziness, but also from decreased reaction time from the drug’s CNS depressant effect.

We now have much better ways of remedying vertigo and dizziness problems, and they do not involve drug therapies. You cannot treat these types of disorders, (successfully, anyway) with drug therapies, as drugs only minimally affect the symptoms you are feeling, and do nothing to affect the real underlying problem. A correct diagnosis must be made prior to undertaking any treatment regimen, which then must be specific to the correct diagnosis.

With respect to the dizziness family of disorders, treatment must include neurologic and/or vestibular rehabilitation to have any chance of being successful. I should know. I run a successful balance center and I see a myriad of patients who have been unsuccessfully treated. Many are referred to me from their primary care provider, others, through former patients. Unfortunately, most of the latter group is largely made up of individuals who have been very frustrated trying wrong therapy after wrong therapy, all the while worsening.

My office has seen several patients who have suffered, some for decades. Needles to say, this can be most frustrating when you get better in a couple of treatments, as it is natural to angrily wonder, “why has no one sent me here before?” Well, I wish that I could answer that, but I can’t. But I can suggest that if you find yourself reading this, you probably are concerned regarding a history of dizziness, or have a friend or a loved one who suffers from vertigo, dizziness or imbalance. If so, then this is your chance. I would urge you to reference my website for more information on the disorders, which is actually my area of subspecialty. Because of the overlap of brain-based disorders, my office successfully treats conditions including dystonia, ADD ADHD, traumatic brain injuries, etc. We have several pages of detailed information regarding all of these conditions and our remedies for them on my website. If you do not have access to the web, feel free to contact my office at732 229-5250. We can help you to decide if this is right for you.

Dr. Scopelliti has over 1000 hours in postdoctoral neurology and practices at the rear of Monmouth Medical Center, in Long Branch, NJ and now also next to Community Hospital in Toms River NJ. Our office specializes in brain-based disorders. Dr. Scopelliti has a wealth of information updated weekly on the web at . Visit our Guest Book at to see what patients have had to say.