I spend a lot of time lying down.  In addition to sleeping, I stretch and lift weights on the floor, and I meditate lying down.

So I was not prepared for the dizziness I felt when I stood up after my morning stretches a few Fridays ago.  I grabbed a nearby doorknob to save myself from falling and thought that perhaps I had gotten up too fast.   Later that day, I felt dizzy after meditating and after getting up from exercising on my foam roller.  That’s when I called the doctor who told me to come right in.  Although my blood pressure was wacky and I was dehydrated, he found nothing life-threatening.  So I promised to drink a ton of water, and went home.

Although things got somewhat better, and I was managing by getting up slowly, the on-and-off dizziness continued.  So on Thursday I saw an ear, nose and throat specialist who ruled out an inner ear problem with a few non-invasive tests.

However, she reminded me that although I am in super shape in general, there are some inevitable changes with age that affect the way blood moves through the body.  Because I have very low blood pressure (which isn’t so good as one ages), I need to increase my blood volume so that it flows to my head more easily when I get up.  The remedy is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

I thought I drank a lot of water, but I will drink more.

And so should you.