Low Blood Pressure

[MINE!!]

Anyone know anything about low blood pressure and what is done about it?

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 7/3/2006 10:02:00 PM
Author:MINE!!
Anyone know anything about low blood pressure and what is done about it?

I was diagnosed with LBP in high school ... found out because I started fainting if I got up from a reclining position too quickly. The doctor told me I either had to a) get up more slowly or b) wear these weird pressure bandages on my legs to keep the blood from settling there.

As an adult I haven''t had the same issues and my blood pressure falls in the normal range.

 

[movie zombie]

i assume you''ve searched the internet but i googled quickly "what is low blood pressure and how do you treat it'' and had lots of hits, including: http://www.healthopedia.com/low-blood-pressure/

movie zombie

 

[Kaleigh]

I''d consult a doctor on this MINE. For peace of mind at least.

 

[MINE!!]

Thanks everyone. Actually my daughter went to the cardiologist this morning and they diagnosed her woth LBP. They have to moniter her heart rate during her soccer games and such for the next few months. But they told me hydrate hydrate hydrate.. which we have been doing CONSTANTLY.. but we are going to continue push her liquids. He did not, however, tell me whether or not this is something that she is eventually going to grow out of.

 

[allycat0303]

Hi Mine,

I have LBP (since I was very young), my sister and my mother too. Basically, I have some dizziness when I get up too quickly. But it''s nothing that affected me beyone this. My sister and mother are assymptomatic. LBP on it''s own is not serious, and rarely treated if assymptomatic. However, the tips your doctor gave you are good! I''ve never done anything...except I try not to jump up repeatedly (and too quickly). The room tends to spin around me, although I''ve never fainted or anything.

My younger sister (who is 24 yrs old) took better care of it, but she has NOT grown out of it *yet* but I tend to think of 24 yrs old as being a full adult.

 

[Dandi]

My BP is generally low, but I drink lots of water, at least 2.5 litres a day, so it generally doesn''t affect me. If you''re well hydrated then in turn your blood volume is obviously more stable, although I do get dizzy when I jump up too quickly, or if I''ve been scrubbed for several hours at work and haven''t had a drink for ages. I usually sit on about 102 systolic, and I think it''s surprisingly common.

 

[dani13]

Hi Mine-

Low bp is one of the issues that we see often, but it can be compared to headaches- rarely does anything serious come out of it, but it needs to be investigated thoroughly when a pt comes in complaining. Usually people are asymptomatic, like allycat said, while others complain of lightheadedness, dizziness, palpitations, etc. Whenever someone has these symptoms, they need to be worked up. On a more serious level, LBP can be a symptom of other ailments, e.g. an arrythmia...dont want to scare you though, this is very rare.

I do not know the whole story though- was your daughter complaining of anything, or did they just find this on a regular physical exam? In the meantime, have your daughter hydrate well, be careful of position changes (e.g.- getting up too quickly). Usually it is just the norm for these people, and they are fine. It may resolve, it may not- but dont forget, it may be her "normal!" If it is not causing any issues for her at all, then there is absolutely nothing to worry about...dont worry! good luck!

 

[blodthecat]

LBP is actually quite common.

I have always had LBP, which has only caused me problems when i was pregnant. Passing out and dizziness etc

 

[diamondfan]

Mine is often around 90 over 60...and I can get dizzy if I get up too fast. Otherwise, I do not think it is too serious, in the way that having high blood pressure would be. But, I would certainly verify it with a doctor to be sure, and hydration, especially in the heat of summer, is never a bad idea!!

 

[MINE!!]

She actually had a mild heat stroke last year during a soccer game. We Went to the hospital and she ended up, "fine" However, they told me that she would be sensitive to heat for a long time afterward. That was last summer/fall. She continued to get dizzy and naseous during games and practices off and on throughout the season. She was complaining of headaches and would wake up at night getting sick and crying cause she could feel her heart pounding in her head. We took her to specailist..had an MRI and a CAT scan. They diagnosed her with Migranes and put her on a regime to help her anticipate her migranes... andhelp her find her triggers. IT worked well and she has been able to keep them under control.

That was taken care of by the winter time. She seemed to be fine. As it started to warm up however.. like end of Feb, she started to show signs of heat exhaustion during practices again. She would complain that her heart was beating fast and that she was a little dizzy. We took er back to the doctor and had her checked out again. They said that she just needed to hydrate hydrate hydrate. We needed to change her diet around a little and pump her full of more carbs... ALL the time. Her body was burning them off faster than she could put them on... i.e she is going to be 11...is not quite 5'' and only weighs about 68lbs. She is all muscle and she burns all her calories FAST cause she is soooo athletic. So she is always drinking liquids to keep herself hydrated.

