Laying Down And Drop In Blood Pressure

[surfgirl14]

Hey guys. So I thought id ask if anyone has experienced this. So for the past couple of days my BP has been incredibly low when laying down. Last night when laying flat on my back my BP was about 84/57 and then when I layed on my side a uncredible overwhelming feeling of dizziness came over me so I took my BP laying on my side it was about 74/54. This wouldnt bother me if I wasn't having symptoms but I am so it is now starting to concern me. I feel really weak, tired and dizzy when this happens. When I wake up in the morning it feels like my entire body has no energy, and I feel like when I finally fall asleep with the low BP that it drops even more when asleep. I called the pharmacist the other night to ask him about the BP drop and he told me to go to the ER. Like most of us feel the ER is like a waste of time. The last time I went I was admitted for about 5 days and just given IV fluids, put on a cardiac monitor, and my vitals were monitored basically nothing else they could do for me. Should I be concerned? I just feel like doctors don't care with Pots symptoms because they claim its not life-threatning or really at all conerning.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks.

[Annaliese]

Yep. This happened to me. My bp would get so low i would get a flush and then heart palpitations. This is why i started florinef.

[targs66]

My BP is very similar to yours when I'm lying down, and it does odd things if I'm on my side (on one side I can't even get a reading; on the other it's in the low 70s/40s). I often find that my heart pounds very hard (not fast) while I'm lying down tryinng to sleep and I think it's b/c the BP has gone so low. (No wonder I wake up tired!!)

I've been told this is "normal" (ha!) and that BP is always lower when you lie down. I suppose it makes sense that if my BP is normally no higher than 95/65 when I'm upright, it's going to be in the 80s/50s when I'm lying down. I do find that if I am not lying perfectly flat I feel a bit better, so I've got the head of my bed slightly elevated and I sleep on 3 pillows. I also try to stay hydrated, even though I know I'll have to go to the bathroom in the night. I hope this helps a bit.

[HopeSprings]

I have similar BP's laying down - 80s/40s on my back and as low as 70s/30s on my side. And I feel exactly as you describe when getting up in the morning. As Targs said, if we're starting out with already low BP and it naturally drops at night and/or when laying down - we're gonna go real low. Are the Florinef and Midodrine not raising your BP?

[surfgirl14]

Hey guys thanks so much for the fedback.

Naomi- Yes the meds to raise my BP but not when laying down. When I lay down my BP drops dramatically. Rather weird.

[LindaJoy]

Hi, Potsgirl,

Yes, I was told that, since my bp is low to begin with, and everyone drops their bp at night, those of us with an already low bp will drop pretty low. Lying on your side makes the bp go even lower--I was told this by tons of nurses in the hospitals I've been in, who won't check my bp if I'm lying on my side.

My bp used to run 90's over 60's religiously for years, until it was found I have Addison's disease and was put on hyrdrocortisone. Since then, I've been able to maintain around 106/70. Not much better, but a bit.

Now, I've been put on clonidine to try and help with the terrible reactions I have after I eat, that my docs think has everything to do with my autonomic dysfunction, and my bp is back to being a tad bit low.

In other words, Kayla, I feel your pain. I'm surprised, though, that your meds continue to work for you even when lying down. That is weird. How much salt do you take in each day? Can you do salt? Sometimes it can help bring your bp up. I've never noticed it work for me, but....

Take care and hang in there, hun.

Linda

[surfgirl14]

Hey Linda. Thanks for the reply. sorry to hear you having to go through this things too. Interesting you have Addisons Disease they really thought I had that untill they ruled it out with blood work and urine testing. So but anyways yes I try to intake as much salt as I can and I'm sure I am getting plenty because I get intravenous saline 2 liters weekly at the hospital. So I would think this would help. When I am standing it is not as near as bad as when I am laying down. The only thing that worried me is the 72/48 which makes me feel so dizzy. But like u said before you have been told by many nurses BP drops at night. So not to worried just wish I wouldn't experience with unpleasant symptoms that go with it. I noticed yesterday (after a week of low BP's at night) that I have been having terrible miagraines. They aren't relieved with any pain meds not even 520mg of naproxen. Which is weird cuz they are usually relieved by that. I think it is the lack of blood flow that I am getting to my brain due to the low BP. But hopefully this low BP thing will just fade away. Thanks again for the reply

[LindaJoy]

Hi, again, Kayla. I just wanted to say that I wake up with terrible head pain and feeling like I've been hit by a truck some mornings, and I really think those are the times when my bp has dropped pretty low while I've been asleep the night previous.

It's kind of funny, when I'm in the hospitals sometimes, I'll have nurses wake me up in the middle of the night to do my bp and it will be 70's over 40's, and they freak out and get the doctor on the phone right away who insists on more IV fluids immediately, etc., thinking this will help. Uh, nice try and I appreciate the thought, but it never helps. This is just me, sad to say.

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. I know what 70's over 40's feels like. I do okay at 80's over 50's, but the 70's over 40's, I can feel, and it isn't a good feeling.

Hang in there.

Linda

[surfgirl14]

wow really? that doesn't sounds fun. When I was in the hospital they never checked me during the night really they just came in and made sure I was ok. They only took BP's in the morning and during the day I guess that was because I was on 24hour cardiac monitor with oxygen pulse ox .... so maybe thats why they didn't check my BP but that would be interesting to know. Yea it is no fun.. hopefully this will go away soon!