Had A Bad Cold, Got High Bp And Actually Felt Better!

[erik]

I had a super mild cold for couple days, then it escalated and gave me a full head cold experience. Nothing too extreme, just a solid cold... also nothing to indicate flu, no chills, fever, digestive troubs, etc., just sinus & mild lung congestion, etc. I've been on fludrocortisone again for a bit now so my BP has been in the 130's (supine) which is a good stable target for me and where I ended up last time on this dose of fludro/salt.

While this cold was going strong, my BP shot up consistently to 160 (or a few higher) supine & sitting, falling only to high 130's upon standing. I had the nasty cold stuff and felt bad from that, but under it I felt strong & healthy like I usually do not! I guess I felt like a regular person with a cold... rather than my personal half-ill baseline feeling underneath.

I did take cold meds on a couple days, but not consistently. I stopped them to make sure they weren't giving the super high BP. They weren't. Also, when not having a cold, I sometimes take Claritin-D or straight Pseudoeffedrine and even combined with fludro I end up healthy 130/140's systolic, which keeps me less O.H. prone.

It is like my body & mind are incredibly better at 160+ systolic! Have any of your doctors given you the ok to target BP's that high? For me, I felt significantly better such that I'd be willing to weigh that against potential cardiovascular risks. Is there an alternative approach that simulates this high BP & high perfusion state without adding much risk? Is high BP only risky when it's from bad stuff like clogged arteries, and so long as I don't have that am I actually OK? I'll be asking my doc, but do you all have some insight or experience with allowing high BP's?

[ramakentesh]

Im not sure about the BP but I tend to feel better when mine is in the higher ranges for some reason. But when Im sick with a cold I ALWAYS feel better.

[Notgivinup]

Wow, that is so weird. I feel better POTS wise when I have a cold too. It's like the body is busy with the cold virus, and doesn't have time to screw with your ANS. I don't know that's just my lame brains way of thinking about it.

On another note, my GP, who knows nothing about POTS, suggested I try Pseudoephedrine. I haven't. He is trying to think outside of the box. It will raise bp. But I was afraid of the heart rate increase. He also told me not to worry when my bp was high. (It is labile now). He gave me a number to watch for, and if it got that high then I should worry. But of course my POTS brain won't let me remember the number! Sorry.