Then.. sometime in April she got sick during a practice. We started worrying about the heat again... but it was still not that hot outside and it seemed out of the ordinary since she had been doing pretty well since her last Drs visit. Then the last week of school her teacher calls me in a panic and says that my daughter was vomiting a lot and her skin was clammy and dry and that she was dizzy and they were trying to keep her from passing out. They had already called the ambulance. I must have driven about 90mph to the school. I do not think that I had a chance to put the car in park before I was out of the car and running to the school. A ''first responder'' met me at the door and told me that she was Ok. and that they had brought down her temperature and she was going to be fine. But I needed to take her in to the Drs.

Well, I did and they set me up with a pediatric Cardiologist. At that time they ran a blood test and told me that her eletrolytes were on the low side. However, other than a constant IV, I do not understand how we are going to be able to get mor electrolytes in that little body. But anyway, they said hydrate hydrate hydrate. They also said carbs carbs carbs. We met a a dietician and they recommened some things as well. That was in May. They also told me to take her pulse during one of her episodes...

I June we have a few more practices, regardless of what we do, we cannot seem to head this thing off. She got sick @ 1 practice.. (with all coaches and parents aware that she has to handled carefully with MANY waterbreaks and they are really concerned and take good care to make sure she rests... much to the displeasure of my daughter.. she gets mad cuase she thinks she needs to win everything!!!) And she would continue to get dizzy every once in a while. Her heart rate would be able 188bpm when she would come off the feild after hard play.

We went to state games (they won a bronze.. she made a goal and 6 assists (sorry had to have a little brag session there) and she did ''alright'' with the dizziness and did not throw up.

She yesterday we went to the cardiologist. They did an EKG and sonagram etc etc. They said her heart looked very good and she was in prestine health, with the exception of getting over heated and such. They said she suffered from LBP and a funtioning murmer. They said not to worry about a murmer. Apparently 9 out of 10 kids have one and if you listen at the right time and place you can hear it in all of them. Well, that gave her some ideas on how to try to curb it when she is playing.. i.e. squatting to regulate pressure and lying down for her nasuea. They are going to moniter her when season begins (soccer season is over until Mid August) During soccer season she has to take this little beeper/ mini EKG pager with her and it automatically emails her ped. card. her heart rate.

So it is good news and bad news. I feel sorry for her cause she is just so active. She pushes herself hard and refuses to beleive that she has any limits. We enforce her limit, of course, but she hates it.

So I was just wondering if this something other people have had experience with and if she is going to be plagued by it forever.

Thank you everyone for telling me your situation. It sounds hopeful for her.

Thanks again!!! Any additinal advice would be appriceted/.

 

[diamondfan]

Mine, I feel so sorry that you and your daughter have to deal with this. ANY time your kid is unwell it is very scary. I hope she is fine, good news about all the mri and eegs being fine. I have migraines and feel my head pounding so I know how she feels. It is scary as a kid to have your body doing funny things. Anyway, my oldest son had a murmur that occured during a bad croup attack and we were in the E/R...he was on steroids through the nebulizer and his heart was racing and as the E/R doc was listening to the wheeze he says, "Did you know he has a heart murmur?" Of course I spazz out, my dad was and my uncle is a cardiologist, so I called them in a panic, but pediatric cardiology is quite different so they could not really calm me to the point I needed...so I called my pediatrician and rushed him in to see if we needed further tests etc. He listened, said he was totally fine and healthy...explained that the valves etc are like pipes with water running through...if there is a lot of water going through it sounds louder...and there are times when there is more "volume" hence it sounds different going aroound the "pipes" and it is perfectly normal. I think it is called a functional or situational murmur. I just panic, because I hear of kids with congential heart issues dying on sports fields or dying after being on rides at Disney (these were undiagnosed things unusually, and clearly the kids had not had thorough check ups with specialists...) and our friend''s son just died at 19 from a massive heart attack Sunday (he had muscular dystrophy so his heart was likely weakened) so I am one of those mom''s who goes to the top pediactric person in that specialty that I can find. I applaud you being very proactive and really checking her out totally, because you never want to overlook anything esp where a child is concerned....Good luck and keep us informed...being on top of things is really so important...

 

[hfollett]

Hello MINE,

First of all, I'm so sorry your daughter is going through this. As parents it is very difficult to have things happen to our children ... sometimes it feels so helpless!

I was recently diagnosed with something called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), which is a form of Orthostatic Intolerance. More information can be found here. The "gist" of POTS is that when I stand my heart beats too fast trying to move blood from my legs up to my trunk and head. If I stand too long, my BP crashes and I faint.

