Is this reading dangerous?

Mellie310 · 06-11-2005, 08:08 PM

My husband just took my blood pressure and it was 91/41. Is this a dangerously low reading? I wasn't even at rest when I took it, I had just sat down and was talking to my husband and started feeling like I was going to pass out and was very weak. I had only been sitting for no more than 3 or 4 minutes when he took it. I hate all this, it's scaring me to death. I know I have to get off the meds, but am terrified that if I do, I'll find out that I'll have dangerously HIGH blood pressure.

HELLASRULES · 06-11-2005, 08:48 PM

This is way too low. Have you taken another reading? "Normal" blood pressure is around 120/80, although now they say that is borderline high, all of a sudden. Please check your pressure again. If it is still low...you need to CALL your doctor NOW! IF you are on high BP meds and it is lowering it that much, it is either too high a dose or not the right med for you. If you can't get in touch with your dr, go to the ER. I don't want to scare you, but low BP is just as dangerous as High BP.

HELLASRULES · 06-11-2005, 08:55 PM

P.S. I've been on meds for high BP since I was 28. I am now 50. When switching meds a year or so ago, my doctor had me stop taking them for a few days, before starting the new one. High BP takes yrs to do serious damage. My dr is a cardiologist, so I trusted him on not taking any for a few days. Because I was just as skeptical, too, and scared it would be too high. But I monitored it, and it was fine without any for the few days I took no meds.

Mellie310 · 06-11-2005, 09:59 PM

Thanks for your response. Yes, my b/p is still way down. Last night, right before I went to bed, it was 84/38. It's been running low for the past week or so. I had a spike of 149/71 which scared me to death of course, but we figured out that that was probably because I had increased smoking. I was smoking over 2 packs a day, wasn't used to that and had been doing it for almost 2 months. So I stopped that, and now it's plummeted again. As I've said before, my Dr. put me on two meds for ONE high reading. The ER doctor, the night it spiked a year ago, didn't think I had true high blood pressure due to some pretty bad anxiety, increase in nicotine and caffeine. My regular dr. has some kind of "thing" about high blood pressure, I think he's scared of it himself, and he has me over medicated. So, I've been thinking about going to a cardiologist too. I just don't trust drs. anymore, I want one that specializes in this stuff, that knows what he/she is doing.

Again, thanks for responding, I really appreciate it.

P.S. I tried calling my dr., but he isn't home. So right now I'm drinking some caffeine to try and get the b/p up.

pal7778 · 06-11-2005, 10:35 PM

Caffeine may or may not work to get your bp up. The advice of stop taking the medication and see where you stand is better. (That is, unless one is a beta blocker, you need to withdraw from that slowly.) That 38 should get some MD's attention, I hope. I've never heard of bp that low in someone otherwise healthy. But be happy,
lots of people who post etc. here wish they had the problem of raising their bp some.