treating LOW blood pressure?

My blood pressure is consistantly low, so low that I'm often dizzy and weak or--today--constantly feel like I'm floating. Right now, it usually hangs out about 91-96 over 53-70. The worse numbers are when I'm standing. My pulse is usually high, tying to compensate. I think a large reason it's so low is that I'm hypermobile, which makes not only my joints loose, but also my blood vessels, making it harder to have high blood pressure.

I see all sorts of things that LOWER blood pressure, but I don't want to lower it, I want to RAISE it. And, a lot of the herbs that raise it, seem to have bad side effects.

Anyone have any tips for RAISING blood pressure?

hypermobile hi-5 to you. I hear you, when I go to donate blood I always get the odd look.
The only thing that has helped me is exercise, and i'm not sure if that is because I drink more water and have more blood volume (or something) when I exercise, or if I simply feel "stronger" and dont notice positional dizziness, etc. I have read about people trying to up their sodium levels in an attempt to monkey with blood pressure and like you said with the herbs, I don't think the risks are worth the benefits.

Another low blood pressure person here.

Black liquorice
more salty foods.
coffee

Making certain I do something physical enough to work up a sweat each day.

Salt.  When I was at my worst, I would sometimes need to just eat some off a spoon, like 1/2t to 1t worth.  Also make sure to eat enough and of course salt your foods.  The salt is on doctors orders, the doctor says that taking salt is no risk for us low blood pressure people and so this is much, much safer than what would be prescribed from a pharmacy

I have low blood pressure, very low, also.  And it can be quite dangerous if we were to pass out when no-one was around.  

Nicole, everyone,

I can identify with all of you and share at least a part of your struggles.  I have a serious health condition that requires a host of medications.

One of my medications induces a condition known as orthostatic hypotension.  Specifically what this does is cause me to lose blood pressure suddenly and drastically when I stand up.  It does not happen every time I stand up so there is a bit of randomness to this condition.

I distinctly remember one event where I stood up facing my wife.  I abruptly lost significant blood pressure.  My vision turned into tunnel vision and I struggled to remain standing.  I remember my wife emphatically saying something to me.  Her voice was loud and clear to everyone else, but I could not comprehend anything she said.  I recognized the urgency in her voice, but her words could have been a foreign language.

She was desperately trying to get me to sit back down which I vaguely knew would help.  What I thought she was saying was STAND UP!  I stood in a hunched over position for what seemed like a half hour (it was probably more like 30 seconds), but time ticked by its own clock.  My vision was reduced to a bare pinpoint.  I almost blacked out completely.

And then suddenly it was over.  My vision cleared completely and I understood my wife telling me to sit back down. I was probably only a couple of seconds from blackout and lost conciseness, but then my blood pressure resumed and everything was fine.

I was really struck by the fact that I could not comprehend a word she said but I could recognize clearly the emotional tone of her voice.

All in all everything worked out just fine, but It was a scary experience in retrospect.

You all have my sympathies,

Eric

Yet another hypermobile, here. My blood pressure is good, but only because there's enough other crud in my family lines, that they balance that part of the EDS, lol. Licorice root, kava kava, Hawthorne (It is often used for lowering bp, but it does so by strengthening the vessels, as does passionflower). The trick with those two, is blending them with something that strengthens it.
There is another herb that *can* help, but if you don't know what you're doing, it would be deadly - foxglove. It's long been used to slow, steady and strengthen the heart - But, that's also what makes it deadly. This is in the 'get thee to thy doc' advice realm, for me, especially with little people in the house, who depend on you. ~gentle hug~

Lots of good info here, licorice et al. My dad has the same issue and is always passing out. Freaks my mother out. I have high blood pressure, but I was told that it prevented me from passing out in my tachycardia episodes. The word of the day is "balance". Sorry, I'm watching a lot of Sesame Street these days.

Another vote for salt from me! I try to put extra salt or soy sauce on everything. Sometimes I salt my cereal.

