Many times patients that have chronic fatigue syndrome can experience episodes of lightheadedness or fainting. This often happens when they go from the sitting or laying down position to standing. This is called orthostatic hypotension.
In orthostatic hypotension, blood vessels fail to contract to maintain blood flow to the upper parts of the body including the brain. This can also be caused by a low blood volume or irregular heart beat. In chronic fatigue patients there may be low blood volume and/or failure of the blood vessels to contract properly. This problem can be diagnosed by a heart specialist with a test called a tilt table test. In a tilt table test a patient is placed on a table that is slowly eased up to around 70 degrees upright. The patient remains in that position for around 15 minutes to see if there is a blood pressure drop and symptoms of fainting occur. If the blood pressure does not drop from this position alone, a small amount of adrenaline is injected. In a person with orthostatic hypotension, this will generally cause a fainting episode. If the patient faints upon receiving the tilt table test, then they are concluded to be positive for OH.
There are some treatments for patients with orthostatic hypotension, that may or may not help with some symptoms of chronic fatigue. Non drug treatments include salt tablets and gatorade. These can help to increase blood volume and lessen the symptoms of OH. If you decide to use salt tablets, consult with your doctor first. It is possible to consume too much salt and end up with high blood pressure.
Drug treatments that are available are beta-blocking drugs like pindolol which can block the effects of adrenaline and keep blood pressure from experiencing a drop which may cause symptoms. Another drug that may help with symptoms is Florinef. Florinef is a corticosteroid that can help to increase blood volume and cut down symptoms of lightheadedness and dizziness.
Orthostatic hypotension is one of many symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. Treatment for this aspect of the disease may help with certain symptoms , but is not a treatment specifically for chronic fatigue. If you experience fainting or lightheadedness upon standing and want to see if you fit the criteria for OH, ask you doctor about a tilt table test. If they are not familiar with this test, research it yourself and bring papers that can help explain what you want to do. A good place to start is by searching wikipedia.
I’ll take this test tomorrow. I suffer very bad CFS and my internist asked me to take it because my heart shows signs of angina or who knows what.
I dont really feel like taking it, because I know that, as you say, it’s only one more symptom in CFS, and the medications they give you if you are positive are usually awful for us.