My grandmother continually complains about how she feels dizzy when she stands. The doctors have discovered that her blood pressure drops considerably when she stands, even if it's slowly. But they don't know why. She was in the hospital a few weeks ago because her speech started slurring and they think she had a ministroke. They checked to see if she had a blood clot behind her heart, and that came out negative. She's on plenty of pills, and the doctor's trying to find a combination that will make her feel better. She seems to get all the side effects of all the medications. She's scheduled for a trip to a neurologist, but it may take a while for her to get there because they're running behind due to the snow we just had. So I'm wondering if anyone knows what this might be...her kidneys are functioning fine, although one is smaller than the other. Other than this drop of blood pressure, the doctors can't find anything else wrong with her. They're at a loss for answers, and so are we. What could it be, she says it comes and goes every few minutes to the point where she has to just lay down.

She's on plenty of pills, and the doctor's trying to find a combination that will make her feel better

It sounds like she's on one-too many. Her condition is called orthostatic hypotension and is usually a result of too much BP lowering....sometimes these doctors don't know when to stop prescribing.
The main problem with the "if some lowering is good, more must be better" approach results in hypotension on a flight of stairs a broken hip or worse might be the outcome.

I really think that many "grandmothers" are seriously overmedicated.

Thanks for the reply. I checked into it a little and it seems like they're checking for more serious things before eliminating simple things like dehydration and medication. She is on a lot of pills, and I'll make sure to tell her that might be the problem.

Have them check her thyroid. I had the same symptom with my blood pressure and my doctor check my thyroid. My test was normal but he put me on thyroid med anyway and I feel better than I've felt in 10 years. This doctor is outside my HMO. :)

Thanks. I told my grandmother about what it is and what could be causing it. I also read that it helps to keep your head elevated while sleeping, eating frequent small meals, and eating foods high in salt. I told her about this as well, and she's planning to ask her doctor about it next week. Thanks everyone!

Have them check her for Addisons disease. Adrenal glands control you BP by regulating potassium and sodium. A drop of the BP upon standing is one of the tell tale symptoms. It is very rare though and many docs don't even think about it. HeatherW