Issues with Low Blood Pressure, High Pulse in Morning and Afternoon

[JasonP]

Maybe somebody can help me out here. I have only recently discovered this issue that I believe I have had for possibly 30 years or more. My blood pressure changes throughout the day. In the morning it is usually the worst and when I feel the worst. It is usually low, it usually varies between 90 to 100 over 60-70. When it's below 95 over 65, I usually feel bad. I have also noticed that my pulse is usually high. Almost always, when I have been feeling bad, my pulse is over 95. Late in the evening, my blood pressure usually goes up some and if it gets around 120/80, I'm usually feeling better, but I am especially feeling better if my blood pressure is "normal" and my pulse also goes down. Heat really zaps me and makes me feel awful, while cool and cold air usually helps. I can get orthostatic hypotension, my arm can feel tingling.

The doctor said it was a sign of dehydration. He's wrong, it is something else. Right now, I feel great. My pulse is around 66 with normal blood pressure. The only thing I did different was take a beta blocker about 6 hours ago. The air feels cooler now too for some reason.

Does anyone have any advice how I can get my blood pressure normal in the morning and afternoon with a low pulse?

 

[boliston]

I'm normally trying to get my blood pressure down rather than up, but it looks like being sure to stay well hydrated and possibly increasing the amount of salt in diet can help.

 

[JasonP]

My blood pressure was low this morning upon waking... worse than normal although I didn't measure it, I could just feel it. I went to the bathroom and had to sit on the toilet. As I was urinating, I thought... this may cause my blood pressure to drop... sure enough, I started blacking out. I felt horrible. I tried to make it to my bed but had to go down to the floor. I tried measuring my blood pressure on the floor but got the EE reading 3 times. I broke out into a sweat and then a few minutes later felt better. I then measured it. It was at 92 over 56, pulse 60. I laid there some more and it got to 101 over 62, pulse 61. I actually felt much better then.

I drank some Pepsi (very rare) and ate something and this afternoon it is 112 over 72, pulse 83 (sitting down). After drinking the Pepsi, I didn't feel mentally great.

Any suggestions?

 

[Star64]

My blood pressure was low this morning upon waking... worse than normal although I didn't measure it, I could just feel it. I went to the bathroom and had to sit on the toilet. As I was urinating, I thought... this may cause my blood pressure to drop... sure enough, I started blacking out. I felt horrible. I tried to make it to my bed but had to go down to the floor. I tried measuring my blood pressure on the floor but got the EE reading 3 times. I broke out into a sweat and then a few minutes later felt better. I then measured it. It was at 92 over 56, pulse 60. I laid there some more and it got to 101 over 62, pulse 61. I actually felt much better then.

I drank some Pepsi (very rare) and ate something and this afternoon it is 112 over 72, pulse 83 (sitting down). After drinking the Pepsi, I didn't feel mentally great.

Any suggestions?

Hypotension, or low blood pressure, means that the pressure of blood circulating around the body is lower than normal, or lower than expected given the environmental conditions. However, 'hypotension' is a relative term – one person may have low blood pressure compared to others of similar physical characteristics, but may be perfectly healthy.

Low blood pressure is only a problem if it has a negative impact on the body. For example, vital organs (particularly the brain) may be starved of oxygen and nutrients if the blood pressure is too low for that particular person.
Symptoms include:

• Light-headedness, when standing from a sitting or lying position (This is called
  Orthostatic hypotension
  Generally, when you stand upright from a sitting or lying position, the blood vessels in your body respond to gravity by constricting. This increases blood pressure. Orthostatic hypotension means that the blood vessels don't adjust to a standing position and, instead, allow the blood pressure to drop, resulting in a feeling of light-headedness.
• Unsteadiness
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Blurred vision
• Fatigue
• Fainting.

