Learn me blood pressure

So yeah... after years of secretly judging anyone who posts a medical question here (hey, what can I say--I'm like that), here I am asking a medical question. I do intend to follow up with my doc, etc., etc., but I know we have some docs on here, and you guys are smart, and... seriously, can I just ask it now?

I've had high blood pressure at my last few checkups, and it's steadily climbing into some impressive numbers. Last week's reading was 155/96. They've all been over 140/80 for at least a year.

Three times now the readings have been shrugged off as "lots of people have high bp at the doc's" after they review my healthy weight, regular exercise and chart full of normal readings and consider the current high as a one-off.

Here's why I don't share their lack of concern: They've all been different doctors, and this is all within the last 4-5 months. Thanks to modern medicine's continuing dysfunction, I have a primary care, a gynecologist, and an allergy guy. So no one has strung together a story.

Am I right to be concerned? Should I track this myself at the drugstore cuffs and then take the numbers to my primary care? Or should I just relax and eat more fried chicken?

Margie

The 155/96 does sound high unless you just engaged in some very strenuous activity. I've managed to keep mine fairly in control with exercise and keeping my weight near ideal. The chronic use of BP meds is not without some unpleasant consequences, but none are likely as bad as a heart attack.

Well, I did just drive there, and I view driving as a full-contact sport, but... nope. Just sitting there, in a chair, reading crap magazines for at least a half hour until they came and took my pressure.

Margie

I'm not a small guy, but I swear the discomfort of the cuff drives my pressure up 10 points just by itself.

I'm tiptoeing around the upper normal regions myself. I wouldn't trust the pharmacy chair to give consistent readings, necessarily. But I would try to get your GP's office to give you a weekly drop-in check for a month, and see what that tells you. I really don't want to go on maintenance meds for blood pressure if I can avoid it. Good luck!

Hi, I’m Mike and I’m 27. I’m in decent health, have been losing weight for the past 6 months, am reasonably active, and eat reasonably well. I’m also on the edge of Prehypertension and Hypertension.

It runs in my family. There is only 1/5 of my dad’s siblings (dad inclusive) who is not on BP medication. Grandpa was on it too. It is a serious concern. I have the cuff, and my wife takes my BP every week or so. I would start doing it just to get the baseline, then assess if you’re just a nervous person at the docs.

The following suggestions are not directed specifically at Margie. Don’t be offended by any of them. There are 3 things that you can “easily” do that can help.
First, lose weight. Weight goes up, BP goes up. Weight goes down, BP goes down.
Second, reduce sodium intake, and increase potassium intake.
Third, check your sleep. If you’re not getting good sleep, your BP will go up. Have you ever had a sleep study done?

You can do your own google search to figure out what high BP can lead to, I don’t need to tell you that. You probably know it anyways (although it is a TON of stuff). The important thing to remember is that it is cumulative. The longer that you live with high BP, the more damage that is being done that can’t be undone.

I’m trying to get down to 170. I’m at 200 now, but I don’t look overweight to anyone. I am.
I try to not put salt on anything. I’m pretty good at it. I also read all labels, and attempt to eat potassium rich foods—at least one a day (banana, potato (with skins), avocado, beans, leafy greens). Additionally, there is a lot of growing evidence that animal products are bad for everything in general. Ask Dr. Hess about this, I think he’s been a vegetarian for a long time because of it (although not directly because of BP). My wife and I are working that way.
And lastly, I need to get a sleep study done myself. In the meantime I wear a breathe right strip.

Was this in the morning or afternoon? How much caffeine had you had how recently? If I have caffeine within a couple hours of checking my blood pressure, it spikes up. I either see the doctor first thing in the morning before caffeine, or in the afternoon.

I have had high blood pressure issues (walked in one day at like 165/95). I got a blood pressure cuff to monitor at home and track myself on a daily basis for a while. I would test my blood pressure at home in the afternoon after giving myself 30 minutes to depressurize from the commute home. After the initial concern, I did my best to keep a daily log. As it's gotten down <140/90 and stabilized, I check less frequently.

