Postural Hypotension

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ellie7187
ellie7187 Posts: 84 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone experienced this? I have periodically gotten dizzy when standing up which, from what I’ve read, is totally normal. But lately when I’m exercising it happens A LOT and pretty severely (for example, every time I’m changing the weight on my bar in my weight lifting class and I return to standing I feel as though I’m going to pass out and have to brace myself against the wall for about 10-15 seconds).

Wondering what I can do to prevent it as most that I’ve read attributes it to age and medication. I’m 33 and not taking any medication (besides daily vitamins). Any one have any tips - it’s SUPER annoying and makes me far less effective when exercising.
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Replies

  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
    edited June 2018
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    Vertigo? if it is they have exercises for it that might help. I had a friend who had something similar it would hit her for a whole week every year, then just go as quick as it came. But definitely take that to a doctor.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited June 2018
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    I had it. Until I was in my 40s. I pretty much just dealt with it, except briefly, in my 20s when the doc put me on the pill to raise my BP a bit. I didn't stay on it long, just dealt with the brown outs. Good luck! Stay hydrated, it helps. And of course, check with your doctor.
  • ellie7187
    ellie7187 Posts: 84 Member
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    Not vertigo, thank God! Just a dip in BP when going from laying to sitting or from sitting (crouching) to standing. Will feel like varying degrees of light headedness, dizziness, etc. I periodically get it when getting out of bed but it’s not too severe.

    Recently while exercising (in the gym or on the golf course) it become pretty severe. But I’m confused because the “causes” (old age, medication, etc) don’t apply to me.
  • lupineboulder
    lupineboulder Posts: 3 Member
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    I would visit your doctor. Teen D had this and keeled over several times - ped cardiologist advised significantly boosting salt and sugar but said that it was a growth-related problem she'd outgrow. She did.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    edited June 2018
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    How is your hydration and electrolyte balance?

    If that's good, you might should see a doctor.

    Alternately, if you've just started a training program, you may need to stretch/roll better afterwards to relax your muscles.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    I have POTS which has simmilar symptoms. Check it out.
    Being diagnosed and starting treatment changed my life completely (in a very positive way).
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    Visit your doctor, but until you can get there, try to get up more slowly. Sit up for a moment, then ease up to stand.
  • BlondeRunner615
    BlondeRunner615 Posts: 12 Member
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    I'm 33 and had postural hypotension for years, but it got worse in the past year. I have always had low blood pressure, like between 90/60 to 110/60 at the highest. I got a thyroid workup, and as it turns out, even though my TSH was normal, my T3 was low and my T4 was on the low end of normal. I've been put on a thyroid medication, and my postural hypotension is gone.
  • BlondeRunner615
    BlondeRunner615 Posts: 12 Member
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    *supposedly* the thyroid med is supposed to speed up my metabolism too, but not sure I've seen any evidence of that
  • h1udd
    h1udd Posts: 623 Member
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    how much are you eating ? ..... are you in a deficit
    when do you eat before your workout ?

    reason I ask is I get the same but only when -
    -lifting fasted
    -am running a TOO aggressive deficit
    -lifting when dehydrated .. ie 1st thing in the morning
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    BlondeRunner615 wrote: »
    I'm 33 and had postural hypotension for years, but it got worse in the past year. I have always had low blood pressure, like between 90/60 to 110/60 at the highest. I got a thyroid workup, and as it turns out, even though my TSH was normal, my T3 was low and my T4 was on the low end of normal. I've been put on a thyroid medication, and my postural hypotension is gone.

    That's interesting! In my 20s and 30s 94/50 was my norm. All my thyroid numbers came back low normal. Still do.
  • Blonde_Runner615
    Blonde_Runner615 Posts: 16 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    BlondeRunner615 wrote: »
    I'm 33 and had postural hypotension for years, but it got worse in the past year. I have always had low blood pressure, like between 90/60 to 110/60 at the highest. I got a thyroid workup, and as it turns out, even though my TSH was normal, my T3 was low and my T4 was on the low end of normal. I've been put on a thyroid medication, and my postural hypotension is gone.

    That's interesting! In my 20s and 30s 94/50 was my norm. All my thyroid numbers came back low normal. Still do.

    I don't think I would need to be on this thyroid medication except that my dr thinks it may be contributing to recurrent pregnancy loss
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Blonde_Runner615 wrote: »
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    BlondeRunner615 wrote: »
    I'm 33 and had postural hypotension for years, but it got worse in the past year. I have always had low blood pressure, like between 90/60 to 110/60 at the highest. I got a thyroid workup, and as it turns out, even though my TSH was normal, my T3 was low and my T4 was on the low end of normal. I've been put on a thyroid medication, and my postural hypotension is gone.

    That's interesting! In my 20s and 30s 94/50 was my norm. All my thyroid numbers came back low normal. Still do.

