High blood pressure not lowering with meds

[Anonanon12]

Hi, can anyone shed some light on why blood pressure might not lower in an otherwise healthy person even when on meds and meds being tweaked?
Diet is excellent, weight is good, very good at handling stress (blood pressure is consistently high not just high when stressed) no added salt, non smoker etc.
His Mum also has borderline high blood pressure and again is generally quite a healthy person... What type of faulty gene can cause this and how do you solve it?

We've never really experienced anyone else with high blood pressure so young so it's been a bit worrying but I'm feeling reassured that sometimes it can be high just because of genetics and not something sinister going on.

Excellent diet... Well, a much better controlled diet than me lol, I don't know how he manages such good self control!!! He will have porridge or cornflakes for breakfast, always takes a packed lunch to work with a sandwich or crackers, crisps, apple, grapes, carrot sticks and a cereal bar. Dinner is always generally well balanced, chicken or other meat, potato and lots of veg. Then a probiotic type yoghurt... Maybe a few chunks of chocolate added in on a bad day, 1 or 2 cups of coffee or 4 cups of tea a day... 8 glasses of water, no added salt to veg or meals

If it’s hereditary or he just happens to randomly have it for no reason they can find, it’s not really possible to change things I don’t think. But I look at it this way - the people who are diagnosed with it and properly treated are lucky because it really is a silent disease and for many people a cardiac event or stroke might be the first indication they ever have that their BP is too high. I’ve been on medication for it for 40 years now and I’m sure if it hasn’t been picked up when it was I’d have had a stroke or something because when my GP sent me to A&E when she discovered what it was it was 160/120 which is v high. DH should make sure he never smokes, drinks in moderation and exercises because we should all do that really and the main thing is compliance with taking medication. A lot of people don’t bother or take it randomly because there are no symptoms but it’s vital it is taken every single day.

@Fromthegekko

If it’s hereditary or he just happens to randomly have it for no reason they can find, it’s not really possible to change things I don’t think. But I look at it this way - the people who are diagnosed with it and properly treated are lucky because it really is a silent disease and for many people a cardiac event or stroke might be the first indication they ever have that their BP is too high. I’ve been on medication for it for 40 years now and I’m sure if it hasn’t been picked up when it was I’d have had a stroke or something because when my GP sent me to A&E when she discovered what it was it was 160/120 which is v high. DH should make sure he never smokes, drinks in moderation and exercises because we should all do that really and the main thing is compliance with taking medication. A lot of people don’t bother or take it randomly because there are no symptoms but it’s vital it is taken every single day.

It's interesting that you were sent to A&E for that Mine was a lot higher when it was found and they never panicked like that! And I think now mine was that high for years even

This thread has made me take mine again and it's showing high 😟

purpleme. My GP took it 3 times then asked me to wait till the end of her surgery and took it again. At that point she sent me to A&E! I was very surprised as I felt so well. They did some basic tests - blood, ecg, and then sent me home with a cardiology appt for 6 weeks time. Then they did kidney and heart tests and sent me home attached to a 24 hour bp monitor. The readings were all around the same as the GP had taken and I was started off on medication the following week. They took it very seriously indeed. What are your readings like now?

I don't take them every month, perhaps I should
It had calmed down months ago
But it was very high when I took it just now

I've got another phone appointment with the endocrinology department next month (last one was 6 months ago) so perhaps I should start taking it again
Just what I need, something else to worry about!

There’s always something isn’t there 😢. I would keep an eye on it once a week if you’ve got a reading though. That way you can let them know what it’s been doing when you go for your appointment. Hopefully it’s a one-off and the rest are lower.

Got a high reading that should read.

Has he been checked for renal artery stenosis or phaeochromocytoma? Sometimes high blood pressure is a secondary symptom.

The right meds depend on the cause of the high BP, which can be hard to diagnose. DH has something that's probably inherited - he's on an unusual combination.

My high BP is genetic so lifestyle can’t do much though it always helps. I’ve been seen at the cardiology dept where they carried out various tests, then put on different medication from what the GP had prescribed, in fact it wasn’t until I was put on three tablets for quite a while before it started to come down. But don’t worry eventually they’ll find the combination that does the trick.

I developed hypertension in October at the same time as testing positive for covid. The doctors don't know if it's definitely linked or just coincidence, though seem to think it might have triggered it. Due to arthritis medication I have my blood pressure taken every 3 months and not had issues previously. I'm 48 (as of yesterday) and have been having regular blood pressure checks for the last 9 or 10 years due to medication.

I was rushed to a and e as my blood pressure was very high - too number was over 200, bottom figure was v high too.

I've struggled to bring it down fully. The top figure is now around 140-150, sometimes higher, never had a reading below 140 since this started. Bottom figure is between 90-100 which is improving.

I'm on two different medication for it now. I was on just the one until 3 weeks ago, but that wasn't lowering it enough despite increasing the dose. They added a new one last month - that was making me sick daily but has settled down in the past week or so.

This week I am taking my blood pressure every day and have another nurse appointment where they'll take it a couple of times with their machine, my machine and also manually to check the results are the same on all.

I would keep pushing for monitoring and checking, and changes to the medication as it can take a while to get the right one or combination of more than one.