Sudden Precipitous Drop In Blood Pressure? Hospitalized, 2 Days. Hospital

Posted on Thu, 8 Aug 2019

Question: Sudden precipitous drop in blood pressure? Hospitalized, 2 days. Hospital treatment includes: Midodrine 10mg 2xday; prednisone 20mg 1 2xday; Cefuroxime 500mg 1 2xday. I have had an upper respiratory infection for 1 and 1/2 months. At least 4 antibiotics have been tried. They all work for a few days then stop working. I was a very healthy 81 year old until the onset of the broncitis diagnosis. I have upped my fluid intake dramatically. I do take Verapamil 180mg 1xday and Flomax, 1xday. All my problems started with the upper respiratory infection. The only thing that seems to fit is a severe blood stream infection.

Answered by Dr. Olgeta Xhufka (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Possible underlying lung condition.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear, welcome to Ask a doctor service.
I read your query and here is my advice.

I think you may need to get further evaluated doing a total blood count, spirometry and even MRI to check for other possible underlying condition. Chronic bronchitis, emphysema or even tumours may cause this situation.
The infection seems resistant since four antibiotics have not worked and you may try a new drug such cefpodoxim.
The drop in blood pressure may come due to dehydration and being unwell.

Hope I have answered the question.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj