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Treatment For Low Blood Pressure
Question: what is the treatment for Low Blood pressure? I am 27 yrs old & got married to my collegue just 11months back and now i travel more than before. I feel very tired by the time i go back to my house. i am an assistant architect and also manage the front office.As i sit for a long time i have severeback pain. I think i sometimes eat a lot or sometimes i dont and i also have gastritis . How do I overcome all these?
Answer: Low blood pressure is an abnormal condition where a person's blood pressure (the pressure of the blood against the walls of the blood vessels during and after each beat of the heart) is much lower than usual, which can cause symptoms such as dizziness or lightheadedness.
When the blood pressure is too low, there is inadequate blood flow to the heart, brain, and other vital organs.
A blood pressure level that is borderline low for one person may be normal for another. The most important factor is how the blood pressure changes from the normal condition. Most normal blood pressures fall in the range of 90/60 mm Hg to 130/80 mm Hg, but a significant change, even as little as 20 mm Hg, can cause problems for some people.
Causes of Low Blood Pressure or Hypotension
Conditions that reduce the volume of blood, reduce cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped by the heart), and medications are frequent causes of low blood pressure.
Causes of low blood pressure due to low blood volume
• Dehydration is common among patients with diarrhea who lose large amounts of water in their stool, particularly when drowsiness limits their drinking of fluids or is associated with nausea and vomiting. Dehydration also can occur with prolonged vomiting of any cause because of the loss of water in the vomitus. Other causes of dehydration include exercise, sweating, fever, and heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Individuals with mild dehydration may experience only thirst and dry mouth. Moderate to severe dehydration may cause orthostatic hypotension (manifest by light-headedness, dizziness or fainting upon standing). Protracted and severe dehydration can lead to shock, kidney failure, confusion, acidosis (too much acid in the blood), coma, and even death. For more, please read the Dehydration article.
• Moderate or severe bleeding can quickly deplete an individual’s body of blood, leading to low blood pressure or orthostatic hypotension.
• Severe inflammation of organs inside the body such as acute pancreatitis can cause low blood pressure. In acute pancreatitis, fluid leaves the blood to enter the inflamed tissues around the pancreas as well as the abdominal cavity, depleting the volume of blood.
Causes of low blood pressure due to heart disease
• Weakened heart muscle can cause the heart to fail and reduce the amount of blood it pumps. One common cause of weakened heart muscle is the death of a large portion of the heart’s muscle due to a single, large heart attack or repeated smaller heart attacks. Other examples of conditions that can weaken the heart include medications that are toxic to the heart, infections of the muscle of the heart by viruses (myocarditis), and diseases of the heart’s valves such as aortic stenosis.
• Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium (the sac surrounding the heart). Pericarditis can cause fluid to accumulate within the pericardium and around the heart, restricting the ability of the heart to pump blood.
• Pulmonary embolism is a condition in which a blood clot in a vein (a condition called deep vein thrombosis) breaks off and travels to the heart and eventually the lung. A large blood clot can block the flow of blood into the left ventricle from the lungs and severely diminish the ability of the heart to pump blood.
• A slow heart rate (bradycardia) can decrease the amount of blood pumped by the heart. The resting heart rate for a healthy adult is between 60 and 100 beats/minute. Bradycardia (resting heart rates slower than 60 beats/minute) does not always cause low blood pressure. But in many patients bradycardia can lead to low blood pressure, light-headedness, dizziness, and even fainting.
One example of bradycardia, sick sinus syndrome, occurs common in the elderly. This syndrome is due to degeneration of the sinus node (SA node), an area in the heart that generates electrical signals that cause the heart to beat regularly. In the sick sinus syndrome, the diseased SA node cannot generate signals fast enough to maintain a normal heart rate. Another condition that causes bradycardia is heart block. Electrical signals from the SA node must travel to the rest of the heart’s muscle to cause the heart to contract and pump blood. Normally these electrical signals are transmitted along special tissues in the heart. Heart block occurs when these specialized tissues are damaged by heart attacks, degeneration that occurs with aging, and medications. Heart block prevents some or all of the electrical signals generated by the SA node from reaching the rest of the heart, and this prevents the heart from contracting as rapidly as it otherwise would.
