Blood pressure, I know I know

[Jaco45er]

Not been feeling too hot recently with the ole anxiety, nothing heavy but just that creeping up feeling you get when you think you just about have it conquered.

Anyway, my guaranteed cure for anxiety is exercise, so I got back in the gym yesterday after a lay off of 8 weeks (was climbing the walls a bit before I went, but I bit the bullet anyway and went).

I still felt rough all last night, and in true muppet fasion I took my BP before bed, and seen a "not so calming" 178/111.

Now normally I am running around a slightly high (but nothing to worry about) 144/89, but all night I couldn't get the bottom figure down.

My eventual BP before I finally convinced myself I was a plonker, and get to bed was 144/100, and first thing this morning was 137/92.

I sound obsessed with blood pressure ;) but my question is has anyone ever had the bottom figure rise high for no reason? or was there a reason?

I know you shouldn't be alarmed by one bad reading but it did scare the hell out of me a bit.

Jaco

[Emira7]

Oh Jaco

I know nothing about blood pressure but I just wanted to give you a big cuddle! :hugs:

Oh and I would like to tell you off, you should not be checking your blood pressure like that.

Well done for going to the gym

Big cuddles to you
xxxx:bighug1:

[Andyroo]

Hey there!

My brother has high blood pressure he is struggling with it at the moment he's only 22 .... his was caused by energy drinks those things arent to healthy for you!...

He dosent get hot or flush when his blood pressure gets high.. he just simply cant get up out of bed and feels like he has to faint.

I used to think i had high blood pressure because i would take mine... this is back when i started having panic attacks.. everytime i took my blood pressure it was abit high

Finally i saw a doctor... he told me it was because i was obsessing and panicing about it... :whistles:

So i just stopped checking and i stopped worrying about it after awhile and i didnt feel so crappy all the time... your just anxious :)... its all good try not to worry to much! :hugs::hugs::hugs:

Ps.

I have several members in my family with high blood pressure so if you need someone to talk about it with pm me no worries :noangel:

[diane07]

Jaco,

I can almost guarantee you that if i worry that my blood pressure is going to be high, it will be, the only way to take your blood pressure and get a correct reading is by taking it the same time every day, this is the information i got from my doctor, i had to have my own bp machine as i have white coat syndrome, and once i took it the same time everyday and saw the normal readings over the course of a month, i stopped fretting over it.

I haven't even taken the machine out the cupboard for months now.

hope this helps, if you are worried about it, go see the doc from some reassurance.

di xx

[honeybee3939]

Hi Jaco

I have the same problem as you and convinced its anxiety ( i have had it done at the gps too and its up and down like a yoyo!) I have taken readings at home and the bottom number as been over 100 many times 119 been my worst. (then 10 mins later it can be normal, wiered)
Is there any factors that could make it higher e.g have you eaten, had a bath had any alochol before your reading is taken as these factors make mine higher? Mine always seems to be higher if i do it in the evening too.

Anyway, i started to do it an hour after i have got out bed i lie on the bed and take deep breaths and count slowly in my head while im taking it to relax me. When i do this my readings seem fine. I seem to get all panicky when taking my bp as i always think im gonna have a high reading not sure if this is a factor with you. Anyway, try the breathing, counting, lieing down method and see if it works. I havent taken my Bp for over a month now because i was getting obbsessed with it.

I explained to my gp about my reading and anxiety and while there he took 3 readings the first been high and the 3rd been average so he said its anxiety also becuase it was dropping so quickly.

Hope that helps mate
:hugs:
Andrea
xxx

[Carys]

has anyone ever had the bottom figure rise high for no reason?


You know those home BP monitors aren't that reliable. The reading you get can be grossly inaccurate, even if you think you are following the directions correctly. I bought a wrist monitor a few years ago, out of curiosity really as I'd not had my BP taken for many years. Well, I took a number of readings and they were crazily different, ranging from astoundingly low to blood boiling high. So, I haven't trusted the thing since then. I wonder if yours is accurate or could be giving false readings ? Even if your arm position is slightly wrong, of the strap is too tight/loose you can get some very odd readings ?

I would suggest you get your BP taken my a medical professional to be honest. Just pop in to the surgery and the practice nurse can do it for you quickly.

