Blood pressure of 180/120.... how long before I dropped dead from a heart attack?
Posted , 6 users are following.
When the doctor measured my blood pressure it was 180/120. I hadn't measured it in years so I had no idea because I felt perfectly fine and was running 2-3 hours a day. Only reason I had gone to the doctor was due to an auto accident so had it not been for it I wouldn't have even found out.
So just wondering how long I would have lasted with a blood pressure that high? Kinda weird that an auto accident might have saved my life.
0 likes, 6 replies
jill55053 acerr
Posted
i have had high blood pressure of anything from 180/120 to 220/140 for around 5yrs now! the bp tablets the gp gave me were not working and my gp didnt seem to tske my high bp serious enough. i collapsed wuite a number of times over the years and eventually wrote a letter of complaint to both the hospital and my gp. i pushed for a brain scan year because i thought i may have suffered a mini stroke, got my results back a couple of weeks ago showing no sogn of a stroke but damage to the blood vessels in my brain which is the start of vascular dementia but thankfully not bad enough to cause me any major symptoms but cintinued high blood pressure not only can cause geart problems, strokes but also vascular dementia. The hospital and gp are now taking my high bp more seriously and trying different medications to get it down. Maybe you can ask for tests to make sure no damage has been done but as i said i have had extremely high bp for over 5yrs and havent had a heart attack or stroke.
Este jill55053
Posted
Was your blood pressure above 180 like this consistently for 5 years? if so how did you know?
Conns acerr
Posted
A good GP would not just cycle through BP meds in the hope that he / she finds the combination that works. As a student aged 24 at college in 1977, like you I also felt fine, but following a routine college medical my BP came in at 245 / 130. I was lucky in that a Cardiac doctor ran every conceivable test in hospital to find out why. Now 66 I am still here but still having to work on controlling BP with meds. Take home message - ask for tests to be done.
derek76 Conns
Posted
Did the tests show a reason?
I have labile hypertension that was 210/110 when first checked in 2000. In 2018 it can still go to that at times or to 104/66. Had all the tests including kidney and brain MRI's without anything found. I tried all the medications with bad side effects. Specialist says that is because I'm not truly hypertensive and just have peaks that meds lower too much.
Conns derek76
Posted
Derek,
After all the tests were done, 8 weeks in all, I was diagnosed with Conn's Syndrome (Primary Hyperaldosteronism = PA for short). Once considered rare, it is likely much more common among folk with resistant hypertension where meds seems to go nowhere in controlling BP. Sometimes clues for medical professionals can be seen in blood tests where sodium appears high and potassium low. This why I always encourage patients to seek tests and not just accept whatever meds are thrown at you by Consultants and GP's. We have a PA forum on Yahoo run by an American doctor in Wisconsin. Just recently an Australian doctor has joined our group because he has struggled to deal with Conn's himself!!
Paul
jx41870 acerr
Posted
accer, BP like 180/120 isn't good of course, but the damage tends to accumulate over time before it kills you. Hey 2-3 hours a day of running is a lot, too. Make sure that you have not just finished running before you measure BP, and it can take 30 to 60 minutes to get back down to a base level.
I hope you've got a BP meter at home, and can make sure to take it in that environment when you are good and rested. There's also "white jacket hypertension" that reads higher in doctors' offices. You may have somewhat high BP but maybe not that high!
What about other blood tests? BP usually comes with some other readings that might help guide any treatment.
Did they give you any meds and are they working?