low blood pressure woes

[Guest]

Has anyone had trouble with low blood pressure after AVR? Mine has always run low anyway, but over the last 3 or so days its been around 80/50. I'm frequently tired and light headed. I called my cardiologist who is having me monitor it for now. Anyone else had wild blood pressure??

 

[almost_hectic]

Has anyone had trouble with low blood pressure after AVR? Mine has always run low anyway, but over the last 3 or so days its been around 80/50. I'm frequently tired and light headed. I called my cardiologist who is having me monitor it for now. Anyone else had wild blood pressure??

Maybe it's an obvious question but are you on any medications?

 

[honeybunny]

Yes. Mine has been running around 94/70. The cardiologist told me to take metoprolol once a day instead of twice a day (24 mg) and that helped.

 

[LondonAndy]

Yes, mine is typically 100/60, not unusual to be lower, down to about 92/50. I have occasional slight dizziness as I stand up, but they don't seem concerned - in fact my doctor's comment is usually that my BP is great! Cardiologist still keeps me on a blood pressure tablet (small dose), as apparently this provides other protection, and a beta-blocker. Pre-surgery I had slightly high BP.

 

[Dylanm111]

Pre-surgery here and my cardiologist has put me on a low dose of Losartan/Cozar and my BP reads 101/52, sometimes lower. I never suffered from high BP, so I am on it to protect my heart until surgery.

Although I am on a low dose of medication, I find myself very tired, lightheaded and get bouts of dizzy spells. I also get heaviness in the legs.

Is there a pharmacy/chemist in your area? What I do is go into my local pharmacy and they take my BP weekly and store it on a file on their system. So, when I go back to my cardiologist I print off the readings I've been getting in my pharmacy. It provides a consistent reading of your BP over a period of time. Is this something you could do? or maybe invest in a BP monitor and take your own BP once/twice a week?

Hope you get it sorted out and try not to freak out about it.

Best,

 

[McCbon]

Are you making sure you are getting enough fluids? I know it seems simple and obvious, but I used to be a nurse and so many issues were exacerbated by even mild dehydration and so many people do not hydrate adequately.
McCbon

 

[Dylanm111]

Are you making sure you are getting enough fluids? I know it seems simple and obvious, but I used to be a nurse and so many issues were exacerbated by even mild dehydration and so many people do not hydrate adequately.
McCbon

This is an excellent point. I left the gym today and got a bout of dizziness! It was so bad I thought I was going to collapse. I think if you're on BP medication, keeping well hydrated is vital!

 

[DachsieMom]

I did. At one point it was 78/55, or less. They took me off of metoprolol (turns out it was making my hands peel as well) and my BP was much better. They also told me to increase my water intake.