Since the fall of 2008 I have had dizziness in the mornings, very bad at times. Sometimes almost blacking out. Testing by two doctors has been done, starting that fall. Finally this fall, after two years of testing, my blood pressure med was being considered. I was told to stop the BP med for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks I had very little dizziness, but my BP was running in the 140s. I was given a new BP med. I was switched from Altace to Losartan. My dizziness was even worse for the next two weeks, I almost passed out two days. My doctor then prescribed half doses of Losartan. It was still worse than the Altace. Here are some numbers from today and yesterday. While standing up this morning…85/43, sitting down…115/54. Yesterday standing up…66/34, sitting down…119/54. It is no surprise that I am so dizzy in the mornings. It is not so bad the rest of the day.
I am hoping for a different BP med when I see the doctor in January. I just sit and post in the morning, and do all my activity after lunch. I still have some dizziness in the afternoon, but not bad. There is no dizziness at all in the evening. This is getting to be so annoying. I have has a headache all this year, nonstop. It is also much worse in the morning. Probably caused by the BP problem. Old man Richard needs some relief from all this.
Anybody have a BP med that you will recommend? Any other suggestions?
Orthostatic hypotension is very common as you get older, especially in the am. If your pressure stays low and you remain dizzy you probably dont need the bp meds. It would be tragic if you ended up on the floor with a broken hip.
Take your time getting up. Flat to sitting and wait a couple minutes then stand slowly.
As one of my diabetic heroes, I am really sorry to hear of your struggles over the last two years. Keep us posted on progress - sorry that I have no positive suggestions for you besides keep on being yourself.
Put a glass of water and a small amount of salt(about 2 pinches on a spoon) on your night stand before you go to bed. When you sit up on your bed in the morning, eat the salt and drink the glass of water. This should get rid of your dizziness and make you feel Better until you see your Dr. in Jan. and get a different medication for your BP. Please at least try the water/salt for a couple of days. Let me know how you do.
So sorry to hear this. Annoying, is putting it mildly. What a way to start the day.
My mother is having a hard time with her BP meds. She's got intermittent high BP & is concerned about taking pills every day because it can get too low. She also gets dizzy. Her doc agrees that she shouldn't take meds every day, but hasn't come up with a solution.
Hope you get relief very soon. Please keep us posted.
Interesting Terrie. Some friends are advising me to cut way down on my sodium intake. The think that will lower my BP and I can stop my BP med. I will give your suggestion a try.
A friend of mine was diagnosed with this condition after waking and quickly walking down the stairs at which point he passed out. His doctor recommended that he transition in the morning, sitting at the edge of the bed for a minute, then standing for a minute and then walking somewhere or trying to go down the stairs. Part of the problem for the older diabetic generation is that the autonomic system that contracts the blood vessels to adjust the distribution of blood pressure to compensate for standing just doesn't work as well as it should. Hope that helps.
Thanks bsc, this makes sense and I do that already, but I still have that big drop in BP when I stand up from a sitting position, until about noon each day. I am going to proceed with getting a new BP med in Jan.
I would think that BP in the low 140 is better than the lows you have been getting. I would worry about blood clots. BSC suggestion of sitting at the edge of the bed is good I have done that for the last 30 years. The last thing you want to do is pass out going down the stairs. Try the indapamide 1.25 mg/day it is a diuretic dirt cheap and gets rid of the excess sodium which we need more of as our taste buds die. If it is still too much you can cut the pill in 2.
Since I had the " scare " about high potassium this past summer, taking daily ( altace /ramipril 2.5 mg ) has been stopped . I have been taking my BP and recording at different times during the day regularly and ....result numbers are no different ...averages are around 115/60 . I cook from scratch and decided to add less salt .Do you take your BP machine in to your Doctor and compare numbers in the office ? I needed to purchase a replacement after about 10 years .
Totally frustrating, and I feel for you. I have had low blood pressure problems, too. I had a stroke in my optic nerve that they blame on low blood pressure during the night. Funny. The doctors say that low bp or high bp can cause a stroke. Sometimes when I am light headed, they tell me to drink more water to get my pressure up. Other times they tell me to restrict my H2O so that the electrolyte levels can build back up. UGH!!
I will pray for you to have strength adn patience, and for your doctor to be inspired to figure out how to best help you.
Richard, I ended up stop taking my BP meds for that very reason. Unfortunately with me, I still have the low BP in the mornings and then high later in the day. I have also been told by 2 doctors that I “probably” have the autonomic neuropathy and that is what is causing it but no one has offered a solution. The one doctor did say that it was fluid problems and I should wear those support stockings. Unfortunately, I can’t wear those because of the bone graf in my foot.
Before I stopped taking the meds, my one doctor did suggest changing the timing of taking it. You might want to wait until lunchtime to take your meds, if that is when the dizziness stops. They also had me taking it before bed.
I saw my neurologist yesterday. He has concluded that my problem is autonomic neuropathy, and the BP med is just adding to the problem. He has no solution for the AN but Google provided a med that may help. I cannot wear the stockings either. They cause itching, then bad pain, I suppose they bother my circulation. I also have a headache that started in January, and has never gone away. That bothers me more than the dizziness. The dizziness is not very bothersome after noon, but the headache is nonstop. It is a dull ache, and I do not take more than a single aspirin each day.
Nel, I have given an update of the problem below while responding to Kelly. I am glad you can stop your BP meds and still have very good BPs. My BP machine is giving number's 10-15 points higher than my doctor's machine. Maybe I should buy a new one like you did.
Did they do any tests to come to the autonomic neuropathy diagnosis, or did they decide based on what is happening?
When I read up on that, one of the things they said was pupils were slow to dilate and my eye doctor has commented on that.
I have been having alot of headaches lately and recently found out I have asthma. Sinus headaches can be a problem with astham. Do you have any shortness of breath or anything? When I see the lung guy next month, I am planning on asking him if the autonomic neuropathy can be causing the asthma - I read that can impact your lungs also.
I took my BP med at bedtime for many years, and I had low BP in the morning and high in th evening. More recently I have been taking my med in the morning. Now I have more stable BP all day long, but the dizziness is not helped. I agree with my doctor that I have autonomic neuropathy causing my dizziness.
