Cause of sudden spike in formerly well-controlled BP?
Posted , 3 users are following.
I am a 72 y.o. male in good health; have had hypertension for 30+ years, well-controlled with Benicar 40 mg (angiotension response blocker).
Suddenly, literally overnight, my BP wel from ~ 130/74 to 180/110. Even after adding amlodipine 10 mg my BP is still high.
Anyone have any guesses as to what could be going on? My doc is sending me for a kidney artery scan in a few days.
0 likes, 11 replies
g.90572 notsosmart
Posted
notsosmart
Posted
jane243 notsosmart
Posted
That is most interesting as I feel to have had a similar problem. I'm interested to hear what other comments people make.
I'm a 74 yr old female and have been on BP meds for 3+ years. Mine has been stable on 50mg of Losartan for most of this time but has been prone to unexplained spikes which last a few days then drop back again. For almost a month now my BP has started to rise worryingly although not quite to your level. My average over a week has risen from 125<> to 137> with spikes of up to 163. Diastolic average is about 80, but there have been spikes of over 100.
The odd thing is that for all the 3 years I have taken medication it has risen every September then dropped back again by mid/late October and stayed more or less at the same level until the next September. 12 months ago I was on just 25 mg of Losartan then had a 6 month check up and it was 143/90 [averaged over 8 days]so the dose was raised to 50 mg.
I'm due soon for another check up and hope the BP will have dropped back again otherwise I feel I might have the dose raised again or another pill introduced.
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notsosmart jane243
Posted
It may be that BP in most people rises or falls at different times of year (i.e. at the same time of year, for most people). I would do some research on this at pubmed.gov.
If my memory serves me correctly, I took losartan for a short time years ago, but it did not protect me for 24 hours.
jane243 notsosmart
Posted
I'll check that website, could be revealing. It's interesting that you say you did not feel Losartan protected you for 24 hrs as I had wondered about that myself. It is though a similar ARB so I would have thought they would all have worked the same way? - no?
notsosmart jane243
Posted
Different ARBs work *basically* the same, but often with significant, sometimes subtle differences.
Pubmed.gov is the website for medical literature; you will have to search it, but that's easy.
jane243 notsosmart
Posted
Typically the BP has dropped back as it has done at this time of year since I was diagnosed; early days still - but from a spike of 163/79 a few days ago it went down to 98/66. I really don't understand why this happens.
notsosmart jane243
Posted
From what I've read, it appears that lots of stuff re BP is a big mystery. Kidney involvement of various types--polycystic kidney disease, renal artery stenosis, etc--is often suspected; but it seems to me that these spikes are a very big mystery. The fact that a spike often disappears quickly suggests to me that it's something that the pt is doing, e.g. something the pt is eating--but then again, if that were true, most pts would be aware of something. And these spikes seem to me to be waaaaay bigger than something like salt.
jane243 notsosmart
Posted
I do keep a diary of BPreadings [2 first thing and 2in the evening] and have done for over 3 years now.The dr says it's unnecessary and I only need to write them down for a week before a check up - twice a year. However I prefer to do it my way! The point I'm making is that if I didn't I wouldn't be aware of these large fluctuations.
I wish I knew what caused these spikes and equally the sudden drops, because those make me feel quite light headed. Certainly it's not salt or alcohol as I gave these up 3 years ago and I'm not overweight either, or diabetic or any of the usual factors. And I don't/won't take statins either.
The mysteries of the human body!
g.90572 notsosmart
Posted
notsosmart g.90572
Posted
I don't know if the comment about watermelon is accurate or not, but before anyone regards it as correct, it would be a good idea to do some serious research on it.
My hunch is that it is inaccurate--because if it were accurate, (a) by now everyone would know about it, and (b) some company would be selling a watermelon extract.