Blood pressure.... talk me down

[Justwingingit2005]

Hey

I ended up at A and E over something, they took my bp it was 149/90 she advised I follow up with GP.
Went to GP and it was 151/95, she told me to monitor at home so it's been between 135/85 and 142/90. I've finished recording ad just submitted my readings tonight.
Of course I've gone down a rabbit hole on the Internet and I'm so worried about strokes and heart attacks and I swear since all this I can feel my heart beating. It's gonna make my BP worse. I'm 44. My dad has had high BP medicated since he was 50.

Awww sounds like you have white coat syndrome OP, so do I. Mine has been 190/100 in hospital settings. It definitely sounds like you're getting anxious aswell hearing your heartbeat are palpitations. To me that blood pressure reading isn't ridiculously high. Worst case scenario you would need to take blood pressure medication but am sure you can lower it other ways. I always take 3 readings xx

Try looking at a nice picture of something relaxing, playing relaxing music, and doing really slow breathing with long outbreaths for a few minutes. Then do another reading. Make sure your arm is resting on a table so it's level, etc.

I was about the same as you OP and equally worried. I've been on amlodipine for a few years now and my BP is stable in the high-normal range (135/84). It's very common and there are lots of people living with higher BPs so try not to get too anxious about it. It did make me look at my lifestyle though.

I think you're having a bit of a panic attack. BP readings are always higher when you're under stress. 135/85 is high normal.
Your GP will check your measurements and probably prescribe you a statin or a beta blocker or other medication to lower your blood pressure.

You certainly won't be at risk of anything happening before you get the prescription.

You can also do other things to lower blood pressure. Stop smoking if you do smoke. Follow a low white carb diet and reduce your sugar intake. Sugar is in fruit juice and cereal, bread and pasta, potatoes and rice - things you might consider "healthy". Have omelette or eggs for breakfast, eat live yoghurt, eat whole fruit not juice because the fibre is good for you.

You are young yet and have the opportunity to turn this around.

And remember to take the medication!

Get yourself a bp machine off Amazon, take 3 readings a day and record it over a 7 day period. Sit, feet on the floor, do not cross legs. If you are feeling anxious, it's likely to be raised. Lots of people record high bp when in a GP practice.

If you are overweight, you may want to drop a few pounds.

In the meantime, take your readings to your GP practice and get them to give you meds to reduce your BP and try not to worry. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Losing weight is crucial. My DH dieted himself out of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. He takes statins and we eat really well. If weight is an issue, try not eating from 7.30pm-7.30am - no snacks! It helps the body digest food properly.

It might be a good idea to look at how much salt is in your diet too. High blood pressure often runs in families, but sometimes it is because the whole family is in the habit of eating a whole lot of salt.

If you are eating more than about 6g salt a day then you can cut back a bit and that might just solve the problem.

But you also might just be really anxious and that is also a completely solvable problem.

Take care there, and try to be a bit chill about it. The medical care for people with high blood pressure is very very good these days.

FWIW I am normal weight, have never smoked, don't drink much, spend several sessions a week in the gym, eat a good diet and still have to take meds for high BP.
It's in my family: grandparents died of strokes and heart attacks.
My brother, who is overweight and generally less healthy, is on exactly the same drugs at the same dose as I am.
Just be grateful that modern medicine can sort this for you, if necessary, although it may take time to find the right combination of meds/dose to suit you.
Wishing you well!

Are you menopausal? If so that could also be connected!

Another option is the 24 hr tape, which whilst annoying is a great way of getting your highest and lowest blood pressure across a day.

Your systolic (top number) is a little higher than normal, snd represents the pressure in your arteries when your heart contracts. Your diastolic (bottom number) is slightly raises but really within the bounds of normal, which means that when your heart is at rest your blood pressure does drop to within normal bounds.

There are many medications out there to treat, but as said above lifestyle changes may have some effect at those numbers.

if it helps, I see patients who come in with 150-160 quite a lot and my first question is “are you diagnosed with hypertension or taking blood pressure medication?” Not “are you having a stroke?” - that normally comes around the 180!!

