If your blood pressure consistently reads below 90/60 mmHg and you’re experiencing symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, or fainting, there are several effective ways to bring it up. Low blood pressure (hypotension) doesn’t always need treatment, but when it causes problems, the fix often starts with simple changes to how you eat, drink, and move throughout the day.
Drink More Water, Especially Before Standing
One of the fastest and simplest ways to raise your blood pressure is to drink more fluids. When your blood volume is low, your heart has less to pump, and pressure drops. For people prone to low blood pressure, a daily fluid intake of 2 to 3 liters is a common target. That’s roughly 8 to 12 cups spread throughout the day.
Timing matters too. Drinking about 16 ounces (500 mL) of water 15 minutes before you need to stand for a while can make a real difference. In a controlled trial published in Circulation, healthy subjects who drank that amount before a tilt test tolerated upright posture for an average of 5 minutes longer than when they drank only a small sip. That might not sound like much, but for someone who gets lightheaded within seconds of standing, it’s significant.
Increase Your Salt Intake
Salt raises blood pressure by helping your body hold onto water, which expands blood volume. For people with low blood pressure, a daily sodium target of at least 6 grams of salt (about 1 teaspoon) is a general starting point. That’s roughly double what federal guidelines recommend for the average adult, which is why this advice is specifically for people with confirmed low blood pressure, not the general population.
Practical ways to get more salt include adding it generously to meals, eating salty snacks like pretzels or olives, and drinking broth or electrolyte beverages. Keep in mind that excess sodium carries long-term cardiovascular and kidney risks, so this strategy works best when guided by your blood pressure readings. If your numbers normalize, there’s no reason to keep pushing salt higher.
Eat Smaller, Lower-Carb Meals
Some people experience a sharp drop in blood pressure within two hours of eating, a condition called postprandial hypotension. After a meal, your body diverts blood to the digestive system. Normally, your heart rate increases and blood vessels elsewhere tighten to compensate. When that compensation fails, blood pressure falls and you feel dizzy or faint.
Large meals and high-carbohydrate foods are the main triggers. Switching from three big meals to six smaller ones throughout the day reduces the amount of blood your gut demands at any one time. Cutting back on refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, sugary foods) at each meal also helps blunt the post-meal drop. If your worst symptoms tend to hit after lunch or dinner, this is likely the most impactful change you can make.
Use Physical Counter-Maneuvers
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. These are especially useful in the moment, before you have a chance to sit down or drink water.
- Leg crossing: Cross one leg over the other and squeeze the muscles in your legs, abdomen, and buttocks. Hold until symptoms pass.
- Arm tensing: Grip one hand with the other and pull them against each other without letting go. Hold as long as you can or until symptoms fade.
- Hand grip: Squeeze a rubber ball (or any firm object) in your dominant hand for as long as possible.
These techniques work by temporarily increasing the resistance in your blood vessels. They won’t fix the underlying problem, but they can prevent a faint in situations where you’re stuck standing, like waiting in line or riding public transit.
Wear Compression Garments
When you stand, gravity pulls blood into your legs. Compression stockings counteract this by applying steady pressure that pushes blood back up toward your core. For low blood pressure, thigh-high stockings rated at 23 to 32 mmHg of pressure are the typical recommendation. Waist-high options and abdominal binders can add further benefit.
The trade-off is comfort. Compression garments can feel hot and restrictive, and putting them on first thing in the morning (before you stand up, ideally) takes effort. But for people whose dizziness is worst in the first few hours of the day or during prolonged standing, they can make a noticeable difference.
Change Positions Slowly
A drop of just 20 mmHg in systolic pressure, say from 110 to 90, can cause dizziness or fainting. This kind of drop happens most often when you go from lying down to standing quickly. Your blood vessels need a few seconds to tighten and redirect blood upward.
Build a habit of sitting on the edge of the bed for 30 to 60 seconds before standing. When getting up from a chair, pause before walking. If you’ve been lying on the couch, swing your legs down first and wait. These brief pauses give your cardiovascular system time to adjust and can prevent the sudden drops that lead to falls.
When Lifestyle Changes Aren’t Enough
If you’ve tried increasing fluids, salt, compression, and meal adjustments without relief, medication is the next step. The two most commonly prescribed options work in different ways. One tightens blood vessels directly to raise pressure. The other helps your kidneys retain sodium and water, expanding blood volume. Both require careful dose adjustments and monitoring, since the goal is to raise pressure enough to relieve symptoms without pushing it too high.
It’s also worth investigating whether something else is driving the low readings. Certain medications, particularly those for high blood pressure, depression, or prostate conditions, can lower blood pressure as a side effect. Hormonal conditions, heart rhythm problems, and nervous system disorders can all cause chronic hypotension that won’t fully respond to lifestyle measures alone. If your blood pressure has dropped recently without an obvious explanation, that shift itself is worth investigating.