Low blood pressure/ dizzy spells

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lauraemily84
lauraemily84 Posts: 140 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi all - so I've reached my goal weight today but want to tone up loose fat if possible. I'm 5ft 4.5" and now 123 lbs which is healthy weight for my height. But I have started to notice I get dizzy spells when I'm out n about usually. I eat often I snack 3 times a day drink lots of water anyone have any advice? I haven't fainted it's more I can feel light headed or sort of loose my footings a bit and look like I trip
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  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    Go see a doctor. Assuming you are eating a reasonable amount for maintenance you should not be feeling lightheaded.

    Best of luck.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,982 Member
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    I agree with @Packerfan23 . It could be low blood pressure. Is it possible that you are pregnant? I definitely think you should check with your doctor.
  • aquablue_1111
    aquablue_1111 Posts: 40 Member
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    I think you should talk to your doctor too. I'm 5'3 and 116 lbs (lost 10 lbs the last 6 months). I'm also experiencing the same things as you. It happens to me if I've been laying down and watching TV or, sitting on the couch. There have been at least 2 occasions where my vision narrowed or got 'cloudy', if that makes sense and I really thought I was going to pass out. (It's funny but I don't get it when I'm at work.) I have low blood pressure and have always been on the bubble of being anemic but getting lightheaded more often is a new development for me. I have an appointment with my doc next week, just to make sure everything's fine.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    lauraemily84 wrote: »
    Hi all - so I've reached my goal weight today but want to tone up loose fat if possible. I'm 5ft 4.5" and now 123 lbs which is healthy weight for my height. But I have started to notice I get dizzy spells when I'm out n about usually. I eat often I snack 3 times a day drink lots of water anyone have any advice? I haven't fainted it's more I can feel light headed or sort of loose my footings a bit and look like I trip

    I find myself having the same symptoms after a drop in weight from time to time. My BP was up as high as 135/88 and now it hangs around 110/70 but I am 65 and down 55 pounds over the past two years.
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
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    Does it happen with positional changes like moving from bending over to standing up, sitting to standing, turning around quickly? Do you have allergies or any other conditions that would cause you to get dizzy? This happens to me all the time and has since I was in high school. I'm pretty sure it's orthostatic hypotension because it happens mainly with position changes, especially with going from squatting to standing (which I do a lot at work), lying to standing, or bending to standing. It definitely gets worse when my sinuses are bugging me. I also have pretty low BP (as you mentioned).

    BUT, there are lots of things that can cause dizziness and some of them are rather scary.I have talked to my doctor about this and have had blood work, etc and there's nothing fishy. Plus it hasn't changed at all in years.

    I would recommend seeing your doctor to getting some help sorting this out. You wouldn't want to miss something legitimately wrong because you thought it was no bid deal.

    Good luck!
  • kissesdahling
    kissesdahling Posts: 38 Member
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    I myself almost faint every time I stand up (my docs know about it); my advice to you is to go to the doc just because there can be SO MANY reasons this is happening to you. And that's not to scare you--that's simply to urge you to please see your doc. The most common cause for this is low blood pressure, but you want to find out WHY your blood pressure is low. It could be as harmless as not eating enough salt (correctable with diet changes) to something like a med you take, underlying health problem etc. Just the wide variety of potential causes is enough to be a good reason to see your doc about this.

    Also, if you have been on BP meds (or any other medicine that can lower your blood pressure), your blood pressure can dramatically lower with weight loss, so again, please see your doc!
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Agree with everyone here. If this is new, go see your Dr. I black out routinely when getting up from laying or sitting down, but I have very low BP and always have.
  • cb2bslim
    cb2bslim Posts: 153 Member
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    Definitely go get checked out and have tests and bloodwork done. Dizziness is a scary thing and it can be caused by many many things so don't get discouraged on the amount of time it will take to get answers.

    I had lost 35 lbs when I started with the symptoms of head rush/tingle and my eyesight would blacken out. This would only happen for a few seconds and only while I got up from playing with my son on the floor. Plus I dropped my sodium down to 1200-1500 because of the high blood pressure that runs in the family.

    I had several tests done over a 3 month span: MRI, tilt table test, bloodwork, heart echo ultrasound, treadmill, glucose. A specialist had me do the first two and I had passed out on the tilt table test. (never before had I passed out or felt like I was going to pass out). This just shown my blood pressure dropping really low (it was a fasting test with no water). The doctor said to make sure I keep a salty snack with me to help retain water, drink water, and do calf stretches before getting out of bed.

    My primary doc is the one that had me do a glucose test. It shows I have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). I saw a Endocrinologist to obtain a diet to follow and she said no, she thought it was postural hypotension which makes sense since I mainly have the symptoms while standing but strangely only in the warmer months. Same advice, drink water, salty snack, get up slow in stages, 2000 mg sodium/day.

