I'm so so tired today..

Didn't sleep much last night but I've found it difficult to sleep lately anyway.. I'm shattered in the mornings but wide awake at night..
Also been getting dizzy and seeing ''sparkles'' every time I stand up again..

Last year I was getting all these symptoms and ended up having an MRI for suspected MS.. nothing was found on the scan which is great but it would be good to know what's causing the symptoms.
I know that the dizziness on standing is caused by a rapid dip in blood pressure but it would be helpful to know why it does this.
I'm wondering if it's anything to do with the mini diet i'm on atm.. I'm eating really healthily (and I actually mean healthily.. )
But.. high blood pressure is linked to too much salt etc in a diet.. presumably the reverse would also be true..

hmnn.. I'll look into things a bit..

anyway - wish me luck, i'm about to stand up again

I thought they had disproved the salt-high bp link? Sometimes I get dizzy and things get dim when I stand.

Not sure.. I hadn't read the latest research before your comment so was basing my thoughts on previous readings..
Having had a look though, I found this in the paper that says salt isn't linked to high blood pressure;

''It should be noted, however, that even though the study found no statistically significant association between blood pressure and sodium in the diet, those patients who were hypertensive consumed significantly more salt than those without hypertension—suggesting, as other research has, that salt affects people differently.

As for the factors that did seem to influence blood pressure, alcohol consumption, age, and most of all BMI were strongly linked to a rise. Eating more fruits and vegetables was significantly linked to a drop.''

So, it sounds likely that my diet is causing my blood pressure to drop.. a combination of eating fruit and veg, along with a lower BMI than I had before.. also, the article states that the people who are significantly hypertensive consume a lot more salt than the people who aren't..
so.. it's complex by the sounds of it and there is still evidence to suggest that an unhealthy diet is linked to high blood pressure.. just perhaps that people were blaming it wholly on salt before when they should actually have been looking at the diet overall.

I'm sorry you get dizzy when you stand as well - I don't mind it too much but i just worry that i'll faint or worse.. :/

Well, I don't always, and with age it's not usually so bad. Ofc I've always heard it's common during the teenage years, on account of growth spurts sometimes getting ahead of the blood supply, which sounds crazy to me. I know as a teenager I often had 'dimming' upon getting up quickly. Once I nearly did pass out. At least, next thing I knew, I was on the floor.

As an old fart, it's usually when I'm tired. Or, interestingly, if I've been in one position a long time, for example, hunched over a keyboard. I'll get up, or stretch, and everything goes to grey for a moment.

Do you get migraines? I sometimes, not so common anymore, but am prone to silent, painless migraines that present with little or no pain, nor marked hypersensitivity, but I get the aura, fortification lines, etc., and my vision is essentially out of commission for about an hour. I just have to relax, preferably in the dark, until the temporary blindness passes. I wonder if that could be related, since migraines, aren't they caused by some kind of vasoconstriction (spelling?) in the brain? Just a thought.

Back to the sodium.... it was a long time ago I'd seen reference to the salt, and while I sometimes try not to sound artificially authoritative (since usually I'm unwittingly talking out of my ass- the older I get, the more I realise I talk out of my ass, CONSTANTLY. I must be such a boor to others), it seemed to me I'd heard or read that some researchers had decided.... well, I had gotten the impression that lots of salt would not MAKE you have high BP, but if you already HAD high BP, sodium was likely to exacerbate it. But what do I know? Meh.


yes... I'd prefer you not faint, either! As I said, as a young man, well maybe not teens, twenties maybe, I jumped up off the couch once (this is way back in the dark ages? when we didn't all have remote controls for the TV?) and the next thing I know I'm on all fours. Good thing I missed the coffee table on the way down, that would have hurt!

((hugs))

Just wanted to say it could very well be the diet if you're eating more veggies and less meat.
When I became vegetarian, in the beginning I was tired all the time and got dizzy spells too, esp when I stood up. The room would spin and I wouldn't be able to see and would have to hold onto something for a bit.
Turned out I had mild anemia and had to go for iron booster shots every week for a month.
Perhaps you could get this checked out by a doctor?