• An abnormally fast heart rate (tachycardia) also can cause low blood pressure. The most common example of tachycardia causing low blood pressure is atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a disorder of the heart characterized by rapid and irregular electrical discharges from the muscle of the heart (instead of the SA node), causing the ventricles to contract irregularly and (usually) rapidly. The rapidly contracting ventricles do not have enough time to fill maximally with blood before the each contraction, and the amount of blood that is pumped decreases, in spite of the faster heart rate.
Medications that cause low blood pressure
• Medications such as calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, and digoxin (Lanoxin) can slow the rate at which the heart contracts.
• Medications used in treating high blood pressure (such as ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and alpha-blockers) can excessively lower blood pressure and result in symptomatic low blood pressure especially among the elderly.
• Diuretics (water pills) such as furosemide (Lasix) can decrease blood volume by causing excessive urination.
• Medications used for treating depression, such as amitriptyline (Elavil), Parkinson’s disease, such as levodopa-carbidopa (Sinemet), erectile dysfunction (impotence), such as sildenafil (Viagra) when used in combination with nitroglycerine, can cause low blood pressure
• Alcohol and narcotics also can cause low blood pressure.
Other condition s that cause low blood pressure
• Vasovagal reaction is a common condition in which a healthy person temporarily develops low blood pressure, slow heart rate, and sometimes fainting. A vasovagal reaction typically is brought on by emotions of fear or pain such as having blood drawn or starting an intravenous infusion.
• Postural (orthostatic) hypotension, as discussed previously, is a sudden drop in blood pressure when an individual stands up from a sitting, squatting, or supine (lying) position. When a person stands up, gravity causes blood to settle in the veins in the legs, hence less blood reaches the heart for pumping, and, as a result, the blood pressure drops.
• Another form of postural hypotension occurs typically in young healthy individuals. After prolonged standing, the individual’s heart rate and blood pressure drops, causing dizziness, nausea and often fainting. In these individuals, the autonomic nervous system wrongly responds to prolonged standing by directing the heart to slow down and the veins to dilate.
• Micturition syncope is a temporary drop in blood pressure and loss of consciousness brought about by urinating. This condition typically occurs in elderly patients and may be due to the release by the autonomic nerves of hormones that lower blood pressure.
• Adrenal insufficiency, for example, due to Addison’s disease, can cause low blood pressure.
• Septicemia is a severe infection in which bacteria (or other infectious organisms such as fungi) enter the blood. The infection typically originates in the lungs (as pneumonia), bladder, or in the abdomen due to diverticulitis or gallstones. The bacteria then enter the blood where they release toxins and cause life-threatening and profound low blood pressure (septic shock), often with damage to several organs.
• Anaphylaxis (anaphylactic shock) is a potentially fatal allergic reaction to medications such as penicillin, intravenous iodine used in some x-ray studies, foods such as peanuts, or bee stings. In addition to a profound drop in blood pressure, individuals may also experience hives, wheezing, and a swollen throat with difficulty breathing.
Symptoms of Hypotension, Low Blood Pressure
When blood pressure is too low, the first organ to malfunction is usually the brain because it is located at the top of the body and blood has to fight gravity to reach the brain. Consequently, most people with low blood pressure feel dizzy or light-headed when they stand, and some may even faint. However, if blood pressure is low enough, brain damage can still occur.
Low blood pressure occasionally causes shortness of breath or chest pain due to an inadequate blood supply to the heart muscle (angina). All organs begin to malfunction if blood pressure becomes sufficiently low and remains low; this condition is called shock (see Shock).
Some symptoms occur when the body's compensatory mechanisms try to increase blood pressure that is low. For example, when arterioles constrict, blood flow to the skin, feet, and hands decreases. These areas may become cold and turn blue. When the heart beats more quickly and more forcefully, a person may feel palpitations (awareness of heartbeats).
Treatment of Low Blood Pressure, Hypotension
Conventional Treatment
Low blood pressure in healthy subjects without symptoms or organ damage needs no treatment. All patients with symptoms possibly due to low blood pressure should be evaluated by a doctor. The doctor needs to identify the cause of the low blood pressure since treatment will depend on the cause.
• Dehydration is treated with fluids and minerals (electrolytes). Mild dehydration without nausea and vomiting can be treated with oral fluids and electrolytes. Moderate to severe dehydration usually is treated with intravenous fluids and electrolytes.