    I don't think I would need to be on this thyroid medication except that my dr thinks it may be contributing to recurrent pregnancy loss

    Here's hoping it makes the difference!
  • Blonde_Runner615
    Blonde_Runner615 Posts: 16 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    Blonde_Runner615 wrote: »
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    BlondeRunner615 wrote: »
    I'm 33 and had postural hypotension for years, but it got worse in the past year. I have always had low blood pressure, like between 90/60 to 110/60 at the highest. I got a thyroid workup, and as it turns out, even though my TSH was normal, my T3 was low and my T4 was on the low end of normal. I've been put on a thyroid medication, and my postural hypotension is gone.

    That's interesting! In my 20s and 30s 94/50 was my norm. All my thyroid numbers came back low normal. Still do.

    I don't think I would need to be on this thyroid medication except that my dr thinks it may be contributing to recurrent pregnancy loss

    Here's hoping it makes the difference!

    thanks :)
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,593 Member
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    Most likely dehydration but I recommend seeing your doctor about it. Increased fluids and compression socks may help.

    With recurrent pregnancy loss I recommend seeing a reproductive endocrinologist. There are lots of tests they can run and you feel a bit like a science fair project, but I was able to carry to full term with pharmaceutical support after 4 consecutive losses. All my tests were “borderline” and they couldn’t find a specific cause for the losses. But I am thankful for my now 12 year old boy.
  • ellie7187
    ellie7187 Posts: 84 Member
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    At this point I think the likeliest culprit is dehydration, as my BP is usually normal, no thyroid issues, eat enough cals, not a new program, etc. I drink only about 8-9 cups of water a day, even on hot or high activity days. So I’ll try to up my consumption by quite a bit. Also just try getting up slower.

    If it doesn’t improve I’ll go to my doc (but she’s usually pretty useless so I can’t see much coming out of that).

    Thanks guys!
  • mkculs
    mkculs Posts: 316 Member
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    I've had it my whole life that I can remember, and the more fit I am, the worse it is. I think I started noticing it most when I was a high school basketball athlete. Vision would black out until I sat back down. I thought it was "normal" for everyone until I found out it wasn't.

    First, be sure that is ALL it is--talk to your doc.

    The "cure," in my case, has been really simple--stand up more slowly. I tended to jump up (when you are in good shape, it's easy). Even now, as big as I am, I have to "roll up" from bending over or I'll get it. I get out of chairs more slowly, so that's less of a problem, but it does occasionally happen if something makes me pop up.

  • amykay9377
    amykay9377 Posts: 98 Member
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    Not to hijack this thread, but is it called teh same thing when you go from standing to sitting, sitting to laying down? Anytime I do exercises that require me to go from standing to sitting to laying (think types of yoga, like warrior pose to butterfly stretch to savasana), I get very dizzy when I'm ON THE GROUND, rather then when I sit up/stand up. It's very weird!
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited June 2018
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    ellie7187 wrote: »
    Has anyone experienced this? I have periodically gotten dizzy when standing up which, from what I’ve read, is totally normal. But lately when I’m exercising it happens A LOT and pretty severely (for example, every time I’m changing the weight on my bar in my weight lifting class and I return to standing I feel as though I’m going to pass out and have to brace myself against the wall for about 10-15 seconds).

    Wondering what I can do to prevent it as most that I’ve read attributes it to age and medication. I’m 33 and not taking any medication (besides daily vitamins). Any one have any tips - it’s SUPER annoying and makes me far less effective when exercising.

    I had that for decades. As I child I used to get up quickly from the floor and see how far I could make it across the house before my vision came back. It was years later, after I'd fainted a few times, that I realized it wasn't normal, and that the loss of vision/ tunnel vision was from falling BP.

    A few years ago, one of my doctors put me on fludricortisone to treat it. It helped a bit. I still got a bit dizzy when getting up, but the extent of the falling BP was reduced. Unfortunately, I had been on steroids in the past the this time seemed to help bump my blood glucose into prediabetic range. I stopped the meds at the same time I changed my diet.

    I switched to a LCHF so my BG was much steadier. That helped because falling BP symptoms are exacerbated by low BG. What REALLY helped was increasing my sodium. I'd been on the low sodium bandwagon but I was forced to increase my sodium to avoid electrolyte imbalance when I lowered my carbs ("keto flu"). Increasing sodium to at least 3000 to 5000 mg a day made the remainder of my symptoms disappear. (For reference, 2300 mg = 1 tsp salt.)

    Consider more salt. Drink a cup of salty broth each day, try a salt tablet, or just eat half a teaspoon of salt with water. And salt your food liberally on top of that. It could help. And unless you have a kidney problem, it won't hurt - you'll excrete out any extra sodium.

    Good luck.

    ETA my typical BP is around 100/60. When I got up it used to fall to 90/50 or lower. Now it just dips a couple of points and that's it. For most people, BP goes up when you get up.

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