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By Kate Halim
When Grace Etim started experiencing rapid breathing and shortness of breath, she became scared. Etim revealed that she was a worker in a church and she thought she was being attacked spiritually. According to her, she started having difficulty breathing after having a confrontation with someone outside her church premises four years ago.
“I couldn’t explain what was happening to me. All of a sudden, I started having breathing problems. I became afraid. I started praying a lot but it didn’t stop. Sometimes, it feels as if my heart wants to jump out of my chest. At the same time, I become weak and start feeling like fainting”, she said.
Etim, a businesswoman based in Lagos told Saturday Sun that she had interruptions in her breathing for a while and couldn’t catch her breath most times. She added that she had to visit a doctor to rule out serious health issues since she didn’t exercise or do strenuous work.
She said: “When I saw a doctor in the general hospital in my area, he asked me some questions and did some tests. Later, he told me that I had low blood pressure. He told me that if I didn’t control it on time, it could affect my heart and cause serious health implications. He told me what to do and the drugs to buy and after that, I felt better.”
Etim revealed that the experience changed the way she treated her body. She said that it wasn’t fun not being able to catch her breath. She noted that her experience with low blood pressure was nerve-wracking and for a long time, induced panic in her.
At 32, Chinonso Nwobodo confessed that she didn’t know anything about low blood pressure because she has only heard about high blood pressure. The young woman, who sells fairly used clothes at Yaba, Lagos said that last year, she was shocked to learn that she was suffering from low blood pressure.
According to Nwobodo, her skin suddenly started looking pale. She said that she thought she was suffering from a lack of calcium because her monthly period had been heavy for a while. But she added that even after taking calcium supplements, her skin was still looking the same.
“I also started feeling cold all the time. When people say they are feeling hot, I will respond that I’m cold. One day, I had to leave the market because I was feeling dizzy and had trouble concentrating on what was happening around me. That day, I almost fainted before I got home. I had to stop by a chemist in my area and buy some drugs”, she said.
Still determined to handle her health challenge alone, Nwobodo said she was self-medicating until she visited her elder brother who didn’t like the way she looked. She said that he was angry with her for not telling him what was happening to her for months and insisted that she meets his family doctor for a proper diagnosis.
Even though Nwobodo tried to avoid visiting the doctor her brother recommended, she said that what happened to her the following week made her change her mind. She said that she was stepping out of her bathroom when she suddenly felt light-headed and before she could say jack, everywhere became dark.
“It was a scary experience and I don’t wish this upon anybody. I thought I was dying. I called out to my younger sister who lived with me and she rushed to my room. She alerted my neighbours and I was rushed to the hospital. After giving me the necessary treatment, the doctor asked me some questions and made me run some tests. I was told two days later that I had low blood pressure and I was advised on how to handle it.”
For years, Mr Francis Muyah suffered from blurred vision. Muyah, a civil servant revealed that not seeing things clearly cost him some opportunities to make more money for his family. He added that he also suffers from lack of concentration as well as extreme weakness.
The father of four told Saturday Sun that he started having these symptoms three years ago after the birth of his last son. “I don’t know if the difficulty my wife endured during that pregnancy was transferred to me. My wife had a difficult pregnancy and the birth of our son brought us so much stress. Months after he was born, I started feeling sick. These symptoms come and go. I didn’t pay much attention to them until it started affecting my sight,” he said.
According to Muyah, he feels tired all the time even though he sleeps well. He noted that most times, he feels overwhelmed and unable to stand up straight. “I’m glad that my job is flexible and not strenuous, because things could have been worse for me. I’m glad I listened to my wife and got a proper diagnosis. Even though I occasionally feel dizzy and tired, I do what my doctor advised me and I feel better,” Muyah stated.
Anna Owoh said she started feeling funny when she was pregnant with her first child. She said that even though she knew pregnancy came with different symptoms, she, however, noted that some of the symptoms she felt were not normal.
Owoh said: “I started noticing that my pulse was rapid and weak. I complained to my doctor when I went for an antenatal appointment last month and he carried out some tests. Afterwards, he told me that I had low blood pressure and educated me on ways to handle it.
“For a pregnant woman not to feel her pulse sometimes is dangerous for her and her unborn baby. Anytime, my pulse starts moving too fast, I become scared. I start praying and telling God that I won’t die with my baby. I also call my husband immediately to alert him about how I’m feeling. Having my loved ones around me helps me stay calm and stable”, Owoh added.