[Maj]

I would get rid of the bp monitor. It is only winding you up and making you feel bad. I know what it's like feeling compelled to find out the worst - but honestly, it is making you even more anxious. Just go to the gym and enjoy your exercise. It's great for lowering blood pressure. If you want to keep on top of your bp reading then you can arrange appointments with the nurse at your gp surgery and keep on top of it. Well done with the exercise though!
Myra:hugs:

[Cat80]

My sister who is 28 is currently having tests for high blood pressure. Her's goes high for no reason, one of her latest results was something over 140 so very high. Her Dr is doing urine tests, blood tests, ultrasound and chest xray to see if there is any real reason for her high blood pressure.

She doesn't feel ill, keeps fit (she's getting ready for a charity trek to Peru in May) etc but for some reason her blood pressure won't settle either. She doesn't have anxiety either like myself and my blood pressure is normal.

See what your blood pressure is like when you don't go to the gym and see if that makes a difference. If it does then maybe you are doing too much at the gym, I know my sisters machines keep beeping saying heart rate etc to high and to slow down.

[Alabasterlyn]

Well here is my two cents worth for you Jaco. Firstly I would make sure that the BP monitor you are using is reading correctly. I know in the past you had a problem with the cuff being the wrong size. They should be calibrated about once a year, depending on how often you use them. It might be an idea to go to your GP, get your BP tested there and take your own monitor with you and compare the two results.

I too get times when I randomly take my BP and the reading isn't what I thought it would be, so I keep on taking it and taking it and the stress just makes the reading go higher.

Glad to hear you are going back to the gym :hugs:

[LisaLisa]

Yes absolutely!! Its caused by panic and anxiety. Thats a fact.

If i were you i would give the blood pressure monitor away to someone until you are able to use it responsibly lol! Seriously, you behaviour with the monitor is very obsessive and sounds identical to the way feel my lymph nodes. When i get obsessive I feel like i cant stop and I almost get excited before i sit and feel them!!! Odd i know. Its like...this time I am going to find or feel something that will make all this anxiety go and explain everything....... but i dont of course and it doesnt !!

It actually just keeps the HA in the forefront of my attention and the more i allow it to go on and dont tell my obsessive childish part of me off... I actually end up very anxious and quite depressed!!

GET RID OF THE MONITOR AND DO REAL LIFE STUFF WITH THAT TIME INSTEAD sweetie!!!!

Lisa
xxxxx

[Alabasterlyn]

Ask Julie to confiscate it for awhile Jaco :hugs:

[ladybird64]

I'm not even going to nag about the BP monitor you muppet. :winks:

I don't have HA but do have high blood pressure and am on medication for it (don't always take it though:blush:).

I have seen me going to the docs for routine stuff but when i'm feeling really stressed, I'm agoraphobic and am usually in bits when I get there.
So common sense dictates that my BP should be significantly raised by all the anxiety?
Err..no. I felt like a quaking mess, heart pounding, sweaty and horrible and my BP was well in the realms of normal.
I have attended there on other occasions when things have b een going well, I'm not panicky or unduly anxious and the damned BP is going thnrough the roof. Go figure. :lac:

I would chalk it up to one of those mysterious but harmless things that our bodies like to spring on us from time to time, get your butt back to the gym and throw aforesaid monitor in the bin.

Good luck :D

[looking4answers]

You sound exactly like me a few months ago..Your blood pressure goes up and down and its what your body is designed to do just like your heart beat. I am so secure with my blood pressure maybe running a little higher and my pulse rate running higher over the years I went back down to my old dose of blood pressure med that I have been taking for many years. The new higher dose made me tired and exhausted.. Maybe some of us run higher blood pressure than others. I read a story about a guy that had four restaurants and had been divorced and had many many problems.. he went to the dr and they told him his pressure was sky high. He just shrugged it off.He worked 18 hour days and had massive problems.. This dr that told him that was starting a new program to monitor people or men at certain ages to see how well they did without meds and some with meds over a five year time.One doc said to this doc the guy that had been told would be an excellent candidate. The doc that told the man he had bad pressure told the other doc not to even bother that in five years the guy would be dead.Well six years later the guy came back in and still had high blood pressure but was doing well. He shocked the doctor by telling him he had bought even another restaurant making five in total still working 18 hour days and had married a woman half his age. He had lost weight and physically was in great shape just had high blood pressure. The doc was shocked and never made another guess at saying that a person would die with high blood pressure. Everytime I worry about blood pressure I think of this story. Many of us have always had high pressure and have done just fine without some quack telling us we were going to die..Every person is not the same.. .They make meds for the general public and they give advise and diagnostics about people for the general public but there are always always exceptions because as much as people believe we are all the same ..we are not.. So hope you found this comforting.. Michael