Hi folks. I posted a while a go about some problems i've been having since last May. Until May 2021 I was managing quite well with my medication Madopa, Ropinerole an Saffinamide. I walked 5 miles + regularly and was training as a competitive powerlifter. 24th May I went into hospital and didn't come for all but a few days until 15th December. I became very dizzy and had frequent falls and loss of consciousness. The dizziness and falls were postural hypotension due to PD the black outs were due to my heart stopping which was caridac problem solved by having a pacemaker. After the pacemaker I've had problems with chest pain, very high blood pressure and have just come out of hospital again having been admitted with very low blood pressure. I am now dizzy most of the time and have difference in blood pressure readings between my left and right arm which differ frequently by 15 to 25 points, I am awaiting a cardiac mri and an electro cardiogram. Has anyone else had anything similar to this or have nay suggestions. I continue to exercise when I can and and feel fit to, and nothing excessive but cannot seem to get rid of the dizziness, especially when standing up. thank you in anticipation of any suggestions you can offer.
Sudden change of health: Hi folks. I posted... - Cure Parkinson's
Sudden change of health
The fancy medical term for dizziness upon standing is orthostatic hypotension. To maintain constant blood pressure across different postures requires an active regulation system. This is accomplished, first by sensing blood pressure with baroreceptors in the carotid artery. This information goes to nerve circuits in the brain that send signals to the heart and cardiovascular system. Impairment in any part of this system can cause orthostatic hypotension. This includes the innervation and operation of the heart. I would take this problem up with the cardiac specialist that you are seeing.
Orthostatic hypotension/postural hypotension is seen in one out of five people with PD and is typically caused by the disease itself and or the drugs used to treat it. Here are MJFF's recommendations for helping to deal with it :
michaeljfox.org/news/low-bl...
One of their suggestions is increasing intake of salty foods as sodium chloride is noted for raising blood pressure.
If you are taking any supplements that can have blood pressure lowering potential, you may want to review those and give consideration to how much you are taking. Here are some supplements noted for having blood pressure lowering potential :
1. Magnesium
2. Potassium
3. Fish Oil
4. CO~Q-10
5. Vitamin D
6. Garlic
7. Ginger
8. Melatonin
9. Beetroot
10. Vitamin C
11. L Arginine
12. Vitamin B2 and Folate
13. Probiotics
14. Green Tea
15. Dietary Fiber
16. Hibiscus tea
17, Cocoa
Art
Thanks for your reply, we are going to try some of these suggestions starting today, when my wifes been to Waitrose!
Before the PD Dx I had chest pain. Not bad, I'd go jogging and have to stop then barf. Then rinse out my mouth and continue jogging. But I never had the postural hypotension that chartist mentions. I had an EKG that showed no problems then a cardiac MRI that showed 100% obstruction of the LAD, the lateral anterior descending coronary branch. Nurses said it was commonly known at the widow maker. So I had it opened and stent put in. It was soon after that I was Dx'd with Parkinson's. I did a lot of lifting. At first I thought the chest pain was a strained intercostal muscle from overdoing it.
Was al set to break a divisional dead lift record until this happened haven't been able to lft since. Got back to some light resistance work with bands but I am struggling this time to push myself that little bit harder. Do you know if the obstruction in the LAD would have shown up on an angiogram. My blood tests have frequently led the consultants to believe I've had a cardiac episode ( heart attack) but the angiogram I had in December showed no signs of damage or obstructions? Thanks very much for taking the time to reply, It will be interesting to see what the cardiac MRI shows on friday. All the best hope you are as well as can be, ahve you started to lift again?
I have a treadmill and a chin-up bar in our shed. At first I couldn't grip the bar enough to hold my weight. I can now but can't do even one pull-up. I tried eccentrics but except for better grip strength I don't see improvement. it bugs me that I can't do chin-ups. I'm thinking I'll need to find a gym where there's small weights to start with. I'm a fan of SlowBurn, a technique where each lift takes 10 seconds and each drop takes the same. SlowBurn forces the body to use slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles with each lift.
As a teen I topped out at 1000 pounds in the three powerlifts. My favorite was the deadlift. I weighed 150 pounds and maxed at 440 pounds. My dad was career army. We lived in Bad Tolz, Germany and I competed with guys from the 82nd Airborne.
When I was diagnosed I went to Dr Google. There I read that weight loss is a common sign of Parkinson's. I thought, "Cool!" but it hasn't been the case for me. I'm stuck at 200 pounds and not losing any weight. I take Rytary, memantine, propanolol and rosuvastatin.
Weight loss is associated with PD but it’s muscle loss, sarcopenia, not the desired fat loss. Weight baring exercise is extremely important.
I do some exercise every day, but because the underlying cause of the cardiac problems is yet to be discovered I'm under orders not to push too hard.
Have you tried doing assisted chin ups using a resistance band ? This time last year I was squatting 150kg for 3 reps and deadlifting 200 for 3. 24th May brought everyting to a halt. I have just started doing some light resistance band work but no more lifting until we know what the cardiac problems are and my blood pressure is regulated,
Clever idea. I have bands but never thought of using them that way. Thanks,
kevin
Loop the band through itself on the cross beam then step from the bench so your knees are in the band , you can even double up the bands to start with. Good luck hope it goes well
My husband’s first PD symptom (before diagnosis) was low blood pressure. He was always dizzy and had a number of falls, particularly standing at the toilet. He now sits, no more falls. He now has high and low blood pressure. The thing that raised his low blood pressure (among fixing many other symptoms) was mannitol. See my post. His dizziness and fogginess disappeared. His low blood pressure then didn’t go below 100/70. He takes a blood pressure tablet in the evening, to help keep it lower over night. It’s worn off by morning, when it’s likely to be low.
Gwendoline
Thank you so much for replying. I have to say you sound very similar to us in that my wife is very much the manager of my PD. She walks with me reminding me to get my posture right, lengthen my stride lift my feet up, and has been a huge influence in helping me keep active. This present situation has us both beat just now though. I take Madopar, Ropinerole and Saffinamide, which can all reduce blood pressure. I now take modrodine and biosprolol to raise it twicw a day. To an extent it is better but will suddenly drop 20 to 30 points ending with me in a deep sleep or it will vary 10 to 2o + points from one arm to the other which again leaves me feeling drowsy, dizzy and nauseus.
I had many of these problems. The orthostatic hypotension was very difficult to live with. I fainted and was on the ground a lot. I had heart palpitations prior to being diagnosed with PD (now I attribute to PD) which they did eventually say was Afib and gave me a heart ablation for. I was also put on around 6 different heart medications. Each had their own side effects. Some side effects were not worth the benefit. I saw one doctor amongst a bunch that prescribed me Flecainide??? It works for me??? In other words, we are all so unique. What works for one mat not work for another. But don’t give up hope and tell the doctors if you’re not happy or not getting enough relief. Fainting all the time is horrible!! Good luck in your journey!
Thank you for your reply, I'm hoping to have DBS in the next couple of months and am hoping that will help my autonomic system reboot, there seems mixed responses as to how realistic this hope is. The NHS is great but creaking I came out of hospital on one occasion having been admitted with severe chest apin and dangerously high blood pressure. On discharge a locum who hadn't even met me wrote the discharge summary which had no information about Blood pressure or cardiac problems but was based on a urology report from a scan I had while in hospital. They are continuing to investigate and I'm sure it'll be sorted soon. All the best to you.
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