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Low BP and palpitations
I was at an appointment this morning at the neurologist office for my constant lightheaded sensation,when they took my BP while sitting down it was 110/75 i think but they ask me to stand up while taking my bp it was quite low,90/70 and the doctor says that could be the reason why i have been feeling dizziness and lightheaded.I have palpitations and very fast heartrate i guess around 110bpm and 10mins or so later it went down and they check my BP it was low,90/70,could this be some postural hypotension? but a month ago i done a tilt table test at the cardiology where they told me all my bp were normal even i felt very dizzy and chest discomfort.
So the doctor decided to refer me back to the cardio i guess and have a blood test done for some hormone.I was just concern as could the previous cardio missed out something? all though the neuro i saw this morning told me probably they dint as,echo and stress test,holter ecg are mostly fine except for my last ecg which show possible LVH but the doctor says its nothing as my echo shows normal valves and wall size last year.
So the doctor decided to refer me back to the cardio i guess and have a blood test done for some hormone.I was just concern as could the previous cardio missed out something? all though the neuro i saw this morning told me probably they dint as,echo and stress test,holter ecg are mostly fine except for my last ecg which show possible LVH but the doctor says its nothing as my echo shows normal valves and wall size last year.
Let me know what you discover. I also have started feeling dizzy for about 2 weeks now. It's not severe, but a little annoying. As soon as I get up, I feel very light-headed and more than usual, then the rest of the time, I feel hazy, wishy-washy, not clear, as if I'm looking through some distorted glasses giving me the off feeling. So I go through these episodes that last weeks, then they subside for months only to come back again. For myself at this point, I'm thinking it may be related to anemia. I have low iron and I have stopped taking supplements, so that may be contributing to this. If it's not one thing, it's another.
Hi,yes i been to an ENT but when he see those ECGs from my GP,he refer me back to see a cardiologist because he felt palpitations were the cause of those dizziness/lightheaded and most ear infections are those vertigo sensations,spinning type not a sensations that your going to feel faint.Maybe i should bring this matter up to my doctor again,maybe see an eye doctor..i just felt very annoyed as i have been feeling this light headed sensations since last november 2009 and had those echo,ecg,stress test,24 hour holter,blood test,thyroid test which were told its normal which i just couldnt believe it.
Then a follow up appointment at a neurologist where she did some reflex muscle test and said my symptoms dosent seems to have anything to do with neurological side as i do not have weakness on one side or the body or arm.so they refer me to see a endocrinologist where they would take a blood test on coristol ? a type of hormone i guess.Just to sum it up its just so frustrating to feel unbalanced and light headed all day long.
Then a follow up appointment at a neurologist where she did some reflex muscle test and said my symptoms dosent seems to have anything to do with neurological side as i do not have weakness on one side or the body or arm.so they refer me to see a endocrinologist where they would take a blood test on coristol ? a type of hormone i guess.Just to sum it up its just so frustrating to feel unbalanced and light headed all day long.
Just throwing this in as a possibility. Perhaps your dizziness may not be a cardio/circulatory problem? You may want to investigate with an Ear/Nose/Throat doc for issues with the middle ear fluid as the cause of dizziness? That delicate balancing system is also tied in to your eye site. Maybe your solution lies in these areas. I hope you find an answer understanding how frustrating it must be to feel dizzy so often.
Thanks for the info again,will try the compression stockings,I think i will try to talk with the doctor or the cardio again because the dizziness is quite constant through out the day,only get relief from it is by either sitting down or laying down on the bed,I know my tilt table test are normal and probably thats the reason why they keep saying everything is normal.Its just very frustrating to be told by doctors all is normal when u feel dizzy all the time.
To is_something_wrong,yes bp do vary alot through the day,have my bp taken at hospital most time even i felt dizzy and all bp are normal in the 120/80 range.The only thing that worries me is the constant dizziness and thats when the tachycardia sets in,do you think its a good idea to get another 24 hour holter test ? because my previous 24 hotler,i wasnt having any symptoms at all while wearing it.
To is_something_wrong,yes bp do vary alot through the day,have my bp taken at hospital most time even i felt dizzy and all bp are normal in the 120/80 range.The only thing that worries me is the constant dizziness and thats when the tachycardia sets in,do you think its a good idea to get another 24 hour holter test ? because my previous 24 hotler,i wasnt having any symptoms at all while wearing it.
Hello...
Some people have chroniclly low BP and function just fine. My BP is usually 95/68 and my cardiologist shows no concern about it. However, if your lower BP is causing you to suffer vertigo, that certainly is concerning as it can cause injuries from falling and should be investigated.
In my above post I mentioned the use of compression stockings. These can help and can be purchased in any pharmacy. Also, increasing fluids may help your symptoms. Hope you get to the root of all this! :)
Some people have chroniclly low BP and function just fine. My BP is usually 95/68 and my cardiologist shows no concern about it. However, if your lower BP is causing you to suffer vertigo, that certainly is concerning as it can cause injuries from falling and should be investigated.
In my above post I mentioned the use of compression stockings. These can help and can be purchased in any pharmacy. Also, increasing fluids may help your symptoms. Hope you get to the root of all this! :)
Hi thanks for the replies guys,the only thing that seems weird is durinf my previous visit to docs and i was feeling dizzy and most of the time my bp is okay never that low as most of the time its 120/75 and thats y the cardio said it couldnt be a postural hypotension,the only thing that seems worrying is that this morning when i reached the hospital i felt very light headed and palpitations and i am not sure if ita anxiety or not.when i speak to the doc abt this he said it shouldnt be a heart related cause as stated in my medical file most of my ecg are ok together with echo, stress test and holter so she refer me to the endocrinologist for thyroid or some hormone investigation.i know bp varys through the day,but isnt 90/70 a bit dangerous low?
