Blood Pressure

[harllee]

Have you read the effects of hypertension? One of the two WILL kill me! The other might make me dizzy.

So you are saying that BP of 140/80 and no heart disease or other factors is going to kill me? Being dizzy might kill me if I fall and fracture my skull.

 

[MRG]

So you are saying that BP of 140/80 and no heart disease or other factors is going to kill me? Being dizzy might kill me if I fall and fracture my skull.

I don't know. I'm not a doctor. However I do know of people(family) who blew their kidneys out due to untreated hypertension.

I will tell you when my BP was at 140+ I felt like death. Perhaps you and I are different?

When you ask random people on the internet for health advice you're going to get different views. Take what you want and leave the rest. Good luck.

 

[Free bird]

Side effects for not controling high bp are kidney issues & strokes.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

That varies by individual.

You say you're at a "good" weight, but maybe (like most of us) you'd like it to be a little lower? That's one.

A little more fiber in your diet wouldn't hurt anyone.

A good night's sleep is very helpful.

A little less sodium (salt) and a little more potassium can help.

Spending some time with animals regularly seems to help a lot of people.

I have no idea what would work for you or anyone else, but I do believe (as Nemo2 pointed out) that there is no "one size fits all" solution, and that what is high for one person may not be high for someone else. YMMV?

I'd add flaxseed to this helpful list. Reportedly, it has many benefits including lowering BP, and was recommended to me by a nutritional nurse working with Aetna (as part of our health benefits). You do need to grind up the seed into a powder, else it doesn't get absorbed into your system. I just use our coffee grinder. It's easy to add a couple tablespoons to oatmeal, or into homemade nutritional shakes, etc.

Suggest the OP google on the benefits of flaxseed for more info.

 

[Elbata]

My question is always "what is the end goal?" Is it to enjoy your life? Or is it to meet some often arbitrary and changing numbers that doctors are given as a guideline by an organization repeatedly shown to be financially influenced? Knowing what we know about side effects and other complications, I doubt (in your situation) that I would take these meds unless there were other indications of a problem. Get your identity theft issue resolved, keep measuring BP at home, and continue your happy and healthy lifestyle. You're already 66, it's not like taking the meds will extend your life by 20 years or anything. Quality of life (IMO) counts more than quantity of life.

One suggestion would be to take your BP machine to the doctor's office next time. Use it right before or after the nurse takes your BP, just to see how the numbers compare. You want to be comparing apples to apples. Also, if you have a family history of CVD that might influence your decision too.

Agree. Recommend ""googling" "J Curve mortality, hypertension"".

 

[LuckyDog]

Side effects for not controling high bp are kidney issues & strokes.

Not to mention heart disease. Taking BP medicine IS a quality of life matter.

 

[nwsteve]

Maybe others have had more success having the medical community follow the
AHA protocol for proper measuring of BP than I, but my experience is the doc and nurses violate some or all the guidelines. I can not recall any of them waiting for you to have 5 minutes of quite time--(hey that is a third of your allotted time). Rarely do they take two or more readings and often do not make sure your elbow is heart level. Common to have them take while you are sitting on the exam table with feet freely swinging.
See http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@hcm/documents/downloadable/ucm_445846.pdf for the "correct" way for blood pressure to be taken. Your 140 could just be poor measurement practices. A great reason to take your own at home by the rules.

 

[braumeister]

Maybe others have had more success having the medical community follow the AHA protocol for proper measuring of BP than I, but my experience is the doc and nurses violate some or all the guidelines.

I completely agree.
I've mentioned this to physicians occasionally, and two of them have shaken their heads and said "I know, but that's the way people learned, and nothing I can say will make them change."

My current doc is great about it, and always takes my BP himself, near the end of the session after we have been chatting for a while. It's always lower than any other measurements I've had elsewhere.

 

[gerntz]

I'd get past the identity theft situation and see how it looks then. Like Nemo, I run a lot and it's still gets up in that range. My doc thinks I should stay off them unless it starts getting worse.

I don't read where the added stress increased her BP.

 

[harley]

Not to mention heart disease. Taking BP medicine IS a quality of life matter.

