Published on: 4/7/2025
When you stand up and suddenly feel dizzy with blurry vision, your blood pressure might drop quickly, making it hard for your brain and eyes to get enough blood. This is often known as orthostatic hypotension or orthostatic syncope.
When you stand up from sitting or lying down, your body has to quickly adjust your blood flow. Sometimes, this change does not happen fast enough, and your blood pressure drops for a moment. This drop makes less blood reach your brain and eyes, which can lead to feelings of dizziness and blurriness. When this happens quickly and suddenly, it is called orthostatic hypotension. In some cases, people can experience this repeatedly, and it might be related to a condition called postural-perceptual dizziness, where the body has trouble processing the changes in movement and posture correctly. Both of these conditions mean that the body is not keeping blood flowing at the right amount when you change positions. If you notice these symptoms often, it is important to talk to a healthcare professional. They can check your blood pressure, see if there is an underlying problem, and help you find ways to manage these sudden changes in vision and balance.
(References)
Webster KE, Harrington-Benton NA, Judd O, Kaski D, Maarsingh OR, MacKeith S, Ray J, Van Vugt VA, Burton MJ. Pharmacological interventions for persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD). Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Mar 9;3(3):CD015188. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD015188.pub2. PMID: 36906836; PMCID: PMC9997546.
Momodu II, Okafor CN. Orthostatic Syncope (Archived). 2023 Jul 3. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan–. PMID: 30725970.
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