• Blood loss can be treated with intravenous fluids and blood transfusions. If bleeding is continuing, it needs to be treated as well.
• Septicemia is treated with intravenous fluids and antibiotics or other medicines.
• Blood pressure medications or diuretics are adjusted, changed, or stopped by the doctor if they are causing low blood pressure symptoms.
• Bradycardia may be due to a medication. The doctor may reduce, change or stop the medication. Bradycardia due to sick sinus syndrome or heart block is treated with an implantable pacemaker.
• Tachycardia is treated depending on the nature of the tachycardia. Atrial fibrillation can be treated with oral medications, electrical cardioversion, or a catheterization procedure called pulmonary vein isolation. Ventricular tachycardia can be controlled with medications or with an implantable defibrillator.
• Pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis is treated with blood thinners, intravenous heparin initially and oral warfarin later.
• Pericardial fluid can be removed by a procedure called pericardiocentesis.
• Postural hypotension can be treated by increasing water and salt intake, using compression stockings to compress the leg veins and reduce the pooling of blood in the veins. Increasing salt intake can lead to heart failure in patients with existing heart disease and should not be undertaken without consulting a doctor.
Homeopathic Medicines for Hypotension, Low Blood Pressure
Homeopathy can not just give symptomatic relief in cases of hypotension but can also address many root causes of low blood pressure like Bradychardia, Tachycardia, Pericarditis, Schock, Speticiemia, Vasovagal attack, inflammation etc.
The most commonly indicated homeopathic medicines in low blood pressure are:
Carbo-veg, Phos, Sepia, Thyroidinum, Baryta-mur, Aconite, Aranea, Cactus, Curare, Gelsemium, Halo, Histamine, Lachesis, Lyco, Naja, Rauwolfia, Reserprine, Visc., Radium, Theridion, Oleander, Laurocrasis, Acid flour, Adrenalin, Ars alb, Aurum mur, Bartya carb, Bryonia, Crataegus China, Conium, Ferrum met, lycopus, Nat mur, Pulsatilla.
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.
Taken from :- http://www.hpathy.com/diseases/blood-low-pressure-symptoms-treatment.asp
Take Care and God Bless !
Question: What is the treatment for High blood pressure and Low blood pressure?
Answer: The main treatments will be administered by your GP, you can find more information on the treatments and causes by searching for HYPERTENSION - high blood pressure and HYPOTENSION - low blood pressure. there are many natural solutions that can be done to change both these conditions. A change in diet, exercise, weight-loss (if overweight)and to stop smoking can bring down your blood pressure amounts other lifestyle changes. for low blood pressure symptoms try this link http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3864
Question: what is the treatment & medicine name for Low Blood Pressure? what is the treatment & medicine name for Low Blood Pressure
Answer: Hypotension , hypo means low, tension refers to blood pressure.
Question: Please some someone tell me if there is treatment for very low blood pressure?
Answer: First, define "very low"? In most cases "low" blood pressure does not require treatment because it's generally of no consequence. Lower than average BP is a relative thing and can usually be considered a normal healthy variant. Providing you aren't experiencing symptoms such as dizziness and fainting (that would indicate BP is so low it's unable to push blood around the body sufficiently) the number is not that important.
Pathologically low blood pressure is rare and can be caused by different problems such as endocrine problems, certain cardiac issues and diabetes but I assume this has been excluded? Keep hydrated and change position slowly.
The yanks advise adding salt to your drinking water, I find this idea abhorrent and unnecessary.
Question: LOW BLOOD PRESSURE: causes, treatment and prevention? thank you so much for your time, it is greatly appreciated! : )
Answer: Low blood pressure is caused by unintentional dehydration.
Doctors are telling people that water isn't that important when they advise "drink plenty of fluids". "Fluids" include everything under the sun that contribute to dehydration. The body functions on water and doesn't compromise.
While many of the alternatives do contain water, they also act like diuretics in that they can pull out as much as 50% more water than they provide. Doctors know this, but promote the "fluids", anyway. I'll explain why later.
Low blood pressure and high blood pressure are similar with one main difference.
Both begin at the cellular level.