IF you have high BP and can't control it with other means. The OP appears to be in the normal range for her age, and as far as I've read doesn't have any predisposition toward BP related diseases. Going on almost any prescription med has a risk, and shouldn't be done without question. I'm not saying don't take the prescription (since I don't know the OP or her whole situation), I'm just saying she should educate herself and make her decision based on her best interest.

 

[harllee]

OP here. I am just trying to educate myself on high blood pressure issues. I have always had around 140/80 and the doctors have always said this is fine since I have no other health problems and no risk factors. Then suddenly this year because of a new study my BP is too high. Then I researched the new study and there seems to be controversy on it. So I am just trying to educate myself. I have found doctors don't know everything and sometimes you need to educate yourself and be your own advocate.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am going to give several of them a try before I start on the BP medicine

 

[RunningBum]

I don't read where the added stress increased her BP.

I guess I assumed it did, but I'm reading that no link has been found, though there still are studies. And you're right, the OP just confirmed that her BP is no higher now than before the identity theft.

This is good proof that asking random strangers for medical advice isn't a good idea, as some (like me) will throw out info that has no basis. It's also easy to latch onto that info if it supports what you want, so be careful of that.

I think researching and trying the ideas people have given to reduce BP is worthwhile. Beyond that you should probably stick to your own doctor's advice. Get a second opinion if you want.

If your BP at their office doesn't match what you get at home (and you should be taking it at home, an Omron cuff is pretty accurate and inexpensive), calibrate yours with theirs. If they match, insist that they follow good procedures to get an accurate reading, or insist that your doctor use your measurements as the basis for BP meds or not.

 

[harllee]

OP here, I do take my BP at home. It is always higher at the doctor's office. I have never sat calmly for 5 minutes at the doctor's office like I do at home. At the doctor's you rush in, sit down and get the BP taken (only 1 time).

Interesting that stress may not affect BP. I have definitely been under stress from identity theft and i think it is a good idea to meditate and get my stress level down, even if has no affect on BP. As an experiment i will work on lowering stress for a while and report back here if that had any affect.

 

[audreyh1]

Maybe others have had more success having the medical community follow the
AHA protocol for proper measuring of BP than I, but my experience is the doc and nurses violate some or all the guidelines. I can not recall any of them waiting for you to have 5 minutes of quite time--(hey that is a third of your allotted time). Rarely do they take two or more readings and often do not make sure your elbow is heart level. Common to have them take while you are sitting on the exam table with feet freely swinging.
See http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@hcm/documents/downloadable/ucm_445846.pdf for the "correct" way for blood pressure to be taken. Your 140 could just be poor measurement practices. A great reason to take your own at home by the rules.

Yep. The only way to handle this is self monitoring at home where you use the recommended protocol.

 

[audreyh1]

OP here, I do take my BP at home. It is always higher at the doctor's office. I have never sat calmly for 5 minutes at the doctor's office like I do at home. At the doctor's you rush in, sit down and get the BP taken (only 1 time).

Interesting that stress may not affect BP. I have definitely been under stress from identity theft and i think it is a good idea to meditate and get my stress level down, even if has no affect on BP. As an experiment i will work on lowering stress for a while and report back here if that had any affect.

Take a log of your home readings to the doctors office. You might be proactive and take your monitor in case they end up asking to compare it.

Date time and readings should be on your log as time of day can be important.

Who said stress does not affect BP? It certainly does for me. If my heart rate goes up (and I can feel it sometimes when I’m at the doctors office) due to stress/anxiety, my BP measurement will certainly be higher.

 

[RunningBum]

Who said stress does not affect BP? It certainly does for me. If my heart rate goes up (and I can feel it sometimes when I’m at the doctors office) due to stress/anxiety, my BP will certainly be higher.

I always thought it did. When gerntz questioned me on it, I googled it and the medical sites I checked said it hasn't been proven. Mayo Clinic does talk about short term stress related spikes. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...h/stress-and-high-blood-pressure/art-20044190

The OP did say that her BP had not risen with the new stressful situation, just that the treatment guidelines had put her in a different category.

 

[audreyh1]

I always thought it did. When gerntz questioned me on it, I googled it and the medical sites I checked said it hasn't been proven. Mayo Clinic does talk about short term stress related spikes. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...h/stress-and-high-blood-pressure/art-20044190

The OP did say that her BP had not risen with the new stressful situation, just that the treatment guidelines had put her in a different category.

