Orthostatic hypotension, do you have it....

[MsDisney23]

I have just been recently told I have this. It is a blood pressure problem. I have a normal bp while sitting and laying down. However the minute I stand up on my feet, my bp goes very very low. It will stay low while I am up walking etc. This is why I am always tired, dizzy, etc. No treatment has worked yet. I will be going back to the dr.'s on Tuesday.

Does anyone here have this or every heard of it?

 

[Christine]

I don't have it, but have heard of it. I have heard of a related syndrome that goes along with it. It's called POTS (postural orthostatic something or other). Anyway, do an internet search on it, you'll find lots of stuff.

 

[luvdzny]

DD has a similar condition, it was originally diagnosed as orthstatic hypotension. She was recently re-tested and found it it is Neurocardiogenic syncope. She runs very low blood pressure. She has been taking a beta-blocker for approx. 2 months and is doing much better. She was fainting on a daily basis and has not fainted at all since she started the meds. I know beta-blockers are presribed for high BP and her BP is even lower now, but she is feeling better. She is still extremely tired, but no longer dizzy. I don't know if this medicine works for your condition, but maybe you could check into it. Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be, it is hard for DD because she has to sleep so much! I hope you are feeling better soon

 

[DawnCt1]

Do ask your doctor for a full thyroid profile (blood work), including TSH, T3,T4. Postural hypotension is often a symptom of hypothyroidism.

 

[MScott1851]

Yes, I do, and there's really not much you can do about it. I refuse to be on beta-blockers yet (although I'm heading there with frightening speed) I've learned to move SLOWLY when getting up or out of bed in the mornings. I don't do anything at the gym that requires me to decline or lie flat, then get right up. I don't do situps because I get sick, the list goes on and on. Heck, I have trouble bending over and tying my shoes sometimes.

You learn what makes you syncopal and you adjust accordingly.

 

[luvdzny]

mscott - if you don't mind answering, why don't you want to take bet-blockers? I hate having DD take so many meds, I worry about long term effects but we didn't know what else to do.

 

[goofy4tink]

I posted a few weeks ago about my 11 y/o dd fainting. She has been to the pedi and is set up with a pediatric cardiologist next week. She is also going to have full blood work up done early next week. She has mentioned that she is fine sitting, but it's the being upright that seems to be a problem. And when the dr. took her b/p, it was low normal. Wonder if this could be an issue for dd also. Thanks for posting. Gives me something else to consider in my quest for answers.

 

[MScott1851]

Actually, my cardiologist is the one who tried to put it off as long as possible. He didn't want to put me on them at the age of 16, and to tell the truth, I'm pretty non-compliant with any medicine. (And I'm a nurse, isn't that terrible?) I haven't been back to see him in over three years, even though I've had some pretty scary things happen in the past couple of months with my BP being sky-high, which it NEVER has before, and some syncopal episodes not triggered by positional changes (i.e while watching TV) and some shortness of breath as well. I know I'm an idiot, everyone at work is fussing at me, my mother is fussing at me, but who knows? I am stubborn and hardheaded and refuse to believe that I'm sick. I don't feel bad all the time, I just have these weird episodes, and I don't want to start a medicine now that I'm going to have to take the rest of my life. Dh took Atenolol for a while, and he was just so tired ALL the time, with headaches, dizziness, nausea, etc. I feel that way enough already, I don't want to be that way all the time!

And, truthfully, I think that sometimes it might have to do with my job. It's sad, but when a young person comes in to ANY emergency department with the same complaints I have, doctors and nurses tend to blow them off, or think of them as a hypocondriac, or think the issue is psychosomatic, and roll their eyes because they think the pt is being dramatic. I admit myself, when I see a healthy-looking 28 year old patient, and she starts rattling off all these numerous vague complaints/diagnoses it's pretty hard to swallow. I know I'm going off on a tangent, but I know how the system works, and I don't want people to think that I'm am attention-seeking drama queen.