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What Causes Weakness And Dizziness When Diagnosed With High BP?

Posted on Mon, 4 Jul 2016

Question: I am a 40 year old female with hypertension. I take Benicar 20/12.5mg. I aIso take an additional 12.5mg of hydrochlorothiazide once a day and potassium citrate 15meq twice a day for kidney stones. I had a high A1C of 9.4 for the first time 3 months ago. I have since adapted a modified carb diet and have been checking blood sugars 3 times a day for the last 3 months. I haven't had any blood sugar higher than 110 after eating and nothing higher than 90 first thing in the morning. Now all of a sudden I'm having very low blood pressure to the point where I feel dizzy. I have not taken the Benicar or the hydrochlorothiazide in over a month and my blood pressure stays around 112/62. I feel very weak and dizzy. What would be causing the low blood pressure all of a sudden? I have had hypertension for almost 20 years and have never experienced blood pressures this low.

Answered by Dr. Benard Shehu (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Following advice

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you for asking!
I read your query and understood your concerns.

What you are experiencing doesn't seem related to BP issues. Since during this period your BP stay arround 112/62 mmHg the dizzy feeling isn't related to BP. Systolic BP should be below 80 mmHg that a person will feel dizzy.

Most probably your symptoms may be related to the following causes:
- Cervical spondyloarthrosis
- Inner ear problems

This is why I strongly recommend that you should do a complete check up to find out what is causing your symptoms.

If you were my patient I would recommend to do:
- Blood work including thyroid hormones
- Ecg
- Cardiac echo
- Holter monitoring
- Doppler examinations of neck arteries
- Tilt table test
- Cervical spine x-ray
- Audiogram (to detect inner ear problems)

Hope this will be of help!
Wish you health!
Dr. Shehu
p.s: If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask me again.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Benard Shehu (10 hours later)

My blood pressure is averaging around 112/62 now without any blood pressure medication. It was even lower before I stopped taking the Benicar and hydrochlorothiazide. My diastolic was going below 60. This has been going on for a month now. I feel generally weak and dizzy all the time now. This blood pressure is extremely low for me. My blood pressure has always averaged about 120/80 with the blood pressure medication. I've been on the same dosage of Benicar for almost 20 years now. How can I get my blood pressure back up to a normal range now? I just had an echocardiagram and ekg done less than 6 months ago and everything was normal. I had full bloodwork done in April 2016 and hormone and thyroid levels were normal.

Answered by Dr. Benard Shehu (13 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Following advice

Detailed Answer:
Hi back,

In order to increase your BP I would recommend as follows:
- Drink plenty of water
- Increase salt intake by consuming plenty of salty foods
- Use omega3 fish oils
- Use Betahistin

However, please keep in mind that a BP arround 112/62 mmHg shouldn't be blamed for your symptoms. BP changes (between actual and usual averaged BP) should be on a range of 30-40 mmHg to feel dizzines.

Hope this will be of help!
Wish you health!
Dr. Shehu

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar