Postural Hypotension

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 also have PTOS (related to having EDS) and here are a few things you can try. First, and easiest, is adding salt back into your diet. Way back when I counted calories for the first time ever, I also naturally stopped eating out and eating process foods, which resulted in significantly less salt in my food. When I started adding more table salt back to my food things stabilized a bit.

Second, make sure you are well hydrated and getting enough electrolytes. Gatorade or Pediatlite are good for this. I also a multivitamin and 400mg of Magnesium daily.

Third, check if you have any allergies or sinus congestion. It’s not directly related to your BP but when my allergies ramp up in the warm months so do my dizzy spells. An allergy med with decongestant helps.

You might want to check your BP at a few points during the day. Check first thing in the morning before you sit up, check right after you stand up, and later in the day after relaxing and watching an hour TV show the. see how it compares to your active BP after you’ve been up moving around a bit. My morning BP can be as low as 75/43, resting BP is usually 95/55, and standing/active (not after a workout) is 106/65. If you know the numbers it helps. When my BP is 95/55 after, day a 10 mike bike ride, I something is out of whack which usually it means I’m dehydtrated and I need electrolytes. I still have dizzy spells pretty regularly and that won’t change for me because I have EDS and low BP, but I’ve definitely figured out a few tricks to reduce their frequency. Hope this helps.

ellie7187 wrote: »

amykay9377 wrote: »

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!

That’s a good question. All the literature I’ve read on the subject only talks about going from low to high postural positions. But I would imagine that if it’s BP related it could be in the same realm. I’ve also read that postural hypotension can be quite delayed in some people (for example the dizziness kicks in 5-10 minutes AFTER the change from low to high). In a case like yoga where your going low to high to low to high perhaps it’s actually a delayed low to high dizziness that works out to appear to be from going high to low?

And thanks for the additional tips! I’ll be introducing a bit more salt to my home cooked meals as well as upping water intake

If you know you're susceptible, you can also wiggle your toes and preflex your legs a couple times to encourage blood flow before standing up.

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.

This is me, always had low blood pressure. My low resting heart rate was what triggered a thyroid test and now I take medication for it. The other contributing factor is that I grew up in a salt is not good for you environment. Salt was never added to anything, and low salt options always chosen in processed foods. When we diet we often end up eating less sodium because of lower volume of food and the food choices we make.

I will go through periods where these spells are more common. Sitting down on a chair can be enough somedays. I have to consciously add salt to some of my food. Often its only after my kids have asked to be passed the salt to add to their food that I remember to add some to my own. Its funny how some food habits are ingrained into you long after you've left home.

The toe wiggling thing was a strategy given to my son who experiences postural hypotension from time to time as well.