heart and blood vessel disorders
Postprandial Hypotension
Treatment of Postprandial Hypotension
Adjust drug timing and activities around meals People who have symptoms of postprandial hypotension should not take antihypertensive drugs before meals and should lie down after meals. Taking a smaller dose of the antihypertensive drugs and eating small, low-carbohydrate meals more frequently may help reduce the effects of this disorder. For some people, walking after a meal helps improve blood flow, but blood pressure may fall when they stop walking. Taking certain drugs before a meal may help. For example, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) cause salt to be retained and thus increase blood volume.Caffeinecauses blood vessels to constrict.Caffeineshould usually be taken only before breakfast so that sleep is not affected and the person does not become tolerant ofcaffeine's effects. For people who have severe symptoms that do not respond to other measures and who are in the hospital, injections of the drugoctreotidemay help by reducing the amount of blood flowing to the intestine. 