Blood pressure fluctuation during the day
Posted , 6 users are following.
my BP remains in the normal range during the day, however, it appears to go over 120/80 in the evenings. I gather that this is a limit for a diabetics.
During the day it hardly ever goes above 120/80. Typical reading would be 109/77, but typical reading at bed time is 129/85.
Is anyone here experiencing this and does it require increase in my hypertension medication. Two I am taking are Ramapril 5 mg once a day, and amlodipine 5mg also one a day.
0 likes, 12 replies
AlexandriaGizmo seangreen420
Posted
I'm not sure if for some reason you personally need to keep it lower but if not I can't see a problem with your numbers, are you anxious about it, if so this could raise it but its far from being high I wouldn't think.
What times do you take the readings and how many times
meikakay AlexandriaGizmo
Posted
jx41870 meikakay
Posted
meikakay, even 145/80 isn't so bad - what was it before?
?Amlodipine has a half-life of 35 hours or longer, that's how much time it takes for your body to use or excrete half the drug. So if you take it once a day, the total dose in your body builds up for about a week. And if you stop taking it, it takes a week or three before it's all gone.
?Ramipril says it has a half-life of 2 to 4 hours! Now, that doesn't mean it stops having effects that quickly, that's another issue. I took another ACE inhibitor with a 12-hour half-life, and it didn't do a thing for me.
?If the amlodipine alone isn't effective, expect a doctor to start adding different types of BP meds, most people today take pretty much one from each category, before they find them fully effective: calcium-channel blocker, ACE/ARB, beta blocker, diuretic. Usually that's enough, but there are a couple more exotic ones as needed.
meikakay jx41870
Posted
Over the last year I have been on 5 diff meds. The one that worked from the time they diagnosed me was Benicar HCT ( had a diuretic). It worked great always 120/70. But after 5 or 6 years of being on it I started having some symptoms I don't know if it had anything to do with the med or not but doc did a bunch of bloodwork and saw the Benicar HCT(the diuretec) I guess was effecting my kidneys. She then changed it to to just Benicar but that is when the generic came out so my Insurance changed it to the generic form. It did not work at all plus was giving some bad side effects. So then I was changed to another one (only took a week) I had some bad side effects again. Then they changed me to Bystolic (Brand name) and it seemed to work great but I have bad thyroid issues and even had my thyroid nuked with Radio active iodine. And the doctor that gave me the Bystolic was a cardiologist (first time going to her) did not even ask me of all my health problems. Well in the warnings it says not to take if you have thyroid problems plus my knees started hurting really bad and never did before taking the bystolic. Also my feet and legs would get cold to the touch and ached . So she said I would not be able to take a beta blocker. then out me on this amlodipine besylate 5 mg. maybe I just need to go to the 10 mg!
jx41870 meikakay
Posted
Don't know what to say in regard to thyroid and other complications. Benicar generic olmesartan seems OK for me, but it's the diuretic that seems to be doing most of the work. Without that, not sure where I'd be.
?Not sure about higher doses, I tried that for a while and it didn't go well, but of course your mileage may vary.
jx41870 seangreen420
Posted
Seangreen, that sounds remarkably good, nothing to worry about.
?Especially if you're of a certain age, over the age of about 60 that would be really great, some elevation of BP is pretty much expected now at that age.
Dave94501 seangreen420
Posted
Your Doctor has you on a very effective combination. I think most on this forum would be very happy to have the readings you are getting. Definitely nothing to worry about.
Amlodapine has a long half-life Ramapril is shorter. Maybe your small swing is related to when you take your Ramapril. Do you take that at night or in the morning?
gill70346 seangreen420
Posted
seangreen420
Posted
Thanks everyone for the reply.
this month I will be 65 yeas of age.
some time ago, I was told that these days Dr. Don't look at the age and expect every one to have BP lower than 140/90 but if you are a diabetic, you have a greater risk so they prefer you to have a reading lower than 130/80.
As the day draws to end, my BP does get raised as mentioned above.
i only used to measure it first thing in the morning, but just lately I have been messing my BP twice a day, morning and night.
As a rule I don't get worked up about this but I do believe that if it is not right than I should act to get it right.
thanks again
sean
jx41870 seangreen420
Posted
They've gone back and forth on an "age allowance" over the last few years. We have to always remember that any serious consideration of blood pressure is relatively new to medicine, and they still don't really know what causes it, much less any surefire way to fix it. My doctor, who is something of a specialist, seems to consider something like 140/88 a good target for us older folks, but I'm pretty sure he wants close to 120/80 for anyone much younger.
?I'd expect diabetes - especially if it comes with some extra weight - to bias you upwards, so of course we'd like to push it back down, but it's just not that easy. Five or ten points doesn't matter that much, it's when you get thirty or fifty points out of range that you're really in trouble.
seangreen420 jx41870
Posted
I like your logical explanations
jx41870 seangreen420
Posted
seangreen, thanks. Unfortunately I've been at this a while now, took me some time to gather enough facts to understand or be able to explain anything. Doctors just "practice" on you, don't want to strain anything by telling you what's going on. Internet info is getting better, but of course varies widely in quality.