Some causes of hypotension include blood loss, dehydration and certain medications, such as antihypertensive drugs. plus,

• Emotional stress, fear, insecurity or pain (the most common causes of fainting)
• Dehydration, which reduces blood volume
• The body's reaction to heat, which is to shunt blood into the vessels of the skin, leading to dehydration
• Blood donation
• Internal bleeding, such as a perforated stomach ulcer
• Blood loss from trauma
• Medications for high blood pressure
• Diuretics, which produce fluid loss
• Medications for depression
• medications for certain heart conditions
• Allergic reaction to certain drugs or chemicals
• Some forms of infection
• Heart disease, which can hamper the pumping action of the heart muscle

• One of the most common causes of hypotension is dehydration, so I can understand why the Doctor came to this conclusion. It maybe the beta blocker is also causing this, try drinking more water though ,not pepsi and see if this helps....I would always recommend you follow back up with your Doctor again, especially if this continues, as many different medications can cause this too, I hope this helps, you have helped me many times

 

[beach house]

my gp said "drink coffee" because of the low blood pressure. i'm quite hesitant, there are conflicting things written about coffee in regard to t.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/coffee-reducing-tinnitus.17897/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/coffee.15562/

everything is a damn roulette with it...

 

[Anny_Wish1]

I was in a similar situation when in the morning my pulse goes off the scale and the pressure drops. Examination by a cardiologist did not reveal anything. Then I realized that the cause was stress and tiredness. I advise you to consult a doctor who will offer an alternative to drinking more water.

 

[Ron Robles]

What kind of medication do you take what kind of beta blocker?

 

[JasonP]

What kind of medication do you take what kind of beta blocker?

Hey, I just saw this. At the time I took Metoprolol. However, a while back I took Propranolol. Unfortunately, the last time I took Propranolol, I got an additional tinnitus tone that was going in and out. It later went away. I don't know if it would happen again or not. Metoprolol did not seem to do that. Again, everyone is different so just because that affected me or not doesn't mean it will or won't effect others.

 

[JasonP]

Just to update everyone, I went to another doctor and he said I had dysautonomia. Another doctor prescribed me Florinef (Fludrocortisone) but i have been too scared to take it. Anyone take this before?

 

[Ron Robles]

Hey Jason, I also take Metoprolol. I don't know if I told you or not, due to my open heart surgery. How long have you been taking Metoprolol?

 

[DebInAustralia]

Just to update everyone, I went to another doctor and he said I had dysautonomia. Another doctor prescribed me Florinef (Fludrocortisone) but i have been too scared to take it. Anyone take this before?

Hey Jason,

I read this thread yesterday, and was going to suggest dysautonomia/POTS.

I would be interested to hear how your doctor arrived at this conclusion.

Have you done a tilt table test? If not, this could be helpful. Otherwise you can do a 'poor man's tilt table test'. You should be able to find videos on YouTube on this.

I have suspected I have had issues with this as well post my diagnosis with Lyme/coinfections.

Dr. Marty Ross has an excellent video presentation on POTS/Lyme/Babesia @

www.treatlyme.net

He recommends:

. treat Lyme and/or Babesia if present
. increase salt (probably an issue with tinnitus?)
. compression stockings
. ashwagandha - support adrenals (as an alternative to florinef)

 

[JasonP]

Hey Jason,

I read this thread yesterday, and was going to suggest dysautonomia/POTS.

I would be interested to hear how your doctor arrived at this conclusion.

Have you done a tilt table test? If not, this could be helpful. Otherwise you can do a 'poor man's tilt table test'. You should be able to find videos on YouTube on this.

I have suspected I have had issues with this as well post my diagnosis with Lyme/coinfections.

Dr. Marty Ross has an excellent video presentation on POTS/Lyme/Babesia @

www.treatlyme.net

He recommends:

. treat Lyme and/or Babesia if present
. increase salt (probably an issue with tinnitus?)
. compression stockings
. ashwagandha - support adrenals (as an alternative to florinef)

Thanks for the advice! The doctor just diagnosed me based on my symptoms. I took a supplement called Vitassium which contains sodium and potassium. I took it for quite a while and it did not increase my tinnitus. Compression socks did help once I got to the 30 to 40 mmHg sock. I never tried ashwagandha long term. I heard it can stop working after a while but I don't know. Have you tried it? Heat outside tends to really screw me over the most and seems to cause either an increase in heart rate, drop in blood pressure, or both. Eating sometimes can make me tired too. Interestingly I sometimes switch between the two types of POTS. The first is where your blood pressure drops but your heart rate increases over 30 bpm upon standing and the second is where the blood pressure can increase upon standing and your pulse goes over 30 bpm (If I understand it correctly). I think the latter is caused by adrenaline increase which can also add anxiety.

