Extreme Low Blood pressure

Hi guys,
I am 19 and have alot of arrythmia history.
Anywho recently my blood pressure is getting down to 50/12 and i cant even get out of bed.This is really worrying me but people have told me low blood pressure isn't bad??
But how is it not bad that i cant get out of bed...even to go to the bathroom!

[cindy707]

I am unsure of who is taking your blood pressure but a b/p of 50/12 is impossible and would cause an immediate case of hypovolemic shock and i doubt you would be posting on this site if your  b/p were that low......depending upon the case hypotension can be very bad...so who is taking your blood pressure and how anyway?

[kenkeith]

You may have made a typing error or the blood pressure unit is malfunctioning.  Normal blood pressure is 120/80. When the blood is pumped there is a resistance the heart pumps against and that is the systole (top number).  If the vessels constrict or are narrowed with plaque, that is more resistance, etc and systole (pumping phase) parameter is increased. The bottom number is the resistance during the filling phase (diastole) and it is not possible to have a 12 number.  Your blood pressure unit should have produced an error.  I have had a reading such as what you have shown, but the b/p unit distinquished it as an error as it should have.  Low blood pressure is beneficial as that would indicate the heart doesn't have a very heavy burden to pump against and vascular system is healthy with very little resistence  

Thanks for sharing, and if you have any further questions or comments you are welcome to respond.  Take care.

[Sillyheartihave]

HI ya, i will double check my discharge summary and get back to you maybe i got it wrong. This was done at hospital i was admited for hypotension.

[Sillyheartihave]

Hi again, sorry i remembered it wrong my laying blood pressure was 80/50 my standing was 60/42 which is why i could not stand up. this was done by a doctor at auckland city hospital.

[kenkeith]

Yes, your b/p is lower than normal.  Often a patient is given a tilt table test, this is a medical procedure often used to diagnose dysautonomia** or syncope (fainting). You probably have symptoms of dizziness or lightheadedness, with or without a loss of consciousness (fainting), suspected to be associated with a drop in blood pressure are good candidates for this test. Is low b/p a recent development for you?  

***"In people suffering from dysautonomia, the autonomic nervous system loses that balance, and at various times the parasympathetic or sympathetic systems inappropriately predominate. Symptoms can include frequent vague but disturbing aches and pains, faintness (or even actual fainting spells), fatigue and inertia, severe anxiety attacks, tachycardia, hypotension, poor exercise tolerance, gastrointestinal symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome, sweating, dizziness, blurred vision, numbness and tingling, and -- quite understandably -- anxiety and depression."

Are youu experiencing any of tha bove symptoms?

Thank you for your response, and if you have any other questions or comments you are free to respond.  

[is_something_wrong]

Hi,

I really feel sorry for you when I read your posts. You are 19 years old and yet you've experienced severe heart issues.

In addition, the health care system can't give you a clear answer. This is so serious (the arrhythmia, not the blood pressure) that I wouldn't take any chances. Go to the hospital, or an experienced cardiologist, show them the rhythm strips from the defibrillator, and refuse to leave until you get an explaination and an answer regarding the ICD.

Ventricular fibrillation (or rapid polymorphic ventricular tachycardia) is not a rhythm you should try to provoke, just to capture it on EKG. This is not supraventricular tachycardia, this is serious. You need a clear answer what's going on, and you need to get it treated.

Your blood pressure is low. Systolic blood pressure can drop while you stand up, but diastolic pressure should increase. I can't explain this, and I can't say if it's somehow related to your arrhythmias. It may be, and it may not be. Again, this is something you should ask an experienced cardiologist.

Your life is far too valuable for this. Get clear answers from an experienced doctor. Now.

Good luck! I really hope you will be ok

[Mom2four85]

it's probably related to your arrhythmia's - I've had the same thing; normally I pass out and my heart stops; which was all caught on my tilt table test my normal bp is 90/60 and sometimes just turning my head a certain way or bending can cause it to drop dramatically.

What you've described on your other threads and here is serious; really serious and it sounds like some dr is dismissing it because you're young...young people do get sick and die and you should keep on until you find the right dr to explain all of this to you and actually treat you before it's too late

sorry to sound doom & gloomy but I've been through it - demand better treatment and ask WHY you haven't received an ICD that may certainly save your life - P-VT is not something  to play around with or take lightly.

btw the low bp or HYPOtension can be due to your ANS (autonomic nervous system) and heart combined; when this happens it's may make your symptoms a bit worse like with me.   Here's a link with some info if it is heart/ANS combo: http://www.********.info/neurosyn.asp

"Among the arrhythmias causing syncope, tachycardias (fast heartbeats), particularly those of ventricular origin, rather than bradycardias (slow heartbeats) are more often the culprits. In most patients with any evidence of previously known heart disease, it is likely that their syncope is related to a cardiac arrhythmia, usually VT. This is a serious matter because in patients with syncope due to VT, it’s common for SCD to occur within the ensuing year, this should be preventable if the cause of the syncope is found and managed."

[jrbon]

I hope that you had better luck than my wife, she has suffered low BP with faints until she passed the 55 years.  Every Dr. that we consulted congratulates her on the basis that the real problem is HBP .... but I know how invalidating it can  be ...

An advise, check your thyroid, hypothyroidism can produce it.

Also a practical advise, we always carry some Kleenex and an small bottle of alcohol or cologne, if you feel dizziness, pour the cologne in the Kleenex and breath (by the nose) trough it. It is the fastest way I know to increase the BP.

Jesus