Low BP while sleeping

[its1111]

Has anyone experience low blood pressure at night/while sleeping? I have been waking up feeling dizzy on and off the past couple months. At first I attributed it to switching medications, but I have been taking my blood pressure when I wake up and it has been pretty low (for me)- 100/60ish...after being awake for about 15 minutes.

In the past my BP was generally very high, but now it has been within normal range, even during the day. I am taking a mild benzo for anxiety in the morning and at night- would this lower my blood pressure to that extreme? I am only taking 3.75mg of tranxene.

I'm really more concerned as to why I am dizzy upon waking, and why my bp would be going quite so low while I am sleeping. Could this be sleep apnea? I don't snore....Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[AlexandriaUK]

Not a medical response but I would say its not sleep apnea just that you are rested and relaxed so bp lower than when your awake and active/anxious mines 105/65 at the moment so great, means I'm chilled :D waking up feeling dizzy is maybe more to do with not sleeping right or I would say more likely inadequate fluid intake.
Does it ease as soon as you get up

[ricardo]

I had a 24 hour BP monitor and my blood pressure was always at its lowest when I was asleep and 100/60 is absolutely fine.

A lot of meds make you feel dizzy and perhaps these are reducing your BP on purpose, I can only assume that as you didn't state why you were on meds. if you get up suddenly one can feel dizzy.

[its1111]

Thank you, AlexandriaUK. Yes, I am hoping it is just because I am relaxed, but it is hard to imagine why the only time I feel dizzy is right when I wake up...even if I am just taking a nap in the middle of the day at times. After I get up and going, my BP rises to "normal".

I do have an appointment with a pulmonologist for my asthma in a few weeks, so I will mention it to him. I do, at times, wake up feeling like I am gasping for air...that is why I mentioned sleep apnea.

Ricardo- It is not after I stand up. It is when I am just lying there, coming out of sleep. As I mentioned, the meds are for anxiety, but don't feel its effects while awake.

[countrygirl]

Is the dizziness when you go from laying down to getting out of bed? if so then your bp is probably dropping even lower as when you go from flat to upright your bp has to go up to keep blood supply good to brain ( simplified explanation!) and alot of people with low bp have this problem when they first go from flat to upright.

Or are you waking up and feeling dizzy whilst still laid flat?

[its1111]

No, unfortunately the dizziness is from the moment I open my eyes, before I ever even sit up. Today, when I took my blood pressure, I had been lying the entire time...

[countrygirl]

Sorry for another question but do you turn over when you wake up, most people do this without realising it as they are half asleep because if you have benign positional vertigo this gets triggered when you turn over in bed. Just another thought!

[its1111]

Hm, not that I know of? lol I'm not sure what is going on...I have been monitoring my bp throughout the day, and it seems to be all over the place. 135/80, then a couple hours later 109/78. I'm not sure what is causing it to bounce all over the place. Anxiety, I suppose... It's been a rough couple of weeks.

[countrygirl]

My bp does this as well, when calm and relaxed with normal pulse my bp today has been 118/80 and then 113/73 but when I was getting worried and stressed about something then it went up to 130/85 and my pulse was about 20 beats per minute higher as well. this is totally normal.

Remember you are obsessively taking your bp and doing it much more than anyone else would do. So you will notice much more of what happens normally.

[its1111]

Yes, you're right about checking more than normal. I guess I was curious as to what it was doing and how much it was fluctuating. It got as high as 150/90, so these fluctuations seem a bit odd to me. I'm a worrier, can you tell? :) The only thing I can attribute it to is anxiety at this point. Ugh, it's awful what our minds can do, isn't it?