Every cell in the body needs nutrients that are delivered by water and salt - one of salt's main functions at the cellular level is to remove the toxins. If the cells don't get enough water, they malfunction and cause health problems.
When the body senses a drought condition it rations the water to make it available to those organs that absolutely could not function properly on low water levels. It then must look for other water sources. One of the more common sources for water to inject into the cells is from the blood, which is made up of 94% water.
Taking the water from the blood causes the blood to thicken and the arteries to constrict due to the loss of fluid. This requires the heart to have to work harder to pump the blood, raising the blood pressure in the process, causing high blood pressure.
Low blood pressure is caused the same way, except the with low blood pressure, the arteries don't constrict like they do with high blood pressure. This leaves the arteries open, preventing the heart from building enough pressure.
Another thing that happens when the blood thickens is the salt that was mixed with the water gets concentrated. Doctors see this concentration of salt and call it "excess", blaming it on the cause of the high blood pressure. But this isn't the cause. The high blood pressure is caused by the heart having to pump the thickened blood through the narrower arteries - in other words, it happens because the water was removed from the blood - due to dehydration.
The three most important substances that sustain life are, in order, oxygen, water and salt. Besides the large make up of water and salt in the blood, the tissues contain 75% water and salt and the brain 85% water and salt. With this much salt occurring naturally in the body, where do doctors justify telling us that salt is dangerous?
The drug companies and their emissaries - the medical profession - can't regulate the oxygen we breathe, but, through misinformation and outright lies, they do control the water and salt that we consume.
Without water and salt we would die. Maintaining low amounts of water and salt and we develop health problems. It's funny that the same doctors who tell us that water is unimportant and that salt is bad for us are the same doctors who are right there to "help" us when we get sick.
Doctors don't recognize dehydration as the cause of health problems unless they can treat / prevent it with a saline IV in the ER at a cost of $385. But they won't teach their patients how to the same thing at home for free (orally, not intravenously). Suddenly, dehydration becomes the result of some diseases, but never the cause.
Imagine the money that would be saved if people learned that their health could greatly improve by increasing their water and salt intake - imagine the money the drug companies would lose if people learned this, and imagine the money that doctors would lose if people learned this and they had less people to treat.
As you can see, the reason doctors don't recognize that dehydration causes disease is because there's no profit in prescribing water.
Lowering and raising one's blood pressure is treated the same way. Click on the link below to learn (free) how to do it.
Question: what is the best treatment for low BP(blood pressure)?
Answer: Eat better. Lots of red meat, liver etc. Broccoli too.
Spirullina helps a great deal too.
Question: Help please for Low-high blood-pressure....Best non-drug treatment for "Low high" - say 150/88 - hypertension? Biofeedback, Resperate, acupuncture, yoga, aerobics, any ideas?
What works?
Answer: Actually, you have mentioned a lot of good alternatives. How do you feel about vitamins? Magnesium helps your muscles to relax and potassium helps regulate your heartbeat. DO NOT take a lot of potassium, more is not better in this case. Just take a daily supplement, the amount is on the bottle. Sometimes the body's electrolytes are out of balance and that can cause raised blood pressure, as can stress.
Check with your doctor about herbal supplements. In California they have to let you try to lower your BP naturally before you take meds for it.
Exercise is also a good remedy. Get that body flexible and strong.
Looks like you are on the right track. I have used acupuncture and Resperate and they worked for me. Hypertension is hereditary in my family and so far I am the only one to keep my BP in line.
Good luck and hang in there.
Question: hi! somebody can help what can i take for low blood pressure? or anykind of home treatment?
Answer: Try eating licquorice, that is supposed to increase blood pressure.
Question: what's the best advice for very low blood pressure? My mother is 75, is not overweight and has had triple heart bypass surgery (years ago) but she gets very low blood pressure and can feel very unwell. She won't tell me how low and won't go to the doctor because she does not want any more invasive treatment. is there anything she can do herself?
Answer: My Friend Here are some advices, precautions and other details about low blood pressure. May the GOD give your mom Health.
People who have lower blood pressures have a lower risk of strokes, kidney disease, and heart diseases. Athletes, people who exercise regularly, people who maintain ideal body weights, and non-smokers, tend to have lower blood pressures. Therefore, low blood pressure is desirable as long as it is not low enough to cause symptoms and damage to organs in the body.
