Headache and vertigo after doing some strenuous work, rising suddenly from a lying or sitting position,
or stand in a queue for prolonged period of time, and collapsing suddenly are complaints seen in men
and women of all ages. Children often experience these complaints during their morning assembly after
long exposure to sun. They may feel a black out and collapse suddenly. These people would be found to
have a low blood pressure and given salt solution or lemon juice, but this does not resolve the vertigo
completely.
People may have a lower BP of 110/70 or 100/60 mm of Hg, but this is not the reason for these
complaints. For a person to be said to have a low BP, their systolic BP must be less than 90 and the
diastolic pressure must be less than 50 mm of Hg, and this happens in conditions like serious heart
disease where the heart does not function well, in severe infection in the body that has led to
septicemia or septic shock, in case of an accident causing a lot of blood loss. This condition can be called
hypotension or low BP occurs. Other than this, the small variations in blood pressure to about 110/70 or
100/60 is only a variation in the BP and cannot be categorized as low BP.
The positional vertigo is a condition known as orthostatic hypotension which occurs when there is a
sudden change in the posture such as standing up after lying down for a long time or standing in the sun
for a long time, which rapidly reduces the fluid level in the body due to dehydration. In these situations,
our systolic BP suddenly drops by around 20 mm of Hg and a person who has a systolic pressure of 120,
will suddenly drop to 100 or 90. This happens due to the alteration in the nerve mechanism in our body
and is known as orthostatic hypotension. This is usually seen in people over the age of 60 years and they
experience vertigo when suddenly standing up or after a lot of straining. It is more common in women
as compared to men. Also, pregnant ladies experience this very often.
Other than this, some disease conditions may cause orthostatic hypotension. These include heart
complaints, thyroid gland variations, complaints of the nerves, etc. Also, people who are bedridden and
are lying down for long periods may experience vertigo or dizziness when trying to get up. Excessive
alcohol intake or regular use of alcohol may also lead to such variation in BP. People who are on long-
term use of high doses of anti-hypertensive medications may also suffer orthostatic hypotension.
The person with orthostatic hypotension experiences sudden vertigo, dizziness, and blackout when
quickly standing up from a sitting or lying position with excessive cold sweating on the forehead and the
entire body and a feeling of the body falling out of control with desire to lie down immediately. There
may be slight nausea and dimness of vision associated with this.
Along with medicinal management of any underlying disease conditions, some things that can be done
to control or prevent the orthostatic hypotension are as follows:
- Reduce the use of carbohydrates and sugars because increased intake of carbohydrates leads to
greater amount of blood circulating around the digestive system and in turn reduced blood
supply to the brain. - When you are in a queue or you are in a situation which requires standing for a long time and if
you are experiencing a feeling of vertigo, hold somewhere and cross your legs. When you cross
your legs, the BP will be kept stable and would not drop suddenly. - If you have to be standing for a long time, you can hold somewhere in front or behind and
gradually raise your leg. This is an exercise for the calf muscles known as calf raise. The blood
flow towards the heart will increase and will prevent the drop in BP suddenly. - If you have vertigo when standing up from a sitting position you can extend and flex the legs
either while sitting or standing and this will prevent the vertigo occurring due to positional
changes. - To avoid the dizziness when getting up from bed in the morning, extend, flex and raise the legs
in the bed similar to cycling in the bed. This may be repeated 10 to 15 times in one leg and then
repeated with the other leg. - Another exercise is to extend the legs and raise it above to 45 degrees and then bring it back to
the bed. Repeating this 15 times on one leg and then the other leg will prevent the sudden drop
of BP when rising from bed. - Alcoholism must be avoided as much as possible.
- The body must be well hydrated with at least 3 L of water per day, especially during summer.
- Sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables must be had to supplement vitamins and minerals.
- Drink water with salt or rice soup with salt to maintain the sodium-potassium balance in the
blood.