Blood pressure query

[Hipponimous]

I recently turned 40 and had a standard health check with a nurse at my GPs. I'm very overweight (which I obviously already knew) but otherwise all my results - both on the day and blood tests - were good except my blood pressure which was very high. The nurse gave me a chart to take home and asked my to get a monitor and check my BP at home for a week and return the results to the surgery for analysis. Which I'm in the process of completing but now I have some ques:

Of the two numbers which is 'more important' or is it not as simple as that? How high is worryingly high? If this week of testing shows I have consistently high BP (which it seems to) how urgently will I need to be seen?

If you are overweight do make sure you are wearing the right sized cuff if it’s an upper arm monitor. Cuffs that are too small will give you a high reading.
Wrist monitors are not recommended.
Make sure you are taking it correctly.
Sit for 5 mins. Make sure your back is supported and, if needs be, rest your arm on a cushion so the cuff is as high as the heart.
take a reading, wait 2 mins then take a second, wait 2 mins and take a 3rd and nite down the lowest reading.
A full bladder, thick sleeves or having your ankles crossed can all affect the reading.

https://www.bloodpressureuk.org/your-blood-pressure/how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure/monitoring-your-blood-pressure-at-home/how-to-measure-your-blood-pressure-at-home/

Ooh, thanks for the tips. The chart wants me to record two readings one minute apart but the rest of what you've said I had no idea about!

What sort of numbers are you getting?

In a nutshell High blood pressure means strain on your blood vessels and heart. Your blood vessels flow to your whole body, so it can cause problems with other organs eg brain and kidneys. Heart will be working too hard. If it’s consistently high you will need it bringing down to prevent these problems

If you're not sure about your home readings you can also request a 24hr BP monitor via your GP which does it automatically.

@coloursquare so this morning I was averaging around 155/95 but this evening I followed the tips above re positioning, doing it when I'd been sitting resting for a while etc and it's still high but much better at around 135/90. I know that second number needs to be lower than that really.

I'm to monitor for a week and then submit to my GP surgery for review so we shall see.

If you're very overweight you could almost certainly bring that down with weight loss and lifestyle changes.

Weight loss will definitely bring those numbers down

How's things OP?