Edit: Here is the blood pressure monitor I have. Nice to have this available whenever to get a sense of how stressed I am over something. Keeps a record history, which is great. Also fun to test before and after different activities and at different times of day to see what tends to cause or relieve stress.

High blood pressure runs in my family. Most of my life I have been in the 135/90 category. As life/apathy/weight have crept up on me in the past few years I steadily put on a lb a month. Now I am 30% overweight. My blood pressure shows it. My family doc put me on blood pressure meds and the last 3 check ups I have been 120/80 every time.

If you are concerned and notice a pattern and have a family history of high blood pressure, strokes or heart attacks, talk to your Dr about getting on blood pressure medication. Its worth it.

Also don't read the forums so much. That might help keep you calm.

That's why a lot of doc's will take BP twice. Some get anxiety that shows on the first one and usually lowers the second time. I have this malady. Had high BP for a while. Medicine wasn't really controlling it but did get it lower. Freaked a nurse out once when she was taking my BP. Was a bit high and she asked what some recent personal events were. Mentioned daughters wedding and some issues with that and a she stopped me mid-sentence and said relax & calm down, BP just skyrocketed to near stroke level. Later went through all kinds of tests for sleep apnea and kidney function. First ultrasound found some blockage around kidneys. They were talking splints. Also found that I was pre-diabetic so that took priority. Went on diabetic diet and started an exercise regiment. Had a lot of business travel, Lost 30 lbs, back down to the weight I retired from the army 20 years ago. Although arranged differently on my body now. Went back and had another ultrasound and couldn't find anything wrong with kidneys and BP is now under control. Textbook with the aid of some pills. That took a while to get balanced and find the right pills too. I have one of those inexpensive Walmart BP cuffs and used it regularly until BP under control, now check less often. Pre-diabetic is now diet and exercise controlled. Lots of factors can affect BP. Stress is the biggest but diet, condition and heredity also affect.

Thanks, lots of helpful suggestions. Tim and I have actually started working out and really watching what we eat, and I've lost 12+ pounds (like, almost 10% of my already "normal" body weight), so this has kind of caught me by surprise. He lost weight and is no longer pre-diabetic, I lose weight and my heart wants to explode--typical his/her experience :(

But sleep and caffeine have both been issues for me (to little of one, too much of the other) and I do love me some salt. I probably should do the sleep study, but I'm thinking the $50 monitor from CVS might be a good investment for now, if only because it might help me lose one worry.

Margie

Definitely follow up on it. Going to your gp and telling them what you told us should be able to give them a good picture of whether you should be concerned or not. It it is creeping up it would be better to correct it soon and find out if it's just from diet and lifestyle or an indicator of a more serious issue. The worst thing to do is ignore it. It may not take long to go from high blood pressure to a stroke.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Thanks, lots of helpful suggestions. Tim and I have actually started working out and really watching what we eat, and I've lost 12+ pounds (like, almost 10% of my already "normal" body weight), so this has kind of caught me by surprise. He lost weight and is no longer pre-diabetic, I lose weight and my heart wants to explode--typical his/her experience :( But sleep and caffeine have both been issues for me (to little of one, too much of the other) and I do love me some salt. I probably should do the sleep study, but I'm thinking the $50 monitor from CVS might be a good investment for now, if only because it might help me lose one worry. Margie

Start reigning in the salt for sure. Is that a Kentucky thing? All my relatives from Kentucky (and Northern Kentucky, AKA southern Indiana) just load the salt onto everything.

The amount of sodium in the average Americans diet is astounding. Start reading the labels and find out. Bread products in particular are loaded with the stuff.

(I'm bad too. Do as I say, not as I do. I had sushi today, which is about 2 days worth of sodium in one meal.)

My diastolic has been creeping up over the past few years. It appears to be almost entirely caffeine related. As we age, our bodies process chemical differently and caffeine is one of the worst. Cut out morning coffee and cut way back on sodas throughout the day and my BP is nearly where it was 20 years ago.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Thanks to modern medicine's continuing dysfunction, I have a primary care, a gynecologist, and an allergy guy.