I also read where POTS affects more females than males and a doctor checked my testosterone one afternoon and it was low, although another doctor says it's supposed to only be checked in the morning. I don't really know if that has an affect on POTS or not, but one of the doctors didn't believe it would.

 

[JasonP]

Hey Jason, I also take Metoprolol. I don't know if I told you or not, due to my open heart surgery. How long have you been taking Metoprolol?

Hey, I just saw this. I only took Metoprolol for a very short time. My problem for a while has been a high pulse while standing or exercising, or because of heat.

However, while sleeping at night, my pulse can fluctuate but is usually not high. So after a couple of days of taking Metoprolol, I drifted to sleep one night and woke up gasping for air. I think it lowered my pulse too much while sleeping so I stopped. I am dealing with dysautonomia right now but it was not caused that medication.

 

[Shirlnga]

Reading over some of the comments here, the low BP and high pulse rate seems to be a common thing. When I wake in the morning my BP is normally around 90/59 but my pulse rate is 108-115 and I feel very bad. By lunchtime, my BP and pulse rate are fairly normal and I feel good. (No meds). I never plan anything for early morning because of this and always schedule appointments for afternoon when I feel like a normal person.

 

[JasonP]

Reading over some of the comments here, the low BP and high pulse rate seems to be a common thing. When I wake in the morning my BP is normally around 90/59 but my pulse rate is 108-115 and I feel very bad. By lunchtime, my BP and pulse rate are fairly normal and I feel good. (No meds). I never plan anything for early morning because of this and always schedule appointments for afternoon when I feel like a normal person.

My doctor told me to drink something like either two glasses or two bottles of water when waking up and said not to add salt, another doctor told me to liberal with salt. Who knows... You could try the water first and see if that helps. Or you could try wearing an abdominal binder and compression socks in the morning and see if that helps. With me sometimes, I have put on the abdominal binder and it helps get blood up to my upper body better. If my posture is bad, I usually stand up straighter automatically with it on and it helps me to lift weights better. You also might want to try turning the A/C on or make sure it's cold in the morning and avoid taking hot showers in the morning and see if that helps. (Cold can constrict blood vessels while heat dilates)

------

For everyone: Lately, I have been having good blood pressure in the morning. I've done quite a few things lately that could be helping... I hope it's not just the fact that it is winter although the cold air helps. Anyways here it is:

1. I started eating salmon for breakfast. For some reason fish does not make me sluggish. I am thinking it is due to the Omega 3 fatty acids but not 100 percent sure.

2. I have been exercising my core muscles and leg muscles trying to get in better physical conditioning (I believe part of my problem is that my body has been deconditioned). I am wondering if I went to the gym it would be better but I know for starting out, I can do most all the exercises I want at home using my body weight, ab wheel, some weights, etc.

3. I have got an adjustable bed that lets me sleep at an angle at night. Supposedly, this can help some with blood volume. I find when I am anxious, it's easier for me to sleep at an angle. At first I was so deconditioned I couldn't do it without waking up feeling extremely messed up, but after some time I was able.

4. I started taking Testosterone and Vitamin D. The Testosterone has really helped me to be able to exercise, however, there are two side effects that I don't like: It stops your own Testosterone production and significantly lowered my sperm count but since I am not married now, I figured I needed to try something and my Testosterone levels were low on two days I was feeling really bad.

5. Taking advantage of the cold... However, I went for a walk after lunch in 74 degree plus weather the other day and was able to maintain my blood pressure but my pulse was high unfortunately. Part of it was probably due to anxiety though.

I hope this spring I will be able to handle the heat.

 

[JasonP]

Update: I may be making some progress but am not fully "cured".

I went out in 77 degree yesterday morning and was able to help my dad with some things. My pulse remained fairly low for me and I felt calm. After a while, he was on the ground and I helped pull him up. I did not feel weak, fatigued, nor did my vision go black.

HOWEVER, as I started walking off, I started seeing "stars" go around my vision for a minute or so. I looked up on the internet and it said low blood pressure could cause that. I checked my blood pressure and it read 90 over 58 with a pulse of 73. So even though I had low blood pressure, my pulse was not high like over 2 years ago when I originally posted this thread. One negative thing though is that my legs have been heavier which I believe is due to water retention and a lower heart rate If my heart rate went up, I think my legs would get less heavy or if I had less water retention I think they would get lighter. I hope exercising can increase my heart's stroke volume.