Low BP/low sugar or something else?

me0231

Does anyone have any experience with either?

I've always had this problem, so it's not calorie deficit related but I notice it way more now that I'm exercising regularly. Basically, I can't work out in the morning. On weekends, I often feel that I just can't get going until well in the afternoon. If I try to do anything even slightly strenuous I feel like I'm out of breath very quickly, I sweat a ton and sometimes feel lightheaded. For example today, I felt out of breath warming up 5min on the elliptical and got really sweaty and felt like I need to sit down in between sets that I can usually do with barely breaking a sweat.

I never figured out a food that would help. I try to get a nice balance of carbs, protein and fat as a first meal and a coffee. Over the course of the day of moving around it'll go away and I feel perfectly fine. Again I've had this eating maintenance and above, so it's not that I'm not eating enough. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

I've been to the doctor they she didn't really have an answer for me. Blood work looks fine and she thinks it's just low blood pressure, but it seems weird. I do have PCOS if that matters, but I think if it were glucose related food would help? I'd love any insight.

crackpotbaby

Fatigue, shortness of breath, reduced exercise tollerance and diaphorisis (sweating) are all potentially (but not necessarily) signs something is not right with your heart.

The sorts of things that may not show up on blood work.

Have you had an ECG? An exercise stress test? An echocardiogram?

I'm not a doctor. If I was getting these symptoms and my doctor hadn't properly investigated though, I'd be headed to another one.

Rebecca0224

lizery wrote: »

Fatigue, shortness of breath, reduced exercise tollerance and diaphorisis (sweating) are all potentially (but not necessarily) signs something is not right with your heart.

The sorts of things that may not show up on blood work.

Have you had an ECG? An exercise stress test? An echocardiogram?

I'm not a doctor. If I was getting these symptoms and my doctor hadn't properly investigated though, I'd be headed to another one.

If you are still having these abnormal issues and your doctor is not concerned you need a new doctor.

rheddmobile

It could be reactive hypoglycemia, which is more common in the mornings, although I agree it sounds potentially like a heart problem. I would push for an exercise stress test.

For some weird reason doctors never seem to recommend this to non-diabetics - I guess they figure normal people would be too freaked out by drawing their own blood - but it would be super easy to rule out blood sugar as a cause. You can get everything you need to monitor blood glucose for forty bucks on Amazon or even cheaper at Walmart. You can literally buy a monitor and some starter strips for ten bucks, which is less than most people's copay for a doctor's visit. Then the next time you felt the problem you could test and find out what your glucose was.

me0231

My GP said if it was anything serious like the heart it wouldn't go away towards the afternoon/evening, but maybe it's worth getting a second opinion.

I've had a 24h holter test done about 10 years ago, At that time everything was fine, but never had any other tests done.

me0231

Rebecca0224 wrote: »

If you are still having these abnormal issues and your doctor is not concerned you need a new doctor.

I've had these issues for years though through two GP s. I walk to work most days and I can feel that I'm getting out of breath and sweaty after a minute of walking. On the walk home I have no issues at all. Not saying that it's not good advice though, maybe a new doctor is in order, but I don't think it's an emergency.

rheddmobile

From the little I know, it would be weird for it to be low blood pressure - my understanding is that blood pressure is higher in the mornings and during exercise. Has your doctor said why your bp would be low in the am?

LiveLoveFitFab

I have this issue. Combination of my super low bp, and after affects of my before bed meds. My bp is lowest in the morning because I've been laying in bed all night. It takes awhile to regulate. I do all my exercise in the afternoon or else I'm just wrecked in the morning.

Are you on any medication?

me0231

rheddmobile wrote: »

It could be reactive hypoglycemia, which is more common in the mornings, although I agree it sounds potentially like a heart problem. I would push for an exercise stress test.

For some weird reason doctors never seem to recommend this to non-diabetics - I guess they figure normal people would be too freaked out by drawing their own blood - but it would be super easy to rule out blood sugar as a cause. You can get everything you need to monitor blood glucose for forty bucks on Amazon or even cheaper at Walmart. You can literally buy a monitor and some starter strips for ten bucks, which is less than most people's copay for a doctor's visit. Then the next time you felt the problem you could test and find out what your glucose was.

This is great advice, thank you so much. I've googled this a bit more and it certainly seems to fit my symptoms and is apparently fairly common with pcos. I will buy the stuff and take a look myself.

me0231

rheddmobile wrote: »

From the little I know, it would be weird for it to be low blood pressure - my understanding is that blood pressure is higher in the mornings and during exercise. Has your doctor said why your bp would be low in the am?

