Welcome, Guest. Please Login
YaBB - Yet another Bulletin Board
  News:
  HomeHelpSearchLogin  
 
Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
Question re blood pressure (Read 7369 times)
beadbabe
Gold Forum Member
****
Offline



Posts: 561
UK
Gender: female
Question re blood pressure
Sep 06th, 2007, 8:17am
 
Hi there
I have a question that is bothering me. My have been asked to monitor my blood pressure for five days as it is quite low sometimes.

I am still suffering from dizzy spells that I swear are unrelated to anxiety and panic. eg. nearly every time I sit down at a table (ie a hard chair or particularly a stool with my legs on the footbar and braced) or if I sit on a toilet seat I go really dizzy after a second or two. What could be causing that, also I find if I sit on the floor on my knees, I am now finding that my head goes dizzy and I find it hard to think. Could this be blood pressure related? And could this blood pressure problem be causing palpitations?

I am still feeling quite ill although my anxiety is getting better.
bead
Back to top
 
 
  IP Logged
RLR
YaBB Administrator
*****
Offline

Retired Physician

Posts: 2057

Gender: male
Re:  Question re blood pressure
Reply #1 - Sep 6th, 2007, 8:53am
 
Typically, we see complaints of dizziness from changes in blood pressure when persons are rising from a seated or lying position, known as orthostatic hypotension. Antihypertensive agents can also cause this phenomenon and or dizziness unrelated to rapid movement affected by gravity. The circumstances also depend upon whether you are experiencing dizziness in the absence of movement and when moving your head vertically or horizontally.

When you say your blood pressure has been quite low sometimes, please provide me with all the readings you've obtained thus far.

Also, to avoid having to backtrack through the postings, please list your medications being taken, dose and how often you take them.

You'll be fine.

Best regards and Good Health
Back to top
 
 

Best Regards and Good Health
  IP Logged
beadbabe
Gold Forum Member
****
Offline



Posts: 561
UK
Gender: female
Re:  Question re blood pressure
Reply #2 - Sep 7th, 2007, 1:45am
 
Hi there
thanks for your reply.
the dizziness does also occur when getting up quickly or crouching and getting up. I get very hot when this happens too. I nearly fainted on the way home from school with the children because my youngest needed a cuddle after falling over, then I got up quickly and walked up the hill home. Halfway up the hill I got really dizzy and hot, and faint.

I have stopped taking beta blockers as I didn't find them helping. One GP and the cardiologist said it was fine to stop and especialy in the light of lowish blood pressure. the stand-in GP I saw last week (because my nice GP has gone on maternity leave) said I needed to go back on bb's and take a higher dose to stop the ectopics.  (huhhh???) More conflicting advice from my doctors.

Other than that I am only taking daily 20mg Citalopram to lessen panic attacks and anxiety. (which works a bit)

BP readings so far:
113/70 76
116/60 72
113/70 81
118/78 72
96/61 80
106/65 60

I know little about how these figures interact with each other really.

What I don't understand is that the dizziness seems to be in reverse too - ie a movement from standing to sitting, not always the other way round. Don't know what that means but I notice that the most.

Sometimes when I look at my tummy it is wobbling about with the pressure of the heartbeat and blood in it. I'm not even fat but it looks quite odd.

Back to top
 
 
  IP Logged
angiebaby
Gold Forum Member
****
Offline



Posts: 261
england
Gender: female
Re:  Question re blood pressure
Reply #3 - Sep 7th, 2007, 4:19am
 
Hi bead, just to let you know that those bp readings are perfectly fine!  My bp goes lower than that, my diastolic - the bottom number - is sometimes in the 50's and that does worry me at times.
I also get the dizziness all the time.  Sitting, standing, walking, well anytime really.  It does scare me too.  When i get dizzy sometimes i will take my bp and it is fine, i think mine is more to do with my neck.  If i crouch down and get up i get like a 'head rush' and i get dizzy and faint too.  I was thinking this was something to do with my head and neck, something trapping, and the neurosurgeon was thinking that i might have a condition known as Chiari Malformation, which is when the brain stem is hanging too far down and it does indeed get trapped.  However when i had my MRI of the head and neck, it was fine and he said that nothing was trapping.  So we still don't know why i get so dizzy and get that fainty feeling so often.  But i do know what you are going through and understand how bad it makes you feel.  It even happens to me if i just look down sometimes.  Or if i am standing and reach down to my ankle for something, when i get up the room spins and my head feels like it is filling with blood and i get woozy and faint and my ears go funny as if i am going to pass out.  I have even felt this when i have just gone up the stairs.  I am ok when i get to the top and then about a minute later my ears start to buzz and my head 'fills up' and i get that woozy faint feeling.  What i tend to do is move my neck about from side to side and eventually it goes.  But i have taken my bp when this happens and it has been fine.  I do not have an explaination for it, i wish that i had, but maybe RLR can shed some light on it for both of us.  I am still waiting to be referred to a neurologist - ?menier's disease, and a physio for my neck.  At least we know we are not alone and we can support each other in this.xx
Back to top
 
 

Angiebaby.x
It take a minute to get anxiety and a lifetime to get rid of it!!
  IP Logged
RLR
YaBB Administrator
*****
Offline

Retired Physician

Posts: 2057

Gender: male
Re:  Question re blood pressure
Reply #4 - Sep 7th, 2007, 4:31am
 
Okay, your range of blood pressure readings do not appear to be remarkable, although readings such as those indicated on the lowest side could create orthostatic sensations depending upon your activity at the time.

As for the dizziness and hot sensations, I'd suggest here that some of the effects may be due to the Celexa or Citalopram you are taking. I've had a number of patients with similar complaints and some folks are quite sensitive to this class of drugs. You can always discuss the symptoms with your primary care physician and see if a slight reduction in dose results in improvement. It must be remembered that because of steady state plasma levels required for this class of drug to work effectively, you must measure change over a period of weeks rather than days.

As for conflicting information, this is unfortunately a common occurrance. Different perspectives can create a very confusing state for patients at times. While beta blockers can reduce the intensity and variation of benign palpitations, in some patients the side-effects can compete or even become more salient than the original problem.

You'll be fine. The dizziness in the context you describe does not sound indicative of an underlying process that warrants concern.

Best regards and Good Health
Back to top
 
 

Best Regards and Good Health
  IP Logged
angiebaby
Gold Forum Member
****
Offline



Posts: 261
england
Gender: female
Re:  Question re blood pressure
Reply #5 - Sep 7th, 2007, 5:13am
 
Ooohhh, RLR, you've got me concerned now, lol.  My bp readings are lower than that sometimes, 90's over 50's, but i am just sitting infront of the tv at the time.  But i do get concerned over it.  But it does go back up when i move about, or worry about it.
Back to top
 
 

Angiebaby.x
It take a minute to get anxiety and a lifetime to get rid of it!!
  IP Logged
beadbabe
Gold Forum Member
****
Offline



Posts: 561
UK
Gender: female
Re:  Question re blood pressure
Reply #6 - Sep 8th, 2007, 1:36am
 
Hi RLR
thanks once again for your help.
would you say that if there are low BP readings and if there are no other neurological signs that the doctors are concerned about that the low BP is of a benign cause. Or as you say,, perhaps a side effect of citalopram (which I have been on since May now)

I thought only older people and athletes got this problem, so I have been worrying about it.
Back to top
 
 
  IP Logged
Pages: 1
Send Topic Print