Welcome to my world. I have been feeling lightheaded/kinda faint for weeks now. Tons of tests later, doctors still can't figure out.

I understand your frustration and anxiety. It really is scary :(

The coumadin made me dizzy and faint . Its mostly gone now ,I'm off the stuff a month now.

Also low blood pressure from the heart med and low blood pressure.

I also had anxiety asthma where the smooth muscle in the lungs contract and limit blood flow causing low o2.

I had the multiple, bi-lateral PEs 3 weeks ago and have been having dizzy spells since this week-end. I am seeing my doctor on Thursday and will surely mention them.

I am guessing you are taking coumadin. I don't think a dr will tell u, hey your medicine makes you faint. Who would want to keep taking it? I am not diagnosing you at all but coumadin made me so dizzy all the time. It's screwing with your blood. I have talked to others too who have taken it for other reasons than us and they have all reported the feeling like crap, dizziness etc.

Sorry that happened to you. Rest a bunch, take things slow, your body also needs time to heal from this shock of getting sick.

btw I am also totally not at all implying not to take it, bc like others have told me here, it's saving ur life!

I really appreciate the input everyone. I had the another bad bout with the dizziness today, just as bad as last Friday but I think since I knew I was not going to die....I hung in there. Also went to my PCP today and she said the ambien I am taking for sleep may be causing the dizziness....so I will go without it for a couple of days to check that off the list. I did ask my doc about the warafin and she did not offer up any alternatives, although I know there are a few.

I really just do not know how I can move on if these symptoms keep up.

That's the problem is that there is really no other options. I have done generic coumadin, brand name and now I am on day 4 of lovenox shots only and nothing has changed. The worst is the confusion, a side affect of these meds. It really is impacting my life to the point I might have to quit my job.

It really could be the ambien. I took it once for a couple of weeks and felt like I was walking around in a daze all the time. Dizzy, felt awful. It took a while to get out of my system, but I probably felt better after a week or so.

I will say that I'm one person who is on warfarin and also has dizziness but the two are not related in my case. Just because both things happen at the same time does not mean they are related. Exploring other avenues means you're less likely to miss something else going on.

TossNTurn,
Were you on the Ambien at the same time as coumadin? and once your came off the ambien felt better? If so, that is really encouraging to me although I am not looking forward to going to bed without any help. The doc gave me some Temazepam today so I thought I might try that instead....but I am definitely off the Ambien after today.

I honestly don't remember whether I was on ambien and warfarin at the same time. I've had insomnia on and off for years and have tried tons of things at different times. I've had some bad reactions to some of them for sure ... Ambien not even among the worst.

I do remember that Ambien made me feel like crap though and it took me quite a while to figure out what was doing it. I probably took it for 2-3 weeks before it dawned on me why I felt dizzy and foggy all the time. I know they say it should be out of your system in 12 hours or so, but it took probably a week before I felt back to normal again.

Of course, if you're not sleeping that can cause the dizziness and fogginess all by itself. :-(

Follow-up question ... are you not sleeping because of insomnia or is it connected to post-PE anxiety? There might be other treatments for anxiety that might now involve trying all these sleep meds ...

Also, if you drop the Ambien for the other, keep an eye on your INR for a few days, cause it may take a hit with all the drug switch-ups.

Personally I think you have to look at your entire mental, emotional and physical health after a PE, what other meds you've started taking, any other non PE related issues you're etc, and not just assume everything is caused by warfarin. You're body and your emotional well being have been jolted by a life threatening illness.

Not saying that some people don't suffer some side effects but seriously if docs warn you that it can make you bleed to death, surely they wouldn't keep something like dizziness from you would they?

Reported side effects of warfarin are so easy to find. They're listed everywhere.

I am probably not sleeping because of post PE anxiety. I think that I have been trying to tough it out but it all caught up with me. I did ask for a anti-anxiety from my PCP, but was given another sleeping pill. Although last night I went to bed with nothing and did OK...I felt like I won the lottery when I woke up. I am going to try and clean my system out for a week, except for the warfarin, and see how I feel.

At home today setting up appointments with all kinds of specialist just in case it isn't the Ambien. I have a fairly high level job and I am not sure I will be able to keep it going if my symptoms do not cease.

Really appreciate the input...thanks!

If you're struggling with sleep, you can always try something OTC like Benadryl. That helps me immensely, doesn't require a prescription, has much milder side effects (for me, I have none), tends not to effect INR, and doesn't have the dependence issues that many of the other sleeping meds and anti-anxiety meds do.

I mean, it won't work for everyone, but might be a nice back-up to have around in case you find yourself not sleeping in another couple of days.