Anyone else got high blood pressure?

[RoséProsecco]

Mine was always low until pregnancy, when I developed very severe pre-eclampsia at only 28 weeks. I had no risk factors & was very fit, normal weight, with a healthy diet.

I'm now in my early 50's & I guess the inevitable has happened, where I asked for a check at the GP surgery, it was found to be very high (ended up at A&E).

So I've started in medication, lost some weight.

I already run 5K a couple of times a week, average 8K steps daily, no added salt, oily fish 1-2 x a week, aim for 5 a day etc.

But I've been getting headaches, especially at work, and my home monitor is showing me mostly above 90 in the morning (diastolic/lower number).

So I phoned the GP surgery & got a bit of a lecture about stress, diet & exercise.

I'm a single parent working full-time in a stressful role (NHS). I can't change these things.

Just feeling a bit dispirited

What had worked for other people?

Medication.
I’m a mid 50s HCP too. Ran for years plus regular gym goer, normal BMI, never smoked blah blah…Was getting what I thought was migraine but probably related to high BP as I don’t get it now my BP is normal.
Yes eating a healthy diet with plenty of veg/fruit etc, being active, low stress lifestyle are effective but for some it’s not enough on its own. Being realistic I cannot eliminate the stress from my job (nurse), it’s just impossible. Medication has got my BP down to normal limits and hopefully will have prevented further long term damage.
Why not buy a home BP machine ? Check it morning and night. Best of 3. Make sure you have rested for 5 minutes or so and are sat comfortably. Try not to get worked up. After a week or two take the results back to your GP. They’ll work out an average reading and decide if it’s genuinely high or a one off. If you need meds so be it. No big deal. It’s a bit of a shock initially as it’s maybe the first sign you’re getting old 😩 but ultimately it’s helping to prevent a CVA or MI further down the line.

I’ve been on blood pressure medication since my early 50’s. I went to GP to discuss menopause and had blood tests which also showed my cholesterol levels were also high. Like you at first I tried changing diet, cut out salt and cut down on read meat, but it made no difference, so I take medication for both and levels have stayed the same. My DH had perfect BP but only one month after having full check up, had a mild heart attack which needed a triple heart bypass and he’s now on 4 different medications, which he hates taking and always asks every check up if he can stop or decrease dosage with no success. He was pre diabetic last year, but has managed to reverse that by loosing weight, not that he was overweight, cut down on sugar and alcohol. We do dread every check up now.

Yep. I'm early 50s and mine kicked off in pregnancy too, but it never went away. I've been on medication ever since. I was really pretty overweight and unfit at the time, and I lost weight and started running etc. I also cut down on booze, salt and caffeine. This brought it down to being only borderline high, and a low dose medication makes sure it doesn't spike too high. My weight has been creeping up lately, so need to sort that out! Things like yoga and meditation can really help too.

My df had high bp too, lost weight by going low carb and was able to come off his bp meds, statins and cured his sleep apnoea, and he was barely overweight to start with!

I resisted medication for a long time, then saw sense in the end as no amount of lifestyle changes helped. It runs in my family.

I was on Amlodipine, now on Ramipril. They just kept increasing till it was as stable as possible (mind, mine is a lot higher than yours OP but yet I never got headaches) I'm 52 now and been on meds for 3 years.

I do recommend sitting down quietly for 5 minutes before taking BP. Makes a big difference. If having it taken at a healtcare setting as for them not to speak to you and remain quiet and breathe slowly.

Medication. I've been on it since 40 after the birth of my last child, blood pressure was text book all the way through then went crazy afterwards and I was hospitalised. It takes some time to get the right dose and combo. I have to take two different ones to keep it stable - which for me is my target reading of 125/75 maximum (given to me by my cardiologist as I also have another heart issue which may or may not have been caused by the high blood pressure)

N.B. Blood pressure surges are common in the mornings (think it's something to do with cortisol levels after sleeping) Unmedicated, that's why your reading may be over 90 in the AM as per your OP. Again, meds were the only thing that calmed those BP surges for me (I used to be able to feel it in my neck)

DH has been on medication for decades. He's never been the slightest bit overweight, has played sport all his life, is very active and walks miles every day, doesn't smoke, drinks very little, eats very healthily and limits his salt intake. He's even had to increase his medication and monitor his BP lately as it's been getting worryingly high.

Sometimes there just isn't anything you can do other than take the meds I'm afraid.

Medication. And if you are overweight, losing weight.

I see patients who have lost weight unintentionally through illness and spend my days stopping their BP meds as their blood pressure has now normalised.

I'm 48 and started on BP meds a few months ago but I am overweight and unfit so it wasn't a big surprise! 😬 I have lost a stone in the last 2 months and that, plus presumably the meds and it's now at 120/70 on most days.

