Scary Sunday Morning

Dear Friends and Family,

I had an incident this morning that kinda freaked me out.

I woke up. Came downstairs to make my morning tea. Put the hot water heater on. Lay down on the couch while waiting for the water to heat up. Hot water heater goes off. I get up, assemble the tea, set the timer, lie back down. All routine so far... Timer goes off, I get up to get my tea. I walk over to the kitchen. Get my tea. And get really really lightheaded. So much so I'm standing in the kitchen waiting for it to pass and I come to only because I spill a quarter of my tea on the counter and the hot tea brings me out of it. Wow! Not good, to say the very least. I clean up the mess, make more tea and start researching on the internet.

My first assumption was sugar levels. I get lightheaded frequently in the morning and I always thought it was a pre-breakfast sugar thing. I was really hungry last night after a big dinner and it was too late for a snack so that reinforced my initial take on it all. Also, I didn't get lightheaded before Weight Watchers, so more reinforcing data. Well, after some more reading, I think it's more related to my blood pressure than it is to my sugar level - although that probably compounds the issue or makes me more aware of it.

So, there condition called orthostatic hypotension. It's when you get lightheaded or dizzy upon standing from a sitting or prone position. Sounds just like that happens to me. Your blood pressure is higher standing than sitting or lying down. There's more gravity the heart needs to overcome to get blood to your brain. From what I can gather the condition happens when the circulatory system doesn't react fast enough. So, why me? and why only in the morning?

So, my blood pressure is low. My pulse is low. Generally, this is a good thing. My diastolic (second number) is really low. Again, usually something to be happy about. I know after my recent heart fun and games, that my pulse drops really low when I sleep - into the mid-forties per minute. Again, something to be happy about. My conclusion? I think I get this lightheadedness in the morning because I'm coming out of an especially low cycle from sleeping. Then when I stand my hearts has a large gap to bridge and it's a little slow in the get-go.

The websites recommend getting more fluid - unlikely to help someone who's already drinking 10 cups a day. And, to try to increase blood volume. Umm... Okay. Mr. mouse thinks more cardio will help - stronger heart and everything. Things to contemplate.


Cheers!
mouse