What are low blood pressure signs and symptoms?
When the blood pressure is not sufficient to deliver enough blood to the organs of the body, the organs do not work properly and may be permanently damaged. For example, if insufficient blood flows to the brain, brain cells do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, and a person can feel light-headed, dizzy, or even faint. Going from a sitting or lying position to a standing position often brings out the symptoms of low blood pressure. This occurs because standing causes blood to “settle” in the veins of the lower body, and this can lower the blood pressure. If the blood pressure is already low, standing can make the low pressure worse to the point of causing symptoms. (The development of light-headedness, dizziness, or fainting upon standing caused by low blood pressure is called orthostatic hypotension. Normal individuals are able to compensate rapidly for the low pressure created by standing with the responses discussed previously and do not develop orthostatic hypotension.)
When there is insufficient blood pressure to deliver blood to the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply blood to the heart’s muscle), a person can develop chest pain (angina) or even a heart attack. When insufficient blood is delivered to the kidneys, the kidneys fail to eliminate wastes from the body, for example, urea and creatinine, and an increase in their levels in the blood occur (e.g., elevations of blood urea nitrogen or BUN and serum creatinine, respectively).
Shock is a life-threatening condition where persistently low blood pressure causes organs such as kidney, liver, heart, lung, and brain to fail rapidly.
Just a few decades ago, doctors thought a blood pressure reading of 160/95 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) was an acceptable target rate for most Americans. Today, those numbers are regarded as dangerously high, and blood pressure lower than 120/80 is considered optimal for good health.
The ongoing downward revision of blood pressure standards had led some people to assume that just as you can't be too thin or too rich, your blood pressure can't be too low. But that's not always the case.
Many people who have low blood pressure (hypotension) are healthy and have no signs or symptoms related to lower than normal readings. But for others, low blood pressure can cause dizziness and fainting or indicate serious heart, endocrine or neurological disorders. Severely low blood pressure can deprive the brain and other vital organs of oxygen and nutrients, leading to shock, a life-threatening condition.
Signs and symptoms
Some people with low blood pressure are in peak physical condition with strong cardiovascular systems and a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. For these people, low blood pressure, rather than being a cause for concern, is a cause for celebration.
But low blood pressure can also signal an underlying problem, especially when it drops suddenly or is accompanied by signs and symptoms such as:
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Fainting (syncope)
Lack of concentration
Blurred vision
Nausea
Cold, clammy, pale skin
Rapid, shallow breathing
Fatigue
Depression
Thirst
Causes
The heart is the prime mover of the circulatory system; with each beat it launches your blood on a journey through 60,000 miles of arteries, veins and capillaries, ultimately circulating about 2,000 gallons of blood each day.
To do this, it contracts an average of 70 times a minute with the same amount of force you'd use to squeeze a tennis ball. Blood pressure is a measurement of the pressure in your arteries during the active and resting phases of each heartbeat. Here's what the numbers mean:
Systolic pressure. The first number in a blood pressure reading, this is the amount of pressure your heart generates when pumping blood through your arteries to the rest of your body.
Diastolic pressure.
Diastolic pressure. The second number in a blood pressure reading, this refers to the amount of pressure in your arteries when your heart is at rest between beats.
Although you can get an accurate blood pressure reading at any given time, blood pressure isn't static. It can vary considerably in a short amount of time — sometimes from one heartbeat to the next, depending on your body position, breathing rhythm, stress level, physical condition, the medications you take, what you eat and drink, and even the time of day. Blood pressure is usually lowest at night and rises sharply on waking.
Blood pressure: How low can you go?
Current guidelines identify normal blood pressure as lower than 120/80 — many experts think 115/75 is optimal. Higher readings indicate increasingly serious risks of cardiovascular disease. Even blood pressures formerly considered healthy — 120 to 139 systolic and 80 to 89 diastolic — are now believed to increase the risks. Low blood pressure, on the other hand, is much harder to quantify.
Some experts define low blood pressure as readings lower than 90 systolic or 60 diastolic — you need have only one number in the low range for your blood pressure to be considered lower than normal. In other words, if your systolic pressure is a perfect 115, but your diastolic pressure is 50, you're considered to have lower than normal pressure.