Modern medicine is truly dysfunctional if it gave you allergies and a Bob Costas.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

Given my experience with the same thing, I wonder if it's a LONG line of specific women's things that doctors just refuse to put any real research in.

Same pattern, BTW, aging and it climbs. Worse yet, her mom has been on a LOT of meds about her BP. With HUGE side effects.

In reply to alfadriver:

Yeah, I had a horrific experience with my mom's treatment. She was literally in CHF before anyone addressed her, you know, blue lips and chronic hypertension. Docs are perfectly happy to watch women stagger out of their offices and die, it seems.

Margie

I would invest some of the corporate lucre in a blood pressure cuff for the house. Use it enough times that you get bored with it. At that point it should be giving you a realistic reading.

As someone who interacts with way too many cardiologist as part of my job, I can tell you that their universal advice seems to be "If it taste good, spit it out"

First off, you need to know if you are having some BP issues or not. Get something like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/Omron-Pressure-Monitor-Standard-BP710N/dp/B00KPQB2KG

Take your pressure a couple times a day at the same time each day, like when you get up in the morning (before the caffeine,) in the evening, etc. for a week or so, WRITE IT DOWN IN A LOG, then bring the log in to your PCP and discuss it with him/her.

140/80 is not too worrisome in a post-menopausal woman, but it is starting to get to "maybe we should be paying closer attention to this" in the systolic pressure. If the diastolic stays at 96-ish, yeah, you're gonna need to address that.

The Omron is one of the highest rated home BP monitors on the market.

And keep in mind BP is like a car build, 10 minute job when looking at the pictures and finishing it in your head; real life takes longer!

86 the salt. All of it, not just the shakers.

Dan

I hear you guys on the salt, and I know enough about nutrition to know I eat too much of it. And how to cut it way down while still enjoying tasty food. I just give in to my cravings too easily--would way rather have salt than sugar. MTN nailed it--it's a Kentucky thing.

Salt, coffee, and a lack of exercise are the biggest drivers of my BP. A couple of salty meals, a couple of cups of coffee and a day in the office, is a bad combination for me.

The worst mine has ever been is 169/100 and at those levels, my head feels like it's going to explode and I can't catch my breath. I'm surprised your doctors aren't more concerned.

I take BP meds now, that do a fairly good job of regulating it. I can tell when I forget to take them.

If you go that route, know that there is a good chance they will overdose you. They did me, and mine dropped to a low of 110/59. I damn near passed out, thought I was having a heart attack and ended up in the ER.

I still don't exercise enough and I still eat to much salt. As far as the coffee, I'd rather die than skip it.

Buy a good BP machine and keep track of it. Mine is a Omron. I record mine at least once a week and take that for the doctor to see.

A stroke sucks, and high pressure can blow a hose. We wouldn't want that to happen.

When I had my "spell" last year no one seemed at all concerned that my BP was 155/105 and stayed there the entire four hour emergency room stay. It was much higher when I first went to the Urgent Care. I had never seen it below 150/95. A couple weeks later my primary care doc finally agreed that it wasn't just a fluke thing after I logged my readings at home during those weeks. He put me on a BP medicine and it's been hovering around 110/76 every time I've checked it since then.

I'm not overweight, in fact he questioned me on why I lost 8lbs since my last appointment. But I have a lot of heart issues in my family history. It's what eventually got Dad and Mom has had a couple surgeries. I'm thinking mine is genetic and probably lack of sleep.

I'm a doctor (not really, but my screen name says I am). My prognoses is blood pressure is like boost pressure. More is better.

DrBoost wrote: I'm a doctor (not really, but my screen name says I am). My prognoses is blood pressure is like boost pressure. More is better.

Just need forged internals in the heart...

Omron doodad is good. Wake up, go do your early morning ritual, sit quietly for a few minutes, then take your BP.

I've had muscle aches ever since I went on the BP medication a coup[le of years ago, and there are days when I think I'd rather have the big stroke than just ache all day... I should ask for a different pill, I suppose.