Today was the first day I felt really good. I spent two weeks with this crappy cold, coughing, sniffling, and fainting.Yes, fainting...I have naturally low blood pressure, it's usually around 110/60. In many ways it's good, because I'll probably never have a stroke (it's especially good, because high blood pressure runs in my family, and my dad had kidney problems and heart disease from high BP). But the downside of low BP is it can cause fainting.
So I am not a stranger to fainting...I have probably fainted 30 times in my life, the first time was when I was a little girl. It can be from getting too hot, getting up too fast, or even seeing something unpleasant (like my own blood), or being upset. I am used to it, know what it is, how to handle it. I usually just lie down, pass out, and then I'm fine.
Hub is used to it too, and knows what to do. He also knows to not over-react... if other people are around, they often will freak out and want to call 9-1-1, but he just says "oh, she'll be fine in a minute." They might think he's a bit callous, but I always AM fine.
But when I get sick my BP tends to get even lower. And I might faint without much provocation. Just standing up will do it. We were in church on Saturday, I was feeling "okay" but all of a sudden, I got "that feeling." So I sat down, passed out on Hub's shoulder, and woke up a few minutes later. Hub was taking my pulse. (Fortunately, we were sitting in the back of the church, so no one else even noticed. I've actually learned over the years how to be unobtrusive while fainting.) I felt okay, but a few minutes later, I passed out again. Every time I stood up, I started to pass out. Then it happened when I was just sitting there. It happened about 5 times over the course of the hour we were in church. This was a little weird, as I don't usually faint repeatedly. I can only imagine how low my BP was. Needless to say, we just went home after church. I had something to eat, had a big glass of water, and went to bed.
I felt fine the next day, with no residual effects and no fainting. In retrospect, I think it was probably partly that I hadn't been eating much for at least a week. When I get sick, I tend to not eat or drink enough fluids, so I was probably a bit dehydrated.
The moral of the story is…I need to pay more attention to keeping hydrated when I'm sick.
Anyway, today was the first day I actually felt "perky." I think I might go to the gym tomorrow!
I have naturally low blood pressure too, I really have to watch myself and keep hydrated too. Both times I delivered my children, they had to warm me up as my blood pressure dropped so quickly... so glad to hear you are starting to feel better :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're feeling a bit better. I have low BP too, but I faint rarely. However, I get very motion sick if I have to get up and down and lot (think weeding a garden, ugh!) I think I get sick before I hit the fainting point, which is probably why it doesn't get that far. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're feeling better. And yes, low BP is much better than the other which is what I have. I hate having to take daily meds but I prefer to stay alive, so I keep taking them! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Grace!
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that you followed me today, so I stopped by to say Thank You! I'm curious...how did you find me?
I hope you're feeling better. I've only fainted a couple times in my life, and it was not a pleasant experience. =(
Hello! Nice to meet you, Chi
DeleteOver the past years, several of the blogs I follow have closed up shop, so I started looking for some new ones. When Sean Anderson finally posted after a long hiatus, I was excited. Then I started clicking on the folks who had left comments, to see if I could find some bloggers with common interests. You were one, and it just so happens you were writing about pants sizes! Like I was! And you are in Chicago...I used to live in Chicago in the 70s! So I figured it was meant to be.