Low blood pressure, generally defined as a reading below 90/60 mmHg, can cause dizziness, fainting, fatigue, and blurred vision. Raising it involves a combination of dietary changes, fluid intake, physical techniques, and sometimes medication. Most of these strategies work by increasing blood volume, tightening blood vessels, or preventing blood from pooling in your legs and abdomen.
Increase Your Salt and Fluid Intake
Salt is one of the most effective tools for raising blood pressure because sodium pulls water into your bloodstream, expanding blood volume. For people with orthostatic disorders (where blood pressure drops upon standing), medical guidelines from the American Heart Association and Canadian Cardiovascular Society recommend 4,000 to 4,800 mg of sodium per day, roughly double what’s suggested for the general population. Some specialists recommend even higher amounts for severe cases. A practical approach is adding 1,000 to 2,000 mg of sodium to your diet three times a day through salty foods or salt tablets.
In one study, people who fainted from standing were given about 2,400 mg of extra sodium daily for two months. Their ability to tolerate upright positions improved, along with better blood flow to the brain. The key indicator is whether you’re actually retaining enough sodium. If your body is excreting too much, supplementation can make a meaningful difference.
Water works hand-in-hand with salt. When you’re dehydrated, your plasma volume drops, which directly lowers blood pressure. Aim for at least 2 to 3 liters of fluid per day. Drinking 12 to 16 ounces of water before meals is especially helpful if your blood pressure tends to dip after eating.
Use Compression Garments
Compression stockings and abdominal binders work by preventing blood from pooling in your lower body when you stand. A meta-analysis published in Neurology found that abdominal compression using an elastic belt was effective in 52% of patients, raising standing blood pressure by about 10 mmHg on average. Compression stockings reaching the upper thigh were less effective, improving standing blood pressure by only about 6 mmHg and helping roughly 32% of patients.
The takeaway: if you’re choosing one garment, an abdominal binder tends to outperform stockings alone. Wearing both together provides the strongest effect. Waist-high compression stockings with 23 to 32 mmHg of pressure are the type studied most often.
Physical Counter-Maneuvers for Quick Relief
When you feel lightheaded or sense your blood pressure dropping, certain muscle-tensing techniques can buy you time by squeezing blood back toward your heart. The American Heart Association recommends these specific movements:
- Leg crossing with muscle tensing: Cross your legs and tighten your leg, abdominal, and buttock muscles simultaneously. You can do this lying down or standing.
- Squatting: Lower yourself into a squat while tensing your lower body and abdominal muscles. Stay there until symptoms pass, then stand slowly.
- Hand gripping: Grip your opposing hands with interlocked fingers and pull your arms in opposite directions as hard as you can.
- Fist clenching: Clench your fist at maximum force, with or without an object in your hand.
These aren’t long-term fixes, but they’re useful in the moment, especially when you feel a dizzy spell coming on after standing up quickly or being on your feet for a while.
Adjust How and When You Eat
Blood pressure naturally drops after meals as your body diverts blood flow to the digestive system. This is called postprandial hypotension, and it’s especially common in older adults and people who already run low. Large, carbohydrate-heavy meals cause the biggest drops.
To counter this, eat six smaller meals throughout the day instead of three large ones, and keep carbohydrate portions modest at each sitting. Drinking water before eating helps maintain blood volume during digestion. A caffeinated drink before breakfast or lunch can also blunt the post-meal drop. Caffeine typically raises blood pressure by 5 to 10 points within 30 to 120 minutes, though this effect is strongest if you don’t drink it regularly.
Caffeine as a Short-Term Boost
Coffee, tea, and other caffeinated drinks cause a brief but real rise in blood pressure, even in people without blood pressure problems. The effect peaks somewhere between 30 minutes and two hours after drinking. If you’re not a regular caffeine consumer, the boost is more pronounced. For people with chronically low blood pressure, a cup of coffee in the morning or before a meal can provide a helpful bump, particularly when combined with other strategies like salt and hydration.
Regular caffeine drinkers develop some tolerance to this effect, so it becomes less reliable over time. Timing it strategically, such as before situations where you know you’ll be standing for long periods, can maximize its usefulness.
Medications for Persistent Low Blood Pressure
When lifestyle changes aren’t enough, several prescription medications can help. The two drugs specifically approved by the FDA for orthostatic hypotension are midodrine and droxidopa. Midodrine works by directly tightening blood vessels, while droxidopa gets converted into a chemical your nervous system uses to maintain vascular tone.
Another commonly prescribed option is fludrocortisone, a medication that helps your kidneys retain sodium and water, expanding blood volume. It also mildly enhances blood vessel constriction. It’s not appropriate for people with heart failure or kidney disease.
A few other medications target the problem from different angles. One option works by preventing the breakdown of a nervous system chemical that helps maintain blood pressure during standing, which is particularly useful because it raises the lower number (diastolic pressure) without causing problems when lying down. Your doctor will typically try non-drug approaches first and add medication in a stepwise fashion based on how you respond.
Everyday Habits That Help
Beyond the major strategies, small behavioral adjustments add up. Sleep with the head of your bed elevated 10 to 20 degrees, which trains your body to retain more fluid overnight. Stand up slowly, especially first thing in the morning, giving your cardiovascular system time to adjust. Avoid prolonged standing in one position, and if you must stand still, shift your weight, rise on your toes, or use the muscle-tensing techniques described above.
Avoid alcohol, which dilates blood vessels and worsens low blood pressure. Hot environments, long hot showers, and saunas can also cause drops by widening blood vessels in your skin. If heat is unavoidable, increase your fluid and salt intake beforehand and wear compression garments.
Low blood pressure only requires treatment when it causes symptoms. If your readings are below 90/60 but you feel fine, there’s generally nothing to worry about. The strategies above are most useful for people who experience dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, or fatigue related to their blood pressure readings.