High blood pressure

[cherrypiepie]

DH Had a bit of a shock at a work medical his blood pressure is high - around 175/108 measured at home this morning. GP prescribed Amlopidine. Blood test on Monday but not sure what for.

Not overweight/ swims 3-5 times a week/ 0-5 units alcohol p/w. Early 40s

What does any of this mean any experience of this.

How worried should I be? DH very worried.

What can I do to help?

Perhaps he is prone if it is in the family. I can recommend parsley tea but definitely take the medication anyway. Small palmful of fresh parsley brewed in a cup or mug 5 mins daily.

Loads of people live with high blood pressure. It sounds to me like a good treatment pathway...the tablets stop long term issues associated with high b pressure..
Blood tests help check for other issues ie organ damage, high cholesterol etc and your kidney/liver function I think...also To check it copes with meds.. Normally have test with each change in dose...
See this page for info...
www.bloodpressureuk.org/your-blood-pressure/getting-diagnosed/getting-a-blood-pressure-check/further-health-tests/

Sometimes it's just something you have.. If don't smoke, not overweight and active then...
... Cut down the salt.....go very low
... Cut out liquorice..
.. Eat more bananas

I’m the same. Early 40s, healthy weight, exercise regularly, don’t smoke, don’t drink a lot. BP off the chart and isn’t yet being properly controlled with two kinds of drug (they’re working out the best combination for me, so having lots of prescriptions- top tip is to get a prepayment certificate as they’ll be fiddling with drugs a fair bit).

My GP said it’s just one of those things, genetic but they don’t fully understand why. Some people are just more prone to it than others. It’s taken me a fair while to accept this but it’s like asthma or diabetes - just random bad luck with your genetics. It can be controlled easily and is worth doing - untreated it can cause all sorts of issues nobody wants.

One thing I found really hard is that I didn’t feel ill. Because there aren’t really any symptoms of high BP, so having to medicate and it not making me feel any better was a bit of a headfuck.

My dad (overweight, drinker) was diagnosed in his 30s. Always thought it was his lifestyle but as I’m not in the same health camp seems it’s his genes. He’s had it controlled by meds since then and is well into his 70s now. So it’s really not something to be very worried about because it is controllable.

Also, if the medication causes horrid side effects go back to the GP. There are lots of different types of meds that can be used to treat it and he’ll find one that will work well, even if it does take a little time.

Mine is a bit high too - but not high enough (yet) to need medication. I wasn't impressed when I found out, as I run about 20 miles a week. Sometimes I wonder (but I can find nothing about this) if fit people push the blood through with more power because their hearts are well exercised?

My mother has always been very slim but is on a low dose of medication to control hers, so I assume it's genetic with me. Goodness knows how high it would be if I didn't exercise!

I guess I could give up eating crisps to reduce my salt intake further. Sadly I don't like bananas :(

Here is the salt guidance
www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/salt-nutrition/

Oh and on that tablet you shouldn't have grapefruit juice or grapefruits....

I miss liquorice, crisp and grapefruit... 😭

Thanks everyone all reassuring. And thank @broccolibush good info.

He's always super fit and healthy had one day off in 20 years after an accident etc so he is psychologically affected by it.

He doesn't eat bananas

He does have a high salt diet as loves American food and cooks a lot using rubs and bbq 'things'. .

His mum has been on the same tablets since 40s too.

Out of interest what is your blood pressure reading?

106/64 and pulse 56 right now (just done them) but healthy hearts run in my family - while high BP can be caused by lifestyle there are some people for whom it's just a matter of luck/genetics. Medication appears to be very effective and to have little in the way of side effects.

Blood test is likely to be for cholesterol I would imagine?

FWIW my DH needs medication for his BP but has low cholesterol, I struggle to keep my cholesterol manageable but my BP is naturally OK.

Blood pressure is a measure of resistance that is met in the vessels. So if the vessels are restricted or narrowed the blood pressure is higher as it meets a bottleneck! So the first clue is bloods to measure cholesterol. If that is higher (than 3
5 to 8) it could be an indicator that plaques are forming from the excess cholesterol in the blood, narrowing the lumen and forcing the blood through leading to Hypertension. The top number (systolic) is very reactive to stress or pain and can also elevate to "white- coat syndrome". The bottom figure (diastolic) is the one that if elevated causes concern as that one is normally the more stable of the two and sits around 60-70 (80 at a push!). Sometimes there is a cause that can be identified and sometimes it can just be a mystery. Because of the complications that can arise from untreated Hypertension treatment is usually started promptly while awaiting other test such as a 24hr BP monitor or ECG. Hope he is OK soon and his BP comes down!

It can be genetic. It is in my family. Several family members were diagnosed with it at quite a young age, despite being slim and fit,and not drinking a lot of alcohol.

I'm 61, overweight and in a high stress occupation. I'd been jogging along at 165/90 for ages, then I had an operation and I was hitting 200/95 during obs. I'm on amlopidine these last three months, back down to 150/80 ish.

Does the have a stressful job? Stress can be a big factor.

When mine was first picked up as bad it was 190ish/140ish. With meds we’ve got it to 140/90 now but still some way to go. I have other health issues which mean some of the meds aren’t something we can contemplate but we’re going in the right direction.

Do you have a home monitor? You can pick them up for not much money on Amazon - it might be worth investing so you can keep an eye on it in “normal” circumstances. Mine is always lower at home. It also might help quell his anxiety over it.

www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/high-blood-pressure

Useful info here.

My dh was diagnosed in his 20s. It just runs in the family. They did a lot of tests first to ensure nothing else was going on (kidneys, diabetes etc) but all came back clear. The first meds he was prescribed worked week and he has been on them now 15yrs+. No subsequent issues, just a bloods check every year or so.

*Well not week

I was diagnosed in March with high BP. It was very high at 208/138 ( and did end up in hospital) since then I've been on few different tablets alongside 10mg Ramapril daily and have just been put on 5mg Amlopidine which I think will be increased to 10mg too as I'm currently sitting at about 170/105 most days.
Apart from being a bit overweight I'm healthy, I run and swim/gym 3 times a week and have for years. My parents have high BP so assuming that's not helped. It has put the wind up me though and I've cut out all alcohol and lost nearly 2 stone so far.
My advice would be to get a prepayment certificate as it could get costly if changing meds and dont expect changes overnight. Im 7 months on and still not under control and this will probably be my 4 change In medication to take alongside the ramapril.

Oh and get a monitor. They aren't expensive

Fingers crossed the meds work and it's under control shortly

Thanks everyone again. We have a monitor and are monitoring at home.

Can't explain how helpful it is to have heard all your experiences.

It's come down a bit today. Will keep an eye out for side effects as he's not one to make a fuss.

I night some lo salt as token gesture!! Feel a bit powerless to help.

Just want to add that for some of us the lifestyle tweaks don’t make any difference. When I was anorexic in my 30s I still had borderline high BP.

And thanks @MogHog - my BP is coming down but am on 10mg ramipril and can’t tolerate amlodipine and can’t take diuretics. Am somewhat reassured that it’s not just me that it’s not straightforward for.

I hope his anxiety about it will lessen. It's fairly common to be on blood pressure medication. It might take a while to find the right tablets for him, but be persistent if one is causing difficult side effects. There are lots of options and he will find what works for him. Good luck.