What is a danger level when it comes to blood pressure readings?
What numbers are warning signs of too low? I called the ER and a person there told me that there is no too low, it depends on the person and since they were talking and alert not to worry. Now, I've not been to med school but that sounds ridiculous to me. There is also swelling involved of hands,feet and ankles and the blood pressure medication was just changed. Yes, we have stopped the medication and know that we need to make an appt. first thing on Monday Morn. and were willing to take her to the ER but the person there said there wouldn't be anything they could do and I'm not gonna have her sitting there for hours w/ swelling and not be treated. UNLESS, these readings are extremely dangerous. They vary, but have been running from 90/54,83/52, 86/48 ?? Is there an approximate number that I should worry about?
MEL.2009-02-14T00:03:00Z
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Hello Delta Que,
The diastolic (bottom figure) should not really be below 50. The official "NORMAL" figure is 60-80 but if the person you are talking about has been on new blood pressure medication I wouldn't worry too much at 50 especially since you have sensibly stopped the medication.
What you need to do is lie her flat with ideally none but just one pillow is she can't manage without. Raise the legs as high as she can manage (you can rest them on cushions/ pillows/ a rolled up douvet just anything you have to hand (or if it is possible for you to do so, raise the foot of the bed.. This will serve two purposes...firstly it will bring the blood pressure up to an acceptable level, secondly it should help reduce the swelling in the feet and ankles.. If you leave her in that position for about 15-30 minutes you should see an improvement.
If this person is going to stand up from a chair or get up out of bed, be sure to ensure they do it slowly.
If getting out of bed, sit her up gently and let her sit on the edge of the bed for a few minutes before standing up. This will prevent the blood pressure from suddenly dropping and causing faintness or dizziness.
If getting up from a chair, just do it gently, not suddenly jump up.
If the blood pressure drops again later on after it has come back up from raising her legs, just repeat the exercise of raising the legs and it will come up again.
If you have any further concerns please feel free to email me and i will do all I can to help you. The only thing is that I am in UK so there will be a time difference. I wouldn't like you to think that I was just not bothering to reply.
Actually, the Er was correct when they said that there is not a number that is too low, the concern is if the person is alert and talking. I used to run a blood pressure of 86/48 quite often.
The low blood pressure should not be causing the swelling. Is she having any trouble breathing? When there is swelling, you have to be sure there is no shortness of breath, because fluid can gather near the heart or in the lungs also.
Be very careful stopping the medication. Take her blood pressure often and if it starts going up (more than 140/90) she needs to take something. If you do not feel safe giving her that one, then take her to the ER or call the Dr. and ask what to do. A high blood pressure is more dangerous than a low BP as it can cause stroke or heart attack.
If she starts having shortness of breath, take her to the ER. If you feel like something is wrong and your worried that she will get sicker, then take her to the ER also. Better safe than sorry.
Sometimes with bp meds a side effect is swelling of extremities. Elevate her legs and arms on pillows continue to monitor her blood pressure at least every 8 hours also if you know how to check a pulse take that also when you check the bp IF her B/P drops further take her to the ER , also tell her to change positions slowly as may be dizzy with bp this low Increase of fluids will help keep Bp up
YES there are TOO LOW B/P's If it drops below 75 [top number] I would take her to ER
The bottom number -yours was 90 is boarder-line high. It should be less than 80 for really good BP especially if you are young. One reading does not tell a story. Some people get somewhat nervous in a doctor's office and it can read a little higher from anxiety. The best thing to do is to get your own BP reader ( easy to get at any drugstore ) and do yours at home. Do them often so you can see what the real number is. Remember one high reading ( yours was not high just higher than a young person would expect) is not an issue. It is the long term condition of having high BP that will affect your vital organs. But since your one reading was not where a Dr. would like it -it would be smart to follow up and get some more readings.
3 years ago, I was diagnosed - hypertension with a reading of 160/100. I used to feel dizzy a lot, my legs had awful cramps, and levels were very low in my potassium, causing my fingers and toes to always cramp together. One day I started to feel really faint while I was driving with my daughter in the back seat and I passed out, hitting 3 cars and ending up in a ditch. That moment,I knew I had to do something because my meds weren't working. I heard about this diet from a friend and thought I'd give it a shot. The results have been remarkable. In just 21 days, I honestly can't remember feeling this good, my blood pressure went from 175/110 to 125/70.