Yet this can be misleading because what constitutes low blood pressure is highly relative, varying considerably from one person to another. For that reason, doctors often consider chronically low blood pressure too low only if it causes noticeable signs and symptoms.
On the other hand, a sudden fall in blood pressure can be dangerous. A change of just 20 mm Hg — a drop from 130 systolic to 110 systolic, for example — can cause dizziness and fainting when the brain fails to receive an adequate supply of blood. And precipitous plunges, especially those caused by uncontrolled bleeding, severe infections or allergic reactions can, be life-threatening.
How low blood pressure gets that way
Low blood pressure can be a boon when it results from a healthy lifestyle. Athletes and people who exercise regularly, for example, tend to have lower blood pressure than do people who aren't as fit. So, in general, do nonsmokers and people who eat well and maintain a normal weight.
But in some instances, low blood pressure can be a sign of serious, even life-threatening disorders. And although the reason for lower than normal blood pressure isn't always clear, doctors know that the following factors can cause or contribute to low and sometimes to dangerously low readings:
Pregnancy. Because a woman's circulatory system expands rapidly during pregnancy, blood pressure is likely to drop. In fact, during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, systolic pressure commonly drops by five to 10 points and diastolic pressure by as much as 10 to 15 points.
Medications. A number of drugs can cause low blood pressure, including diuretics and other drugs that treat hypertension; heart medications such as beta blockers; drugs for Parkinson's disease; tricyclic antidepressants; Viagra, particularly in combination with nitroglycerine; narcotics, and alcohol. Other prescription and over-the-counter medications may cause low blood pressure when taken in combination with high blood pressure drugs.
Heart problems. Among the heart conditions that can lead to low blood pressure are an extremely low heart rate (bradycardia), problems with heart valves, heart attack and heart failure. These are conditions in which your heart may not be able to circulate enough blood to meet your body's needs.
Endocrine problems. These include an underactive or overactive thyroid (hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism), adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) low blood sugar and in some cases, diabetes.
Dehydration. Fever, vomiting, severe diarrhea, overuse of diuretics, and strenuous exercise can all lead to dehydration, a potentially serious condition in which your body loses more water than you take in. Even mild dehydration, a loss of as little as 1 percent to 2 percent of body weight, can cause weakness, dizziness and fatigue. Far more serious is hypovolemic shock, a life-threatening complication of dehydration. It occurs when low blood volume causes a sudden drop in blood pressure and a corresponding reduction in the amount of oxygen reaching your tissues. If untreated, severe hypovolemic shock can cause death within a few minutes or hours.
Blood loss. A significant loss of blood from major trauma or severe internal bleeding reduces blood volume, leading to a severe drop in blood pressure.
Severe infection (septic shock). Septic shock can occur when bacteria leave the original site of an infection — most often in the lungs, abdomen or urinary tract — and enter the bloodstream. The bacteria then produce toxins that affect your blood vessels, leading to a profound and life-threatening decline in blood pressure.
Allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). Anaphylactic shock is a sometimes fatal allergic reaction that can occur in people who are highly sensitive to drugs such as penicillin, to certain foods such as peanuts, or to bee or wasp stings. This type of shock is characterized by breathing problems, hives, itching, a swollen throat and a sudden, dramatic fall in blood pressure.
Postural (orthostatic) hypotension. This is a sudden decrease in systolic pressure, usually at least 20 mm Hg, when you stand up from a sitting or prone position. Ordinarily, blood pools in your legs whenever you stand, but your body compensates for this by increasing your heart rate and constricting blood vessels, thereby ensuring that enough blood returns to your brain. But in people with postural hypotension, this compensating mechanism fails and blood pressure falls, leading to dizziness, lightheadedness, blurred vision and even fainting. Postural hypotension can occur for a variety of reasons including dehydration, prolonged bed rest, diabetes, heart problems, burns, excessive heat, large varicose veins, adrenal insufficiency, and certain neurological disorders such as diabetic autonomic neuropathy and alcoholic polyneuropathy. A number of medications can also cause postural hypotension, particularly drugs used to treat high blood pressure — diuretics, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors — as well as antipsychotics, tricyclic antidepressants and drugs for Parkinson's disease. Ironically, people with postural hypotension due to neurological disorders usually have high blood pressure when they're lying down, even during sleep, when blood pressure typically falls to its lowest levels.
