Hypertension - sometimes normal reading sometimes high reading

[Dazza]

Freaking out again...after a long period of being ok..

Yesterday I was in a coffee shop with friends, then suddenly came over dizzy... tried to rest but still felt the same, then my right leg went a bit numb / strange feelings. Felt off balance.

I tried to ignore it, but then ended up going to see doctor. He checked my blood pressure which was 140/85. He said I had hypertension. I told Him I was worried about stroke as my leg felt strange, so we did a CT scan, which was normal. The doc then said that he though that I was getting dizziness in head and strange feeling in leg due to not enough blood getting there.. he tried to give me a tonnne of pills, but i said i don't want them.. i want to get my BP down normally (less salt, more water / fruit / veg / exercise).

Often when my BP is checked, it's normal, and sometimes it's hypertensive. My question is.... I know BP can go up and down.. so if my tests are often normal and sometimes hypertensive, does that mean I actually have hypertension or the beginnings of it? I'm worried as it runs in my family and has cause heart attacks. My biggest fear!!

[ewood79]

G'day mate.... Your blood pressure is fine..... 140/80 is in the normal range of the higher en of the scale....

Anxiety causes BP to rise and fall so much.....mine is normally 130/70 which is good....

Once my BP was 150/100 as I get white coat syndrome from
Time to time... 2 mins later I had it checked by the nurse and it was 140/80 then 135/75....

Try not to obsess, easier said than done, I'd be going to a new GP mate and having a chat about ur concerns....even a 24 hour monitor thing or an appt with cardiologist to reassure you.....

Lots of people will be able to help you with this concern on here mate....

[Dazza]

G'day mate.... Your blood pressure is fine..... 140/80 is in the normal range of the higher en of the scale....

Anxiety causes BP to rise and fall so much.....mine is normally 130/70 which is good....

Once my BP was 150/100 as I get white coat syndrome from
Time to time... 2 mins later I had it checked by the nurse and it was 140/80 then 135/75....

Try not to obsess, easier said than done, I'd be going to a new GP mate and having a chat about ur concerns....even a 24 hour monitor thing or an appt with cardiologist to reassure you.....

Lots of people will be able to help you with this concern on here mate....

Thanks for your reply mate. Yes, bought a blood pressure monitor yesterday, and the results are rather varied... sometimes 138/83, and later 122 / 78. I've still been getting numbness in right leg and dizzy spells... I think you're right, maybe get a second opinion and a 24 hour blood pressure monitor. I've had countless heart tests over the past few years all normal. THe only thing they found about 18 months ago was deep venous valvue failure in my legs... so maybe that has got worse in my right leg, and is giving me numbness... I will get it checked. I just worry about blood pressure, because I know the bad effects that elevated blood pressure can have. I've been doing well for some weeks, even months, but this is now freaking me out.. worried that the dizziness will mean that I will pass out, as I live alone.

[countrygirl]

Your blood pressure was very good considerting you would have been in a blind panic due to the frighening symptoms. The dizziness can be due to low blood presssure!

Not sure what country you are in but obviously not UK as you say you had a Ct scan straight away! IN UK no doctor will diagnose high blood pressure unless they get either a 24 hr bp moniter showing constant high blood pressure as so many people have white coat syndrome - I am the worlds worst and never had normal bp at surgery but if taken at home for a week three times a day its completely normal.

Remember Drs are "encouraged" but drug companies to prescribe medication but if the above does not apply to you then don't take pills. My GP said that prescribing bp meds to people who do not have constantly high bp can cause more problems as they keep fainting etc.

[Dazza]

Your blood pressure was very good considerting you would have been in a blind panic due to the frighening symptoms. The dizziness can be due to low blood presssure!

Not sure what country you are in but obviously not UK as you say you had a Ct scan straight away! IN UK no doctor will diagnose high blood pressure unless they get either a 24 hr bp moniter showing constant high blood pressure as so many people have white coat syndrome - I am the worlds worst and never had normal bp at surgery but if taken at home for a week three times a day its completely normal.

Remember Drs are "encouraged" but drug companies to prescribe medication but if the above does not apply to you then don't take pills. My GP said that prescribing bp meds to people who do not have constantly high bp can cause more problems as they keep fainting etc.

Yes, you're right, I'm not in my native UK, but I live in Vietnam... one good thing about this country (for a health anxious person like me) is that I can see a specialist within minutes of entering a hospital here (no NHS, all private), so I can get MRI or CT etc within minutes instead of months. The CT was normal. As always with health anxiety, I'm worried that they missed something or didn't think of other possibilities. thanks for your reply.

[aidanbertie]

Hi,
Yes, I think you have hypertension problem, because you tell your blood pressure is always normal then other problem remains is hypertension.
If you want, you don's have a hypertension then please be silent.
Also do some meditations. Avoid smoking etc bad habits if you have any?

[ricardo]

G'day mate.... Your blood pressure is fine..... 140/80 is in the normal range of the higher en of the scale....

Anxiety causes BP to rise and fall so much.....mine is normally 130/70 which is good....

Once my BP was 150/100 as I get white coat syndrome from
Time to time... 2 mins later I had it checked by the nurse and it was 140/80 then 135/75....

Try not to obsess, easier said than done, I'd be going to a new GP mate and having a chat about ur concerns....even a 24 hour monitor thing or an appt with cardiologist to reassure you.....

Lots of people will be able to help you with this concern on here mate....

Totally agree with the above comment. I know nothing about the procedures in Viet nam, but it seems a bit drastic at this stage.

[arjunn]

Hi,
I am Arjun Neupane from Nepal,before1 month ago i have dizziness in my right side of the body and feel numbness in full right side my head, leg , hand..I had gone to hospital i had done CT scan THe report is normal and doctor give me Vitamin B and some tablet for anxiety...I use those medicine more than 25 days but same thing happen again and again....I am really worrying about this please help me.....

[joelhall]

If BP stays consistently high it is referred to as hypertension. But there are all manner of reasons for this, and having a BP of that level is not going to put you at great risk of stroke. Mine has been as high as 190/110 when I was in hospital. Today it's sitting at 141/78. I'm not going to worry too much over it though, as it often goes to 123/71...

[swajj]

My blood pressure sits at around 130 over 84 whenever I get it taken at the doctors and I am on meds. My doctor said that when it is starting to get up around the 160 mark it is considered to be getting high and it needs to come down. He tells me to just relax with a book or something and then it will come down. It always works. I just need to be able to do it without the meds and I will be happy.