When Bp Goes Low...what To Do?

[Kham]

I was wondering what others do when your bp goes really low. Mine always runs low...about 101/60. But the past couple of mornings its been 89/52 and I feel like I am walking through mud. So very tired. I already struggle with fatigue but now it's worse. At what point do you get concerned? I have been having vertigo since Monday. I chalked that up to a medication change. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and my geneticist wanted me to start taking a muscle relaxer at night (Tizanidine 0.2 mg). Very low dose. But because of the muscle relaxer I can't take my normal meds at night to help me fall asleep (Clonaxepam 0.5mg). I wouldn't think that discontinuing one med and starting another would lower my bp so much. But, that is what has happened. It could be they are totally unrelated. Who knows?

Very, very tired. Dizzy. Vertigo. Nausea.

I do take Florinef to control my low bp but it makes me bloated, irritable and gives me headaches AND more fatigue. Haven't taken it in about 2 weeks because of the icky side effects.

Anyone else out there have experience with this? What do you do when your bp goes low?

[Hope]

My bp is very low every morning. I take midodrine, drink lot's of fluids, eat a lot of salt and muddle through. I was just at the neurologist today. I saw the physician assistant and she thinks I should wear my compression socks or full hose every day. I usually only wear my compression socks on extra bad days, but I'm thinking I should give this a try wearing them every day.

[looneymom]

I think I would talk to the doctor about the new meds. Sleep is really important and it helps regulates other body systems. You really don't need a new medication to make problems worse. I'm going through a similar situation with my son. The new medication (desmopressin) raised the heart rate and lowered his blood pressure. So the cardiologist has switched my son back to his old medication (midodrine) to see if the heart rate will drop down. His heart rate has dropped back down to normal but blood pressure is running low like yours. Have you tried increasing your salt? My son was also on florinif but may have to go back this. He also has a headache but his headache is not related to being on the florinif or midodrine. He has been off these medications for several weeks to see if he could get relief. Wish I could be of more help but I would suggest that you talk to your doctor about the new medication. A lower blood pressure and losing sleep won't improve POTS.

Rachel

[Faintinggoat]

Hello Kham,

These points have already been suggested in comments, however, I get really low pressure in the morning as well. Generally when I wake up I go through that whole routine of slowly moving from laying to sitting, and sitting to standing. I generally start the morning with Gatorade, (both for the fluid and for the sodium). I am also on sodium tabs that I take in the morning to raise my BP. I was also told to wear thigh high compression stockings all the time, an abdominal binder, and raise the head of my bed 6 inches. The only thing annoying about compression stockings is that they can be quite pricey (I get Juzo) and that they need to be washed daily to help maintain the compression longer. Though I still have symptoms, these things have helped to decrease some of the symptoms and raise my BP. Hope this helps!

Fainting Goat

[died4u94]

I just joined these forums and thought I would just read for a while before posting but I feel like I need to respond to your post. I was taking Tizanidine for around 1 year. I was put on Atenolol to slow my heart rate. When I took the Tizanidine one night, at least 12 hours after taking the Atenolol, I felt really awful and passed out. Passing out is not one of my problems, usually. I thought maybe it was a fluke so I took the Tizanidine once more days later and the same thing happened again. According to my cardiologist my heart rate was dropping and when my blood pressure followed I passed out. Needless to say I stopped the Tizanidine immediately after that 2nd episode.

My pain management doctor really seems to like Tizanidine a lot and keeps saying that it shouldn't do that but Bradycardia, Hypotension and Orthostatic Hypotension are listed as side effects. It works similarly to Clonidine so it makes sense to me that it could cause that to happen. I was taking Atenolol at the time so that's probably why it happened then and not before that but the beta blocker is more important for me than the Tizanidine.

Hope this is helpful info,

Died4u94

[Relax86]

I'm a low BP dysaut... usually 90's/50's....has dropped even lower. Feels pretty crappy. Midrodine helped me. But also I occasionally dose with a very low amount of HC during flares. I had a full cardiac work up - all negative. The low morning BP is a crappy way to start the day but I was told that it's not life threatening. Good luck ~ tracy