Can Someone Clarify Orthostatic Hypotension For Me?

[sarct]

I am as green as you can get when it comes to all this terminology. I can only read things for so long before I have to step away from my computer. My brain gets too foggy and can't process anything after too much time reading.

Anyway I read yesterday that this is a symptom and not a diagnoses. Is that true? If so, what is wrong with me to be causing this then? I was under the assumption that that was what I had. Now I am so confused. What is wrong with me to be causing this symptom. I read that medications can cause it, but I wasn't taking any previosuly. It also said that this is something that afflicts the elderly, but I am only 30, and had this since I was a child.

TIA

[juliegee]

Hi There,

I'm not sure of your DX, but "orthostatic" refers to the act of standing up. "Hypotension" refers to low blood pressure (below 90/60.) Many folks, especially the elderly, have a momentary drop in BP with postural changes, like when you go from sitting to standing. Most of these folks regain a normal BP once they've stabilized.

Many of us here have all sorts of different autonomic issues. Some of us have our BP drop dramatically after we've been standing for a while (NMH Neurally Mediated Hypotension or NCS Neurocardiogenic Syncope) My son fainted at 35 minutes during his TTT. His BP went from 120/80 to 40/?. My BP will drop to nothing within several minutes if I am dehydrated enough.

Hope this helps. I'm still learning myself. This is a lot to figure out.

Julie

I am as green as you can get when it comes to all this terminology. I can only read things for so long before I have to step away from my computer. My brain gets too foggy and can't process anything after too much time reading.

Anyway I read yesterday that this is a symptom and not a diagnoses. Is that true? If so, what is wrong with me to be causing this then? I was under the assumption that that was what I had. Now I am so confused. What is wrong with me to be causing this symptom. I read that medications can cause it, but I wasn't taking any previosuly. It also said that this is something that afflicts the elderly, but I am only 30, and had this since I was a child.

TIA

[morgan617]

In a normally healthy person, the bp will rise slightly and the pulse quicken a few beats to equalize going from a supine or sitting position, to a standing one.. After a very short time, it will dip and the pulse lower again, as the body has adjusted to the gravity of being upright.

In orthostatic hypotension, the bp drops a lot more and the pulse increases a lot more, as the body works feverishly to get blood to the head, and then it doesn't want to come back up...it gets stuck or keeps dropping until we faint. As soon as we are lying down, the body isn't fighting gravity anymore, so we come to, or feel better, as the blood is equalized when we are lying down.. Even healthy people will have this problem if they've been sick and get dehydrated, the astronauts get it temporarily after space flight. There are times it can be considered a normal response to circumstances.

For us, however, these wide swings occur randomly, or all the time, and for no apparent reason. Orthostatic hypotension is an underlying symptom of something else going on. When you are otherwise healthy, it's a symptom telling your body you need more fluids. For people like us, it's an indication that the system controlling these things is out of whack. There are many different causes. Blood pooling in the legs, the body thinking it's dry, pituitary stuff, many things. Sometimes we just can't figure out the exact cause. I think of myself as having a short in my system I was just born with.

So, yes, orthostatic hypotension is a symptom of an underlying condition. It is not a condition in and of itself. There may be people that disagree with this, and please feel free to say so. I hope this helps...morgan

[sarct]

it does help, and thank you for clarifying. I get people telling me that they have done what I do before. I ask them if it occurs 10 times a day. When they say no is when I tell them then you don't do what I do.

I need to get a referral from my doctor to see the specialist. I called my neurologist and the receptionsist asked me (as if I fell off the turnip truck) "you want this neurologist to give you a referral to another neurolgist??" I asked if that was a problem, and she laughed and said, "well let's see and connected me to his receptionist." I hung up. I think I am going to call my GP and ask her for the referral instead. lol

[ajw4790]

Hi!

I agree with pretty much what others said. OH is a symptom or an event that happens. Orthostatic Intolerance is more of the diagnosis that encompasses someone who has chronic OH along with other symptoms (brain fog, heat intolerance). With OI (I think) you can also have blood pressure that goes up upon standing. It is dependent on the person and what processes or systems are not working optimally.

POTS is one of the syndromes under the OI umbrella of conditions.