Postural hypotension is especially common in older adults who are more likely to use antihypertensive drugs and to have problems with blood pressure regulation than younger people are. But it can also affect young, otherwise healthy people who stand up suddenly after sitting with their legs crossed for long periods or after working for a time in a squatting position.
Multiple system atrophy with orthostatic hypotension. Also called Shy-Drager syndrome, this rare disorder causes progressive damage to the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and digestion. Although multiple system atrophy can involve muscle tremors, slowed movement, problems with coordination and speech, and incontinence, its main characteristic is severe orthostatic hypotension in combination with very high blood pressure when lying down. Multiple system atrophy can't be cured and usually proves fatal within seven to 10 years of diagnosis.
Postprandial hypotension. A problem that almost exclusively affects older adults, postprandial hypotension is a sudden drop in blood pressure after a meal. Just as gravity pulls blood to your feet when you stand, a large amount of blood flows to your digestive tract after you eat. Ordinarily, your body counteracts this by increasing your heart rate and constricting certain blood vessels to help maintain normal blood pressure. But in some people these mechanisms fail, leading to dizziness, faintness, and falls. Postprandial hypotension is more likely to affect people with high blood pressure or autonomic nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Lowering the dose of antihypertensive drugs and eating small, low-carbohydrate meals may help reduce symptoms.
Neurally mediated hypotension. Unlike orthostatic hypotension, this disorder causes blood pressure to drop after standing for long periods, leading to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea and fainting. Although the end result is similar, neurally mediated hypotension differs from orthostatic hypotension in other important respects: It primarily affects young people, for instance, and rather than resulting from failed blood pressure regulation, it seems to occur because of a miscommunication between the heart and the brain. When you stand for extended periods, your blood pressure falls as blood pools in your legs. Normally, your body then makes adjustments to normalize your blood pressure. But in people with neurally mediated hypotension, nerves in the heart's left ventricle actually signal the brain that blood pressure is too high, rather than too low, and so the brain lessens the heart rate, decreasing blood pressure even further. This causes more blood to pool in the legs and less blood to reach the brain, leading to lightheadedness and fainting.
Nutritional deficiencies. A lack of the essential vitamins B-12 and folic acid can cause anemia, which in turn can lead to low blood pressure.
Question: Adderall and possibly low blood pressure? I was prescribed with my first inattentive ADD treatment -Adderall- yesterday. But before taking it in for the first time right now, I constantly feel very lightheaded everytime I stand up, and it's been like that for a year. I sometimes don't drink a lot of water, and it might be possible that the cause for it is low blood pressure (but i dont know). Should I take in Adderall for my ADD, or wil the side effects worsen what im feeling right now?
Answer: I have read your question very carefully and I felt the frustration of not being able to ask you a few probing questions before answering. However, I would at the very least like to email you a few things to consider that will at least offer a few things to consider and may offer additional aspect for your consideration...with your permission first!
MD., 21 years
F.A.C.C.
Question: For blood pressure that drops too low, what is an effective home treatment?
I was hoping this question would be answered by a medical person.
My family member is on kidney-dialysis...meaning the intake of any excess water or salt can cause dangerous reactions in the body. At the dialysis center, to raise blood pressure they have the patient sit-up, swing the feet to increase blood flow, and eat a dill pickle.
I was wondering if there was anything else we might try.
Answer: Drink enough water. Sit up from a lying position slowly. Stand up from sitting slowly.
Question: what is the cause of low blood pressure & how do a treat it? I WENT FOR A TEST AND IT'S RESULT SAYS, I HAVE LOW BLOOD PRESSURE BUT THEY SEEM NOT TO RECOMMEND ANY TABLET FOR THE TREATMENT.
Answer: There are many causes of low blood pressure including heart failure, medications, advanced diabetes, fainting, just to name a few, or the reading could be just normal for you. Your doctor should do further testing to determine what the cause is, and depending on how low it is, treatment may be necessary. It should also be checked consistently. If it isn't much lower than 120/80, then treatment wouldn't be necessary.
