Blood Pressure

[Mark801]

Hi all,

So I went to an urgent care facility today because I had to get a particular type of physical for a new job.

Now I just had a yearly routine physical a few months ago by my GP and all was well with my blood and a routine ekg and I took my blood pressure and it was 122/83. Now I am very obsessed with taking my blood pressure and pulse, especially lately due to recent stresses in my life. Normally at home when I am not anxious it ranges from 110-125/62-77. For example, my most recent home reading two nights ago was 126/66.

I notice when I am a little anxious it can average around 130-145/80-90. I was told by my PE who is also a cardiologist that you're supposed to sit in a chair for at least 5 minutes and relax before a measurement is considered to be accurate. He always tells me that never to take it by walking and sitting because that reading wont be considered accurate. He actually told me that I shouldnt take it because I dont have high blood pressure to be honest. But I used to have really bad anxiety and panic during my college years and blood pressure measuring was one of my go to's.

I walked in today and the nurse sat me down and she took it right away and it was 136/86 and my pulse was 99. The doctor came in shortly after to go over other things and he just told me that everything is fine. I asked about my reading and he said its normal and just walked away.

Please guys I am freaking out as I find it to be a higher than normal reading as typically at my PE office its always in the 120/80 range. What do you guys think??? I am a 29 year old male, dont smoke or do drugs, pretty active and work out 3-4 times a week and I eat healthy for the most part as I only weigh 160lbs with a height of 5'9. I do drink occasionally but thats usually just a glass of red wine or fruit cocktail.

[bin tenn]

I think it's time to step back and look at the big picture, and realize that blood pressure fluctuates. Not only that, but anxiety (even about having BP checked) can temporarily increase it. When I have a severe panic attack, mine can run upwards of 150/100 at the peak. It's nothing to worry about!

Understand that the professionals are not concerned. Understand that it fluctuates, and that's perfectly normal/acceptable. 136/86 is *borderline* high. A BP isn't clinically significant unless systolic pressure is 180+ OR diastolic pressure is 110+. And even then, it depends on the circumstances. While exercising, for example, your numbers may run about there. When I had my stress test a couple years ago, it peaked around 170/110, I think. It was NORMAL.

Trust your provider(s), not anxiety. You have great blood pressure, be thankful for that.

[Mark801]

Thank you very much for your response. I cant help it as its always been a huge anxiety of mine.

[ankietyjoe]

I cant help it as its always been a huge anxiety of mine.

Yes you can help it.

First step, stop taking your pulse and blood pressure all the time. Doctors orders....

[MyNameIsTerry]

That's because doctors and nurses are trained to interpret test results and adjust for things whereas we often just see the result and what it "could" mean.

Isolated BP tests can be meaningless if they can attribute a reason for them e.g. White Coat Syndrome. Many patients have higher than normal BP readings simply because they are nervous about being at a surgery in the first place. This is why Hypertension meds were found to be prescribed far too much due to poor testing and why they now perform a 24hr ambulatory monitoring test to see how your BP performs over the day.

Checking BP is one of the most common things a doctor does. They know it inside out.

To add on to what your doctor said about testing I was told things like avoid exertion before test (at least 20-30 mins, because I walk to the surgery so they needed to know that when testing mine), don't sit cross foot/legged, rest the arm on the table, breathe normally (breathing can be used to reduce BP if it's a bit high, my nurses have done this in my testing), sit with feet out normally and not tucked, etc.

These are all things you may not read in a BP testing kit you buy but are things they are trained to ensure they do. How many more things are there that we don't know? And that's why they should be left to test unless they tell us otherwise.

[ErinKC]

In addition to likely being anxiety related, my blood pressure is always high at the urgent care near me. My normal blood pressure is usually around 110-116 (I don't know the other number off hand) when I'm at the doctor. But without fail every time I've ever been to the urgent care near me it's in the high 120s. There are so many factors at work.