HELP WANTED-I'M TERRIFIED!

Try keeping a twice a day log of your BP for 2 weeks with dates and times. Sit quietly for ten minutes, then take it. Make an appointment with your GP and show him the log. You might need a low dose beta blocker. I am 64 and for the first time in my life began having HBP 3 months ago even though I am not overweight. Same happened to my friend who suddenly got it at 67.

 

this is partly why i bought a BPmonitor

high readings at the doctors...

i think ones BP must have highs and lows...my feelings are if you get low readings then your arteries cant be clogged up but your emotions can!!

i take 3 readings now at around 7pm each day and do sit in a meditative way for 5 mins for the first and then 3 mins between...i am getting a consistent reading around the 120/80

i had one at 128/87 one day only

regarding anxiety..i think it is a valid reason to suspect this...

i am the same and after a 135/85 reading my doctor put me on mild meds...which are the contributing factor to getting down to 120/80 levels i guess

i would rather be relaxed about having decent and healthy levels and on meds rather than leaving them out for the present...after 3-6 months i can then go off them and see what the situation is then.

how do you "calm down"? this is important i think to get a method, stick with it and believe it works...and it will every time

cheers

geof

I’ve had these episodes, both on medication and before medication.   I don’t know what caused them before medication, but I could also feel my hearing “shut off” as you described.  For me, I think they are somehow correlated with my endocrine system (blood pressure control), but I haven’t had that evaluated.  I was told by these could be anxiety driven, but all of my episodes were not during anxious periods.  They usually began with rapidly elevated diastolic pressure, and then that would drop and I would get elevated systolic pressure (probably from anxiety).  On medication I’ve had far more than before medication.

I think that's nothing.  You don't want to take your BP when lying down and then standing up, give yourself that few minutes sitting first or even standing quietly.  Or else take it reclining before getting up.

?Remember, those numbers are nothing for a few moments, if you ran around the block and took your BP immediately it would look like that every time.

Blood pressure varies throughout the day, and is usually higher in the morning. It's to get you going for the day my dr tells me and is perfectly normal.  Perhaps it would be better not to take it too frequently as it will increase your anxiety; first thing in the morning and in the evening after dinner.

Regarding your problem when you get up from a recliner - could it be a problem with your ears and balance?  I know my husband  has had this problem in the past and has always been told not to get up too quickly, be it a recliner or out of bed, and it does help.

By the looks of things it seems that for your age you have a very healthy blood pressure, one of the things that you learn if you take your BP a lot, is how variable it is. Our body constantly adapts in order to meet its needs, when your active your heart rate increases and your BP to get more blood to your muscles, when you rest the revers happens. Anxiety causes your body to prepare for action so your heart rate and BP increase.

The reason they control BP is to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, over the years, a high BP causes significant wear and tear to our arteries, notice the "over the years", generally damage accumulates over time the odd day up or down is largely irrelevant. Its also important to consider that BP is a risk factor, in fact the majority of people who develop heart disease don't have any risk factors at all. Its a sad fact, that as we get older a lot of the systems that maintain our internal state get less efficient. While in the past suddenly standing up from sitting, which requires some complex internal changes to maintain our BP, might have caused no problem, a slight delay can leave you feeling dizzy. All this means is you need to take your time. Most people simply don't think about these things as being important but as you have health anxiety you will tend to be hypersensitive to any new sensations.

So in terms of the risks associated with BP over the long term I'd guess you would probably fall into the top 10% of the most healthy for your age group. If I'd spent 5 minutes thinking about the other bits, I think I'd have wasted 5 minutes.