Your cardiologist mentioned taking her pulse ... that is one of the keys in diagnosiing Orthostatic problems. Have your daughter lie flat on the floor for 5-10 minutes until she's relaxed and take her pulse. Then have her stand ... take her pulse after 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and then 10 minutes. A normal person's pulse is only supposed to rise about 12 beats per minute. Patients with Orthostatic problems have a much higher rise in pulse rate - usually over 30 beats per minute. It's an easy thing to check out and might serve as good information for your doctor.

Sounds like you're under good medical care ... one thing I didn't hear you mention from the doctor was the idea of increasing your daughter's salt intake. Of course I'd suggest you run this by your doctor, but there are some OTC salt tablets which she can take to help increase water volume. One other good remedy that was recommended to me was to simply drink an electrolyte drink like Gatorade. It provided additional electrolytes and carbs.

I hope her situation gets better!

- Helen

 

[Jensia]

I have very low blood pressure. I have autonomic dysfunction. There are a few options out there.

One is to load up on fluids, the second is a salt loading diet. There are also medications available

to help raise the blood pressure. Its no fun, I suffer fainting spells, and can not take certain medications that lower it further.

She should have a tilt table test done to check for autonomic dysfunction as the cause as it is the most common.

Along with that you have intolerence to heat. It really sounds like it. I have bouts where I feel cold when its 120 degrees,
or hot when its 40.

Jensia

 

[dani13]

Mine-

Well. after reading that whole story I can see why you are concerned. It is great that her EKG and echocardiogram came out fine, but she really needs to wear a Holter monitor (not sure if she already did this) for an extended period of time. The Holter straps onto her chest,and monitors each beat of the heart till you take it off (per MD's order). Your daughter needs to wear the Holter when she is exercising, most importantly, so that the docs can really see what is going on in her little body when she exerts herself. To me, it seems that maybe she is going into an abnormal heart rhythm when she exercises-something like SVT ( supra ventricular tachycardia). I am not a pediatric cardiologist, I am a nurse practitioner, but I dont think I would be satisfied with the heatstroke/overheating theory. It just doenst make complete sense. I would take her for another opinion, at the very least.

 

[hfollett]

Orthostatic Intolerance is a form of autonomic dysfuction (or dysautonomia). More info about dysautonomia can be found here.

A tilt table test (if you''re not familiar with it) is a test where you lay flat on a table, they take a bunch of baseline readings (BP, HR, etc) then tilt you almost upright (while strapped to the table) and continue to assess BP, HR, etc.

The suggestion I gave you about having your daughter lie flat on the floor and then stand is what is commonly called a "poor man''s tilt table test". I often do it to assess how I''m doing ... I watch for major BP and HR changes. Obviously a formal tilt table test is the most effective, but this would give you another clue.

I would do as Dani suggested - get a second opinion.

 

[MINE!!]

Thanks again everyone.
OK.. they are going to moniter her heart rate at the beginning of the season. She does not have a problem unless she is exercising heavily. Normally.. when she is not overly active, she is fine. The Ped. Caridologist said her condition was due to LBP with the heat making it worse.. ebasertating it.. (I am not sure if I even got that spelling even close..LOL)

 

[ladykemma]

as a member of the SCA, we have people fighting in full armor in 100 degree weather. we load them with water, pickles and oranges.

we have a saying, If the pickles taste good, you need the salt. the oranges keep the blood sugar going. Is there not a water bearer for the team?

 

[MINE!!]

Our team is probably more of the "MORE AWARE" teams here. We provide water for them at all the games.. along with a cooler full of ice in case they have brought gatorade. We also provide spray bottle full of ice water in the coolers so that they can spray themselves down.

During practices, kids have to have water, if not then they are n ot approved to practice. But our parents usually bring extra just in case other kids need or have forgotten their water.

We also do the oranges.. but I have never thought of the pickles... my daughter eats dill pickles like they are mothers milk. She loves them and I never try to hold her back from them. She is a very responsible eater, so if she eats too much of one thing, I usually figure she needs it.

Thanks again for all the advice and for telling me your stories... Thanks again Dani for all the med. input!

 

[ladykemma]

she needs small chunks of dill pickles DURING the practice or game. The big juicy ones about 6 inches long, cut into small pieces.

also put Morton Light salt in your salt shaker at home. it's half potassium chloride and half sodium chloride.

also gatorade at full strength tends to make hot people puke. most SCAers dilute by half.

red gatorade makes people puke, Ice when people are hot makes people puke.

here is an interesting read.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:etGpa8CofXsJ:www.meridies.org/waterbearer/meridian_waterbearer_handbook.doc+sca+water+bearing+pickles&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10