Orthostatic Hypotension

[seamonkey]

I'm on a combo of geodon for the bipolar, klonopin for anxiety, and 50mgs of seroquel and .1msg of clonidine for sleep.

If I get 8 hours of sleep, I'm fine in the morning. I only seem to get the orthostatic hypotension if I wake up in the middle of the night and try to move around, and it usually results with me blacking out and coming to surrounded by animals head butting me and licking my face.

I woke up around 1 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went downstairs to grab a snack. I had 2 pieces of chocolate in my hand and a veggie sausage in the microwave. I started getting light headed and woke up on the floor with George, my little pug/dachsand mix hovering around me. I COULDN'T FIND THE CHOCOLATE that was in my hand. George is a hoover and he's only 22lbs and I was freaking out that he ate it. I tried to find it, but i hit the floor again. I managed to get back in bed, but I was freaking out about the chocolate. I wound up finding it on the kitchen counter this morning, so I guess I hit my hand on the way down or something, but this seriously could have killed my dog.

This is the 3rd time this has happened to me and used to happen fairly frequently when I was on a higher dose of seroquel for sleep. It went away when they pulled me off it, but is there anything you can do to minimize this? My friend said her dad had this pretty bad and his dr told him to keep bottled water at the bed table and drink it before getting up because that would supposedly raise the blood pressure?

I don't particularly want to go off the clonidine/seroquel combo for sleep because most nights, I get to sleep fine and have no issues trying to wake up for work. I've had a sleep study done and all they were able to tell me was that I would probably always need meds to sleep. i can't take things like ambien and sonata because they make me either hyper or paranoid and I've tried just about everything there is that happens to be sedating

[bluelikejazz]

For me drinking a lot of water helps the problem but if you do that at night you'll be getting up to pee, and then if you get up at night you'll have more opportunities to pass out. You could try getting up a lot slower and move your legs around a lot to give your blood pressure a chance to catch up. As soon as you feel lightheaded sit down and place your head between your knees and it should pass.

[weordmyndum]

Second the drinking suggestion. Between my amitriptyline, my prazosin, and my naturally low blood pressure, I have problems when I get up in the morning. I've also learned that when I first start feeling woozy, I don't try to fight it, I sit my butt down wherever I am. I have to plan longer to get ready in the morning, but that's worth the not passing out bit.

[AnneMarie]

Why can't you just take more Seroquel? Waking drugged at least would not be related to hypotension.

[SashaSue]

Given that clonidine's original use was treating high blood pressure, I would assume it's got a lot more to do with your problem that seroquel does.

[seamonkey]

Why can't you just take more Seroquel? Waking drugged at least would not be related to hypotension.

The geodon alone is enough to control my moods. I just need something to help me sleep. Seroquel at 50mgs does that along with the clonidine. Both my parents have type 2 diabeties, so I don't particularly want to go higher on the seroquel. Last time i was on a high dose in the morning, the orthostatic hypotension was worse in the morning. It only affects me right now if I wind up waking up in the middle of the night, which is not often. When I was on the higher dose, I'd wake up at the time i needed to to get to work and would be making coffee and wind up on the floor

[AnneMarie]

Have you taken a bp reading when you wake at night? Clonidine is a blood pressure med. It's purpose is to lower blood pressure. Sleep is an off label use. What you are describing does not sound healthy. Your blood pressure drops too much you die. You should at least know how low yours is going.

Have you talked to your doc in detail about it? There's no way my pdoc would assume the liability that comes with side effects that you describe.

Btw, I take Clonidine, .2mg 2x/day. It is one of my bp meds. I know that .1mg can cause a 20pt drop for me. That's a lot. I'm also an insomniac, so I get that. Even Seroquel at 200mg doesn't work for me. Obviously, Clonidine does nothing for sleep.

Buy a bp cuff and take your middle of the night reading.