Quadriplegic Blood Pressure


I’ve made several videos regarding my blood pressure. It’s very frustrating when it fluctuates so drastically without warning. For the most part my blood pressure has stabilized when I’m just going from my bed, to my chair and vice versa (although that can be off every now and then as well). I have the most trouble with my BP when I’m trying to stand.

Because of my schedule, I wasn’t able to stand for almost three weeks. That being said, when I finally did go up yesterday (Saturday) I took it slow. I was able to stand for 2 hours and eight minutes’. I was pretty happy with that number, again, considering I hadn’t stood in several weeks. The reason I came down after those 2 hours wasn’t because my blood pressure was dropping but rather raising due to some pain I was having in my foot. It’s chronic and I deal with it daily.

Today (Sunday) I tried to stand and not even a half hour in I started feeling weird. We took my blood pressure and it was 68/38. I came down immediately. That was at 2:20 PM. As I write this its 5:30 PM and my blood pressure is 147/100. I’m not sure why such a drastic change other than I’m having some pain in that same foot. It’s frustrating as a quadriplegic because of my spotty sensation. I can’t always pinpoint where the pain or source of irritation is coming from. Now I have to keep an eye on my BP to make sure doesn’t go above 150 or I need to take a pill to lower it. Technically I should’ve taken something earlier when it was so low, but I decided to try to let it stabilize naturally, which it did.

Some time has passed since I wrote the last paragraph, as I stepped away from the computer for a little. My blood pressure continued to raise until it got to 160/111. I took a Nephedopine (the medicine I’m supposed to take when it goes over 150) to which finally brought it down to 124/72. The medicine is truly a lifesaver. I’d be in trouble without it, that’s for sure. There was only one time that it didn’t work and my BP continue to raise to the point where I had a seizure.

If being a quadriplegic’s only struggle was not being able to walk, it would be a blessing! I never would’ve imagined so many issues factored in to a spinal cord injury.