Blood pressure

[Eileen]

I've just checked my blood pressure and it's 84/51. I did it twice and got the same result both times. Now, my blood pressure is usually on the low side, around 100/60, but it's never dropped this low. Is it something I should worry about?

[cek79]

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/b.../bloo3002.html

Low blood pressure can either be a sign of good health or a warning signal to a health problem. People with high fitness levels tend to have lower blood pressures than those who are less fit. Low blood pressure in fit people results from a well-conditioned, healthy heart.

Very low blood pressure can quickly become a problem. When blood pressure drops too low there is the danger of the body not getting enough oxygen carrying blood. Normal body functions like breathing, movement, and brain function can be impaired and damage can occur. Rapid drops in blood pressure that threaten life can occur due to loss of blood, severe infections, or low body temperature due to cold exposure. Emergency treatment for these conditions raises blood pressure to a more normal level.

I think you're consuming too few carbs, if your signature reflects the breakdown of your current diet....the salt and water depletion that occurs during ketosis can lead to lower blood pressure.

[Luvdogs]

I just checked mine yesterday (in the grocery store pharmacy, not at the doc's) and it was 99/68 and pulse rate was 64. Mine is usally like yours, about 100/60 ish. If it stays that low, I would ask your doctor about it. Won't hurt to ask and might hurt if you dont'. I'm going to check mine again tomorrow to see if it's the same. I do not eat low carb, about 180-200 grams per day.

[Eileen]

I think you're consuming too few carbs, if your signature reflects the breakdown of your current diet....the salt and water depletion that occurs during ketosis can lead to lower blood pressure.

If I was just starting keto, this would be the first place I'd look. But I've been doing this for over three and a half years now and this is normal for me. It's when I do eat carbs that I feel strange.

I give blood regularly (up to 108 pints now) and my blood pressure is always somewhere around 100/60.

Hmm, I'm having my period now. I wonder if that makes a difference?

[GREENFEATHER]

Eileen, M's BP is low when she has hers as well. The only other thing to watch is your thyroid values. Low thyroid can= lower BP.

[Eileen]

Yes, I'm very suspicious of the whole thyroid thing. My doc said mine is low but normal. I have a feeling that "low but normal" is slightly different for someone who works out as hard as I do.

One thing: I had a humdingers of a migraine about 12 hours after that bp test. It may be related. Recent tests are around the 100/60 mark.

[girlinseattle]

Sounds like you're back to "normal"... I'm not a doctor, but I think it's great that you're keeping a close watch at such levels.

[medic707]

Few things:

What was your pulse rate when you took your Bp?
Where did you take it was it a home or store "machine"? Machines are machines sometimes they malfunction, in the field we have bp machines on our cardiac monitors but if I need a very accurate bp I will get a bp cuff and stethoscope.
Were you dizzy or did you have a light headed feeling? Usually felt when standing from a seated position or any rapid movement
What were you doing before you took it?
Have you been getting enough fluids?
Have you had migraines before?

Its very common for healthy individuals to have a low bp and pulse which is a great sign means your body is very efficient, but can also be indicative or underlying health problems
But anyways if your not comfortable with it being that low or if you have never had migraines you should go to your doc if you havnt been recently it cant hurt

[Amris]

Listen... 80 BP is LIGHT'S OUT!

See a doctor, and I'm DEADLY SERIOUS. I passed out and nearly died- that's right, nearly DIED, and the doctor told me that a BP of 80 or below is almost always DEATH for an adult person (female of normal size).

if you're not eating salt, you better get to doing so. In the meantime, SEE A DOCTOR.

I had a "migraine" so bad that I was bedridden for a week after I passed out from low blood pressure.

This is serious business, it CAN KILL YOU.

If you don't eat salt- and plenty of it, then get on it immediately. Your blood pressure is alarmingly low. My normal blood pressure is the lower side of "normal" low and it's almost always 106/58. I have to eat salt on pretty much everything to keep it there, too.

I'm not kidding you when I say that you need to take this ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS and see a doctor. With a BP of 84, they might even hospitalize you, it's THAT DANGEROUS.

No blood to your brain = YOU ARE DEAD.

I don't care what anyone says about "good health" or anything else. This is like losing too much weight...there's such a thing as too low blood pressure, and 84 is it!!!

[Eileen]

Ok, I'll be delighted to add more salt to my food, I love salty things, and since I cook everything from scratch, I only get what I shake on.

I've got a home bp machine, with an inflatable cuff. The readings on it are very similar to the ones I get when I get tested at the blood bank before I give blood. I tested just now, and got a reading (average of three) of 95/62, pulse 55.

I've always had low blood pressure, even when I was fat, and have to be careful getting up suddenly if I've been sitting down for a long time, but that's usually the only problem. Except for the time I crashed my bike and was taken to hospital. They were so busy looking for the internal injury causing the low bp that they missed my broken collar bone!

Migraines run in my family and my sister gets lots, but since I quit office work, I average about one a year. Let's hope that's the migraine for 2006 out of the way...

[moskalski]

I'm glad to see others with low/borderline blood pressure. Mine is about 100/60 as well, even with all the salt I eat. Most of the time its not a problem, but once in a while it goes squirrelly on me. Is it okay to exercise when I'm having a lower than usual BP day? I always feel better afterwards, but what do you all think?

[Eileen]

I've never found a problem with actual exercise, it's more the starting again once I stop. I wouldn't swear to it, but I think that while you are exercising, your bp increases naturally (hence the warnings to people with high bp to be careful exercising)

[moskalski]

That's what I thought, but when I'm feeling rotten its kind of hard to make myself get up!

Do you ever get lightheaded when you stand too quickly? More often I get short of breath and/or a short but severe headache for a minute or two. (Fortunately that doesn't happen every day!)

[medic707]

well as Amris said low bp can be very serious but everyone is different, for example distance runners or cyclist often have VERY low resting pulse and bp like Lance Armstrong his resting pulse of 30bpm and a systolic bp in the 90s and as a paramedic we are trained to "treat the patient not the monitor" and all that means is im not going to treat a patient that may have vital signs that are out of the "normal" ranges IF they dont have any signs or symptoms that accompany what i am seeing on my monitor.

If you average 95-100mm systolic a 10mm drop wouldnt be too big of a concern if you didnt have any symptoms to go with that drop like lightheadedness or fainting, near-fainting or a pulse rate increase. Blood pressure and pulse need to go hand in hand. a drop in bp and a increase in pulse is a HUGE red flag that says "SHOCK". And like you said thats why the hospital was so worried when you crashed your bike.

The dizziness when you stand up is call orthostatic changes (drop in bp when going from laying or sitting to standing) and is not terrible, and basically what that is, is when you are sitting all your vessels dilate or open up cause your body doesnt have to work as hard to keep you bp up and when you stand up your body detects that its going to need to increase your bp to continue to get blood to your brain so it sends a message to the vessels to constrict with some people it takes alittle longer than other for the body to get that done there again not a huge deal if it only last for a couple seconds. That can be caused by several things all the way from heart or vascular problems to just not enough fluid. So if you have heart or vascular problems or anything like that runs in your family you also may want to go get checked out by your doctor.

Im not a doctor so take what I say with a grain of salt you know your body better than anyone and if you dont feel right or have ANY symptoms like fainting dizziness ect... its best to call for a ambulance or have someone to drive you to the hospital. But like other have said you can increase your sodium intake along with water might help with the dizziness when standing up

sorry I kinda rambled
hope it helped you