Oh, I thought she thought her stress had gone up.

It’s amazing how sometimes my heart starts beating faster when I follow that nurse after just being called at the doctors office. It happens more if I’m anxious about a test result. Or about to get a colonoscopy! Then I’ll know my BP has gone up.

That rarely happens at home - the heart pounding events unless I’m seriously working out.

Now my BP is routinely well under 110 measured at home (yet measures more like 120 to 125 at the doctors office, sometimes higher). When it was a bit higher at home, Yoga would help.

 

[Lsbcal]

I am a 66 year old female, in very good health, eat well, exercise, not overweight, etc. I come from a long lived family, my mother is in her late 80s and doing great. At home my blood pressure runs around 140/80. In the doctor's office my BP runs a little higher. I currently take no prescription drugs for anything. I am retired and live a pretty low stress life except for the last 3 months I have been trying to resolve an identity stress issue (Social Security identity theft) and that has been stressful (hopefully the identity theft issue is in the process of being resolved soon).

My doctor recommends that I go on BP medicine. Evidently there is a new study that says if your BP is over 130 you have high BP. I have researched this online and see conflicting advice. There was a thread about this new study a few months ago on this Forum but it quickly went off topic and reading it did not give me much helpful info. I would rather not take BP medicine unless I really need it.

Any thoughts? Have any of you gone on BP medicine because of this new study?

First I would make sure I was taking my BP measurements properly. You can easily look up the proper techniques. Make sure your instrument is calibrated at the Doc's office.

I've found that for me too much coffee (more then 12 ounces) and some black tea's cause an elevated BP for some hours.

I think you should work with your Doc to check this out. You might want to check out other risk factors that can be analyzed with more heart/artery related tests that your Doc can recommend.

Personally I had about the same BP as you did. Went on a low dose BP med and it came down into the good range immediately. I avoid supplements other then a multivitamin from a reputable source.

 

[MRG]

First I would make sure I was taking my BP measurements properly.

You can easily look up the proper techniques. Make sure your instrument is calibrated at the Doc's office.

I can't give enough importance to your text!

I was doing it wrong, quickly repeating readings in the same arm, it skewed the results. I was ignorant of the proper procedure. My BP looked very nice in the second reading, the first one indicated hypertension.

 

[Elbata]

I can't give enough importance to your text!

I was doing it wrong, quickly repeating readings in the same arm, it skewed the results. I was ignorant of the proper procedure. My BP looked very nice in the second reading, the first one indicated hypertension.

Is taking a second repeated reading not SOP? I do that and yes, it's lower. Is that wrong?

 

[youbet]

I am a 66 year old female, in very good health.................. At home my blood pressure runs around 140/80. In the doctor's office my BP runs a little higher.

This is a bit of an oxymoron. I would say you're in good health except for the fact that your BP runs a bit high.

If you don't want to be on some common, low dose meds to take it down a few points, research lifestyle changes (many good ones already mentioned in this thread) and give yourself a few months to improve things. If you're still borderline high, get a second opinion from a cardiologist.

 

[MRG]

Is taking a second repeated reading not SOP? I do that and yes, it's lower. Is that wrong?

I was told I was doing it too frequently. I'd only wait a few seconds and repeat the reading without doing anything else.

My second readings were lower too. Enough to invalidate them, according to my doc. When I asked, she suggested the second reading be done from my other arm.

I have had a balance therapist do it rapidly, but he was listening to specific things as he took it and had me stand up and down.


https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...n-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20047889?pg=2

Take a repeat reading.*Wait for one to three minutes after the first reading, and then take another to check accuracy. If your monitor doesn't automatically log blood pressure readings or heart rates, write them down.

 

[Lsbcal]

Is taking a second repeated reading not SOP? I do that and yes, it's lower. Is that wrong?

The Omron device I have takes 3 readings. I think there is a 3 minute (or is it two?) time between each and then it averages the 3. When I look at the 3 readings individually they are pretty close.

 

[Lsbcal]

Another point is to take readings at various times in the day over some longer periods (weeks, months). The Doc said not to do it at just one time of the day.

 

[Winemaker]

In the long run, we are all dead. Do what you think is right for you.