Bp Elevate With Standing

[dawn]

Hi,

The past couple of days I have checked my BP many times daily. It is hard to say how long this has been going on.

I have always had low BP. Orthostatic BP stayed the same or dropped a bit.

When I wake up before getting up, my BP, is my normal, 90/62 P.88. When I get up and walk down the stairs while standing BP elevates to 154/104 P.93. Loaded the dishwasher and it rose to 174/112 P.103 standing. Laid down on couch and within five minutes BP 106/60 P. 63. I do take Inderal 10 mg 4x daily. I have been on low doses of long acting Toprol in the past, also lopressor but fainted frequently.

I know that I am labile, but this seems ridiculous. I called my neurologist yesterday (he is on vacation and I only see him yearly). The on call neurologist said to go to urgent care.

From past experience that is a waste of time as no one knows what POTS is.

I currently do not have an internist, I had the same one for 16 years and was really blessed.

I am establishing with someone new the end of the month, he doesn't know about POTS but would like to learn.

Does anyone have experience with this? My concern is can I keep going when it is so elevated, is there any risk of stroke? I know my carotid arteries are clesr.

I hate to lay down constantly to keep my BP normal as I will decondition so fast.

Thanks in advance.

Dawn

[pat57]

That seems like an important question. Alas ,I have no clue.

[MightyMouse]

Dawn, I'm moving this to the general discussion as this is related to dysautonomia rather than "chit chat".

Nina

[Ernie]

HI,

My BP goes up to 220/170 when I stand and then it crashes when I faint.

[firewatcher]

Dawn,

Are you taking your BP just once and getting these high readings? What happens if you take it a couple minutes later? Or sit down? My BP and HR spike like that with exertion that is not sustained. If I start walking and keep walking it will stabilize, until I stop then it crashes. Everyday stuff, like stairs and dishes and cleaning will spike it, especially if my arms go above my head. Good luck, I know it can be scary, but the body is an amazingly resilient thing!

Keep a log and talk to your doctor.

Jennifer

[delphicdragon]

My blood pressure does this too. Especially if I'm symptomatic, my BP is 160/100. When standing my BP rises, specifically the diastolic, which is called a narrowing of the pulse pressure. (BP goes from 110/60 to 110/85) I find that as long as I keep walking or moving, I don't have any problems, because the systolic rises as well to compensate for the movement, which is a completely normal response.

Try taking the BP right after you stand and then as you're moving around (if you can). If there is a big spike, it should fall slightly over the next few minutes, until you're back in a more appropriate range. For instance when I stand I go up to 140/100 and then it drops over 5 mins to 110/80 and if I'm standing still the pulse pressure shrinks so I get a reading of 110/90.

Now this doesn't happen every time, sometimes I stand up and the BP drops out right away. I think it depends on a lot of things, including stress, menstrual cycle, dehydration level, time of the day, etc. My BP is higher during the evening then the morning, probably because I have more water in me.

Not sure about risk of stroke or anything, but I would talk to your cardiologist if you're concerned.

Sara

[Tammy]

My BP does this also. I also reassure myself that when I'm sitting down and resting after the spike and if it goes down to my normal low blood pressue/hr, than I know it was just being upright due to my orthostatic issues that causes the spike. I guess I have talked to my cardiologist about this and he says this is just what my body does and as long as it can adjust back, not to worry. Take care.

[carinara]

I was in a 10 weeks rehab last year. Before i got diagnozed with Pots, i had many years of suffering and no doctor could help me at all. Nobody had a clue. After my diagnosis last year (i had a very bad POTS episode) I was hospitalized and one of my biggest concernes has always been my higher blood pressure. (Because that was the only thing my doctors could messure prior to my POTS Diagnosis). MY BP went up to 180/130 at times. Other times it was to low but most of the times it was to high. Well. In the hospital I spent many weeks on discussing my BP Problems with many different doctors. They meassured my BP all the time, during standing, during stress and so on. Whenever i thought and felt that my BP must be really high, they meassured it straight away. Sometimes it turned out to be high, sometimes it was normal. They put a 24 hour BP test on me twice.

I asked them all the questions i always wanted to ask, like:

do i have to lay down when my BP is so high? Do i always have to meassure my BP and to make sure it stayes down, do i have to stop going to my limits?

What numbers are still ok and am i in risk to get a heart attak or a stroke???

Well, all kind of different doctors told me the same, they said, as long as the BP goes down (during the night when you sleep for example) its ok. Only if you have real high numbers ALL THE TIME and OVER A LONG LONG PERIOD OF TIME, (not days, but months and years) Then it CAN cause damage to you and only then you are at a higher risk for stroke and so on.

In my case the BP does come down during the night and sometimes during the day as well. If you look at the monitoring of the 24 hour test you can see how the BP curve comes down in during the night.

They said, that there is no danger and i should not avoid activities because of the BP because thats not necessary. They explained to me what BP numbers people reach, in during sports, lifting weights and so on. These numbers are not dangerous if they dont stay up there 24 hours a day! They even showed me their numbers and i could see, that they had higher numbers from time to time as well. The doctors and the hospital stuff really wanted to try to help me get rid of my BP fear and did everything to help me not to worry about it anymore. Day said, that everybody has episodes of high blood pressure in during the day. Thats normal and ok. They also told me not to meassur my BP anymore.

Iam so thankfull that i made this experience and that they helped me not to focus so much on my higher BP. Now, i still meassure it before i go to bed at nights, but thats it.

Iam not worried about it anymore!

Maybe you can make all the necessary tests on what can cause high BP, and if they all turn out ok and if your BP does come down as well, then i wouldnt worry about it too much. I do take a BB as well.

All the best

carinara