Hi everyone,

The last couple of months I've posted on here under various other topics as my doctors try to "guess" as to what might be wrong with me. I just found out today my symptoms might be due to low blood pressure. Two months ago I started having random dizzy spells that would last seconds or minutes, a couple of several hour long vertigo spells, and in the last couple of weeks I've recently battled severe acid reflux, some tinnitus that went away, nausea, and even more dizziness.

My doctor told me to monitor my blood pressure and blood sugar throughout the day when I was standing and resting. So far the past few days my BP and sugar have both been very normal - my BP stayed mainly around 115/75 to 110/75. Today I was sitting on the couch reading a book and stood up and started walking when all of a sudden I had another short vertigo relapse that lasted only seconds. I took my blood pressure a few minutes later and it was 99/66. I called the nurse at my doctor's office and she said that sounds low and I may have "Orthostatic hypertension" where my BP drops when standing.

I just wondering if any of you have ever had low blood pressure and drops that caused you to have vertigo and dizzy spells? One of my bad vertigo spells happened at night and most of the random dizzy spells that I have had occurred when I was at work. I'm a pharmacy technician so I'm on my feet the whole time and moving around - no sitting. My ENT doctor thought I had BPPV (benign paroxymal positional vertigo), an inner ear disorder, that would go away with time and that is where my vertigo and dizziness was coming from. The acid reflux was thought to be due to drinking too much Powerade and grape juice (I drank a bunch of juice/powerade over Xmas weekend because I thought I might be dehydrated and that was causing the nausea).

I started taking Prevacid today for my acid reflux and I also started a new birth control (Mircette) on Sunday because my gyno thought I was dehydrated from my previous BC and that could cause the dizziness. It's frusterating when all my doctors are saying different things but it would be nice to know if anyone else has low blood pressure and has had vertigo, feelings of off-balance, and dizziness at random times of day so maybe I finally found out what was wrong with me. :)

Thanks!

One more thing - are there any disorders or diseases out there that can actually cause low blood pressure?

I suffer from LBP, the lowest being 80/50. I was then diagnosed with Addisons disease which can cause LBP and dizziness.

Jen,

What is Addison's disease?

Hey - see my other post on your previous thread.

I think you need to have blood work up and see if your Thyroid is out of wack like mine was when I had your symptoms.

Take a look at my post on your other thread. ;)

Jen,

What is Addison's disease?
I was just diagnosed in September and am still learning a lot about this disease. I would do some research on your own and maybe mention it to your dr. Here is my understanding of it....

Your adrenal glands produce the hormone cortisol which regulates stress, blood pressure, and I am sure some other things. My adrenal glands stopped working (my doctor believes my body is attacking my adrenal glands) and were producing a very low amount of coritsol. Without the right amount of cortisol, my blood pressure was really low. In times of stress or excitment I have to be extra cautious because my bp will just drop and I will get really dizzy and have even passed out once.

This disease is life-threatening if you don't take your medication but is completely managable as long as you follow the dr.s orders. I am in the process of learning when my body needs the coritsol and I carry it with me at all times in case of an emergency.

I hope this helps and I would be more than happy to answer any other questions you have about it. Like I said, I am still learning about it and am trying to figure out the easiest way to describe it to people without it being too confusing.

Jen,

I looked up Addison's disease on the web and you did a good job explaining it. I noticed one of the symptoms is darkening of the skin in spots? I haven't noticed that but I suppose everyone is different. I'm wondering whether my thyroid isn't the true culprit of my problems, but I suppose many different glands can cause different problems which would cause similar symptoms. I'll definetely mention my adrenal glands to my doctor when I see him next week. Thanks for your help. :)

Hey - see my other post on your previous thread.

I think you need to have blood work up and see if your Thyroid is out of wack like mine was when I had your symptoms.

Take a look at my post on your other thread. ;)
BarbaraAnn ,

I see that you are in GA. I am in the Atlanta area and am looking for a doc that is good with thyroid issues (and hbp). I am having a difficult time getting the appropriate tests for thyroid and am needing to switch here in January. Any rec's?

