I started on the 5:2 diet in October 2016 and lost 10kg in 8 months. I am pleased with this because, when I stray a bit from the diet, I do not put much weight back on – at least not so far (touch wood)!

What is tricky right now is that my blood pressure (BP) has come down so much that I feel dizzy quite often. After decades of taking BP tablets for high BP, my doctor has finally acted by taking me off one BP medication (Zanidip). Nevertheless, my BP is still on the low side and I still get some dizzy spells. Hopefully, my GP will take me off the other BP tablets (Micardis) soon. Then I’ll be free of BP tablets for the first time in 40 years! Thank you 5:2.

Being an old researcher myself, I am wondering if there’s been any research done on the precise relationship between the 5:2 diet and blood pressure? Perhaps Michael or anyone else could describe this relationship? Is the 5:2 Diet risky when blood pressure is relatively low, for example? Say about 110/65.

Thanks for your reply, bcjmmac. I’ll discuss metabolic syndrome with my doctor soon.

My next step is to strut around wearing a 24-hour BP monitor to see how my BP looks over a daily cycle. My doctor and I are a bit confused by the fact that I’m not just dizzy sometimes, but I have fainted & fallen down also! Can’t help wondering if some of this is psychosomatic!

Thanks for your suggestion of a second opinion, fasting_me. Could I be so bold as to ask what other condition your husband experienced that Fasting will not correct?

Thanks for your post, CalifDreamer. We certainly do seem to have similar situations, so it would be good to keep in touch.

I haven’t received results from the 24-hour monitoring yet, but have been measuring my BP at home for many years now. Second readings each measurement day were averaging about 125/70 over the last two months, before my doc took me off one BP medication. But I have recorded lows of about 106/65 sometimes and experienced dizziness on those days and on other days as well.

Re spikes upwards, I have seen 2 or 3 as high as 167/90, including one on a day when I fainted and fell over unexpectedly and then recorded my BP after standing up again! But I don’t see spikes very much, probably because I am still taking 1 BP medication.

I’ll post the results of the monitoring once I get them, Cheers!

Hello again, everyone – especially CalifDreamer.

Results of my 24-hour BP monitoring were an average of 130/84 with a peak of 158/102 and a low of 102/56. My GP and others interpreted these results as close enough to normal. The BP readings which I had recorded at home sitting down then standing up were more worrying, with many systole readings differing by much more than 15.

More importantly, my heart rate (in bpm) averaged 61 over the same 24 hours, with many readings in the fifties and one as low as 37! Thus my GP agreed that the cause of my dizziness and falls might be a heart issue rather than low BP. He suggested a cardiologist who then looked at my heart rhythm with the aid of an ECG, concluding that I was suffering from bradycardia (or heart block), a heart conduction problem. Specifically I have 1st degree AV block and right bundle branch block (sorry about the jargon they use!).

Anyway, because of my recent dizziness and falls, the cardiologist recommended that a pacemaker be installed very soon. After collapsing again last Wednesday, I was taken to hospital by ambulance, where 24 hours of ECG monitoring made it clear that I needed a pacemaker urgently. A dual chamber pacemaker was implanted last Thursday and I’m feeling pretty good right now – except for a cut above my right eye, which I received when I collapsed!

So, my symptoms were not caused by low blood pressure but by conduction problems in my heart (bradycardia). Perhaps I should rename this forum – The 5:2 Diet and Heart Problems – from now on?