Should blood pressure be this low?
The Mail on Sunday’s brilliant GP... with all the health answers YOU need
QFOR most of my life my blood pressure has been on the low side of normal, but it seems to be getting lower and lower as time goes on. This condition has had a terrible effect on my life. I feel constantly faint and dizzy, I’ve had to give up work and give up driving, and I am nervous about going very far from home because of the constant fear of fainting or having a ‘funny turn’ while I am out. Yet the medical profession seems completely uninterested in doing anything to help me. Why is there no help available?
ADOCTORS spend much of their time looking at blood pressure: we certainly want to actively treat high blood pressure because it is a risk factor for heart disease and strokes, and we are very accustomed to doing this. There is a huge number of medications and lifestyle measures aimed at treating high blood pressure because doing so has significant positive outcomes in preventing catastrophic events.
For low blood pressure, there is very little available and certainly far less interest from the medical perspective. This is likely to be because it does not come with significant health risks.
That being said, when a condition has such a dramatic effect on quality of life, preventing employment and causing social isolation, it is vital to initiate some help.
Ensuring adequate hydration with water intake is imperative, as this directly impacts on the blood volume in the body and therefore the blood pressure. Sodium has a direct effect on blood pressure via the kidneys, so increasing the amount of salt in the diet would be worthwhile. Wearing support stockings (which can be bought from the pharmacist) can help to push fluid back from the legs up to the heart: this improves the circulation and raises the blood pressure. Low blood pressure can be caused by heart conditions so it is worth having investigations to look into this; likewise hormonal conditions such as Addison’s disease or other adrenal gland problems can worsen low blood pressure.
QI HAVE had an underactive thyroid for a few years and am now, at 53, taking 125mcg of levothyroxine daily. I feel quite low, and suffer with cold sores. I also find it nigh on impossible to lose weight, and suffer with fluid retention and bloatedness. As I am going through the menopause as well, is one condition masking the other, or inhibiting treatment?
AHYPOTHYROIDISM, or an underactive thyroid, is common but the treatment dose differs widely between sufferers. Levothyroxine – the prescribed version of the deficient hormone – is given in doses from 25 to 200mcg. Doses change based on patient’s symptoms and blood test results. The first step in this scenario would be to taper the levothyroxine dose up in increments of 25mcg and retest the blood.
Feeling low, sluggish, bloated and run-down are typical features of an underactive thyroid and may imply a dose is too low. Once the blood tests normalise, we assume the thyroid condition is successfully treated so the dose remains the same but monitoring blood tests are still taken.
Menopausal symptoms can indeed produce symptoms that may mimic hypothyroidism, such as fatigue, weight gain and low mood, and it can be difficult to separate one from the other.
Treating concurrent conditions always poses a challenge, but in your situation the optimum scenario is to treat the hypothyroidism to the correct blood level before tackling menopausal symptoms.
OIF YOU like the idea of taking part in medical research, here is a great opportunity to do so – and from the comfort of your own home. Researchers at University College London have developed a ground-breaking web-based experiment to help improve our understanding of Parkinson’s disease. This is a condition that primarily affects movement, but some sufferers also develop thinking and memory problems. The online test is made up of six games, each testing the brain’s visual processing, and researchers are looking for anyone to take part, whether or not they have Parkinson’s. vision-in-parkinsons.co.uk
M ODOCTORS’ receptionists came in for criticism last week after a survey by Cancer Research revealed that people may avoid going to their GP for fear of having to disclose their symptoms at reception.
The insensitive and intrusive receptionist is sadly a common perception, but it can be vital for them to know what the problem is.
Although not clinically trained, receptionists do need to know how to best direct patients to the most appropriate clinic. They can only do this accurately if they know what the problem is!