I have always had fairly low blood pressure and I'm taking spiro for pcos which also lowers it. She said that similar to getting up too fast, after sleeping all night it can take a while for the body to get going and BP to rise to normal levels. I have no idea though, from the Dr Google symptom list hypoglycemia sounds closer to what I experience.

me0231

LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »

I have this issue. Combination of my super low bp, and after affects of my before bed meds. My bp is lowest in the morning because I've been laying in bed all night. It takes awhile to regulate. I do all my exercise in the afternoon or else I'm just wrecked in the morning.

Are you on any medication?

I'm on spironolactone which lowers BP. I never even thought about it but I usually take it before bed. I'm going to take it at lunch for a week and see if it makes a difference.

What do you do on weekends? I feel like if I'm not going to work and get my body going I feel groggy half the day.

LiveLoveFitFab

me0231 wrote: »

LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »

I have this issue. Combination of my super low bp, and after affects of my before bed meds. My bp is lowest in the morning because I've been laying in bed all night. It takes awhile to regulate. I do all my exercise in the afternoon or else I'm just wrecked in the morning.

Are you on any medication?

I'm on spironolactone which lowers BP. I never even thought about it but I usually take it before bed. I'm going to take it at lunch for a week and see if it makes a difference.

What do you do on weekends? I feel like if I'm not going to work and get my body going I feel groggy half the day.

i have a hard time getting up and getting going to be honest. Maybe a light walk? I have been lowering my medication and it is making a bit of a difference. Really, doing anything just to get up and get going slowly works for me. I just have no choice but to wait until after lunch to exercise. I'm not even sure how that is going to go once I go back to work. But a walk should be doable. This definitely could be a medication issue, but if changing your dosage time doesn't help, you might want to see your doctor for some testing. If it was your blood sugar and only your blood sugar eating something with some easy to access low glycemic carbs should help get you going. I also have low blood sugar and working out any time without at least a piece of fruit is just a waste of my time.

rheddmobile

me0231 wrote: »

rheddmobile wrote: »

From the little I know, it would be weird for it to be low blood pressure - my understanding is that blood pressure is higher in the mornings and during exercise. Has your doctor said why your bp would be low in the am?

I have always had fairly low blood pressure and I'm taking spiro for pcos which also lowers it. She said that similar to getting up too fast, after sleeping all night it can take a while for the body to get going and BP to rise to normal levels. I have no idea though, from the Dr Google symptom list hypoglycemia sounds closer to what I experience.

Oh, that makes sense! I hadn't thought about meds.

PCOS can do weird things with blood sugar, so if you are insulin resistant eating quick carbs may not help much. For some people exercise raises cortisol and prevents the insulin from working properly, for me it's the opposite. Hope you get it sorted, whatever the problem is!

me0231

LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »

i have a hard time getting up and getting going to be honest. Maybe a light walk? I have been lowering my medication and it is making a bit of a difference. Really, doing anything just to get up and get going slowly works for me. I just have no choice but to wait until after lunch to exercise. I'm not even sure how that is going to go once I go back to work. But a walk should be doable. This definitely could be a medication issue, but if changing your dosage time doesn't help, you might want to see your doctor for some testing. If it was your blood sugar and only your blood sugar eating something with some easy to access low glycemic carbs should help get you going. I also have low blood sugar and working out any time without at least a piece of fruit is just a waste of my time.

Yeah, I hear you. There's days I just can't get going. Sometimes it lasts well into the afternoon like today and other days I feel ok by noon. I did ask for a referral back to the endo that initially prescribed the meds, but I've been told it'll be about a year before I get to see her (yay Canada... sigh). I feel like if I can get my heart rate up a bit once then I feel better after. I just feel like crap doing any kind of exercise to get that heart rate up that I often don't. It's like a cruel catch 22.

me0231

rheddmobile wrote: »

Oh, that makes sense! I hadn't thought about meds.

PCOS can do weird things with blood sugar, so if you are insulin resistant eating quick carbs may not help much. For some people exercise raises cortisol and prevents the insulin from working properly, for me it's the opposite. Hope you get it sorted, whatever the problem is!

I think I'm going to get a BP cuff and a glucose monitor and investigate this further myself. I've read a bit about keto and pcos, I think I might give that a shot down the line. Seems to help a lot of pcos people with wonky blood sugars and might be worth a shot.

azulvioleta6

I have familial low BP as well as PCOS. The better shape I am in, the lower my BP goes. I've had the kind of symptoms that you describe, but for me it doesn't seem to be tied to time of day. I do my primary exercise at night, however.