While she is looking to having a safe delivery soon, Owoh told Saturday Sun that it is important for pregnant women to regularly check their blood pressure. She noted that because people don’t know much about low blood pressure, they don’t bother doing anything about how they are feeling. According to her, low blood pressure is also as deadly as high blood pressure and people shouldn’t be ignorant about this health condition.
Victor Oyeniyi said that he feels lightheaded and dizzy sometimes. He said that whenever this happens, he has to sit down somewhere to regain his strength. According to Oyeniyi, he stopped playing football every Saturday with his friends because he feels like fainting afterwards.
Speaking further about his health issues, Oyeniyi recalled that he started feeling dizzy last year after he lost his younger brother. Initially, he said he didn’t take it seriously until one day that he almost collapsed while playing football with his friends in Coker area of Lagos.
“After I became stabilised, my friend advised me to go and see a doctor so that I would know what was happening to me. At the hospital, the doctor asked me some questions and told me to get some tests done. A week later, I went back for my results and he said that I had low blood pressure. He advised me to drink some water, add more salt to my food or drink orange juice whenever I feel dizzy. He also told me to make sure that I sleep well. Even though I still feel weak and dizzy sometimes, it is not as bad as it was in the past”, Oyeniyi added.
For Bright Ekpo, feeling nauseous for no reason is not a pleasant thing. Ekpo told Saturday Sun that he experiences nausea almost all the time. He added that it is frustrating having to explain to family and friends why he feels that way.
Shedding light on his symptoms, Ekpo revealed that he started experiencing them in his early 20s.
“The first time I felt nauseous, I thought I had worms. I begged my younger brother to buy me a worm expeller and he did. But after taking the drugs, I still felt the same. After a while, I got tired of what I was feeling and consulted a doctor.”
Ekpo said that after he was diagnosed with low blood pressure, he was shocked. He added that no one in his family had low blood pressure and wondered why he was the first person to suffer the health condition. “For a while, I lived in denial after my diagnosis. But after I read more about low blood pressure and its complications, I took my treatment seriously.”
What is low blood pressure?
Dr Alex Munachi is a specialist based in Lagos. He told Saturday Sun that low blood pressure is generally considered a blood pressure reading lower than 90 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) for the top number (systolic) or 60 mm Hg for the bottom number (diastolic).
However, he noted that what is considered low blood pressure for one person might be okay for someone else. He added that low blood pressure might cause no noticeable symptoms in some people while it might cause dizziness and fainting in others. He said that sometimes, low blood pressure can be life-threatening.
“A sudden fall in blood pressure can be dangerous. A change of just 20 mm Hg which is a drop from 110 mm Hg systolic to 90 mm Hg systolic, for example, can cause dizziness and fainting. And big drops, such as those caused by uncontrolled bleeding, severe infections or allergic reactions, can be life-threatening,” he said.
Munachi revealed that many factors might affect one’s blood pressure, including the time of day and a person’s physical activity levels and diet. He stated that blood pressure also declines with age, and some people have naturally low blood pressure due to genetic factors.
“A person’s blood pressure may be lower than usual due to eating, straining, long periods of inactivity, such as bed rest, age, pregnancy and dehydration. Changing dietary habits may be enough to treat temporary causes of low blood pressure. People with symptoms of fatigue and dizziness should receive medical attention immediately.”
According to Munachi, optimal blood pressure is less than 120/80 (systolic/diastolic). He stated that in healthy people, low blood pressure without any symptoms is not usually a concern and does not need to be treated.
“But low blood pressure can be a sign of an underlying problem, especially in the elderly where it may cause inadequate blood flow to the heart, brain and other vital organs,” he said.
He said that chronic low blood pressure with no symptoms is almost never serious but health problems can occur when blood pressure drops suddenly and the brain is deprived of an adequate blood supply. He added that this could lead to dizziness or light-headedness.
According to Munachi, sudden drops in blood pressure commonly occur in people rising from a lying down or sitting position to standing. He added that this kind of low blood pressure is known as postural hypotension or orthostatic hypotension.
“Another type of low blood pressure can occur when someone stands for a long period of time. This is called neurally mediated hypotension.”
While speaking more on the causes of low blood pressure, Munachi said that the health condition can be caused by a lot of things, including too little blood, changes in hormone levels, heart problems and endocrine problems. He added that low blood volume is the most common cause of low blood pressure and that low blood pressure is sometimes a side effect of herbal supplements.
While treatment varies from person to person, Munachi stated that treating low blood pressure is dependent on what is causing it, adding that there are different treatments, depending on the root cause.
