week 12 of LL, low blood pressure, feeling ill

Helen

Full Member
I have just been for my monthly blood pressure check and have been told that my bp is now too low at 115/74. Pharmacist has told me to go back in 2 weeks to be monitored again but that if it continues to drop I will have to leave the programme. I have another 4 stone to lose and really don't want to do this! I do feel really dizzy and quite sick though and have done for over a week now so I can't ignore what she is telling me.

The Pharmacist said she thought the reason for my bp droppping so low was probably lack of salt so I am wondering if I can get around this problem by adding salt to my food packs. (this means I will have to start eating the soup which I dont like but will have to live with).

I will contact my LLC and see what she suggests but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they have done to get around it.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanksx
 
Hiya
good idea to speak to your counsellor... not sure about adding salt, sure your counsellor can advise you on that one.. rather than having the soups that you don't like maybe if you dont already start having the savoury drink?

Just wondering are you spacing your packs too wide apart?

Hope you feel better soon
x
 
Hi Geri

Thanks for replying.

I don't think I am spacing foodpacks too far apart, usually have them about 8am, 1pm, 6pm and 10pm.

I am going to have a chocolate shake soon and try adding some salt. This will probably be revolting but I will give it a try (I have a spare) then ring my counsellor to discuss with her - If the choc is bearable with salt then I won't need to pop in to exhange any of the packs for soup but I will at least have more information.

Thanks again
Helen
 
Hiya Helen
Your'e welcome :p

oooh hope your choc shakes ok.... if you cant get through to your counsellor, maybe ring HO.... also may be worth going to see your doctor, just to be on the safe side..

enjoy your shake! ;)
 
Hi Helen, I felt like you at the end of week 12 - even sitting still the room was spinning. Thought I might have labyrinthitis, but luckily my GP was to hand (husband!) who did my BP (88/60) which explained my symptons. He told me to drink more and as I was pretty near goal warned me it might be time to do more than 500 cals if things didn't improve. I drank more (4 1/2 litres upped to 6) and had a sneaky pinch of salt in marigold bouillon drinks(he doesn't approve of salt but one of my group used to live in the Middle East and they took salt - she reckoned it helped her when she felt dizzy). Anyway after a couple of days my BP was up to 104/60 and I felt OK. Not medically qualified but have had a lot of BP readings done as I had problems in that area when pregnant and I seem to remember 114/74 was pretty "normal". It's your symptons which are more worrying for you. I think my husband didn't seem too bothered my BP was low (not worrying in a medical sense)- it was more a question of whether I was prepared to put up with feeling bad. However I don't always listen to him carefully so may have got the wrong end of the stick! Drinking more and having a bit of salt worked for me and surprisingly quickly. I wonder if having a mild virus or something could make the problem worse? Just speculating - no real knowledge I'm afraid! Hope you start to feel better soon.
 
I occasionally add a little salt (maybe 1/5 of a teaspoon?) to my shakes and it does make them taste better as salt is a universal flavour enhancer.

With the warmer weather upon us we will be losing more sodium due to perspiration.
 
my blood pressure usually never varies, and is 110/80 and the doctor says this is in the normal range. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a word with your LLC, or HO or even your own GP as it may not be your blood pressure causing this.
 
My First Blood Pressure Reading Was 175/65 And The Practise Nurse Said That Was Fantastic Only Been On The Programme A Week Though But I Think Your Pressure Is Normal
Xxxx
 
Hi Helen- are you having the soups? If so, you could add a heaped teaspoon of marigold boullion to the mix- that has got salt in and improves the taste of the soups- hope you feel better soon.
 
Hi

Thanks to everyone who has replied to this thread. No reply from LLC yet but had about 2grms of salt today and starting to feel better already though this could be psychological I suppose. I had 1grm in a chocolate shake (not very nice) and the other one in some fruits of the forest flavour water (ditto). Couldn't do that every day!

I am going to book app with my GP (bp was done at pharmacy) in the next week anyway so will mention it to him and see what he says. I have also ordered a bp monitor from ebay so I can keep an eye on it myself.

I don't have the soups usually as I find them too powdery but will buy some of the marigold bouillon drink tomorrow as it maybe easier to hide extra salt in than the chocolate shake I usually have! DH also suggested salt tablets so will go and give Holland & Barratt a quick once over once I've taken DD to karate. Swallowing a solid tablet occasionally maybe better than trying to drink table salt!

When I started LL 12 weeks ago my bp was 140/90 though historically tends to be about 120/70, so was only slightly lower today than normal. However I think the pharmacist was concerned because of the symptoms I am suffering from. I think I maybe reacted and went straight into "panic mode", something I do quite easily!

Hopefully I will be able to swallow a bit more salt tomorrow and by the weekend will have spoken to LLC and received bp monitor. The RDA for salt is 4grms according to info I have found on the internet. I am hoping that if I can consume 2grms a day over the next few days it will take my levels back to normal for a bit!

It is reassuring to know that other people have suffered the same problem and it hasn't stopped them from continuing the programme. I still want to lose another 5 stone so stopping early is not something I want to consider!

This site is great, thanks.
 
Thanks to everyone who has responded to my question. I feel much better today though have upped my water as well as adding some salt to diet yesterday. I don't think I was managing 4 litres a day as I was refilling the same bottle and it was too easy to lose count!

Anyway I thought it would be worth posting the answer from my counsellor just in case anyone else was suffering the same problem:

have had a reply from the Medical Department and as we discussed, the packs do contain 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of salt. Also, they have said that the dizzy spells could be attributed to water intake and have asked me to ask you how much water you are on? Obviously, we have already discussed this.....

If they do continue, they have agreed with me, that you should consider going to see your GP as a precautionary measure.

I hope this is of use to someone else. I have stopped panicking now and am being very dilligent about drinking the water. Have also purchased some Marigold Buillion as an occasional top-up!
 
I'm glad you're feeling better Helen, hopefully it was a lack of water and now you've rectified that you'll be fine :)

Cath
 
I have just been for my monthly blood pressure check and have been told that my bp is now too low at 115/74. Pharmacist has told me to go back in 2 weeks to be monitored again but that if it continues to drop I will have to leave the programme. I have another 4 stone to lose and really don't want to do this! I do feel really dizzy and quite sick though and have done for over a week now so I can't ignore what she is telling me.

The Pharmacist said she thought the reason for my bp droppping so low was probably lack of salt so I am wondering if I can get around this problem by adding salt to my food packs. (this means I will have to start eating the soup which I dont like but will have to live with).

I will contact my LLC and see what she suggests but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they have done to get around it.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanksx


I added salt to mine in Sri Lanka as I was getting light headed and cramps with the heat it seemed to help

Jo
 
I did find that if I dont have enugh water I felt quite ill. Not sure its a good idea to drink salt! Just have a couple of drinks of marigold a day & see how you get on!
 
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