Orthostatic Hypotension

Julio

Welcome. My blood pressure is not low and I dont suffer from Orthostatic Hypotension (unfortunately I dont even know what that is). Many of us on the forum do get very dizzy at times, and I often feel like I am going to black out, but I think thats different altogether.
What I would suggest is that maybe you post your question on the Main Forum, The top link, and you may have some members who could help you.

julio, welcome to the family. orth hypo can be treated with thigh high stogkings-perscription type. they help keep the blood from pooling in the lower legs, which is in turn making the heart work 2x faster just to get the blood up from the lower legs. i’ve been living with it for over 8 years now. your dad needs a tilt table test to confirm a dx and to get the stockings. take care.

I had this all the time during my first year. My BP got so low at times that I would literally pass out if I stood up. Then if I excurted myself my Bp would hit the rooof, but usually it was very low. The docs finally gave me a device to monitor myself….. Scary. Please sit on the side of the bed until you feel normal before you get up. It really does help. xoxoxooxoxox Roxie

hi there,

I’ve had dysautonomia/orthostatic hypotension since I was fifteen. I’ve been on nadolol the past six years and it had been working pretty well. However, in my flare up in the past few months, it became not enough so we added florenief to the mix, too. It’s been working about 90% of the time. Unfortunetly its just timing in getting medication right sometimes.

The thing with orthostatic hypotension is that you learn to live with it to a degree. Your father shouldn’t stand in long lines or stand in general for long periods of time. He needs to make sure to get up very slowly, especially from bed. He should always sit/lie down the instant he feels funny. Make sure he gets an autonomic workup as its not so unlikely that he has dysautonomia, a condition that should be noted in his medical record.

Also, one of the best othrostatic hypotension helpers is salt. Salt everything. Have him eat lots of pickels, tomato juice, and potato chips. Seriously. Whenever my blood pressure goes into that 70/50 extreme danger zone I eat two pickles and drink some of the pickle juice and I feel MUCH better.

And speaking of drinking, drinking 60 oz of water a day helps maintain healthy blood pressure in people with dysautonomia, but going too far over that will dilute the blood and will make your father’s blood pressure drop. Also, supposedily, eating six small meals day is helpful in maintaining blood pressure as large meals can pool the blood to the stomach and make for blood pressure drops.

I know this can all be scary stuff, so good luck with it. I hope it gets better soon.