Does this sound right, re: Hypertension?

[WhoWants2Know]

Sorry, this is a long one, and I'm grateful if anyone managed to read through

Went to see the GP maybe 8 weeks ago for medication review and mentioned that my blood pressure had been high. GP confirmed it was high and asked me to see the nurse the following week and check again.

Next visit the nurse said it was 167/115 and went to get a doctor who arranged for 24 hour monitoring.

Did the 24h, went back and the nurse said that the readings were the same and went off to fetch a doctor again. The doctor said because it was quite high he would prescribe a hefty dose of ramipril and also booked blood tests and ECG.

Unfortunately the ramipril made me quite ill by the next day and made my blood pressure higher. When I couldn't get up in the morning, my kids called their dad and he came over and called 111 for advice. They listened to me being sick over the phone and sent an ambulance. When paramedics arrived, my bp was 177/122, heart going like the clappers, sweating and lying with my face in a bucket, unable to move- so they took me to hospital.

I wasn't there long, just had fluids and anti emetics, and something that brought my blood pressure back down to 135/90. The ER doctor told me to ring my gp for an appointment and get a different medication.

The nearest appointment the surgery could give me was for the last week in April, so a month wait.

In the meantime, my blood pressure continued to rise, (especially once I got a cold 10 days ago) and by this past weekend it was frequently topping 180/120 and I was feeling unwell with a bad headache. I got a bit worried and called the surgery this morning to ask if it's safe to wait until end of April if it's so high. The duty doctor asked me to come have my blood pressure measured at the surgery, and said the nurse would get a doctor if necessary.

I went in and the nurse measured my bp at 180/100, and told me to go and book an appointment with the Long Term Specialist Nurse. The earliest I can get in to see her is mid May.


Can that be right? Everything I've read says anything higher than 180 systolic or 120 diastolic needs urgent treatment. So why would they want me to wait weeks with no medication when it seems to be getting worse?

[ChariotsofFish]

No, this is not right. Ask the surgery manager to sort out an earlier appointment.

[WhoWants2Know]

I'll have to, won't I? I really thought that the nurse would have grabbed the duty doctor to prescribe something today. I hate making a fuss.

[Caucasianchalkcircles]

Can't you make an emergency appointment on the day ? A diastolic reading like that needs to be treated asap and could be classed as urgent especially as you are symptomatic - headache, vomiting. We have that option at our surgery. I would definitely speak to the surgery manager if no luck as it really needs sorting. Hope you're ok and get something done. I have high blood pressure and am on ramipril too so appreciate how worrying it is for you.

[WhoWants2Know]

Well, I kind of thought yesterday's visit to see the nurse WAS an emergency, and that she would escalate to the duty doctor if the numbers were high.

Yesterday was a day off work and I was quite chilled, so I'm worried about what will happen on a normal day when I'm at work and rushing around.

[HarryTheSteppenwolf]

No, it's not right. I found myself in a similar position with the receptionist trying to book me in three weeks ahead, by which time the medication prescribed by the hospital doctor would have run out. I did manage to get an earlier appointment when I explained the situation but otherwise would have been able to use an on-the-day appointment, although that effectively means taking a whole day off work.

Over 180/100 mmHg you're supposed to be referred for specialist treatment the same day.

Was the drug they gave you in hospital amlodipine? What are you taking at the moment?

[HarryTheSteppenwolf]

Sorry, 180/110 mmHg. And with evidence of eye effects.

[WhoWants2Know]

I'm not sure which drug they gave me at the hospital, but I was pretty out of it. I did have that prescribed a few years back when I first showed signs of hypertension. My blood pressure spiked with that too, so at the time the gp said to try managing it via diet and exercise.

[AnnaMagnani]

No not right. And you need a doctor given the complications you have had.

You need an emergency appointment - I think you have been channelled into the ordinary blood pressure pathway, not the severe, actually having symptoms and complications, being an emergency pathway.

[RubySlippers77]

OP, I have essential hypertension and it started even when I was muchthinner and exercised regularly! It's managed with amlodipine now (which I understand is more often prescribed than ramipril anyway?) and TBH no diet/ exercise has made a difference. No family history here either.

Please go back to your GP and ask for medication ASAP if you are having symptoms, I didn't have any, mine was picked up during a routine appointment for the pill. I was started on medication then and there and referred to a hospital consultant due to my (young) age and lack of other contributing factors. That appointment did take a few months to come through but at least I was being treated in the meantime.

You can buy blood pressure monitors for around £15 in the chemist if you wanted to check your own BP too.