Since 2007, my DH has had some problem with low blood pressure which causes him to black out. When we see the doctors, they take his BP and it is always great. After our last ER visit, one doctor suggested the dosage of DH's prostate med may be the cause. Anyone else have this problem? Any ideas on what to do to improve other than meds? My DH is 66 and has had AZ for 8 yrs now. Thanks
I am not a doctor, and cannot give medical advice. I can only tell you what our doctor told me. Sid has high blood pressure, and is on morning and evening meds for it. He also takes .25 mg. of Risperdal, which is a very small dose, but can lower BP. He has had several low blood pressure attacks. Dizziness - no blacking out. The doctor said dehydration can cause it, so to fill him full of fluids, have him put his head between his knees, and then get up and walk around as much as possible. That usually works. Especially the fluids. HOWEVER, he did say if the bottom number goes below 59 to take him to the ER.
Next time you go to the doctor, and the BP is normal, ask him to give you a list of instructions as to what to do when he has a low BP attack.
Dr. Marsh, if you are reading this, please respond. Thanks.
My LO has a little high BP but I have had some times of very low BP. I have Atrial Fibralation and take 2 Flacainide pills every day and it keeps the rate very stable. But, my BP has been more of a problem Early in 09, i had a few days where my BP wasw going from high to low. I have a little portable BP cuff at home and so took my reading a lot during this period. One reading was 51/34 and numerous reading nearly that low. Dr cchanged my BP medicine to Lisinprol and it has been great. Some heart medicine seems to wear out or something and they have to change it. That is why it is so important why we should always tell our Dr when something seems to be out of the normal. FYI bill
Brindle, the Prostate med could cause low BP, particularly if he is on an alpha blocker. Check with the doctor again and see if the dose can be adjusted. Joang's advice regarding fluids, and putting head between legs is also good. It might help his doctor if you could confirm the low BP's with readings at home when he has a spell.
my DH was also on prostate meds. flomax and enablex. the flomax caused a severe drop in BP and he was already on BP meds as well. it got so bad he was severely impacted and i took him to ER with 90/40 and it was due to the flomax was the official dx. we dropped that med and started a new one about 1 yr ago. no more issues with bp. i think the inserts for the prostate meds say it can drop bp. divvi
Low blood pressure is a classic symptom of autonomic system failure, which is common with some of the other dementias (particularly LBD and MSA). There is medicine to treat it. My husband went off Flomax and then on it again and it didn't make the low blood pressure into a serious problem, but his isn't very severe. Orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure on standing up) can be a significant cause of falls.
My dh fell again while we were in line at WalMart. BP was so low it took hours for it to come back up (in the ER). He seems ok on standing and I do put his legs up before going to bed at night. We cut back the prostate meds to 1 tablet. He never says anything so there is never a warning of bp going too low. I know we may not eat enough salt - chips at lunch mainly. I wonder if standing is the problem - too long a period. I think he gets plenty of fluids although he does not want to drink them and it sometimes takes forever (or so it seems) to drink a small glass of water. Dr.s don't really seems to have a clue.
brindle prostate meds can drop bp quickly. it may be an idea to take him into urologist to discuss another type of med. i know before i took mine off the prostate meds there was a new one out on the market that is much improved over the older ones. your urologist may want to try another med if the bp continues to be a problem. drinking lots of water will raise the bp too. divvi