How's your weight? My BP was very high. I've lost weight and it is back in normal range.

I am overweight by 2 to 3 stone. Recently got a dog so lost 9lbs walking so far and I menopause.
I think it's shook me to look at my lifestyle, stress and diet!

I could have written this aged 44 (I am 57 now). I went in for a regular BUPA check and it was 150/100. Was told to get a monitor (which I did same afternoon) and by 9pm I was in A & E with blood pressure of 230/150, and they were concerned I was having a stroke. All grandparents dead aged 50-70 (BP related) and parents with raised BP. I felt absolutely fine. I was put on Amlodipine, Ramipril and Bendroflumiziade instantly, and over time investigated thoroughly and have been through many different hypertension drugs (I am now on 4, Doxasozin, Indapamide, Bisoporol and Losartan) and I have "unexplained blood pressure" which can range from really high to really low 90/50. Main issues that cause it: weight, salt (this absolutely batters your BP), stress, genetics, alcohol and smoking, exercise, and finally, not taking tablets for it if you have got it. After saying all of that, you are not instantly going to have a stroke or heart attack (i hope!), so please don't frighten yourself - but you do need to do something over the coming weeks. First of all, make an appointment for the docs - then get a monitor, take recordings 3 times a day (when you first get up, lunchtime and evening before bed) and write them down (take a couple of readings per time, although they might not vary much). When you go to the docs, take it with you (so you and they can calibrate your machine) and your records. If it is higher than they like, they will put you on a 24 hour monitor, and then take things from there. If you are overweight, just 5lbs off can lower it, more weight loss can put some people in the zone that you don't need to take tablets (but weight isn't always the thing). From all my dealings with medical people, salt was just a NO. They told me not to even have lo-salt because your palate does not change (i.e. you still crave salty things). Finally, worrying about it won't help (but sort of will, because it will spur you on to act on it), I know that is easy to say, but you have got this in your eyesight now, and just need to take practical steps to improve things. Hope you will be OK, do PM me if you want a bit of a handhold xxx

Sorry, can I just add, if you or anyone else watching this thread has hypertension (and particularly, has been medicated for it, and it is on their medical records), then please don't forget to mention when buying travel insurance. Or if you have it through your bank etc. because they could become very slippery indeed if you end up in hospital abroad with a related issue. When I declared it to my bank package, they were fine with it, no extra payment, I think there is a small premium for some off the shelf insurance, but well worth it for not finding your insurance invalid. Hope this helps xx

Well done. It was the same for me. It kind of creeps up on you, then peri/menopause hits and everything goes haywire. It makes you realise you are no longer a spring chicken!!

Had similar experience. Got similarly freaked out. Had always thought it was just White Coat Syndrome. Bought a BP machine. Did my first few readings and they were also super high. But then I reread the instructions and watched a few videos online about how to get a good reading, and readjusted the cuff, my arm position, and also did some slow breathing, as I suggested in my pp.

My BP turns out to be super good! So much lower than it has ever been at the GPs or elsewhere I have had to have it monitored, and in fact at the ideal end of normal.

It was still a good scare to focus the mind and re-activate some health habits.

I've been going through the same thing OP, and I am so sick of having to record my readings. It was sky high when the nurse originally took it, but I had just had my second shingles vaccination and that was the cause. I'm seeing the GP again at the end of January, so will have to continue until then. I was quite stressed about it, but I'm taking medication and keep telling myself it's better to take medication than live with the alternative. I have always got ridiculously nervous when someone takes it, and even when I take it myself. My late DM was on medication for years, and she was fine - she died of something completely unrelated at age 88.

i was told 175 over 115 was the point of concern

135/85 (or lower) is what my GP is happy with when BP is taken at home

Lose weight, if you think you need to

Try to get puffed out exercising once a day for 30 mins

Up your water intake

Cut out alcohol and smoking

Try olive leaf extract tablets, if you'd like to