I have been having something happen to me lately that I am curious
whether anyone else has experienced. About half of the time that I
use my steam cleaner I find I am experiencing dizziness while I am
using it. It goes away immediately after I stop, but it has become
rather disconcerting. Has anyone else experienced anything like
this? Anyone have any idea why it might be happening?
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
Note From Ganoksin Staff:
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Almost sounds like there is something that is being vaporized which
you are inhaling when you use the steamer.
A suggestion would be to give the unit a good cleaning, rinse well
with distilled water, then fill with distilled water and try using
the steamer that way.
If the dizziness doesn’t occur then try again with tap water and see
what happens.
If the dizziness returns, time to get a water analyses to see what
is in it (I assume in this case you are not on a municipal water
system), if you are you may want to discuss with the municipal water
authority if they have changes their additives to the water lately,
and get an analyses anyways.
If the dizziness does not return I would suspect that the steamer
had a contaminant in it, be it by accident or other.
If you are still experiencing dizziness with distilled water, then
try inhaling steam from a pot of water on your stove. If dizziness is
still present, time to consult the Doc. If not then there is probably
something going on with the steamer, but ya got me.
I have noticed that I become a little dizzy and disoriented at the
range. I have always suspected that it was a result of loud noise.
What do you think?
Bruce D. Holmgrain
JA Certified Master Benchjeweler
I could be way off base here, but there were a couple of thoughts
that hit me as I read your post.
The first was that there is some volatile chemical released when you
operate the steamer or something in the vicinity that is being
volatilized when you inadvertently expose it to the steam jet.
The next is weirder and involves disorienting visual stimuli. It is
possible that what you can see through the steam appears somewhat
distorted and in motion. Your brain knows that your body is not in
motion but if the steam produces contradictory visual cues, dizziness
and other motion sickness symptoms can result - visual vertigo.
I’ve experienced it strongly while walking through a forest where
the breezes produced moving dappled light and while visiting the
Seattle aquarium where sunlight passes through the moving water’s
surface into the observation areas below.
About half of the time that I use my steam cleaner I find I am
experiencing dizziness while I am using it.
Seriously though, the sensation of spinning or being balanced is
caused by your inner ear. You and the guy at the range both should
see your doctor about this.
Just the other day I read an article about people who have reactions
to magnetic fields, from appliances, pcs, cell phones, tv,etc…
Medical science doesnt officially recognize the condition but some
doctors say they know that the symptoms are real, and seem to be
allieviated when the person is not in the prescence of magnetic
fields. I dont know anything about this myself, but I’ve seen
stranger. I have worked with my face 6" from dzs of quartz
watches(operate with magnetics) every single day for the last 20
yrs, as well as hours and hours with my butt parked in front of this
pc, adn i nodt think i t gibe mememe a sinklel probem. od in oKmoKo
Thanks for the replies. I actually have my own ideas about what might
be causing it but I was curious whether anyone else had the
experience and looked into it. As Doc said dizziness is created by
your inner ear and I have been thinking that the sudden change in
air pressure related to the release of the steam suddenly could be
doing something to my inner ear. Apparently whatever it is though
isn’t very common as there only seem to be two of us with the problem
so far. I don’t think it is toxins in the water as, if that were the
case, I would probably be dizzy all the time. Same thing with the
electric fields. And Doc, I save my spinning for when I’m holding my
torch. It creates a very pretty flamethrower effect and all the
fires I start are very pretty to look at { - ;
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
You all may think I am nuts but where is your steam cleaner placed in
your studio? In the building I work in there are several places where
if one stands for just a few seconds you will have those type of
spinning sensations. there are a number of folks here who have had
this happen and no one has really spoken about it. It turned out
that several folks I have talked to [ who are not into weird stuff,
you know, standard Baptists] told me in confidence that this had
happened when standing in one of the kitchen areas and a couple of
other places. Our building is about 60 years old and has large
underground subbasements and water pipes from the city plus and old
stream now covered by this building and several others. I think it is
due to the magnetics of the water. So it may not be your steamer it
may be where it is. We also have a pretty high rate of cancer in this
building and it is not related to the jewelry bus. The reast of the
buildind wehre this occurs is an office complex no chemicals.
Please understand that I am not suggesting that you are crazy, the
placebo effect is real and it influences ALL people. If you see this
effect come and go as you change the source of the water, don’t
assume that you have identified the source of the problem. Take the
next step and have someone else change the water, but don’t let them
tell you what they changed it to. Properly, you would use a double
blind and the person who changes the water has no interaction with
you at all. This way, you won’t pick up a non-verbal hint from the
water changer.
If there is something in your water supply that makes you dizzy when
it is boiled, it sounds potentially very serious to me. In my
opinion, this is a possibility that is worth serious scientific
investigation.
One other thought… When you are running the steamer, do you get
hot? The reason I ask is that if you happen to have low blood
pressure, which I do, then humidity and heat cause the body to try
to cool itself. The way it does this is to lower your blood pressure
even more. If you already have low blood pressure, it will
definately make you dizzy. It can even cause you to feel like
fainting, get sick to your stomach or get a tunnel effect with your
eyes (means your getting ready to black out). If you have low blood
pressure you most likely have experienced “head rushes” when you
stand up quickly. The sudden change in temp and humidity could be
causing your body to over react in an effort to cool itself quickly.
