I have suffered from low blood pressure for the majority of my 14 years in the chair. I use the tilt mechanism a lot myself.
I ended up getting hospitalized in December because I had a terrible bout of diarrhea that ended up in severe dehydration. They had a heck of a time getting my blood pressure back up and ended up resorting to some of the medications you mentioned. Lissette mentioned hypoglycemic or low blood sugar as a possibility. This is entirely possible, because I suffer from this problem also. I am a little perplexed why her doctor indicated she should cut out carbs as they are pretty good at putting the glucose into the bloodstream so your blood sugar doesn't go down. That's what I used to keep mine up. How I can tell that I am having a hypoglycemic attack is because I get really hungry quickly and then my head starts to become light. If I lean back (tilt back) and my feet start to tingle then this could be a really bad one. I always have citrus juice on hand and I carry glucose tablets in my pouch. I have had to call neighbors in the past to have them give me the glucose tablets. On one particular occasion the nurse who lives a couple of doors down brought her device over to check the blood and discovered that I was in the low 50s. I agree with wheelchair that you need to talk to your doctor about this ASAP. Good luck and let us know what you find out. Everyone is different, but I usually get something out of almost everything posted here. Quadius On Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Lissette Whitehead <[email protected]>wrote: > It happens to me mildly every once in a while, I start feeling very week > and a little dizzy, mostly when I don't eat at my usual time, I also need to > tilt my chair when it happens. There was a time when it happened more often > and a doctor told me it was hypoglycemia, are you eating too much sugar? > When I had that I was told to exclude all whites from my diet, white rice, > potatoes, white bread, etc, everything that turns into sugar, and of course > sugar. I followed these indicationd and this issue went away, but lately > I've been pretty bad and I've noticed it's happening more. > > Lissette Whitehead > 1177 Broadway Suite #4 > Chula Vista, CA 91911 > www.lissettesgoaltowalk.synthasite.com > www.lwgripgloves.com > > > > > ------------------------------ > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:56:27 -0700 > Subject: [QUAD-L] Passing Out > > > I have had my C-5 injury short of twenty years now. In this time I have > become familiar with low blood pressure. To help I have taken Ephedrine, > Modderin and Espresso coffee. The abdominal binder is a major help This > past year there has been an increase in episodes of nearly passing out, or > whiting out as I describe. Fortunate for me is the tilt on my wheelchair > where I have been increasingly spending much of my time. Lately if I begin > talking I be come faint. I am worrying that something else is going on but > wonder if this is common amongst older quads. > > ------------------------------ > Windows 7: Simplify your PC. Learn > more.<http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen1:102009> >
