Blood pressure drops when exercising.

@capstanette
Every time I have my pulmonary exercise stress test when I get on the treadmill they make me wait to start saying my baseline (HR, BP) are high. I asked them to start treadmill as it will let me relax by getting movin. And sure enough my HR and BP drop and they start the test.

I am not sure how much your's drops but if continuously falling and falling really needs to be addressed. What are your starting numbers and how far does it drop?

I try to tell the testers that a mask over your face, tubes everywhere, wires all over you and several people watching you is not the most relaxing thing and not have your BP and HR to be affected.

The only thing I can think off other than your body relaxing is your body opens up your blood vessels and your numbers go down. But that would really be irrelevant depending on how far your numbers drop. I have read this called second wind. I am not a medical professional and really reluctant to give feedback on this especially sine you said they stop the stress test. If they do that it is significant enough to be diagnosed why?

Have you had an echocardiogram to look at EF, heart function, blood vessels. What is your EF? If had stress echo they could look at blood vessels, etc. ?

Good luck. You do not mentioned your age and if any cardiovascular issues.

@capstanette are you taking a beta blocker?

BP drop while treadmill testing is probably an indication of heart issues . Maybe a blockage. Actually your BP should rise somewhat during a test . Trained technicians and nursing staff will know if you should stop the test Ideally they want you to reach your heart rate goal which is 220 minus your age and 85 percent of that number without symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath Good luck

Very helpful. I was unable to do the stress test according to my cardiologist so I did the "fast walk"on the straight away
in a hallway all attached to wifi monitoring. After that test they allowed me into cardio rehab. Apparently, by your formula, my optimal HR number is 165 but carfio rehab told me it was 134 hummmm?

@dizzyprizzy
The 220 minus your age is a statistical guide. Go by your cardiologist and rehab specialist.

Everyone maximum heart rate is different. I take what is called a pulmonary stress test where I have a masked on my face to measure my lung functioning along with heart function wires.

The stress test technician are looking at my ability to take in oxygen and get it to my body. At one point it will reach where you are in deficit and that is where they want your maximum to be.

The test I am put on is 17 minutes wrong where you walk on a treadmill and every few minutes they raise the speed and raise the tilt up. At the end that treadmill is so much on an incline the techs get beind me to keep me from falling off.

Someone mentioned BP and heart rate going down on a stress test when tests starts. That might be a general guide but a lot of people react to white coat fever and the start of any test with increase in pulse rate and blood pressure. A normal reaction to stress and anxiety per my doctors.

So for me when I stared the exercise I would get into a rympthm and no longer wait wait with all those wires and mask over my face to finally moving. Every time I have had the test (probably 5-6 times now) my base line for blood pressure and heart rate would be high and then as soon as start exercising would go down.

Not once you start getting into making the body move and it needed more blood and oxygen you blood pressure and heart rate will rise (mine does) and that is a normal response they are looking for and will test to see where you maximum heart rate is. And for me with the pulmanary test going on they can actually tell when I reach a point I am no longer aerobic but anaerobic.

I have low blood pressure after my walking exercises of about 3.5 miles and after mowing my lawn with a push mower. It will go down to 85/60. This is while I have been on BP meds for the last 20 years. I'm looking for others who have lower BP after exercise activities. The doctors and research I've found say that physical activity causes higher BP. Not in my case. I don't know what to believe or how to deal with this. I'm 70 now. I'm told that things change as I get older.

Hello @70drdiana,

I combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled:

"Blood pressure drops when exercising"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/blood-pressure-drops-when-exercising/

Here, you can meet @capstanette, @jc76, and @dizzyprizzy who have all discussed blood pressure and exercise. I'd also like to invite @slynnb, @damecarol, and @janet23 who have also discussed monitoring their blood pressure and how it is effected by activity and exercise.

@70drdiana - have you had a chance to discuss this symptom with your provider? Do you experience any other symptoms when you moderately exercise or are active?

I have discussed this with my doctor. We decided to discontinue the BP meds two months ago. A couple of episodes last week sent me to the hospital. I couldn't converse with my husband on Wednesday morning after walking 9,600 steps, vacuuming, and doing other housework. I knew what I wanted to say, but I could not speak the words. It wasn't the speech, it was communicating the right words. The next morning, after mowing the grass and cleaning up the yard, I had the same problem conversing with my husband. My BP went down to 104/63. I sat on the patio to rest. Again, I could not find the correct words to communicate. It was a little more difficult to understand him. The next morning, my husband suggested I call the doctor's office. I did, and they directed me to the emergency room at the hospital. After two days of tests (CT scan, MRI, Echo Cardiogram), the doctors decided I did not have a Stroke or TIA, but Heat Exhaustion. This did not make much sense to me. I have an appointment with my doctor this Thursday to discuss this with her. Thanks.

@70drdiana
You mentioned your BP had gone down to 104/63. That is not that low. My BP runs low 100s over high 60s, low 70s, all the time. But you said this happend after exercising. What is your BP during rest when you have not been exercising?

In reading your post that is a low of exercise and burning of glucose out of your body. I am not a medical person but my wife is a diabetic (1.5) and diagnosed about 4 years ago. She at times will go into a low glucose level and her symptoms that you wrote above are exactly what she says happens to her and I see in her.

Had anyone asked or done a A1C? Or your glucose level? Your glucose level should be around 90-100 (considered good numbers) but rises with what you eat and goes down with exercise (burning off glucose) and when insulin both normal (your pancreas) and medically (insulin pump or injection) goes into your blood stream.

My wife gets extreme headaches when high and same symptoms you mention above when too low. Too low for her will start showing symptoms around 50 and lower. When her glucose gets to below 80 she is told to consume sugary drinks or high carb foods.

Again, and hopefully you and others are not seeing my post as trying to diagnose you, I just saw your description of your symptoms and it echoed my wifes symptoms when glucose is low.

But you don't have to have diabetes to have glucose go low. The amount of exercise you did that day you mentioned is really a lot. Did you eat that morning? Drink fluids, electrolytes?

I take medication that keeps my BP and HR low. My BP can when I relax goes down to 90/60 and I can get dizzy if I stand up to quickly. But what you are experiencing is after intense and extended exercise. That should be a key scenario to those who are treating and looking for answers.

Suggest you talk to your PCP and cardiologist about glucose and exercise and if they feel appropriate maybe checking your A1C or glucose levels. Your A1C is a long range check of your ongoing glucose levels and into the upper 5 is normal. My wifes's A1C is over 8. Doctors try to have diabetics keep their A1C below 7.

A glucose check is a check of right them amount of glucose in your blood. Many times they will asked you to fast and many times not.

I was a city police officer many years ago and got a call of a drunk person in front of a buisness. I got there and asked him a couple of questions and he answered me in slurred words and what seemed to be struggling to talk to me.

We were trained in a lot of things including diabetic cause of what seems to be intoxication and I smelled no alcohol on him. I took him to ER and they told me he was diabetic and in a low glucose level causing the symptoms.

I just mentioned all this to keep checking and asking to find out what is causing it.

Thanks for the information. I didn't think of my sugar being low. I was diagnosed with diabetes about 20 years ago and now maintain an A1C of 6.8 as last checked. I'm not used to worrying about low glucose levels. I test every morning just to be sure. Thanks, again.