Originally Posted by AnnieB3

Well, isn't that sweet. Ibuprofen will put more fluid on. That could be good or bad, depending on your starting fluid status. Pred also puts fluid on. Ibuprofen is also an antiprostaglandin, like Pred (see your other post).

Do you have a BP cuff at home? They are really inexpensive at Sam's club or Walgreens. The Omron brand is very good. I like the wrist cuff because it doesn't hurt like the arm ones do.

You may be dehydrated. Maybe. That could be why when you stand up, the smaller amount of fluid you have is flowing downwards (due to gravity) when you stand up. You can check that by doing the following BP test.

Lie down for a few minutes. Take your BP. Stand up. Take your BP so it will read at about the one minute point. If the systolic/upper # is 20 or more upon standing, you could be overhydrated. If it is 20 or less, you could be dehydrated. There are other reasons for that to occur but it's a useful test for someone who does plasma.

Examples:

Lying down 110/60 Standing up 135/78 Difference: +25/+18
Lying down 120/70 Standing up 95/65 Difference: -25/-5

Also, keep an eye on what your pulse does as well. Write it all down.

I am concerned that you have a narrowing of an artery somewhere due to that focal headache and how things get worse when you stand or move. Is that correct?

The doctors who deal with circulatory issues (initially anyway), are cardiologists. Do not expect a neurologist to even want to think about those issues. It's not realistic. ER doctors, however, would have taken you seriously and done something (yeah, I'm ticked about you not going in).

DO NOT wait to get calcium into your body. All the meds you are taking deplete it. You need milk or dairy or whatever (not with cheese with all that sodium, however) to get your calcium up. A lack of calcium is super hard on the heart.

What more can I say? Symptoms don't happen for no reason. I hope someone will take you more seriously than blindly throwing another pill at you.

Annie