episodes of low bp

[boxer311]

hi i'm a 32 year old male,  some months ago i gained 30 pounds for no reason and started having some pitting edema in both ankle/legs.    sometimes i get mild cramps in them or they feel stiff.   usually my blood pressure ranges from 125/70 up to 135/80 but there are times where i start feeling something pull on my heart and i feel weak, lightheaded and my BP will be down to maybe 100/60 and if it gets 95/55 I can no longer sit up I have to lay down.  for me this is low and the experience is unusual and frightening.     All my blood tests were normal, echo was normal stress test normal,  Chest CT of heart normal,  and my event monitor showed nothing when I was feeling this way I made 4 seperate recordings during a bad episode and nothing out of the ordinary.    My thyroid is also normal.       I also quite often get short on breath and lightheaded (like my vision is fading out) at the same time for example after I climb a flight of stairs.     However I should point out that I walk on a treadmill 30 mins a day and usually have no trouble,  but I'm having more trouble than ever losing weight even though I've cut my calories back as well.

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

It sounds like you were a lot better when you were 30 pounds lighter and you should try to see if re-attaining that weight loss will help in your symptoms.  I believe the South Beach Diet is a good way to loose weight and maintain the weight loss if you can follow the diet.

[boxer311]

PS- I have mild sleep apnea and CPAP isn't helping anything