Concerned about husbands blood pressure

[Drwhoareyou]

My husband went for a general health check today and just got a reading of 160/110. Is this a dangerous figure? He has been prescribed medication Lisaniprol and has to go back in 2 days to be retested and also for an ECG rest. Has anyone got any experience of this drug?

ECG test

My first "high" reading was this level but I was told they don't diagnose HBP with just one reading. I've had to have a couple of weeks of monitoring and blood tests and only now have been given a prescription.

I've been given Perindopril erbumine which is in the same family as Lisaniprol and am also looking for experiences!

DP recently had similar rest. GP said as soon as you start of HBP meds you can't come off them. DP could either start them or use a BP monitor twice a day for a week to obtain average reading and to get ECG. He chose the latter as his BP was fine once out the surgery (white coat symdrome). Having said that, friend wasn't given this option and now on HBP meds forever.

I was surprised that they gave him the prescription so quickly before retesting, but guessed they must have been concerned. Interesting that you didn’t get a prescription straight away for similar reading, what exactly was yours if you don’t mind me asking?

My husband suffers with white coat syndrome due to childhood traumas, and his BP shoots up in the Dr's surgery. Usually, they'll arrange home monitoring where he'd wear a blood pressure machine all the time, and it goes off hourly, checking over a 24hr period. Generally only then, meds would be started!

GP said as soon as you start of HBP meds you can't come off them

With respect, that's nonsense.

When I had abnormally high blood pressure - 180 /120 - I was given x2 types of blood pressure medication to bring it down to a non life threatening level within 24 hours.

I'm now not taking blood pressure medication - though I do monitor regularly and follow DASH (dietary approach to stroke and hypertension - American Heart Association approved)

Thanks, I will look up DASH and glad to hear you were able to come off the medication. I was concerned that he will be on it for life.
We have bought a home BP tester, worryingly it was even higher at home so not sure it’s just white coat syndrome, although we will continue to monitor at home.

I can't recall my top measure but bottom is currently 80 which becasue fo diabetes is my max level (without diabetes its 90) so 110 is high and they will want to bring that back down for sure to around prob the 90 mark if there are no other things to take into account

GP said as soon as you start of HBP meds you can't come off them

That’s not true at all. Dh has been diagnosed with HBP and has been told once he makes the recommended lifestyle changes (weight and alcohol) he needs to have another 48 hour test and then gradually drop his dosage, with a view to hopefully becoming medication free.

Thanks RB68, yes the 110 bit is seemingly off the scale, hence my concern.

Yes I would hope he could at least hope to become medication free, once blood pressure hopefully comes down.

Thanks for your replies so far, really helpful to hear your experiences

In terms of testing, my blood pressure consultant said to do x2 readings twice a day - so x2 in the morning on waking up and x2 in the evening

He also said that if blood pressure were spiking, to try lying down and taking a further reading

And better to be on long term blood pressure medication than have long term high blood pressure.

When my consultant put me on immediate blood pressure medication, indicating blood pressure needed to come down in 24 hours, I said something like 'oh, I don't really want to take medication'

to which his response was that I was at immediate risk of heart attack or stroke if it didn't come down and that, without medication, I would have a life expectancy of between 3 - 5 years

that sort of puts the 'I don't want to take medicatoin' into perspective!

@Drwhoareyou 160/109 was the first high level but I was in the Out of Ours section of A&E at the time.

I apparently have an "average" after 2 weeks of 3x a day readings of 144/94 which they want to treat. I've asked and been told I don't meet the criteria for a 24hr ambulatory test.

These are off my home blood pressure machine which I know reads higher than the GP's as we tested them against each other. The first reading each time is generally 160/110 but if I wait a few minutes and try again it drops quite quickly to around 140/90 and I've had some that are 120/70.

That definitely puts it in perspective Aridane, eager to get it down quickly and if medication is the quickest way so be it. If he had to stay on medication then so be it but hope he can become medication free eventually if we can manage it with healthy lifestyle etc.
Thanks witch that’s quite a similar figure to DH.

I've just been reading the NICE guidelines and it looks like I should have ambulatory monitoring to confirm the diagnosis! Back to the surgery I think

Will have a look at the NICE guidelines myself. Worth reading up before going back on Weds!

Has he also be given lifestyle advice, such as weight loss and exercise. How old is he?

Hi Techway, he is 50 and has been given advice. All of the common sense things about diet/exercise/salt/drinking. There are definitely some changes that he can make especially cutting down on alcohol and more exercise which I will try and help with (it will hopefully be a kick up the bum for both of us).

My husband was on beta blockers for hypertension. Lost a bit of weight and did more sport, has stopped taking them. Checks BP at home periodically.

If using a home BP monitor make sure you do it properly - seated quietly for 5 mins beforehand and take 3 measures over a few minutes. I have white coat syndrome even with a home monitor and the first reading is usually significantly higher than the others.

Will your GP initiate the protocol to check whether DH’s high blood pressure is secondary hypertension or are the elevated readings not high enough to trigger that protocol?

In 90% of cases there is no medical cause for (very) high blood pressure - known as primary hypertension.

However, in 10% of cases, there will be a medical cause - eg kidney malfunction. This is know as secondary hypertension . In such cases, treatment of the underlying medical condition may treat the hypertension.

Various tests would be run - ie bloods, heart scan and CT or MRI (now cannot remember which) - which tests would determine 1) whether extremely high blood pressure had damaged the major organs, and 2) whether there is an underlying medical cause for the high blood pressure

(regrettable) voice of experience!

Thanks Mistigri, we have tested 3 times today at various intervals and all 3 readings look OK... 100/70, 120/85 and 110/75, he took the first tablet this morning (they have him a low dose too). Seems strange to go so quickly from too high to these levels???

Thanks also Aridane, they are doing blood and urine tests, so one of the tests is definitely for kidney function and they are also doing an ECG.

Guess we will have to wait and see what the reading is tomorrow at the doctors and what the other tests say if anything.

Now he has had a phonecall to ask him to come back to the doctors to discuss his blood results 😫 appointment booked for next week