I am glad I could help a little. I also wanted to let you know that I don't have the darkened skin from addisons disease. It is a common symptom of the disease but not everyone gets it. I hope you get to the bottom of whatever is going on soon! Good luck:wave:

How were you diagnosed? If it was through blood work, what was out of whack?

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know, my blood work came back today and everything was normal - including my TSH levels. My TSH was 1.7 this time (compared to last month when it was 5.6). I'm not sure what caused the drop or rise, I should have asked the nurse, but I'm glad it's back down. My doctor is going to do more tests tomorrow and test my estrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH hormone levels. I'm not sure what the symptoms are if you have problems with these hormones but I guess we'll see how my levels are. I probably won't know the results from those test until Monday but I'll keep you guys posted if I finally find out what is wrong. Good luck to everyone else as well! :)

Kecia

How were you diagnosed? If it was through blood work, what was out of whack?
I am not sure if you are referring to me or not.... I was diagnosed with a blood test that showed my coritsol levels to be extremely low. There is another test, which I wasn't given, called the ACTH stimulation test. I am not too sure how that one is done. The doctor also took my blood pressure several times, sitting, standing, lying down and when I was standing it dropped significantly. I also had a lot of the symptoms of addisons. I hope that helps a little!

The Yamomamo Indians have an average blood pressure of 96/62 mmHg and are extremely fit and well, so it is difficult to define what is meant by low blood pressure.

Most people with blood pressures at these levels, ie, around 90/60 mmHg are completely normal and are very lucky that for some reason they are protected from all the bad things we do that increase our blood pressure, like eating too much salt, not eating enough fruit and vegetables, being overweight and inactive etc.

However, there are a few people with a blood pressure at these levels who have an underlying cause for their low blood pressure. In nearly all of these cases, blood pressure is much lower when you stand up, particularly if you stand up suddenly. This fall in blood pressure on standing is likely to cause symptoms of fainting and/or dizziness, most times caused by pooling of blood in your leg veins, less blood returns to your heart and less is pumped out which means a reduction in the amount of blood going to your brain.

Flowersx2,

I am in Gwinnett County and go to Cardio Vascular Group in Lawrenceville. They have their own office right off of 316. They can highly reccommended from my GP. I have had every urine and blood test known to man done by them. They are also conveient to where they send their lab work to that they don't do on site. They have imaging on site and do ECGs and stress tests right in the office. I see Dr. Lipsitt, but there are many different cardios in the office.

lylone,

Thank you so much! I looked them up and they have a John's Creek office which is right down the road from me.

Flowersx2,

I actually go to another one of their satellites in Duluth. Also, if you go to the ER or hospital in Gwinnett a cardio from CVG will be the one on call. I am not sure about that new Emory at Johns Creek Hospital though. But if you need any procedures it may be a drive to go to Lawrenceville, but since its considered an "office visit" I only had to pay my $30 co-pay for my ECG! That was a bargain!

I am not sure if you are referring to me or not.... I was diagnosed with a blood test that showed my coritsol levels to be extremely low. There is another test, which I wasn't given, called the ACTH stimulation test. I am not too sure how that one is done.

Hi 2jen,

Cortisol secretion is stimulated by another hormone called ACTH. If your cortisol levels are low, administering ACTH will not bring the levels up because your adrenal glands simply cannot produce cortisol. In general, ACTH levels in a person with Addison's will be high as the body is trying to get more cortisol but cannot get a response. This high ACTH is also what leads to the pigmentation in some people, giving them a tanned look. The low blood pressure from Addison's is more a problem of aldosterone, which is another hormone produced by the adrenal glands.

Hi 2jen,

Cortisol secretion is stimulated by another hormone called ACTH. If your cortisol levels are low, administering ACTH will not bring the levels up because your adrenal glands simply cannot produce cortisol. In general, ACTH levels in a person with Addison's will be high as the body is trying to get more cortisol but cannot get a response. This high ACTH is also what leads to the pigmentation in some people, giving them a tanned look. The low blood pressure from Addison's is more a problem of aldosterone, which is another hormone produced by the adrenal glands.


Thank you! That was really interesting to read and made a lot of sense.