Been having issues over the last 6 months (and increasingly severe for the last 3 months after I had COVID) with feeling dizzy and like I am about to faint, with some shortness of breath and a pounding chest. I went to my doctor thinking that maybe it was just stress or anxiety. My blood pressure was 160/120 which clearly is not great!
I had an ECG, and shows that I have an enlarged right atrium and possible arrhythmia. I am yet to see a specialist and waiting for my first appointment. I also had a blood test showing that my red cell count was higher than normal
I have been recording my blood pressure regularly at my doctors request and although it is not nearly as scary as my initial reading with the doctor, it is becoming clear that when I feel dizzy, the second number is high, where the first one is relatively normal, causing the numbers to be quite close together, an example of this, is a few readings that I’ve had in the 116/101 range.
In the last couple weeks I have made changes to my lifestyle around caffeine, alcohol, diet, and smoking. I have found that this has helped somewhat, in that the dizzy episodes do not seem to be as long, but the frequency has remained the same.
I have also been experiencing a tingling sensation in my arms and legs, with cramping in my legs and a pain between my shoulder blades.
Does anyone else have this? On average, my blood pressure is around 122/87 and my resting heart rate is normally around 62bpm, however it can jump to ~90bpm without any change in activity levels, and can also drop to ~52bpm, again, with no significant change in activity.
Has anyone else come across having higher diastolic blood pressure, how have you dealt with it?
Thank you in advance