Question: I recently have been noticing a Low diastolic blood pressure, I am 32? I am a 31 year old male. In excellent shape, 170 lbs 5'11 - I have unexplained hypertention. I have been on 40mgs of accupril for most of 9 years. I recently went to a cardiologist for an annual check up and received a echo and stress test, check for LVH and other cardiac issues. All results were normal. My blood pressure usually reads 125/80 w/ medication but recently I have been seeing lower diastolic pressures 125/65. My doctor added a diuretic to my treatment last year and I have stoped weight lifting which my cardiologist suggested might not be good for a hypertensive. Since then I have been running on average 8- 10 miles a week. Like i said my last cardio echo was perfect,.....could all this cardio and running be lowering my diastolic? If not what could it be if my echo's are clean ?
Answer: diuretics lower blood pressure.
if all tests checked out fine, I wouldn't worry too much, unless of course it continues to decline to dangerous lows.
65 diastolic is not bad..
Question: "Natural Treatment" for high blood pressure?? Is there an alternative, more natural way to lower blood pressure? (non-pill-popper)
Also, will taking the medication prescribed cause the body to be dependent on the medicine? If I begin to take them, then stop taking it, will it do more harm than good?
Answer: You could try adding more fish to your diet. I prefer to take Omega 3 from pure fish oil in capsule form since I do not prefer the taste of fish.
BEST WISHES!
Question: Blood pressure treatment? norvasc? micardis? Hey guys im 25 years old, I have blood pressure, I'm currently on a micardis 40, and a norvasc 2.5 (half of a 5 tablet). The doctor has recommended that i get off my norvasc, because there shouldn't be a problem with 1 medication holding me for the entire day. But last time I had to add a norvasc because i noticed during night times the micardis would stop working and as I'm sleeping my blood pressure would go high. Then id wake up and feel very weird and unwell.
I'm a little anxious about discontinuing treatment, has anyone stopped a hypertensive before? what happens if my blood pressure goes back up again suddenly? Is there a coming off effect for my medication i should be aware off? and if my bp raises during my discontinuation, do i just wait until i see the doctor or should i treat it? or should I treat it right away?
Ive more or less been ignoring my condition as my blood pressure has been good, and over the last few months even a little low, like 96/58. At the moment its about 115/75 with rest, what would be the expected number for my bp after i discontinue my norvasc? what happens if i feel very ill and symptomatic? is that normal?
How long does it take for me to see the effects of me stopping my hypertensive?? days? hours?
I also notice that last time when i was not on hypertensive medication i feelt very heavy and almost as if my body was revved up, could this be all caused from some type of underlying psychological illness that i have no control over? or do people feel very revved up, and hot and cold in certain parts of their body, tingling and dis balanced when they stop all their hypertensive treatment?
Best answer is to anyone who can give me a detailed reply to all my questions. If you copy and paste i will simply ignore your reply.
Answer: Micardis plus Norvasc is a combination pill of two blood pressure drugs already. These two medications have few interactions, obviously. Note that all drugs have side effects (every medication has side effects!). Be sure to discuss with your doctor the benefits and side effects of all of the above!-Micardis plus Norvasc-
The issue of whether a genuine hypertensive treatment can ever become normal is critically reviewed by researchers.Factors that predict a successful withdrawl of hypertensive medications are young age, normal body weight, low salt intake, low pretreatment blood pressure, successful therapy with one drug, and only minimal signs of target organ damage.
Do you have all these factors? You are very young,working together with your doctor,a successful medications withdrawl can be reach it. Good luck! Take care always!
Question: How long does it take for Amlodipine to start noticeably lowering blood pressure? I was just recently given a prescription for hypertension. At first, I was being given hydrochlorothiazide to help lower the fluid levels in my blood to help with lowering blood pressure. It helped some, but didn't quite do the trick. So, now my doctor has recently prescribed amlodipine which is designed specifically for blood pressure treatment. How long does it take before you start noticing a drop in blood pressure?
Answer: I was on amlodipine for a year once my hypertension increased, but due to another increase in BP my meds were changed again, and I'm keeping an eye on it now with my own BP monitor. I was told that an increased dose of Amlodipine from 5 to10 mgs[ whatever is the max. check the leaflet in the packet] would take 2/4 days to register an improvement. Don't take more than the recommended dose even if you feel you need more. Wait !!! it should work if you give it time, but if it takes longer than one week I would go back to the doctor again.
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