Annaliese Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 I am just wondering if anyone else has had a slowly reducing standing BP. I developed sudden onset high standing BP with very bad anxiety after pregnancy. Over a year my standing BP has gradually reduced (along with anxiety). I was pleased with this until my orthostatic hypertension turned into hypotension. For the whole year my pulse pressure has been about 20 and I am no more functional than i was a year ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoGiuliana Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 I had high bp post partum that worsened on standing. Over time this resolved. After that I did have episodes of low bp on standing (not to point of fainting but did cause symptoms). It's so hard to understand what is going on in our bodies when hormonal shifts with pregnancy etc are brought into the mix. I'm sorry you are still having such a hard time. I did have to stop taking beta blockers for awhile b/c my bp was simply too low and it worsened my symptoms. But overall each year I have improved. It really took about 1 year to feel ok after pregnancy, though. and another couple to feel much semblance of "normal" on a regular basis. I have flare ups still but on a daily basis my symptoms are minor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgnursegirl Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 I have never been pregnant, but I went from 6 years of hyper-POTS to in July-August of this year, I was hospitalized for a bowel obstruction and severe dehydration/low BP/syncope and ever since my BP has been super-low and lots of fainting. I am now taking metoprolol 2x a day and midodrine to try and keep my BP up. It is still low, and I am still having near-syncope episodes and feeling yucky alot of the time.So yes, I don't know why, but I too agree that POTS can switch from high BP to low BP. My docs at UNC think that when I was in the hospital (finally diagnosed with colitis that caused the bowel obstruction) that it is an autoimmune disease and that the over activity of the immune system further damaged my autonomic nervous system. Pregnancy causes your immune system to behave differently so your body will not reject the baby. Maybe the autoimmune part of pregnancy could have caused your POTS and BP to switch. Just a thought ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annaliese Posted October 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Momtoguiliana, thanks for replying : ) I have been wondering how youve been going. Did you ever get crazy anxiety which correlated with the the severity of your high BP? My main problem at the moment is anxiety. A close second is that i cant tolerate having my legs down even when sitting. My blood pressure can be ok ish but my pulse pressure is narrow (about 20). After about 5 mins of sitting i have a flush and then i get bowel cramps and feel like throwing up. Did this ever happen to you? I am currently getting tested for mcad as i cant eat histamine heavy foods. I could eat anything i wanted to before pregnancy (except curry) so its very mysterious. Because of low BP, I too now cant take beta blockers. This is a pain because they blocked some of my anxiety. Plus, now my heart rate is 130 which isnt that pleasant. Ive started a trial of florinef which makes my feel less light headed but it makes my legs ache. One other question, did you have tingling on your lower legs? To me it doesn sound like progressive neuroparhy because it didnt start at my toes and work up, it all of a sudddn was all the way up to my knees. Curiouser and curiouser. Very pleased to see that overall you are doing well. Oh, and when you stopped the beta blockerd, did you have to wait out a high hr period? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annaliese Posted October 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Hi cgnurse girl. Thanks for your post. It'sinteresting that bowel surgery caused the switch for you. Have you ever been tested for mcad issues? Was this the first time you'd hd surgery? Re your autoimmune theory. I didnt have pots before i got pregnant. The pregnancy triggered it. I do think there is an autoimmne response going on though that is perhps gradually regressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgnursegirl Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 No bowel surgery(thank goodness). I had a NG tube and medicine in an IV. And a liquid diet. I have never been tested for MCAD, but I have severe allergies and asthma, and my allergist says he thinks my immune system is overactive and thats why I have so many allergies and autoimmune diseases. I am being treated at UNC hospitals and plan on asking for an allergy/immunology consult when I go back up there, to do some further testing, including immune deficiency, which I have met some people online who have POTS and immune def, and also allergy markers and mast cells. What exactly are the tests for MCAD ? I know basically what it is, but how do they test for it. I definately agree with you that it is an autoimmune issue where the immune system is triggered to be overactive and then calms down and we have to deal with the damage in the wake of the "immune system storm", so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annaliese Posted October 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Cgnursegirl. Here is a bit about mast cell disorders http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Mastocytosis-and-Mast-Cell-Disorders.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annaliese Posted November 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 The more i read the more i think that this gradual reduction in BP over a year might be due to adrenal insufficiency ( because ive had huge anxiety). Hmm. Thoughts anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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