falling down + low blood pressure = dehydration

arndog64
arndog64 Member Posts: 537
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
We saw his rad doctor yesterday and they took his blood pressure and weight and he was at
98 over 62 with heart rate 76 (sitting). He asked the nurse when he should be concerned about the low blood pressure. So, she said stand up and lets take it again, it read 89 over 54 with a heart rate of 85. The rad docotr said it was from dehydration. We are going to start adding more water to his feeding tube and see if that helps.

Comments

  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #2
    I figured that was probably
    I figured that was probably why. As much water and gatorade as I put through my tube, I still ended up needing fluids once a week. Coconut water is supposed to be great for hydration. You might want to read up on that. If I would have known about the coconut water I would have used that over the gatorade.
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #3
    hydration
    When Jim had his chemotherapy and radiation, every couple of weeks they had him come in simply for a bag of fluids.
  • CajunEagle
    CajunEagle Member Posts: 408
    #4
    Adding more water
    All during my treatment, two years ago, I never had any problem with dehydration and I'm thrilled to say so. This may be the standard operational proceedure, and if so, you are allowed to say "Duh", but when using the feeding tube I was commanded by my wife to always put a 10 oz. cup of cold tap water down the tube before using the recommended amount of Boost and Two-Cal (can't recall how many cans for each of those in my 5 "feeding times" per day)......and then flush out the tube with another 10 oz. of water at the end. I seemed to do okay most days with this procedure, until towards the end of treatment when I went to using a pump and the drip bag method for overnight feedings. At least that kept my weight from dropping too quickly.

    Larry
  • connieprice1
    connieprice1 Member Posts: 300 Member
    #5
    IV Hydration treatment
    Arndog, My wife was getting hydration through IV during treatment and this always made her feel better immediately. Don't hesitate to ask for IV hydration as the effects are immediate and IV hydration goes straight to your blood where hydration in the peg goes to your stomach. With your blood pressure so low I would get one and see if this could raise your blood pressure because that low blood pressure is dangerous. Your friends, Homer & Connie
  • adventurebob
    adventurebob Member Posts: 691
    #6
    low bp
    I too had the low bp after treatment. I was drinking at least a gallon of water a day and it was a bit of a mystery but it did return to normal after a couple weeks. I picked up a bp cuff and stethoscope online so I could monitor it at home and try to find a pattern. There wasn't one but it was kinda fun taking my bp all the time. I'm looking forward to reading some posts about how good he's feeling soon. It should be just around the corner.

    AB
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #7
    Blood Pressure
    Low blood pressure is a side effect of the radiation treatment, I too live with the low and high pressure up and down all day long. If the BP gets below 47 on me I will faint and fall, so I have learned that when I fell it coming on I do a control landing (I sit on the ground as fast as I can and it helps the BP to go back up again) just another part of his new normal that you will learn to live with.

    Hondo

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