Low Blood Pressure causing dizziness

Dear Ask The Doctor: I've had low blood pressure since I gave birth to my last child (4 yrs ago). I'm constantly dizzy and feel "out of it" - kind of like I"m floating through the day. What can I do or take to increase my blood pressure. It's 90/60 - I'm 35, weight 135lbs and am 5'3"

Dear Lillie: There are several reasons that your blood pressure may be low, contributing to your symptoms of dizziness. You may have underlying anaemia (chronic following your last delivery), or dehydration. Your blood pressure is low at present but may also be falling further on standing or assuming an erect posture (postural hypotension). This can be a side-effect of certain drugs, or can be due to a problem with the nervous system reflex response to standing upright. I would advise attending your family doctor for a detailed history of your symptoms, routine blood tests including haemoglobin level, urea, electrolytes and creatinine, and measurement of your lying and standing blood pressure to ascertain if a postural drop is present. If present you may require further investigation with tilt-table testing and beat to beat blood pressure and heart rate monitoring to reach a diagnosis.