Before searching for occult and arcane reasons like magnetic fields
that don’t exist, I’d ask a question:
Does this dizziness occur within less than a minute after standing
up from your sitting position?
If so, it’s a common problem. Low blood sugar caused by not eating
properly or not eating at all for 5-8 hours can cause dizziness on
standing suddenly, and it may be delayed by as a long as a minute.
various medical reasons exist as well.
Also, and this is a big one, if you use magnification constantly or
even just use reading glasses, taking them off or putting them on
can cause extreme dizziness and disorientation, especially of the
optic center of the lens does not coincide with your retinas optic
centers.
I use readers and a stong Optivisor at the same time, adjusted so I
can look through one or the ther, or both at the same time. It’s not
unusual for me to remove them all to answer the door or whatever,
and be met by some serious, if temporary dizziness. Scared the heck
out of me when it first happened, and took my Doc a while to track
it down, but it is real and it is common.
I’m not saying that is what is causing YOUR problem, but if it
persists, I would visit my physician and lay the electrical/magnetic
field myths aside. That’s right up there with feeling quartz
crystals vibrate…
You all may think I am nuts but where is your steam cleaner placed
in your studio?
Well it’s been in the same place for almost three years and the
problem only started recently so I doubt it has to do with the
placement of it. Also, for those who think it’s something in the
water, I’m sure it would be impacting me all the time if that were
the case (and a whole lot of other people in Cambridge too). I am,
however, also experimenting with removing my Bluetooth earpiece
before steaming. I think, again, that if it’s an inner ear problem,
my inner ear may be less impacted when I have both open as opposed to
one being blocked by the Bluetooth device. Not sure yet if it’s
making a difference but I’ll let you know. If only they would invent
jacks directly into the brain so I wouldn’t need to wear all this
electronic paraphernalia.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
For a proper double blind trial you need to give them four envelopes
and for them to only open one,
they say
1: change the water and tell me you have
2: change the water and don’t tell me you have
3: d’ont change the water and tell me you have
4: d’ont change the water and tell me you haven’t
You also need to be sure they are not a congenital liar, or you will
get incorrect results. You could always set up a double blind test of
that first.
An independent assessor would be needed and it would all have to be
done in different parts of the room to counteract stray magnetic
fields.
....also have a pretty high rate of cancer in this building
Speaking of cancer, in the small town of Orestes, Indiana, USA,
(about 3 hours SE of Chicago)where I grew up, is a huge tomato
canning factory(bigger than the town itself). Ask off forum if you
want to know the brand name. In a population of apr 300 people,
there were over 20 cases of cancer going on during an apr 5 yr span.
A large percentage was Hodgkins, and my bro was one of those. On the
south edge of town, in a row of 5 houses, there were 4 cases of
Hodgkins, and the 4th house was empy. The next door neighbor’s adult
son died of Hdgkins, as well as my brother, age 31 The wifes in the 2
other houses died from the same. Aprox 1/4 mile due east of our
houses, was the Madison County Landfill. Two companies that each
dumped dozens of trucks there daily, were JohnnMansville(asbestos),
And Guide Lamp-GM( PCBs for plastic taillight housings) I dont
believe the EPA even existed at this time(60’s) Within 100 yards N
of this landfill was Orestes’s main waterwell. At this point in time,
the tomato factory was much, much smaller, and all of the water used
in their processes came from the city water lines. Since then,
Orestes has connected to a nearby city water system, and no longer
uses the same supply. Not having lived in Orestes since the late
70’s, I dont know what the cancer rate is now, but still, I believe
that scenario was more than a simple coinqidink. I have never used
that brand since.
There’s an old scotish saying, “all the world is daft my dear,
except thou and me, and sometimes I wonder about thee.”
I didn’t think I’d post on this one, but I can’t help it. I have a
theory (uh-oh). I noticed that when I’m operating the steamer, I get
a build up of static electricity, which, when I touch something
grounded, discharges with an audible “crack” and visible tiny
lightening bolt. It’s pretty uncomfortable too. I wonder if the
little cilia in the inner ear are affected by static electricity. Why
not try gounding yourself while you operate the steamer? Just twist a
wire around a nearby faucet, etc., and wind the other end around your
wrist.
Thanks for the replies. I actually have my own ideas about what
might be causing it but I was curious whether anyone else had the
experience and looked into it.
Then you have already visited with your doctor and ruled out any
health issues?..You guys are all really nice and everything but,
if I was getting dizzy spells, the first person I would ask would be
my primary care guy, not my jeweler
Does this dizziness occur within less than a minute after standing
up from your sitting position?
No.
if you use magnification constantly or even just use reading
glasses, taking them off or putting them on can cause extreme
dizziness and disorientation,
I do wear magnification, but I don’t take it off to steam so that
isn’t an issue either.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140