Low blood pressure, generally defined as a reading below 90/60 mmHg, doesn’t always need treatment. Many people run low without symptoms and face no health risks. But if your low blood pressure causes dizziness, fainting, fatigue, or blurred vision, there are effective ways to raise it and keep it stable throughout the day.
Quick Fixes When You Feel Dizzy or Faint
If you feel lightheaded or sense that your blood pressure has dropped, a few physical maneuvers can push blood back toward your heart and brain within seconds. These work by squeezing blood out of the large veins in your legs and abdomen.
- Cross your legs and squeeze. While standing or lying down, cross your legs and tense your leg, abdominal, and buttock muscles. Hold for 30 seconds or until symptoms ease.
- Squat down. Drop into a full squat, which compresses the blood vessels in your legs and forces blood upward. Tense your lower body and abdomen while you’re down there, then stand slowly once you feel better.
- Pull your arms apart. Grip your hands together, interlocking your fingers, and pull in opposite directions as hard as you can. This raises blood pressure quickly by engaging large muscle groups in your upper body.
- Clench your fist. Squeeze a fist at maximum effort, with or without something in your hand. Even this simple isometric contraction can bump your pressure up enough to clear the dizziness.
These aren’t long-term solutions, but they buy you time. If you feel faint in a grocery store line or after standing up too fast, they can prevent a fall.
Increase Your Salt and Fluid Intake
Salt holds water in your bloodstream, which increases blood volume and raises pressure. For most people, the standard health advice is to limit sodium. But if you have symptomatic low blood pressure, the opposite applies. Medical guidelines for people with orthostatic disorders recommend anywhere from 2,400 to 4,800 mg of sodium per day, depending on the severity. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society, for example, recommends about 4,000 mg of sodium daily for people with conditions that cause blood pressure drops on standing. For context, the average American already eats around 3,400 mg, so you may only need a modest increase.
Practical ways to add sodium include salting your food more liberally, eating broth-based soups, snacking on salted nuts or olives, or using electrolyte drinks. Some people add 1,000 to 2,000 mg of supplemental sodium with each meal through salt tablets.
Water matters just as much. Dehydration directly reduces blood volume, which lowers pressure. Aim to drink consistently throughout the day rather than catching up in large amounts. Alcohol works against you here: it’s dehydrating and lowers blood pressure even in moderate amounts. A cup or two of caffeinated coffee with breakfast can give a temporary boost, but caffeine is also mildly dehydrating, so balance it with water.
Prevent Blood Pressure Drops After Meals
Blood pressure commonly dips 30 to 60 minutes after eating, especially after large meals heavy in refined carbohydrates. This happens because your body diverts blood to the digestive system, leaving less circulating elsewhere. If you already run low, this postmeal drop can make you dizzy or exhausted.
A few adjustments make a noticeable difference. Drink 12 to 18 ounces of water about 15 minutes before eating. Eat smaller, more frequent meals instead of two or three large ones. Cut back on white bread, white rice, potatoes, and sugary drinks, all of which leave the stomach quickly and worsen the blood pressure dip. Replace them with whole grains, beans, protein, and healthy fats, which digest more slowly and keep your pressure steadier. If you still feel lightheaded after meals, sitting or lying down for an hour afterward helps.
Change How You Move and Sleep
Most blood pressure drops happen when you change positions, particularly when you go from lying down to standing. The simplest defense is to slow down your transitions. Sit on the edge of the bed for a minute before standing in the morning. Rise from chairs gradually. Avoid standing in one spot for long stretches, which allows blood to pool in your legs.
At night, elevating your head by using extra pillows or raising the head of your mattress helps your body adjust to upright positions more smoothly in the morning. Sleeping completely flat allows your body to redistribute fluids in ways that make the transition to standing harder when you wake up. Even a modest elevation trains your cardiovascular reflexes to maintain pressure more effectively.
Compression Garments
Compression stockings work by gently squeezing your legs, preventing blood from pooling in your lower body. For low blood pressure, waist-high stockings rated at 20 to 30 mmHg or 30 to 40 mmHg are the standard recommendation. Knee-high stockings help less because much of the blood pools in the thighs and abdomen. Abdominal binders are another option, particularly for people who find full-length stockings uncomfortable in warm weather.
The higher the pressure rating, the more effective the garment, but also the harder it is to put on and tolerate throughout the day. Starting with a 20 to 30 mmHg pair and working up is reasonable if you’re new to compression.
When Lifestyle Changes Aren’t Enough
If salt, fluids, compression, and movement strategies don’t control your symptoms, prescription medications can help. The most commonly prescribed options work in two ways: some tighten blood vessels to prevent blood from pooling, while others help your kidneys retain sodium and water to increase blood volume. These are typically reserved for people whose low blood pressure significantly interferes with daily life or causes repeated fainting episodes.
Your doctor will also look for underlying causes. Low blood pressure can result from dehydration, medications (especially blood pressure drugs, antidepressants, and medications for enlarged prostate), heart conditions, endocrine problems, or nervous system disorders. Sometimes the fix is as simple as adjusting a medication that’s pushing your pressure too low. If your blood pressure drops are new, worsening, or accompanied by confusion, rapid shallow breathing, cold and clammy skin, or a weak pulse, those signs suggest something more urgent is happening and warrant immediate medical evaluation.