Why Do I Get Dizzy When I Stand Up? Because No, It’s Not Normal, Experts Say

It happens when you get up from your desk at work, from playing on the floor with your kids, even when you get out of bed first thing in the morning. Lately, whenever you go from lying or sitting to standing, you get a little dizzy. You have to pause and close your eyes, maybe grab onto something solid, and wait a few seconds before taking off. So what gives? Why do you get dizzy when you stand up now, and is it normal?

Well, medical experts agree that getting dizzy every time you stand up is categorically not normal, and it’s worth making an appointment with your doctor to investigate why it happens to you. They say the answer is likely something easy to fix, and anything impacting your daily functioning is worth the investigation.

Why do I get dizzy when I stand up?

Adjusting your blood flow to your current activity level is one of those things our brain does all on its own that we don’t really appreciate fully until it goes wrong.

“When someone stands up, gravity pulls blood toward the lower half of the body, and the nervous system has to respond quickly to maintain blood flow to the brain. If that adjustment doesn’t happen efficiently, you can feel lightheaded, see spots, or feel as though you’re about to faint,” says Dr. Motisola Lewis, MD, internal medicine physician and founder of Lewis Medical NY.

For women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, dizziness upon standing can be a symptom of many different things.

“Some of the most common causes are dehydration, not eating or drinking enough, low blood pressure, anemia, blood loss, and medication side effects. In women in their 30s through 50s, I also think about heavy menstrual bleeding, hormonal transitions, and medications that can affect blood pressure or heart rate. Sometimes there is more than one contributing factor,” Lewis explains.

It’s also important to distinguish between dizziness and vertigo so you can accurately describe your experience to your doctor.

“If they feel lightheaded, faint, or like they might pass out, I would think about blood pressure issues, especially orthostatic hypotension. Orthostatic hypotension is a drop in blood pressure with standing. Dehydration, medication side effects or interactions, blood sugar fluctuations, cardiovascular issues, and other medical conditions can also cause lightheadedness,” says Dr. Kim Bell, a doctor of physical therapy who specializes in dizziness, vertigo, balance problems, and fall prevention.

“If they describe more of a brief spinning sensation when they get up, I would also want to rule out benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, which is the most common inner ear cause of vertigo. BPPV can cause momentary dizziness or spinning with position changes such as sitting up in bed or getting out of bed.”

If you’ve made an appointment with your doctor to discuss your dizziness, ask yourself a few questions and log the answers for a week or two before you go. Pay attention to what the dizziness feels like, what movement or position triggers it, and how long it lasts, Bell says. “Those details can provide important clues about the cause.”

Is it normal to get dizzy when standing up?

If it happens once, OK, maybe you were just dehydrated. But if it happens frequently, no, that’s not normal at all, Lewis and Bell agree.

“I would not want someone to assume that their height, age, stress level, or tendency to ‘stand up too fast’ explains recurring dizziness without actually investigating the cause,” says Bell.

If you’ve ever had a doctor chalk up your dizziness to standing up too fast, anxiety, or literally just being too tall (this really happens), look for a second opinion.

“Women deserve to be heard before their symptoms are explained away. Many women are exceptionally good at pushing through discomfort. They get the children ready, go to work, care for their families, and carry on even when they don’t feel well. Sometimes they normalize their symptoms because they’ve been told that what they’re experiencing is just stress, aging, or something they have to live with. But if you're consistently dizzy when you stand, exhausted despite sleeping, experiencing a racing heart, or struggling to function the way you used to, it’s worth asking why,” says Lewis.

This doesn’t mean your dizziness is pointing to a rare or serious condition; usually the cause is something simple and totally treatable, Lewis adds.

What symptoms, when paired with dizziness upon standing, are red flags?

If you’re experiencing certain symptoms along with dizziness, it warrants a more urgent assessment, Lewis says. Here are the symptoms that Bell and Lewis say would make them want to see you ASAP:

• Dizziness that becomes more frequent, worsens, interferes with daily activities, or is causing falls or near-falls
• Dizziness that arises after starting a new medication or changing an old medication’s dosage
• Presyncope (feeling like you’re going to faint) or syncope (actually losing consciousness)
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Rapid or irregular heartbeat
• Unexplained weight loss
• Unusually heavy periods or other signs of bleeding
• Black or bloody stools

If you experience new neurological symptoms, including sudden weakness or numbness on one side, confusion, double vision, difficulty speaking, or a sudden severe headache, that’s your sign to head to your nearest emergency room, Lewis notes.

Do I have POTS?

If you’ve heard about POTS lately, well, that’s because it’s becoming a lot more common.

All around the world, studies show health experts are diagnosing more people than ever before with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS: an autonomic nervous system disorder that causes your heart to beat faster than normal when you go from sitting or lying down to standing up. Unsurprisingly, dizziness upon standing is one of its hallmark symptoms. The condition can be caused by severe viral infections; public health experts believe the COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive number of previously healthy people to develop POTS.

While it might be in the zeitgeist right now, Lewis says POTS is not the most common explanation for dizziness upon standing. Women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s can have so much happening in their bodies that the dizziness may be the result of more than one factor as well — think sleep disruptions, hormonal changes, and iron deficiency.

If anything in your life, like getting dizzy when you stand, is interfering with how you feel or function, “you deserve a thoughtful evaluation” from your healthcare provider, Lewis says.