High diastolic blood pressure

[MummaPI]

Hi
Mine is somewhere between 90 and 99, high I know. Anyone have experience of this? I don't exercise but am going to make myself now. I'm 43

Anyone?

Is it a recurring theme or a one-off? Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure on the walls of your circulatory system, so if it was just once, and your systolic blood pressure is within the normal range, then it may have been your posture, or your muscles (have you been working out?). Have you put on a bit of weight lately? Were you wearing constrictive clothing, etc.... HOWEVER.... if it is a recurring theme, and your systolic blood pressure becomes elevated, then you obviously have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. I hope that explains it for you.

Btw... keep an eye on it anyway, esp if you have a family history of hypertension or heart disease.

It goes from high 80s to high 90s all the time, systolic is borderline too. I am overweight by about 2 stone and dont exercise. I've had scans before which show regurgitation but docs never seem to think its anything other than my age. Mild heart disease in the family. I guess I just wondered if at 43 it is abnormal and whether I can 'reverse' or better it

I have an inflammatory arthritis and took medicines for that a few years ago which was when I noticed it

I am similar to you, OP. Early 40s and just come off a 7-day blood pressure monitor. It averaged out at 134/92 but was often well above the 140/90 "normal" boundary. I'm waiting to hear from the GP if any further action is needed. I have a family history, the only things I can think of that might affect it otherwise are not enough exercise and possibly stress - although work is not as stressful as it used to be, I seem to find myself feeling anxious a lot of the time.

Exercise will certainly help it.

Even just making sure you do a couple of thousand EXTRA steps a day of steady walking.

If you get a 'fitbit' or something similar you can set your own baseline by wearing it for a week without changing anything and then start to make small but incremental increases in your steps and activity.

Walking with your fitbit gives you stats so that you will quickly see improvement even without trying too hard.

EG If I walk for 10 mins in one direction and then turn round and walk back and do the same 4 days a week, at the end of 4 days I find I have gone a little bit further every day/my average heart rate whilst doing it is slightly lower etc.

(I now walk for 30 mins and turn round and, whereas a mile was taking me 30 mins it now takes around 24 - this after just a month of making sure I have a walk 4 times a week)

It's really motivating when you can see improvement for every little change and it really will help your blood pressure

I am also struggling with anxiety at the moment (with good cause) and walking does reduce the knotty sicky feeling

Sounds like a plan!!

In your case, it is definitely a warning sign that all is not well in cardiovascular land. I imagine you are prone to fluid rentention in your feet, etc. Exercise is definitely a good idea for your diastolic blood pressure WILL improve with excercise. Your heart pumps blood through your arteries, but it is the continued repetition of pressure from your muscles contracting on the fluids in your tissues and blood vessels and veins that sends blood back towards your heart through your veins. This is the diastolic pressure we are talking about. I would drink more water to assist this and maybe look at improving your diet. (Although I am a big believer in making one or two small changes at a time so you can stick to them and be happy.) Don’t think of exercise as “EXERCISE”. Go out and enjoy the sunshine. Drink the water to make your skin gorgeous and glowy. Start with that and see what follows.
If you smoke, you know what to do. (This is the biggest factor and you can’t not know this!!!)

Mine has recently gone up. It's done spikes as high 138, but mostly hangs around 90-100. It's come on totally suddenly - I've always had normal BP before. I'm also overweight, and on several medications, and generally not always super healthy, so in a way it's not a surprise.

I've had BP monitoring, ECG and all the bloods done a few times now, and it's picked up some other possible issues for me. I originally went to the GP for a bad orthostatic headache, and that one's still not really fixed - I'm hoping it's BP related, as that would save me worrying about what else it is.

My plan of action, with my GP, at the moment is proper healthy diet to lose weight (I've been referred for support with this, as I have/had an eating disorder), exercise (adding some more strenuous cardio to what I already do), and medication, as mine's that bit high that it's probably for the best. I'm really hoping that I might be able to quit the medication in future, if I get my weight down properly. I'm also making other changes, eg. I've quit alcohol and reduced caffeine intake.

I dont smoke and drink occasionally so everything in moderation for me. It's certainly been worse since I've been in perimenopause and I've neglected my body exercise wise. I've had the occasional swollen feet but not much and I'm told it's my arthritis as it doesn't dent. I guess I'll keep on eye on those. I love the advice about little steps so I'm.more likely to stick to it. I'm going to start walking tomorrow and take it from there.

Not sure exercise helps that much per se to be honest. Genetics trump everything ! Never smoked, physically fit - running, spinning and swimming for many years, long strenuous walks with my dog3-4 to.es a week, active job, never been overweight but do have a family history of hypertension and heart disease (partly why I've always exercised!) Still ended up with moderately high Bp and now on ramipril to control it ! I 'm in my early 50s and in
perimenopause too.

BTW, if it makes you feel better, I actually know what I’m talking about because not only have I managed to lose 60kgs (am in Australia - no idea how many stones, but am very short and was grossly obese, now I’m petite.) and maintain it through diet and exercise without being miserable, I am going through perimenopause too (47 yrs old have had partial hysterectomy as well.). This has all inspired me to start studying nursing at my ripe old age, and my most recent clinical prac has really hit home to me how many long-term, awful, chronic illnesses are most probably avoided if we can keep the weight down, keep the body moving (in a really natural way, not an expensive, Lycra-requiring way) drinking water - so many people don’t you know - and keeping your brain active and happy. It is so true that if you don’t use it, you lose it!

My blood pressure was consistently in the region of 136/98 for about 3-4 weeks of monitoring and it had always been in the normal range before then and haven't had anything like swelling of the ankles, shortness of breath, headaches or any other symptoms. I only noticed it because dh was given a bp machine to monitor his after having chest pains and astronomically high bp at the hospital. We measured mine out of interest and were surprised at the readings.
The gp put me on 2.5mg ramipril and that's lowered it to within the normal range.
My dad has high bp and his dad died young, early 50s, of (I think) a heart attack.

I'm 39 btw and am about 1st away from the border between being a healthy weight and being overweight and am not very active at all.

I would suggest it’s time to get some walking shoes and some sunscreen! You might enjoy a fifteen minute meander a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks. Add in a couple of glasses of water before and after and see what that does to your BP. It’s amazing how quickly your body responds to these things, and how once you feel a bit better and have more energy (which you will...) you will naturally push yourself a little bit further, and be inspired to make your own changes to your diet and exercise program naturally. I mean who actually wants a Lycra-clad 20 year old telling them what to do with their life? No thanks.

If you think I gave up wine, cheese and coffee, you’re dreaming. (Was never a big drinker, eat more cheese now for my bones (what a sacrifice!) and coffee so I don’t murder my kids in the morning. (2 per day)

Nice to talk to people in the same boat.

just congratulations on your weight loss, very inspiring

Just wanted you to know that you can make little changes to your lifestyle that make big changes to your body and your health!!!!

I've had high blood pressure since my late 30s, when I was diagnosed my GP was worried that I was about to have a stroke. I've been on meds ever since and it's taken a cocktail of 3 different meds to keep it at a reasonable level. I also have high cholesterol which again doesn't really change with meds.

In my case genetics trump meds.