Ideally I'd like to not be on meds but I will continue losing weight and see where I get to!

In your case if your reading is still high after consistently taking meds and making lifestyle changes, you might need more or different meds.

Just to add though, I lost 2 stone, and went into a very healthy BMI range and it had no effect on my blood pressure, so sometimes meds are just essential.

I'm on 7.5mg Lisinopril (did try amlodipine but it gave me swollen ankles which is not good for a runner).

I have my own BP machine at home & my diastolic has rarely been mostly above target (85) the past week or two. I'd emailed in my week's readings but they hadn't been passed on.

The headaches have made work difficult- almost can't think straight.

I have a family history of heart disease at a young age so want to be really proactive.

I never knew I had high blood pressure until I went for a pre-op assessment before my bunion removal 10 years ago. It was 200 over something and they couldn't believe I'd had no symptoms. "Headaches/no, palpitations/no, dizziness/no". They put me on amlodipine, which made my ankles swell so much I couldn't bend them. So they replaced it with ramipril, then added in bisoprolol and bendroflumethiazide. Earlier this year, at a regular check-up, the GP decided I was being over-medicated, so cut out the bendroflumethiazide.
I've never felt any different, whether I'm on or off them; though I have noticed that when I donate blood it doesn't take as long to stop bleeding afterwards.

Be careful about home machines, they are notoriously unreliable. I took mine into my GP after getting wildly fluctuating readings and it was nothing like his reading, so I binned it. A reputable brand as well

I pop innto the chemist from time to time and they do it there for me for free and I give the readings to the surgery for my records.

Mine was through the roof and is now down but Ive lost 7 stone. Still on the meds. It was 124 over 86 yesterday morning, havent taken my meds for a week as I wanted to see what it would be. The lower number is higher than I would like and higher than it has been for a couple of months so I'll get it checked again in a few weeks of no meds to see how Im going.

My aim is to come off these meds.

Apparently this is why Ive been told that they wont really want me to come off meds, despite this being my aim now that Ive lost weight. Its silent and unless you keep checking with a calibrated machine with a professional you wont really know if its high or low. I dont think I had any symptoms really and like you, went through a myriad of meds which gave me variously vertigo, swollen ankles and feet etc. Terrible stuff

@bellac11 out of interest why do you want to come off them ? Would you come off thyroxine if you had an under-active thyroid ? The consequence of not taking them can be a CVA or MI.
Read this a lot on MN. It’s like people see hypertension as a result of poor lifestyle choices, obesity or whatever when actually mainly it’s a genetic predisposition.

@RoséProsecco with a diastolic of 80-90 I’d be surprised you are getting headaches because of it unless your systolic reading is very elevated.

I want to come off them if its appropriate. It may be a lifestyle thing for me, it might not. Ive spent decades overweight so I dont know if its that or not.

If theres a chance one can live without medication why wouldnt you?

I have to take other meds for other things and those I definitely cant come off, well one I might be able to one day but its not an ideal to just sit on a medication for the rest of your life if there was no need to.

Are you using the correct size BP cuff? Your OP mentions losing weight….if you are overweight and using a standard size cuff the machine may well be over-reading. (Similarly is someone is normal weight/underweight and uses a large cuff the machine will under-read).

I think you are playing Russian roulette messing with cardiac meds of all things tbh.

Is that to me?

Im not sure its as dramatic as that!!

I had some readings recently which were on the borderline of too low, I then had some more which were just about above that, so normal but very low.

Ive been very lightheaded which has dissipated in this last week after I stopped the meds and discussions about coming off the meds with the nurses at the surgery have gone back and forth, its a plan that I may need to half my meds at some point.

I will continue to check and take the advice given. No need for the drama!

I ended up with high blood pressure with my first dose of covid and it's never resolved itself. Didn't have issues before - regular testing due to other medication.

I take medication - amlodopine and ramipril - daily. Been taking them for about 3 years. They keep it under control.

I have my own no machine and it's been taken into both the gp surgery and the hospital to check it's accuracy. Both asked me to do so. It's readings have pretty much mirrored those at the hospital and surgery, so seem okay at the moment.
It's worth asking them to check this if you're not sure.

What @bellac11 describes is someone successfully losing weight, dropping their BP and not needing meds anymore.

The patients I see get quite upset when I suggest stopping their BP meds as they have been told 'I need these for life' - then I point out they are dizzy and falling over all the time and their body has changed.

Doesn't work for everyone but for a sizeable group of people if you lose the weight, the BP comes down with it.

I've been on blood pressure medicine since start of 2020. Since I was 34.

I've been on blood pressure medicine since start of 2020. Since I was 34.