Amgevita and orthostatic hypotension

[Frankiefocus]

Hi everyone, I have been taking amgevita for 2 years now for my rheumatoid arthritis. Last month I had a mad dizzy spell after visiting the lavatory. This scared the life out of me as it felt like my heart slowing down a little and was very dizzy. After sitting down and taking deep breaths this all stopped but happened again last week. My GP checked my heart rate and blood pressure and told me I had hypotension and advised I loose a few pounds in weight. Thing is I'm only 1 stone or 14 pounds over weight. That's the only advice I got. I'm just wondering is this the usual protocol for orthostatic hypotension.?

[Runrig01]

Is it hypotension or orthostatic hypotension, you mention both. Orthostatic is when your blood pressure takes a sharp drop of >20mmhg in the systolic which is the upper number, or >10mmhg in the diastolic, the lower number.

For orthostatic usual advice is increase fluid intake, and salt intake. Wear compression stockings, and stand for a minute before moving away from the chair. Doing gentle stretches to encourage circulation to improve. I can’t see that losing weight alone will address the issue. Sometimes it can be due to a low blood volume. General hypotension is when it’s low throughout the day, but doesn’t drop when standing.

[oldtimer2]

Doesn't sound like very helpful advice...did he/she check if the BP fell between sitting and standing? Are you on any medication? Having your bowels open and straining can sometimes cause problems with blood pressure.

Hypotension = low blood pressure, why should losing weight have any effect on that? It's obvious that you need to do your own research as to what might be causing this, but it seems unlikely to be related to the amgevita.

oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/wp-cont...

[Stills]

I have just been diagnosed with Orthostatic Hypotension . Note my rheumatoid condition is Adult Onset Stills Disease which for me manifests as RD. Diagnosed in 1979 aged 17, drug free since mid 20s but constant symptoms, stiff swollen joints and immobility, fever, eyes, sore throat and other AI conditions. I’m 61 now, 5 foot 1 snd weigh 8 stone 8. No advice was given at ER, just meds for vertigo caused by dropping BP. Look up Serosititis, a condition associated with RD and may cause low BP. I think this is my issue and worth consideration as are vestibule issues connected to migraines or ear damage resulting from Stills …, possibly RA conditions. This is all my own understanding and based on my own research and not in the realm of GP or rheumy. Wishing you better days.

[Frankiefocus]

I checked Serosititis, thankfully no symptoms of this but funny you mentioned ear damage as I have this and resulted in permanent tinnitus. This is why I never use salt as a bag of crisps makes the hissing in my head worse. I will be visiting my rheumy soon and hopefully she will shed some light on this. Thank you all for the kind helpful responses. I will update asap.

[Stills in reply to Frankiefocus]

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and have read that RD can damage organs including the anvil etc in the ear. Then there is the Serosititis link. Reading has led me to research further in low thyroid, vestibule issues, labyrinthitis and meunières disease ( spelling incorrect). I hope it’s ok to post you this link

vestibular.org/article/diag...

[Stills in reply to Frankiefocus]

healthline.com/health/seros...

[Frankiefocus]

Thank you Stills, I will take a look.