Brief Answer: Dizziness is due to dehydration + salt depletion Detailed Answer: Hi XXXX Thanks for your query. I wish you had mentioned the blood pressure readings. Post-exercise dehydration and salt depletion causes dizziness. Ideally, exercises should be started at the lowest level and then, gradually increase the level over a period of days, so that the body, muscles and the circulatory system gets time to adapt to physical exertion. Therefore, starting abruptly with vigorous exercise tends to cause dizziness, which- incidentally- has nothing to do with caffeine withdrawal. I would therefore, suggest that you take plenty of water with common salt, before and after exercises; start exercise at the lowest level and gradually increase the degree of exertion at every 2-3 days interval. This will give the body's system, time to adapt to the exercises. I assure you that you will not have dizziness if you follow the advised regime. Hope I have addressed your concerns to your complete satisfaction and you find my response helpful and informative. I will be happy to answer further queries, if any. Fond regards and have a nice day, Col (Dr.) Rakesh Karanwal

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Brief Answer: Advised course of action is given below Detailed Answer: The additional information is quite helpful. 1. Caffeine is a neuro-stimulant and also transiently raises the BP very marginally. The real issue is : what was your basal BP (that is, early morning BP) earlier? Incidentally, basal BP is the lowest reading in a normal individual. If there has been a substantial fall in the BP from the earlier levels, it needs further evaluation, particularly for adrenal and kidney functions. A cup of coffee/day would not make a significant difference or cause withdrawal symptoms. 2. Common causes of low BP are dehydration, dieting, malnutrition, low intake of salts (common salt) or, excessive excretion of salt by the kidneys. 3. Occasional momentary giddiness, particularly when standing up abruptly on waking, is considered as normal. A physiological abnormality would have resulted in transient giddiness every time you get up from sitting/lying posture. This is called Orthostatic hypotension. 4. Most importantly, adaptive process takes place only when physical exercise is done on REGULAR basis (that is, daily). Intermittent exercise, say- 2-3 times/week- confuses the response mechanism of the body. Hence, DAILY exercise (even 10-15 minutes' run), is a MUST, so as to enable the body's response mechanism to adapt in an appropriate manner. I would therefore advise the following course of action:- * Increase your daily intake of water to 2.5 - 3 liters/day; increase salt intake to 15-20gm/ day; take a balanced diet having adequate calories to meet your daily requirements. Intake of calories less than the daily requirement leads to fall in blood pressure. * Go for runs EVERYDAY; take water + a pinch of salt prior to the run and, after run. * Maintain your basal BP record for 2-3 weeks. BP should be recorded IMMEDIATELY on waking up, before getting out of bed. If there is no increase in the basal BP, consult your doctor apprise him of my opinion. He will agree with me and order relevant tests- as mentioned above- to shortlist the cause of persistent low BP.

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