Feeling terrible from lowered bp after incredibly high bp for years
Posted , 6 users are following.
Long post coming up - sorry! I'm a female & 46 years old. On February 2 I went to the ER because I was losing vision in my right eye. I was terrified. They discovered that my blood pressure was 270/150. They treated me, got the bp down a little and sent me home (crazy!). I visited an eye doctor that day and he said that I had suffered an eye stroke in my right eye due to uncontrolled high blood pressure. Back story, I'd been diagnosed with high bp about eight years ago but quit taking my meds because I didn't like my doctor. I felt fine so I figured it was fine. Dumb! So anyhow, we're assuming my bp has been incredibly high all these years. So, fast forwarded back to February. The next morning my bp was rising again and I was concerned so we went back to the ER. They admitted me that time, thankfully, and I was there for about four days. My bp seemed to be getting under control with the medication they put me on and it was 158/99 when they released me. Still high but much better.
I was placed on 2 bp meds - Carvedilol 25 MG twice a day & Amlodipine 10 MG once a day - and told to follow up with a hypertension specialist and my family doctor. I also purchased a bp monitor and began taking my bp various times throughout the day. After a few weeks it was obvious the medication was working for sure because I was averaging about 125/82, sometimes much lower too.
Unfortunately, I was feeling rotten. I was sleeping 12 to 13 hours at night and still needed two or three naps throughout the day. When I was awake I felt like a complete zombie. Miserable.
I had an appointment with the specialist on February 27. He said that the reason I was feeling so awful was because my body was trying to adjust to my bp being so much lower after being so incredibly high for so many years. He decided to raise my bp up to about 140/90 in hopes that I'd feel better. In order to do that he cut my Carvedilol down to 12.5 MG twice a day but left the Amlodipine the same. He said if that didn't work we'd cut the Amlodipine down to 5 MG once a day too.
Well, it worked.....kind of. My bp is still only averaging about 130/85, sometimes alittle higher or lower. But hardly ever even close to 140/90. I'm able to stay awake more but I still feel rotten. I'm tired and weak all the time. I have some dizziness and feel out of breath sometimes. Plus my brain just feels "foggy" all the time. I'm frustrated!
I finally had an appointment with my family doctor on March 19 (she'd had an emergency and wasn't available for quite some time). She thinks I'm okay the way I am. She wants to keep the meds the same and thinks I need to start walking on the treadmill. I am overweight and know I need to lose weight but right now the idea of walking on a treadmill is crazy to me. I'm so tired all the time. I'm lucky to stay awake and carry on a conversation.
I'm seriously considering cutting the Amlodipine down to 5 MG once a day to see if that will help. I"m thinking it'll get me closer to the 140/90 goal that my specialist wants. Plus I've read a lot that Amlodipine can be very sedating. I'll be monitoring my bp closely and if it rises too high I'll go back to taking the 10 MG.
I'm just curious if any of you have had this type of thing. Have any of you lost vision in one of your eyes due to high bp? My vision still hasn't come back, by the way. The doctors say it may but it may not, they don't really know. And, also, have any of you experienced a situation like mine where you had incredibly high bp for a long time & have now lowered it significantly? Did you feel rotten all the time? How long did it take for you body to adjust to the lower bp?
0 likes, 6 replies
jx41870 tomlisaashley
Posted
Hi tomlisaashley,
My first reaction is that if you are feeling that beat it isn't even because of the high BP being lowered. Did your doctor(s) do a general examination, or just assume it was BP and nothing but BP?
I haven't experienced feeling really bad from low BP until it gets way lower, certainly under 110/70 - which lots of people say is just great, but it's so unnatural for me, it makes me nervous when it happens!
I don't know so much about eyes, but if you get some bleeding in the eye it can obscure vision but may clear in a few weeks, as I understand it. Of course you could and probably should see a specialist for that, too.
When my BP was "high", which was "only" like 170/110 for a few days, and then returned to more normal levels, I just felt better immediately.
I could guess at six different other things that could be problems, but it's not like we have much to go on, so I guess that would not be appropriate. But at least you have the meter now so you can see about that, and just that information will help any further diagnosing your doctors do.
empi tomlisaashley
Posted
Losing some weight would really help you but I know it’s easier said than done. However perhaps going on long brisk walks would help. Also cutting way back on sodium and reading labels to control your sodium intake would help. Also there are many studies showing Hibiscus tea is very effective in lowering BP and drinking Beet Juice. I suggest ordering the hibiscus tea flowers and brewing them rather than buying generic hibiscus tea from the grocery store. Boiling red beets is probably better than buying the powder. The juice from the beets is more powerful. I am not well versed in BP but there are others on this forum who are. I had a two week period where my BP was high and had never been high before but it is now back to normal. I bought a cuff style BP monitor and monitor my BP every day different times of day. I suggedt long brisk walks because I notice my BP is 118/66 or thereabouts about 20 minutes to half hour after I walk. Also doing some deep breathing exercises can help. We don’t breathe properly most of the time and it is important. I would start with long walks and hibiscus flower tea (you can buy it at any health food store or even on Amazon. If cooking beets is too much trouble than buy the Beet powder. Eating fresh green vegetables are also good and cut down on the sodium. Of course caffeine is also a factor. If you are a coffee drinker try to cut back to one cup in the morning. Diet drinks are also high in caffeine.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge will respond to you. There are people here who are very knowledgeable. Your dizziness abd fogginess could be the types of BP meds you are taking. Sometimes it takes just changing meds or finding the right combinations. Other posted have indicated a problem with Amlipodine so that might be the problem. Call your doctor before cutting back on your meds. Good luck and please keep us playing dyed but dobtey the simple things like longcwalks hibiscus tea, beet juice and cutting way back on your sodium and caffeine.
stephie120782 tomlisaashley
Posted
stephie120782 tomlisaashley
Posted
hello really sorry to hear you been having such trouble I understand you pain I too had long standing hypertension with eye bleading I was in hospital for 2 weeks I lost sight almost in 1 eye due to hbp swelling /bleeding also had brain bleeds ......it's all scary stuff ......I was also put on 3 bp tablets one being almpdopine I was on almpdopine for a year made me tired which made me moody swollen knees my advice would be to insist on trying another tablet instead of almpdopine see how you get on alot of people have bad side effects with this one ......it worked for me straight away ........as for the tiredness it will ease off your body is naturally used to having hbp so when you take a tablet and lower your body doesn't understand it takes time it's taken me 2 years to get mines better don't give up keep going to the doc change tablets /doses your quality of life is important and remember it will get better hope this helps ..
VeeWat tomlisaashley
Posted
wayne08874 tomlisaashley
Posted
Hi - this isn't that far from my experience (detailed in my first post) and I'm still trying to get back to normality. I almost suspect that some people aren't designed to "operate" at normal BP - whether that means we die early from a stroke etc I don't know. It seems there's a bewildering choice of drugs out there and if you change you're right back to square one again.