My Sister Has Suddenly Started Having Erratic Blood Pressure Readings.

Posted on Thu, 13 Jun 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 Answered on

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Question : My sister has suddenly started having erratic blood pressure readings. It varies from high 160/89 to low 92/58. She feels lethargic especially when readings are low. She wonders if exertion brings on spells of low blood pressure?she had breast cancer 20 years ago and was treated for bladder cancer last year. She was clear of any cancer at her last checkup She also has a history of blood clots. . She’s concerned about why her blood pressure is varying and wanted to know what could cause her blood pressure to be low when she’s never had a problem with it before. She’s always had hypertension and has taken medicine for it for many years. Is this just a result of aging?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome to Ask a Doctor service!

I understand your concern and would explain that as long as her blood pressure values are low, I would recommend reducing the dose of her antihypertensive drugs or even stop them.

From the other hand, I would recommend checking thyroid hormone levels for possible thyroid gland dysfunction, complete blood count for anemia and blood electrolytes for possible imbalances.

Another possible disorder which could cause low blood pressure values is orthostatic hypotension, especially if her blood pressure values drops while standing up.

In such case it would be necessary performing a Head up Tilt test in order to investigate for this possible disorder.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Wishing good health,

Dr.Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar