New Bp Pattern For Me (upon Standing)

[erik]

My POTS stuff seems to have shifted lately. I used to have orthostatic hypotension to some degree... sometimes enough to nearly pass out, usually milder. Now I'm going through a really fatigued period but my BP is holding strong... even raising a little upon standing though I was still feeling lousy standing up and I do see some pulse pressure "narrowing" there after a bit.

Have you all had shifts like this in your overall BP patterns... from dropping BP to raising BP upon standing? Do these readings fit with any particular POTS "profile" that you know of... like hyperadrenergic or anything?

NEW: This evening's "Supine to Stand" readings:

[font="Lucida Console"]TIME             BP      Pulse  Orient
05:50:00 PM    123/75      55   supine
05:52:00 PM    135/75      56    "
05:53:00 PM    135/89      63   sitting
05:55:00 PM    144/100    110  standing
05:56:00 PM    141/112    101    "
05:57:00 PM    139/105    108    "
05:58:00 PM    141/119    108    "
06:00:00 PM    140/80      57   supine[/font]

OLD: Less than month ago, BP dropout and approaching faint (this is more extreme drop than typical):

[font="Lucida Console"]TIME             BP      Pulse  Orient
10:02:00 AM     117/81    114  Standing for a bit
10:02:00 AM     108/77    120
10:04:00 AM      83/60     98  Fading out
10:05:00 AM     117/70     47  Supine
10:06:00 AM     125/81     46
10:10:00 AM     117/86     88  Stand again[/font]

Overall symptoms are not very different, though I'm more fatigued than normal. I suppose the lightheadedness is less, only a couple brief episodes on standing lately but not entirely gone. Muscles are weak though. Been trying Folic Acid and CoQ10 on top of occasional sulbutiamine/choline/B-Vites as well as a little K + Mg daily. Oddly, I feel way worse overall... like I'm coming down with a cold at times but it comes and goes... but BP is better. Pulse still does it's thing.

[Broken_Shell]

Hi Erik,

I wish I had more helpful thoughts, but here are the few I have...

I often see a slight increase in BP upon standing, and I have read and been told that this is in fact consistent with dysautonomia.

The narrowing pulse pressure is usually a sign that you body is under orthostatic stress and fightin hard to keep cerebral perfussion adequate, so it is not necessarily a good thing.

The set of values you gave were from 10 am and 5 pm, do you notice the same difference if you compare readings from the same time of day. Just a thought since autonomic BP regulation varies throughout the day.

Do the new supplements seem to correlate with the change in readings? Maybe you could just try one new things at a time to see if it has an affect on your BP. One the other hand, maybe the supplements will help in the combo you are currently using and this is just a transition phase... one can always hope!

~ Broken_Shell

[potsgirl]

Hi Eric,

I was also going to suggest taking your sets of readings at the same time of day, under the same set of circumstances...food/no food, water/no water, caffeine? Make sure all of your variants are the same. Also, you probably want to take more time between readings. I usually lie down for at least 5 minutes supine before I take a reading, then I stand and take readings at 1, 3, and 5 or 10 minutes. This is what they do at my cardio's office. If you wanted to, you could go supine again and take it after another 5 minutes to see where it settles. I think your readings would be more accurate.

Could you try that and let us know what the numbers are then? One of the characteristics of dysautonomia is the fluctuating BP and pulse, although yours look a little odd to me (the drop of 108 to 83 in 2 minutes, and the pulse going down there - but I'm hypotensive). Certainly you'll want to go over your numbers with your doctor at your next appointment to be sure.

Please update us if you do new numbers, or what your doctors say. Good luck & cheers,

Jana

[kayjay]

Erik- Your numbers do not look to strange to me... Maybe because my own numbers are strange. I have hyperadergenic pots. Also my numbers really vary day to day and moment to moment. My dr told me to pay more attention to how I feel. really I think what feels the worst are the large swings I have with my bottom number (often a 30-40pt swing). My resting pulse varies as well from in the 40's to in the 120's. I am better on a beta blocker but still have big swings.. I notice these when I have a headache. Yesterday I felt pretty good and I realized that I had eaten I high salt/ low carb all day. Also If I drink too much tea I get tachy.

If you have hyperadernic POTS I think it might be nomal to not have a "normal" if you know what I mean. Also around here allergies are awful. If you have allergies the hystamine your body produces can really effect you bp and hr. I know rinsing my sinuses (ask me about this if you want) really helps my overall health and POTS symptoms. My children 9 and 11 have been rinsing this fall... I can tell when my son skips b/c he sounds like he has a cold. I hope you are doing better soon!

[janiedelite]

Your numbers look a lot like mine. Mayo said I have a hyperadrenergic response to my pooling (not the primarily hyperadrenergic POTS). But I do agree that it's best to record your orthostatic BP and pulse at the same time every day. I can feel when I'm getting hypertensive, as it causes all the symptoms of excessive adrenaline (migraine, tremor, flushing, chest tightness, etc.).

[ramakentesh]

For me when im symptomatic my BP remains similar standing or lying down, when im feeling better I actually get the full on hyperadrenergic response then - normal BP lying, but standing anywhere between 140 to 160 but I feel ok.

To me this has always suggested that the hyperadrenergic response is some kind of coping mechanism for something else, but its not clear.

[tinkerbella]

eric,

I hear your frustration.... I've tried to do some cleaning and getting rid of things in my life making my more postural and now I'm getting all kinds of new problems including orthostatic hypotension with a major drop when I stand. My circadian rhythm is now messed up with low blood sugars and low bp. I was trying to get ready for my power wheel chair, and now I feel like I'm back to step one...

I hope things settle down for you you as I know how yucky I feel...

Hang in there my friend!

BellaMia~