What causes dizziness?

[CCS]

My friend has a cold, took some sudaphed, and felt really dizzy for over 2 hours. She thinks something must be wrong with her ears to cause that, but is seeing a doctor. Anyone know what would have caused that?

 

[retropunk]

Sudafed's active ingredient is pseudoephedrine, which can cause dizziness among other side effects like excitablity, nervousness, anxiety, and irregular heartbeat. However, I'm not sure if this could cause dizziness for a substainable amount of time.

Inner ear problems (like Meniere's) can cause dizziness, and they can last up to several hours. She may have ear pressure, tinnitus, hearing loss, or nausea with the dizziness. If she doesn't have any of the preceeding effects, I would say it's probably not Meniere's disease, but I guess not all people can show these side effects.

It sounds like she's in a step to the right direction. If she hasn't stopped the sudafed, she probably should.