I've also been known to take a spoon of salt when I am especially dizzy and loosing vision. Helps for me in a couple minutes usually, of course everyone is different.

I am also prone to getting dizzy and light headed, loosing vision when I stand up too quick (orthostatic hypotension). A little trick I've found that works for me is forcefully holding my breath when I stand up, just for a couple seconds. I thought to try it after hearing about the Anti-G Straining Maneuver that pilots use to not pass out due to increased g forces.

In both situations, blood pools in the lower half of the body, the resulting lack of blood going to the heart and brain causes the lightheaded symptoms. Tensing the abdomen and holding a full breath for the couple seconds it takes to stand up has almost eliminated my orthostatic hypotension.

It's a habit for me now.Timing and duration are important, hold for too long and blood pressure can actually decrease.  

Of course everyone is different. Do what works for you!

Same same - I'm hypermobile and I never had a systolic BP over 100 until I was 37 yrs old and pregnant.

Drinking LOTS of fluids is helpful, and have as much salt as you want.  Limiting salt is helpful for just some people, those who are "salt sensitive."  Telling the whole population to avoid salt is a bad idea.

Back in high school I was on a low salt diet because my dad had high blood pressure and my mom put us all on a low salt diet.  I often had the experience of jumping up from the couch to get the phone (yes children, the phone was on the wall, in another room, in the early 1980's) and having to grab something as I felt woozy and had gone temporarily blind.  Never learned the Valsalva technique, but it's intriguing.

I have low blood pressure and was also told to use more salt.  We use a good grey sea salt but using more caused me to retain fluids. So a while back I just quit using salt altogether except for what I get in my small serving of homemade sauerkraut every other day or so...it's also made with the good sea salt.  We don't eat any prepared foods or eat out so there's no  sneaky sodium except what's in my food naturally.

Where I think I'm lacking is iodine and the more I read the more I think it is the culprit.  My BP has always been low but lately more so.  For me, I think that and other somewhat subtle symptoms are starting to add up to an iodine deficiency.

I see where Sharon Tilgner lists low bp as one of the symptoms of mold sensitivity.... https://permies.com/t/86407/kitchen/Hypermobility-light-headedness-herbs#711785

Amy Arnett wrote:A little trick I've found that works for me is forcefully holding my breath when I stand up, just for a couple seconds. I thought to try it after hearing about the Anti-G Straining Maneuver that pilots use to not pass out due to increased g forces.

In both situations, blood pools in the lower half of the body, the resulting lack of blood going to the heart and brain causes the lightheaded symptoms. Tensing the abdomen and holding a full breath for the couple seconds it takes to stand up has almost eliminated my orthostatic hypotension.

It's a habit for me now.Timing and duration are important, hold for too long and blood pressure can actually decrease.  

Funny you say that. My pilates teacher brought in a person to do a seminar on "abdominal vacuum", which while it is more of a weight training technique for bodybuilders has some utility for older post-childbirth women like me who sooner or later will be dealing with "leakage" (PSA: start doing those kegels, stat). It involves simultaneous core activation, emptying the belly, and breath holding and supposedly encourages better bloodflow in the pelvic floor region. I do find myself doing it regularly and didn't connect it with blood pressure -- or the fact that i haven't passed out recently--- but it does make sense.

I use salt with no iodine, so the part of salt that brings my blood pressure up is the salt part and that is what my doctor recommends.  Salt and retaining fluids is I think why it raises blood pressure, at least more fluid in teh same vessel would mean more pressure

As someone with hypotension (genetic, my mom has it too. I sympathize with the strange looks when donating blood!), I've tried to drink more, eat more salt, and move more. I still can't stand upright for more than a dozen minutes without getting light-headed and my breathing going funny. My next step is to try licorice, but I've been putting it off because I don't like the taste and I try to take as few processed vitamins as possible since they're unregulated and I'm never sure what's actually in them.

I will say, the water, salt, and exercise has helped with not having my vision go black when I stand up, which happened a lot when I was younger. So there's that!