Unusual blood pressure for me

[LittleEsme]

I'm usually borderline low to normal.
I've not been sleeping well lately - lot of uneasy dreams, teeth grinding (have been waking DH), nosebleeds, feeling uptight and now, BP readings of 135/95.

Should I be worried? X

Do you take your own blood pressure?
What age are you?

Was that a one off reading?

Depends what your range is. You can get a 24 hour monitor and it will work out an average.

Im 50, overweight and unfit.
I measured yesterday.

Measures this morning:

152/92

Then now: 119/47

Im hoping the first reading from earlier was a blip.

I know nothing about blood pressure.

Your diastolic is a little elevated.
BP fluctuates throughout the day, up to 20mmhg variations are completely normal.
Take a 2 week diary, do your BP morning, midday and evening and try to relax about it.
If the diastolic remains on the high side then make an appt with your GP. Your age, weight are obvious risk factors.
Try and make minimal changes now, less fat/salt, move more.
Fresh beetroot juice contains nitrates which can help to lower BP.

Thank you @AlphaAlpha , I really appreciate that.

I'll start a diary. I don't feel my best, to be honest. I need to make some changes.

I'm now medium to low BP having had a medical scare, started medication and lost weight and sorted out my diet. One thing I have noticed is that I sleep so much better with lower BP., It's worth getting healthy just for the good sleep!

Yy to daily variations. Take your BP at the same time each day and do it at least twice. The first reading is often higher so you then have a more accurate reading. Do not eat or drink for 30 mins before taking it and sit for a couple of minutes before starting. Do not talk whilst doing it and rest your arm on a table don't have it dripping. All these factors can change the reading. I can push my top reading up +10 by just thinking about my shopping list etc whilst taking the reading!

You need to sit quietly, both feet flat on the floor and back against a chair, arm resting with hand up on the table. Take your BP , sit for another few mins and take it again and repeat. Record the lowest reading.

Oh yes and the pp is right, no eating for half and hour beforehand.

You only need to do twice daily readings not 3 times a day, GP’s never ask for that frequent. But you do need to do the best (lowest) of 3 attempts morning/evening as your bp will drop as your arm gets used to being squeezed

Don't talk whilst doing it. Arm needs to be at roughly the same level as your heart so on a pillow

Before you start the diary take the machine to either the gp practice or pharmacy to get them to check the cuff is the correct size for your arm diameter. You haven't said how overweight you are but it's incredibly common for a BP machine to over-read the value if the cuff is too small for your arm.

In theatres we a range of cuff sizes and the vast majority of those beyond a tiny bit overweight need a large cuff (you can buy them on amazon I just have for my partner

You only need to do twice daily readings not 3 times a day, GP’s never ask for that frequent

Mine does and a former GP did too.