Hello.
All your cardiac tests are normal. In other words, you don't have a heart disease, and you're examined as good as you can be.
Again, you don't have LVH! :) You'll just need to erase this automatic interpretation of your EKG from your mind. If I should believe I had all the diseases my EKG's have suggested through the years, I'd go crazy. They have suggested LVH, RVH, infarct patterns, pulmonary disease, you name it. I don't have any of those diseases.
Your blood pressure will vary through the day. I'm sure you have blood pressure as high as 170/100 some times, and you have BP as low as 90/70. As long as you don't faint, or get severely dizzy (near faiting) it's just fine. If a tilt table test didn't show anything abnormal, you don't have POTS or postural hypotension (which is a quite normal phenomenon within limits, by the way).
Your heart rate will vary through the day, and light tachycardia when you are anxious is completely normal.
You need to work on your health anxiety or cardiac neurosis. I know, it's really not easy. But running to the ER all the time will really ruin your life after some time. I think you really know that you don't have a heart disease, it's just the anxiety taking control sometimes, blocking out common sense, it always does :)
Good luck! Best wishes to you :)
All your cardiac tests are normal. In other words, you don't have a heart disease, and you're examined as good as you can be.
Again, you don't have LVH! :) You'll just need to erase this automatic interpretation of your EKG from your mind. If I should believe I had all the diseases my EKG's have suggested through the years, I'd go crazy. They have suggested LVH, RVH, infarct patterns, pulmonary disease, you name it. I don't have any of those diseases.
Your blood pressure will vary through the day. I'm sure you have blood pressure as high as 170/100 some times, and you have BP as low as 90/70. As long as you don't faint, or get severely dizzy (near faiting) it's just fine. If a tilt table test didn't show anything abnormal, you don't have POTS or postural hypotension (which is a quite normal phenomenon within limits, by the way).
Your heart rate will vary through the day, and light tachycardia when you are anxious is completely normal.
You need to work on your health anxiety or cardiac neurosis. I know, it's really not easy. But running to the ER all the time will really ruin your life after some time. I think you really know that you don't have a heart disease, it's just the anxiety taking control sometimes, blocking out common sense, it always does :)
Good luck! Best wishes to you :)
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At one time or another, we've probably all experienced mild postural hypotension from standing up too quickly. As long as it occurs only occasionally, there's little cause for alarm.
But chronic postural hypotension can be a debilitating condition, associated with increased risk of injury from accidents and falls, and obviously is a cause for concern. Persistent light-headedness or faintness upon standing may be a symptom of a serious underlying disorder.
In order to understand postural hypotension, imagine the body as a column of fluid. When we've been lying down for a while, the column is horizontal, so the fluid pressure is equally distributed from head to toe.
When we stand up, the fluid column becomes vertical, causing the fluid pressure to increase at the bottom of the column, and fall dramatically at the top. This pressure drop must be corrected, otherwise blood flow to the brain will drop, and we'll get light-headed or pass out.
Credit the body's highly effective reflex mechanisms for keeping blood pressure and flow to the brain constant when we stand up. Special pressure sensors in blood vessels act, via the involuntary nervous system, to trigger important responses that maintain normal blood pressure and flow to the brain:
1) The heart is stimulated to increase its output by increasing the number of heart beats per minute, the volume of blood pumped per beat, and the force with which the heart squeezes. We can actually feel this happening, from time to time, when we stand up.
2) When we stand, blood vessels throughout the body undergo dynamic changes. The muscular walls of arteries constrict, and veins of the lower body contract increasing blood pressure and, in effect pushing blood upward toward the heart and brain.
The net effect is that, if all components of the circulatory reflexes are working properly, the move from lying to standing usually proceeds without symptoms.
WHAT ARE SOME CAUSES OF POSTURAL HYPOTENSION?
Dizziness upon standing, from postural hypotension, usually means that either something has gone awry with the circulatory reflexes, or for some reason, the body's fluid volume is depleted:
1) Blockade of the normal heart or blood vessel response: Some medications impair the circulatory reflexes by blocking transmission of the message from the involuntary nervous system to the heart and blood vessels. This is the mechanism of action of some blood pressure medications such as beta blockers and alpha blockers, and a number of other medications. Postural hypotension is one of the more common side effects associated with these types of drugs.
2) Involuntary nervous system dysfunction: Postural hypotension can be caused by a number of conditions and diseases which affect the involuntary nerves, such as diabetes, alcoholism, nutritional deficiencies, and other nervous system disorders.
3) Inadequate blood volume: If there isn't enough fluid volume in the blood vessels, then the circulatory reflexes can't restore normal blood pressure. This can happen in any condition which causes dehydration, which may be due to inadequate oral intake, vomiting, diarrhea, or other causes of excessive fluid loss, such as overuse of diuretics, failure of the adrenal glands, and blood loss.
Sometimes the cause of postural hypotension is unknown (idiopathic, Shy-Drager syndrome).
If the cause turns out to be a medication, then your doctor may attempt to decrease the dose, discontinue the offending agent, or switch over to another class of drug that doesn't have that side effect.
If the cause is volume depletion, then your doctor will institute measures to restore circulating volume to a normal level. If indicated, further work-up may be needed to determine the cause of volume depletion.
Depending on the type of problem, other approaches have been tried, including lower extremity support hose, support garments that compress the lower trunk, adrenal gland medications with salt and fluid loading (in cases of failure of the adrenal glands), and in some cases, blood vessel constricting medications.
Regarding your last comment about "EKG says possible LVH" The Echo that you had shows a normal functioning heart. Of the 2 tests EKG vs. Echo, the Echo is much more detailed and much more reliable. Good luck to you!