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My mother's blood pressure suddenly dropped - what could be the reason?
What could cause my mother to suddenly become faint-like with pale lips?
Physician Responded
62 years old, weighs about 140 pounds. She was standing in the dining room about to look through a newspaper for coupons and just suddenly felt faint. She hurried to the bed and laid down, then her lips turned whitish and she said she felt like she was going to pass out when she was standing up. This came on randomly in the middle of the day.
We have an electronic blood pressure monitor and hers is registering about 97/69 and was a bit lower than that earlier. Her lip color returned, then her lips got whitish again, then it returned, they got whitish again and they're back red again.
What could cause this? She has no known major health problems that I am aware of. What can I do to help her? Earlier she said she had to get up and go to the bathroom (probably #2), but other than that, no other symptoms other than I saw a little bit of shaking in her hand.
She ate some raisin bran this morning, then she ate some broccoli earlier. She took her mother down to the store and then came back and ate a little chocolate bunny that she bought on clearance at the store. It happened like 10 minutes after the ate the chocolate. She has no known Could a quick sugar spike have caused her to have low blood pressure? No reason to suspect that the milk or cereal were bad, I ate some of the broccoli myself and was the one who cooked it and the chocolate...well, those usually aren't 'bad.' She's not diabetic or anything.
A recent measurement was 96/47, then it went back up to 96/59. Due to Coronavirus fears, we're of course trying to stay away from the ER and she doesn't want to go. I can't drive right now and I have severe sleep issues, myself and supposed to have a sleep study next week.
She's never had anything like this happen. What could be going on?
Physician Responded
62 years old, weighs about 140 pounds. She was standing in the dining room about to look through a newspaper for coupons and just suddenly felt faint. She hurried to the bed and laid down, then her lips turned whitish and she said she felt like she was going to pass out when she was standing up. This came on randomly in the middle of the day.
We have an electronic blood pressure monitor and hers is registering about 97/69 and was a bit lower than that earlier. Her lip color returned, then her lips got whitish again, then it returned, they got whitish again and they're back red again.
What could cause this? She has no known major health problems that I am aware of. What can I do to help her? Earlier she said she had to get up and go to the bathroom (probably #2), but other than that, no other symptoms other than I saw a little bit of shaking in her hand.
She ate some raisin bran this morning, then she ate some broccoli earlier. She took her mother down to the store and then came back and ate a little chocolate bunny that she bought on clearance at the store. It happened like 10 minutes after the ate the chocolate. She has no known Could a quick sugar spike have caused her to have low blood pressure? No reason to suspect that the milk or cereal were bad, I ate some of the broccoli myself and was the one who cooked it and the chocolate...well, those usually aren't 'bad.' She's not diabetic or anything.
A recent measurement was 96/47, then it went back up to 96/59. Due to Coronavirus fears, we're of course trying to stay away from the ER and she doesn't want to go. I can't drive right now and I have severe sleep issues, myself and supposed to have a sleep study next week.
She's never had anything like this happen. What could be going on?
COMMUNITY LEADER
I just did a search on "sudden drop in blood pressure" it seems that one main cause can be dehydration, is your mother drinking enough water? Also, some irregular heart beats can cause this, is she aware of any palpitations, some folks have them but aren't aware of them.
2 Comments
She drank a 16 ounce bottle of water during the earlier part of the day and drank some afterwards, then again a little after in the afternoon. She usually goes through three 16 ounce bottles of water every day. She may not have gotten enough sleep, I suspect. Hasn't been sleeping that well on and off lately.
Lack of sleep can certainly contribute to the issues she is having.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hello, I am so sorry that your mother is having these issues, they can be scary for both parties involved.
Normally, feelings like this are due to a drop in blood pressure or a drop in blood sugar. I know she doesn't want to go to the ER, I don't blame her, but if this happens again or she still isn't feeling well, then the best idea would be to call 911, they will be able to give her an EKG and that might give some clue as to why this is occurring.
Normally, feelings like this are due to a drop in blood pressure or a drop in blood sugar. I know she doesn't want to go to the ER, I don't blame her, but if this happens again or she still isn't feeling well, then the best idea would be to call 911, they will be able to give her an EKG and that might give some clue as to why this is occurring.
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