Hypertension- what to expect from GP?

[JuanTabo]

I was told to monitor my BP at home 10x a day after a high reading at the GP surgery last week, it’s fairly consistently elevated but near normal at the beginning and end of each day. I realise it will depend on various other factors such as underlying conditions but in general is the GP likely to insist on medication or are lifestyle modifications alone ever given a trial first?

I don’t drink or smoke but I’m fairly sedentary, fifty plus and with plenty of scope for dietary changes.

I'm not sure that's right - have you averaged the pulse rather than the diastolic?

Ask for a 24hr monitor. Manually 10 times a day is odd,

I wonder why they do it this way at my surgery, maybe 20 readings over 2 days gives sufficient info and frees the equipment for more patients? They said their home testing kits were like gold dust.

My average is 122/95 I think. Doesn’t sound too bad but hope I can lower it without any help.

Your systolic is fine but your diastolic is high. I don't know what the boundary is for treatment but the classification of whether it's high or not is done by the worst number so I imagine they will want you to take action to reduce your diastolic.

Nope.

Try reducing salt and drinking plenty of water as well as a daily walk.

@awakeatnightmare what do you mean by "Nope"? That's what a cardiologist told me.

@coloursquare sorry what are you trying to say?

@awakeatnightmare I'm just querying the narrow pulse pressure on 134/112

Are you using the third row on the first sheet? Those are the pulse not diastolic.
A rough look suggests that op has quite labile BP, your diastolic is consistently high despite normal ish systolic, they may start you on meds. However it could be the machine you are using needs recalibrating.
They will start you on low doses and nitrate up over a number of weeks until your BP is under control.
I wouldn’t say that you are sedentary if you are running 3x a week and walking more than 30 mins daily.
Not all hypertension is due to lifestyle. It can be difficult to pick up in patients who appear fit and healthy since they rarely visit the GP. It can be a genetic predisposition.
Taking anti hypertensives not only lowers blood pressure but also protects your organs from the damage undetected high BP causes.
High BP is often symptomless. Mine was caused by pregnancy and never really came down afterwards ( I have a pituitary problem that predisposes me to this type of hypertension). Changes in lifestyle have no impact on my BP.
Once you start treatment you are monitored annually. You will have kidney and liver function monitored and they will check for signs of type 2 diabetes.
Treatment is preventative to reduce the chance of stroke or heart attack. The British Heart Society is a good source of information. If you have any questions write them to take with you.
When you take your BP make sure you have been resting for at least 10mins.
Labile BP just means that it goes up at rest sometimes in response to just having it taken. It’s not supposed to do this.

Thanks so much Angrymum22, that’s all really helpful information. I’ll check out the British Heart Society too.

British Heart Foundation?

Nobody was wondering but I’ve managed to get my blood pressure down and consistently within the healthy range. I started with the DASH diet, but mostly just completely cut out any and all ultra processed foods. Dropped around 4kg too.