low blood pressure when tired / menstruating

[StrongLegs]

Hi,

I wondered if anybody else gets low blood pressure when they are very tired or menstruating post-covid?

It started with me right after I had covid in March 2020 but the symptom is still going strong now in 2023.

If I lose a lot of sleep, usually because of gastro problems, then after a while my blood pressure gets low. Then I have to just lie down until it gets back to normal. Usually I feel really tired and my body goes to sleep but my head doesn't.

It usually goes to about 85/52 for up to a week, and the lowest ever was 70/40 which lasted for about 12 hours.

I have tried eating more salt and drinking more water and neither helped.

I had electrolytes and vitamins over IV recently in A&E and was really careful to have plenty of salt and potassium since then. But I have still been losing a lot of sleep because of gastro trouble and as soon as my period arrived, my blood pressure dropped again.

I wondered if anyone else has this?

The diagnosis for the gastro trouble is rumination syndrome. My gastroscopy was normal.

I know that I am stressed to the eyeballs, and am addressing that with a clinical psychologist and the concerted efforts of all my family.

There is Addison's disease in my family and I have just had blood tests for adrenaline and cortisol.

Sorry for the long story. I would be really glad to know if anyone has any ideas. It's all a bit complicated just now.

Thanks!

I forgot to say, but if I stand up my blood pressure goes up, not down, so it is not POTS.

I asked a doctor and this turns out to be one of these stress-related autonomic nervous system things. So I get stressed and my body goes right through "fight or flight" and into "play dead" which is why I then get low blood pressure and have to lie down.

Just thought I would come back with the answer in case it helps anyone.

It definitely sounds consistent with things that seem to happen to some people post-Covid. I have long Covid and find a Facebook group called Yoga and Meditation for long Covid is a great place to ask questions and get suggestions.
from memory, I think pots can include various blood pressure responses- there are different types. Then there’s the more general term dysautonomia which encompasses all these weird blood pressure things, and it can definitely be triggered by Covid, hormones can make it worse as can tiredness.
I have dysautonomia and it gives me ridiculous anxiety type symptoms (which immediately go away if I lift up my legs, so it’s blood pressure related adrenaline.) So do look at physical health stuff , pacing and strategies to manage stress altogether, as they could all be part of the picture!
I’ve had great treatment privately from Dr Gupta at York Cardiology and from ExPhysEm (she’s listed as this on Facebook/her website- she’s an exercise physiologist called Emily and specialises in ways to manage dysautonomia. She does a free ‘discovery call’ which is a good start for getting more info if it seems relevant,
Have you tried compression?

Suzy Bolt’s yoga programme called Rest Repair Recover is also quite good- cheap Zoom/video classes focused on calming down the autonomic nervous system. I love her Breathwork and mindfulness classes.

Pots is not blood pressure dropping, it’s heart rate going up when standing. You could have pots

Thanks for explaining about this. I have anxiety symptoms that go away if I lie on my back for an hour with my calves up on the seat of a chair. Is that related to this then? I assumed that it was to do with hyperventilation and the better breathing that I have in that position.

I do have one varicose vein and I have compression stockings for that, though I don't wear them much because they are not very comfortable.

So, for me, when I lie down with my legs up, my POTS symptoms (high adrenaline, dizzy, high heart-rate but less oxygen getting to my brain because my heart isn't beating so efficiently) resolve. So often if I think I'm stressed/anxious and then sort the POTS out, I realise a lot of the stressed feeling was the POTS symptoms.

That said, lying with legs up is also generally relaxing, and lying/resting for an hour could help people with various kinds of physical health stuff going on, as a way of resting and resetting your nervous system a bit. My symptoms sometimes go away really quickly on sitting/lying down - more like within a minute, or even seconds sometimes, I get a lot of relief as my blood pressure etc. goes back to more normal.

Apparently hyperventilation can be related to POTS syndrome (though to other thigns too, or can just be its own thing.). For me, I get breathless as one of my symptoms when I'm trying to stand up for too long, and it's really obvious how much better my breathing is with my feet up/when I'm reclined/lying flat.

Things that help with POTS (and most would help with other kinds of orthostatic intolerance) include:

• Getting a diagnosis and appropriate treatment - some people need meds. There are some meds that overlap with anxiety meds and can be prescribed by a GP, and others that only a specialist would be able to prescribe. If you google the NASA lean test and give it a try, you might get an idea about whether you'd meet the criteria for POTS. Even if you don't, you might have another form of dysautonomia going on, though.
• Water/salt/potassium in appropriate ratios, though best gettign medical advice about that as if your blood pressure is sometimes high, salt isn't so appropriate
• Waist high compression tights, 20-30mmg - the Sigvaris brand are good but expensive, and available on prescription. Failling that, sports compression leggings like 2XU recovery/Refresh (I wear the mens ones under a dress, as the waistband is more comfy!)
• Abdominal binder - I think if you search on Amazon you can find various elasticy velcro things. They're surprisingly effective and really cheap
• Generally things that help with calming the nervous system - for me, Yoga Nidra, Breathwork & sometimes gentle yoga/mindfulness are my favourite for this. Though sometimes just reading a book or sitting out in the garden with nothing to do but watch the trees is good!
• Exercise - especially things that strengthen leg muscles and things that increase your overall cardio fitness, if you can do this without making yourself feel badly exhausted and getting into an exhausted push-crash cycle.

If you want a community of people going through similar things, would still recommend Suzy Bolt's Rest, Repair, Recover programme of Zoom & online video library Yoga/Yoga Nidra/Breathwork classes, and community chats. And the Pots UK website is very helpful too, including a list of good doctors to be referred to.

Cervix opening = drop in bp. Vagabond thing. That’s why passing clots can make you feel more faint than a light flow day

Beta blockers have helped me a bit and also not standing or sitting up too long. Easier said than done. Walk whenever you can.

Sorry should say Vasovagal - too late to edit