I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: General Discussion => Topic started by: kristina on December 18, 2009, 02:00:35 PM
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Does anyone have experiences with blood pressure fluctuation in ESRF due to weather changes?
My kidneys function ~10% and in the past two days we had a very dramatic weather change,
it has become very icy cold and suddenly my blood pressure has become hard to control,
& it is on the high side. Could the sudden change to very cold weather cause extra difficulty
with high blood pressure control in ESRF? Has anyone experienced that?
Thanks from Kristina.
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My BP seemed to change with the seasons. I know my weight fluctuations do. The autumn is easier to control weight and fluids/Summer is more difficult.
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Hubby also has more fluctuations in his BP during cold weather. It seems like he retains more fluid when it's warmer but his BP climbs a little when it's cold. Perhaps one of the medical professionals on here can explain why....
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Hubby also has more fluctuations in his BP during cold weather. It seems like he retains more fluid when it's warmer but his BP climbs a little when it's cold. Perhaps one of the medical professionals on here can explain why....
When you are hot, your blood vessels dialate, causing a drop in blood pressure, cold would do the opposite. Mostly on the surface of the skin as internal body temp shouldn't change by much unless you're running a fever or are suffering from hypothermia in which case you have more to worry about than blood pressure. I know this because my neph told me to take a hot shower and rest while he calls in the script for more BP meds as my BP was running high. As for how much change you should expect I guess it depends on the individual as well as a multitude of other factors. The 'rest' part of his advice was likely to lower the heartrate which also affects blood pressure, as some BP meds do this.
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Thank you very much for your kind replies.
Your answers went a long way to explain why my BP changes according to the weather.
It seems that the cold weather may produce serious complications and I am grateful that this has been brought out into the open because I have not heard anything and have not read anything about the effects of cold weather on blood pressure except here on IHD.
Maybe the cold weather becomes even more serious as we get older due to the effect of aging on the bloodvessels, so keeping warm all over the body must play a vital role in helping to keep the bloodpressure constant. My bloodpressure is much better now and the weather is slightly warmer, it seems I was doing the right things when it was so very cold because I took long hot showers and rested afterwards whilst wrapping myself up in warm clothing. I am sure this helped a lot.
Thanks very much for your kind thoughts and advice, Kristina.