Did (or does) your blood pressure go down when you lose weight and, conversely, up when you gain a bit?

I put on about 10 lbs. and noticed that when my blood pressure was taken, it was around 115/78, sometimes a bit higher. Now I know that's a good blood pressure in itself, but it actually is higher than when I weighed 10 pounds less. Now that I've lost much of the weight, my blood pressure was down to 91/59 today. I took it because when I was at church, I got up fast and got that head rush that I haven't been experiencing in quite a while.

I really want to lose maybe 10 more pounds because I still haven't reached my goal of wearing a sz. 8. I'm a little concerned about how low my blood pressure will go and if that's a bad thing. The lowest, which was recorded by a nurse when I went to give blood, was 88/58, and that was at my lowest weight. My lowest weight is still about 3-4 lbs. higher than what I eventually would like to weigh.

So I'm just curious as to others' experience with blood pressure.

First, I'd strongly suggest that any concerns about your blood pressure be addressed to your medical professional. That said, my BP went down dramatically as I lost weight. One of the main reasons I finally decided to lose the pounds was my doctor giving me a few months to reduce my weight to see if my pressure would drop enough to not need medication. That's obviously not a concern for you, but again, your doc would know best.

That's great that you don't have to go on medication.

I brought up the head rush thing to a doctor a few years ago, and she said "eat more salt." I already consume probably more salt than necessary, but I was happy to comply. Since I have a new doctor, I will ask whenever I see her again. I thought perhaps other losers might have some experiences to share.

I know that my bp has been drastically reduced since my weight loss. My bp was at times dangerously high when my weight was 200+. But we kept moving, changing drs, and I was pretty dodgy with the nurses taking the bps--saying that I would follow up with my primary care doc/obgyn, etc. Bad I know, but I was unwilling (stupidly) to address all of the health issues that my weight was causing. Currently my bp is normal.

Sheila, I've always had normal BP like you had with the extra 10 pounds. After losing the weight, my BP is much lower. 99/55 at my last visit. Since it's never been lower than that, I don't worry about it. The best advice was what Teachychildren said, ask your dr. You don't want to be lightheaded when driving or anything.
Marie

My bp was a bit on the low side at my high weight, and then when I lost weight (and particularly with my increased exercise) it went down more. It's around 106/56 most of the time.

It's not a concern for me because it's still in the normal range. But if it's consistently below 90/60, it can be a problem because of the dizziness like you experienced. And yes, increasing salt is one of the antidotes, along with making sure you are hydrated.

I'd ask the doc also.

Jay

Like you, my BP was normal at my heavier weight, and as I've lost weight, my BP has dropped. It is now quite low and I do get dizzy if I stand up quickly. However, the doctor has told me that mine is okay as long as I'm not experiencing problems in my everyday life. I just have to remember not to stand up too quickly. My is usually in the 90s over the 50s. My pulse is also quite low now (usually in the 50s). The doctor says I'm an athlete now! I would ask your doctor at your next visit to make sure you are still in the healthy ranges.

Sheila - my BP was borderline high at my high weight, stays around 105/70 now I think. At my lowest point of 115 it got to 95/60, but didn't stay there.

My condescending male doctor would never tell me my blood pressure, unless I asked him about it directly, but at my highest weight, he gave me 20MG daily of Quinapril, an ACE inhibitor. After I lost nearly 100 pounds & started getting head rushes after standing up from my desk at work & taking a few steps, he told me to cut the pills in two (which I did, with this clever plastic thingy that I call my Pill Guillotine), so I was down to 10MG. Then the headrushes came back, so he told me to quarter the pills. So until very recently, I was taking a sliver, about 5MG. I'm scheduled to see him soon on our routine quarterly visits, so he can confirm I didn't suddenly get fat again -- but I warned him the last time: "If you drop the dosage on the Quinapril again, I'm gonna have to pulverize it & snort tiny lines of it, like coke."

I want to get off it entirely. Twice I've had to go to the ER in the past four months [LONG STORY] and each time they commented on my low resting heart rate & said my BP was normal, in spite of my being under extreme stress on both occasions.

But my doctor has this reputation as an overmedicator that I guess he has to live up to.

Saef - now I'm having mental pictures of you at work doing lines of some powdered substance. Someone comes in your office and reacts with surprise, to which you say "no, it is just blood pressure medicine, I swear!" and then someone like me has to investigate.

Sheila - I've been thinking about the BP question - my mom is pretty small, 5'3", about 105 when she is healthy. She has lost down to the mid 80's i recent years and her BP actually skyrocketed. So, yours might not drop with more weight loss, it could stabilize where you are. Keep your eyes on it if you are having dizzy spells, though.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate your stories. Saef,

Definitely something to discuss with my dr. I don't like the head rushes, though, but they're easy enough to avoid if I get up slowly.