High blood pressure

[NooNooHead]

My DH is just doing some readings for high blood pressure as he's been having a few symptoms over the past few months. We had a trip to A&E last year and hd got checked out but was told it's high, but not critically high.

However, I've seen the various readings he's had over the last few days and one was 178/110! Other readings were averaging 155-168 so not as high.

I'm guessing this is stage 2 hypertension but I'm not a doctor so clearly need proper advice. I also took my blood pressure and it was 140/89 so now I'm worried about having high blood pressure too...!

Hopefully he will call the doctor tomorrow and ask their advice.

OP encourage your husband to have a read into the long term health implications of not managing sleep apnoea.
After the a&e trip he should have been seeing to his BP then.

The thing is, he has literally had a sleep apnoea for decades - apparently he had it when he was a teenager at home, very slim, so definitely not a weight factor there.

I think AFAIK the cuff is the right size. He had to buy the blood pressure machine for use at home as the waiting list on the NHS was ridiculous apparently. Plus, I remember the GP who saw him in September last year asked him to do the readings, but after a couple of days of chest pain, we called 111 and they sent us to.A&E. The consultant there discharged him back to the GP but there was no follow up to do the readings... (yes, crappy!)

Then I think after he had his medical assessment as part of one he has for work, only then did the doctor there say he needed to get his blood pressure sorted properly.

So all the to-ing and fro-ing seems to have been rather drawn out so far. Let's hope this next appointment gets better!

He’d already been asked to do the readings by the Gp, it’s not fair to blame anyone else that he didn’t follow up with it. Did he think the Blood Pressure cured itself with a trip to a&e?

No, of course not, I don't think that was what he thought. But it didn't seem a good continuity of care is the point I was making.

I do think people need to be pretty proactive with their health, definitely, but doctors should be able to say more urgently if it needs to be addressed ASAP.

But he was advised to do the readings? I don’t understand what you think should have been done?

There was confusion after the doctor told him to do the readings, as he was going to have a ECG at the surgery but was told to go straight to A&E there and then. I think we then thought the GP was going to be contacting us about the readings after we saw someone in A&E but didn't.

Plus as we had been given a (sort of) all clear from the A&E doctor and hadn't heard ftom the GP, it didn't seem as urgent.

Perhaps we should have been in touch sooner and not have waited.

Anyway, I think this is in some ways a good life wake up call as others have said. It will get us making some changes for the better.

I've had bp journey the last few weeks.
Had a uti, saw pharmist. She did bp and it was high. She said chances are it's due to uti but referred me to GP.
GP wanted recordings twice a day for a week. The average was 138(I think) over 93. She said top number was normal high, but bottom number was high so started me on ramipril lowest dose. It has come down.
I do feel much better since being on them. I was always tired and got a headache most days.
It's also given me a kick to move more and eat less.