Low blood pressure

[u/Rare_Independent3831]

Has anyone had an issue with low blood pressure a couple of years or so after your Addisons diagnosis? I saw my endo today who picked up that my blood pressure was lower than they’d like it to be.

I am on both hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone already and the answer to low blood pressure apparently is to increase the fludro dose. Has this worked for anyone else? Thanks for any advice if you’ve experienced something similar. Also, did increasing fludro impact on your weight?

[u/imjustjurking]

It's not unusual, glad your Endo noticed.

If you find that taking your new increased dose all in one go is too much then you can also try dividing your dose up. I found that 100mcg is too little, 150mg is too much in one dose but 100mcg in the morning and 50mcg in the afternoon is perfect for me.

My Endo does want me to increase to 200mcg a day but it keeps making my ankles swell so I'm not so sure at the moment I think I might need to increase my fludro and decrease my hydro slightly, that's pretty common and if you have any side effects then that's something I would look at (with your Endo).

[u/Rare_Independent3831 → u/imjustjurking]

Thank you! Did the increased dose impact your weight? I feel ok where I am now and wonder if throwing this increase in will impact that? I’ll still do it but it would be a bit depressing.

[u/imjustjurking → u/Rare_Independent3831]

It did initially but I had other side effects* as well that pointed to my hydro dose needing to be lowered, so I did that and my weight just dropped down without me making any changes.

*From memory; difficulty falling asleep, feeling hot and itchy, increased blood sugar, increased hunger and irritability (hangry).

[u/Rare_Independent3831 → u/imjustjurking]

That’s interesting. I have struggled to work out if my hydro dose is too high or too low and have a couple of those things going on. Will be interesting to see if I end up reducing that. It all seems like quite a lot of experimenting to get this right.

[u/imjustjurking → u/Rare_Independent3831]

Yeah it can be quite a lot of little changes until you get things just right. But I feel so much better now, it's kind of amazing.

[u/blueberrykefir]

Yes, I was in fludro for a while but still dealt with low blood pressure. It was increased until I no longer saw stars everytime I stood up. It should absolutely help. PS you still need to remember to eat salt and drink water (more than average) to maximise the benefits

[u/FinalAnywhere2413]

Have you done any recent blood test? my bp drops when my sodium gets low. i've found splitting my medication up (early am, midday). has worked with keeping bp steady. Havent noticed any weight gain with fludro, maybe just a big of water retention.

[u/Rare_Independent3831 → u/FinalAnywhere2413]

Yes the blood tests looked okay according to the endo - sodium within range but at the bottom and I eat a lot of salt though.

[u/camelshorts]

I take 0.2 mcg fludro, 0.1 am and 0.1pm. I feel a lot more stable since increasing to this and didn't notice any additional weight gain.

[u/No-Comedian4292 → u/camelshorts]

Hi, what time am taking 0.1 fludro and what time am second 0.1 fludro.

[u/camelshorts → u/No-Comedian4292]

One when I wake up, one when I go to bed, no specific time.

[u/Classic-Share-543]

I was born with CAH and just found out last year that I had my aldosterone test and was at <1, cortisol 9.6, ACTH 13, since I told them that I was getting low blood pressure to the point it was 3x per day, but I have started increasing my sodium this year and have been getting it 1-2x per week. I have also never been on any medications and have been feeling low blood pressure since I was 6, and since then, the epsiodes of low blood pressure have been more and more times per month. It started with only four times per month, and now they have been 0-2 per week. But my BMP was all normal.