Immediate help please i am concerned!

I went for my spinal steroid shot this morning. Upon arriving my blood pressure was taken.. it wasn't my size so she did it on my lower arms. First reading was low and i was asked if i normally have low blood pressure since i have lost drastic weight 150lbs now my bp ranges around 106/70ish usually. Well she did it in the same spot on my left arm and told me it was still low at 97/56 she said it could be because the cuff was not the right size so upon entering the room for my shot she took it again on my upper arm with a good size cuff and it was 117/something she didn't tell me all of it.. this was before the procedure. After the procedure with the same cuff it was taken again and once again it was like 96/58. She said it was low but okay and i was worried because i feel lightheaded and dizzy all of the time especially when bending over or getting up too quickly. Well i came home this afternoon and i woke up from a nap sweating... i thought i was just hot turned on my a/c then 5 min later got cold and turned it off.. since then i have turned it on & off several times and keep sweating. I am not a diabetic but i was told to watch my blood sugars after this shot and i have a monitor i bought pre-op so i pulled it out and my blood sugar is 126 which i believe is normal right? When i used to weigh 380ish lbs before surgery my blood pressure was pre-hypertension often running 140/90. Should i be concerned it is so low now?? I am on pain killers such as percocets and i do have hypothyroidism now since 2008.

Btw i was in pain still after the spinal shot but throughout today i am able to walk much better and sitting doesn't hurt so much... my lower leg pain is pretty much a lot better but still having a lot of upper thigh pain.. my leg also isn't shaking as much and i can bare more weight on my leg without it wanting to give out or hurting soooo badly. For those that were wondering about how it went today. I had this shot for a herniated disk pinching on my nerve. L5-S1 location.

Tomorrow is my appointment with my surgeon for bloodwork, etc i hear my office takes 14 tubes of blood this is for my 3 months follow up. Should i ask them about the low blood pressure and make them aware it will cause me to be very faint especially that much blood?

I would ask. Mines been pretty low since I had surgery too. My new average is between 95/65-100/70 (more or less). But my doc isn't concerned, and so far I feel fine. The only time I feel dizzy is if my bs drops. But I can usually keep it up by eating right.

Low BP after the procedure and on pain killer - may be normal.  That is how my body reacts to pain killers.. I can't take too much because I my blood oxygen saturation gets really low.  (I stop breathing) .

 

BS - normal should be 70-110.. 126 is "normal " after food. or during a day, . and/or - when steroids are taken.

Steroids may also cause sweating, feeling hot or cold. Too much energy, irritability, ect.. etc..  

Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection Side Effects

In addition to risks from the injection, there are also potential side effects from the steroid medication itself. These tend to be rare and much less prevalent than the side effects from oral steroids. Nonetheless, reported side effects from epidural steroid injections include:

• Localized increase in pain
• Non-positional headaches resolving within 24 hours
• Facial flushing
• Anxiety
• Sleeplessness
• Fever the night of injection
• High blood sugar
• A transient decrease in immunity because of the suppressive effect of the steroid
• Stomach ulcers
• Severe arthritis of the hips (avascular necrosis)
• Cataracts

I've had some almonds and a protein bar today so this blood sugar was after eating. I normally run a little lower but usually not this low.... thanks for sharing this information.

I would mention it to them, but the collection tubes are small (and the tubes have stuff in the bottom of them and they don't completely fill them), so even 14 tubes isn't really that much blood.

Lora

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/wls_lightweights/4632440/OT-low-blood-preasure/

 

I posted a similar question recently - here is the thread if you would like to read it.  And the follow up thread is next

 

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/wls_lightweights/4632640/BP-follow-up/

My cardiologist has told me as long as I don't have any symptoms my pressure isn't too low. But if you're light headed and dizzy I would get it checked out ASAP. If you're on any heart medications the doses may need to be lowered, mine have been drastically.

BTW: I would postpone any blood work for at least 2-3 weeks.  The steroids may affect some numbers like iron, ferritin.. and you may get false low or high reading... 

The pain and inflammation you have been dealing with affect other stuff...

Elevated Ferritin
[edit]

If ferritin is high, there is iron in excess or else there is an acute inflammatory reaction in which ferritin is mobilized without iron excess. For example, ferritins may be high in infection without signaling body iron overload.

The most important thing for having your blood taken is to make sure you are WELL hydrated - at least two bottles of water beforehand if you are fasting ...   Not only will this help the phlebotomist, it will prevent you feeling faint because of low volume!  

14 tubes of blood is way less than what you donate so it really shouldn't be a problem for any of us ...