Blood Pressure

[XenoBitch]

I recently had a GP appointment because I was feeling lightheaded. He took my BP and it was 180/130. I read that is a hypertensive crisis.... but my record has a "patient alert" on it about personality disorder.. so he dismissed it as anxiety related.
I have been sent home with a BP machine to use every morning and evening.
It has ranged from hypertensive crisis to 117/80 level.. all in the space of of a few days. On average, it is 135/90 ish, which is a bit crap I know. But I am more concerned about the massive range I have been experiencing.
Is going from one extreme to another a thing?

Yes mine can vary wildly, anxiety makes mine worse and then i get anxious to take readings so a vicious cycle. I need to get another week of readings before i see GP in two weeks time.

Mine was very high when I had it taken in hospital while waiting for an unrelated appointment. At home it's always around 120/80 or lower so I'm also interested to know whether a one-off moment of anxiety (in my case fear of my appointment!) can cause spikes?

Measure it 4x a day before you've eaten not straight after.

Sit quietly with both feet flat on the floor ,empty bladder, eye closed, sit on a chair with a back and sit right back onto it. Take your BP with your arm resting with hand up on the table and disregard the first reading, wait a bit and take it again. Don't talk to anyone while you're taking it.

BP does change throughout the day that's why it's important to take an average reading.

Most definitely it can.

Thank you all for your replies.
My monitoring has been crap.. had a MH crisis episode so didn't get a reading for a while.. then the batteries died.
My BP has been needing med level, and also healthy. I get the impression I will be told told move more and eat less (my BMI is 34, and I eat terrible etc).
I have hated having to do this.. it triggers all sorts for me. I will be glad to give the damn thing back tbh

Sorry you've been poorly,that's not going to help your readings at all. BP does go up and down,that's why it's important to do the 4x a day and then do an average reading. Mine used to go up just at the sight of the BP monitor ,the only way I got over it was to buy one of my own, it was £20 from Amazon and do it so many times I got used to it. It's important to disregard the first reading , each time do it 3 x and record the lowest reading. Your readings might be a big lower than you think.

I'm on two types of blood pressure medication and it still varies wildly. They'll look at the overall picture and decide what, if any action needs to be taken.

I've had to do a week of readings as my bp was routinely checked and found to be a bit high.
It's really important to follow the instructions for taking readings and not rush as this will affect the outcome.
I think that the portable ones tend to measure slightly high.
Mine averaged out at similar to yours Xenobitch and the nurse said it was fine. I said I thought it was a bit high and was cutting back on caffeine and alcohol, which she agreed was a good idea.

They seem to have changed the rules. latest seems to be (less than) 120 and (less than) 80 is normal.
Years ago it was (less than) 140 and (less than) 90 was normal. I'm usually OK with this measure, sometimes (rarely) OK with the 120/80. Not sure if I need meds for this.
I also have 'white coat' syndrome, my BP is sky high in the Doctor's surgery, and I wonder how high it gets in other places. I don't feel anxious in the Doctor's my BP just goes crazy.

@Greentree1 snap! I'm exactly the same.

Mine varies hugely and can get horrendously high. I too went to the GP with lightheadedness and morning headaches - I had suspected I had high BP as it runs in my family. First reading was 201/98 - I nearly had a heart attack on the spot I was so scared. They did a couple more and the best they got was 187/95 and I thought that would count as some sort of emergency, but they just started me on a really low dose of Ramipril which got it down a little but not that much.

I'm now on 10mg Ramipril plus Amlodipine and can get readings anywhere between 118/79 and 148/85 -completely depends on time of day/diet/stress and whether I've done a long dog walk (10,000 steps really makes a difference).

That's not strictly true, 120/80 was always considered text book normal but anything under 140/90 acceptable. Guidance has changed slightly to emphasise that GPs should aiming for under 120/80 rather than accepting under 140/90. NICE guideline is very clear in diagnosing hypertension -Ambulatory Home BP monitoring is to be done and the target is under 135/85 average with interventions recommended above that number.

@poshjock that's interesting. I have a weird profile on my home monitoring. Averaging 113/82. So top fine but bottom too high. How do you medicate for that?

Thanks for that, not ambulatory but my average home monitoring is 134/78 so OK'ish?

@goldenbag your diasystolic was under 85 - that's a win!
@Greentree1 your systolic is under 135 which is acceptable, if you read the NICE guideline anything under 150/95 (average home ambulatory) recommends mainly lifestyle advice modifications.

I am under cardiology for a mild issue. I have been instructed that I need to maintain an excellent blood pressure which according to my cardiologist is 125/75. I can't do this without medication; I take two separate ones or else I sit around 140/90 which is too high for me.

I had my bp taken recently. Nurse swung the monitor round and it said (I think) 170/74…she didn’t repeat the number to me, just said BP was good, no problems there at all…170 seems really high even allowing for ‘white coat syndrome’.

See if you can get 24 hour monitoring. It will give you and the GP a better picture of what's going on

@Jamroly more likely to be 120?

@coloursquare the systolic reading was much higher