    In my case, my symptoms are kind of unanswered. But I feel it's postural hypotension. I still eat 3 meals and 3 snacks like I would if I had hypoglycemia, I just don't pair the foods perfectly. That is the way I ate throughout dieting, too. I'm terrible with water so that may be my problem in the warmer months. Also, My sodium is now 2000mg.

    Also, if you feel you get tunnel vision and your hearing plugs up, sit your butt down just in case you do pass out. You'll be closer to the ground if it happens. I was kind of happy to pass out on the tilt table test since I got to experience the symptoms as they were happening. Good luck to you and go get some answers. (Sorry this was so long)
  • rigden1992c
    rigden1992c Posts: 10 Member
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    I've been having similar symptoms for almost 2 years now, and I've also had almost every test under the sun - blood tests, several ECG's, wore a Holter monitor for a week etc.

    I'm constantly exhausted and cold, get dizziness every time I stand, legs tremble and shake and have blacked out several times. I'm currently being tested for a disease that affects hormones as they still don't know what causes it.

    Please, please persevere if you don't get answers. I've learnt the hard way that by leaving it your symptoms will get worse. Best of luck OP, hope you get some answers!
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Are you on one of those 3 shakes a day diets? If so, time to eat normal for a couple of weeks.
  • lauraemily84
    lauraemily84 Posts: 140 Member
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    Thank s for the replies
  • lauraemily84
    lauraemily84 Posts: 140 Member
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    Oh I typed a lot more but doesn't show up! Basically always had low bp and was told there's no treatment in past. Will go see gp tho. But does seem to be connected with loosing weight as I've had it in past x
  • jammer1963
    jammer1963 Posts: 106 Member
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    lauraemily84 wrote: »
    Hi all - so I've reached my goal weight today but want to tone up loose fat if possible. I'm 5ft 4.5" and now 123 lbs which is healthy weight for my height. But I have started to notice I get dizzy spells when I'm out n about usually. I eat often I snack 3 times a day drink lots of water anyone have any advice? I haven't fainted it's more I can feel light headed or sort of loose my footings a bit and look like I trip

    How much weight did you lose? And did you lose it over a relatively long or short period of time? I only ask because I suffered like you do from dizzy spells. I attributed it to my losing weight and not eating enough. Now that my weight has stabilized, I don't have dizzy spells anymore.

    As far as toning up, I recently joined Planet fitness and had a personal trainer set up a workout routine for me. I wanted to add lean muscle. Planet fitness did it for free! Best of luck to you :)
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,933 Member
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    Try eating more sodium in the meantime. Sometimes that can help.. or so I've heard. I'm no doctor.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    lauraemily84 wrote: »
    Oh I typed a lot more but doesn't show up! Basically always had low bp and was told there's no treatment in past. Will go see gp tho. But does seem to be connected with loosing weight as I've had it in past x

    Higher levels of sodium will help in the short term if you've always had low BP. There are meds now for it, so my Dr says. But I'm not big on meds as I'm one of those people that always seem to get the bad side effects for a medication lol. So I stick with the high sodium diet and keep my eyes on things.
  • ItsyBitsy246
    ItsyBitsy246 Posts: 307 Member
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    Could be Benign Positional Vertigo, which is annoying but... benign. Unless you fall over and hit your head of course. I've had it off and on for years.
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 651 Member
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    I got the same thing. Doctor told me I had some postural hypotension and that my blood pressure had gotten quite low - said it was a side effect of the fast weight loss plus being extremely fit.

    He said stand up more slowly, and eat more salt. :smiley:
  • artlover47
    artlover47 Posts: 76 Member
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    Yep! I had that problem when I was limiting my sodium. I changed my MFP macros to watch fiber instead and didn't worry about the salt since I have low BP. The dizziness and seeing spots went away! So I agree, do try increasing the sodium.
  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I agree with others that recommend seeing a doctor. My daughter fainted while we were on vacation a few years ago. It was very scary and we ended up in the emergency room. I thought she had a seizure, but they ruled that out. Upon return to the US, she had many of the tests mentioned above. In the end, she was diagnosed with orthostatic hypotension and told to drink plenty of fluids and salty foods. The night before she fainted we had been on a plane for many hours and she hadn't had much to eat or drink because she didn't want to bother the people in the aisle. Now, we're very aware of situations like this and make sure she drinks enough regardless of where she is.
  • OneTwentyThree
    OneTwentyThree Posts: 186 Member
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    Are you sure this is low blood pressure? It could be low blood sugar. See if having a snack makes the dizziness better if yes then most likely your sugar is running low, and maybe you need to be eating more. Check with your Dr.

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