My neuroendocrinologist suggested something that seems to have helped. When I am doing a very intense workout, I consume Gatorade...actually, I prep a bottle with 1/3 ice, 1/3 water and 1/3 low-cal Gatorade. That seems to be just enough to keep me out of dizzy territory. This is simple and easy to try.

What is your carb consumption like, daily and with each meal? You don't necessarily need to do keto with PCOS, but a lower or moderate carb diet can make a bit difference.

DebLaBounty

I went to my doctor with the complaint that I was having a lot of trouble exercising because I'd quickly get out of breath, sweat a lot, and felt faint. He diagnosed me with exercise induced asthma. I started taking two puffs of an inhaler just before exercising, which eliminated the problem for me. Don't know whether this info will be helpful for you but it might be worth investigating.

me0231

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

I have familial low BP as well as PCOS. The better shape I am in, the lower my BP goes. I've had the kind of symptoms that you describe, but for me it doesn't seem to be tied to time of day. I do my primary exercise at night, however.

My neuroendocrinologist suggested something that seems to have helped. When I am doing a very intense workout, I consume Gatorade...actually, I prep a bottle with 1/3 ice, 1/3 water and 1/3 low-cal Gatorade. That seems to be just enough to keep me out of dizzy territory. This is simple and easy to try.

What is your carb consumption like, daily and with each meal? You don't necessarily need to do keto with PCOS, but a lower or moderate carb diet can make a bit difference.

Interesting, thanks for sharing! Correct me if I'm wrong but Gatorade wouldn't really affect BP, right? It addresses low blood sugar or an electrolyte imbalance? I'm really not a fan of those sweet drinks, but I'll buy some and give it a shot. Like you say that's easy enough to test. Thanks!

I'm aiming for about 100g of carbs right now. When I eat at home I'm usually close enough, but eating out or having friends over etc, I just focus to keep my calories within my goals. I've never noticed a difference in how I feel the next day though whether it's a carb fest or it's under 100g, there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason.

me0231

DebLaBounty wrote: »

I went to my doctor with the complaint that I was having a lot of trouble exercising because I'd quickly get out of breath, sweat a lot, and felt faint. He diagnosed me with exercise induced asthma. I started taking two puffs of an inhaler just before exercising, which eliminated the problem for me. Don't know whether this info will be helpful for you but it might be worth investigating.

Thanks. That's something I certainly never considered, how hard did you have to exercise to get the symptoms?

azulvioleta6

me0231 wrote: »

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

I have familial low BP as well as PCOS. The better shape I am in, the lower my BP goes. I've had the kind of symptoms that you describe, but for me it doesn't seem to be tied to time of day. I do my primary exercise at night, however.

My neuroendocrinologist suggested something that seems to have helped. When I am doing a very intense workout, I consume Gatorade...actually, I prep a bottle with 1/3 ice, 1/3 water and 1/3 low-cal Gatorade. That seems to be just enough to keep me out of dizzy territory. This is simple and easy to try.

What is your carb consumption like, daily and with each meal? You don't necessarily need to do keto with PCOS, but a lower or moderate carb diet can make a bit difference.

Interesting, thanks for sharing! Correct me if I'm wrong but Gatorade wouldn't really affect BP, right? It addresses low blood sugar or an electrolyte imbalance? I'm really not a fan of those sweet drinks, but I'll buy some and give it a shot. Like you say that's easy enough to test. Thanks!

I'm aiming for about 100g of carbs right now. When I eat at home I'm usually close enough, but eating out or having friends over etc, I just focus to keep my calories within my goals. I've never noticed a difference in how I feel the next day though whether it's a carb fest or it's under 100g, there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason.

Apparently people with metabolic problems can have issues with electrolytes, and a tiny bit of Gatorade can be just enough to set that right.

100G/day is probably a good and reasonable/sustainable place to be with PCOS. For me, that's a maintenance level, I have to be closer to 75G/day to lose. This is where tracking carefully over time can tell you a lot about what does and does not work for you.

Another small thing that you can try on your own is making sure that you are getting enough protein with breakfast. I really like cottage cheese and about 3 oz of fruit to start out the day--it keeps me full for a really long time.

xvolution

Gatorade can raise blood pressure a little since it contains sodium, but not by too much (100mg sodium per 8oz). With the sweating it sounds like hypoglycemia (I get similar symptoms if my blood sugar drops below 60).