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High blood pressure??

Posted , 4 users are following.

linda17563
linda17563

Have just had an emergency appointment with doctor, with pain in neck, mushy headache, drained, and blurred vision....Having had PMR for nearly 3 years, got worried it might be GCA...my blood pressure was 220 over 140! I said the machine must be faulty....he took it 4 times, it lowered to 170 over 120.  He upped pred to 15mg, blood test tomorrow, but I`m to call 999 if I feel worse in the night!!  He dosen`t suspect GCA....I welcome any opinions, especially Eileen if possible, thank you  I had got down to 5mg on pred, but uppped to 7mg when feeling very ill.....

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • Nefret
    Nefret linda17563

    Posted

    Just in case Eileen doesn't see this immediately, I didn't want you to go unanswered, Linda.

    Those symptoms do sound more like high blood pressure than anything else and I was found to have hypertension some 3 or 4 years into PMR and Pred.  As I had always had low blood pressure (I had to be careful at times not to stand up too quickly) I was startled at this turn in the road.

    I was treated for it and over the next few months it just fizzled out.  Never had any idea what caused it in the first place, but I've had normal (for me) blood pressure since then with no problems.

    If you are worried during the night, follow the doctor's instructions to call out the paramedics.  It is exactly what we would suggest under the same circumstances because even the slightest possibility of GCA needs immediate attention.

  • Oregonjohn-UK
    Oregonjohn-UK linda17563

    Posted

    The initial reading could be due to stress and/or activity or anxiety and once you settle down the reading dropped.  Like PMR it effects different people different ways.  My BP goes up and down even sat at a table on my own without distractions or moving and taking 4/5 readings  every 3/4 minutes and I have been on a 10mg dose of Amlodipine for over 10 years.  I sometime get dizzy but it's usually because I get up too quick or by BP has dropped for some unknown reason, 'cured' by stopping and putting my head down and taking deep breaths for a moment or two. I've had no change in Hypertension since I started preds - but I may be the exception?
  • mollymoos
    mollymoos linda17563

    Posted

    I have had GCA for 5 years...... started on originally 60mg now on  30mg....

    He should also arrange for eye tests and a vascula test as well.

    Prednisolone is also a pain for raising High BPs and affecting the eyesight.

     

  • EileenH
    EileenH linda17563

    Posted

    Nefret has said it all I think. Raised BP isn't usually a sign of GCA although if the inflammation is affecting certain arteries it could cause an increase. You should have had your BP checked regularly since you have been on pred - one of the side effects is raised BP but it tends to rise slowly and so should be checked to spot that happening early.

    I had a "maybe GCA" episode a few years ago and had my pred returned to 15mg/day and everything settled down again. If he's doing your ESR/CRP tomorrow there shouldn't much to worry about - but as already said, don't feel reticent in dialling 999 if you feel worse during the night. I have it on good authority they really like proper patients who don't pee or puke over them just because of alcohol!

    • linda17563
      linda17563 EileenH

      Posted

      Please could you give me your knowledgeable imput!  I don`t think my blood test results will be back until Monday....I still have the crushing headache, and now some tension in my jaw (but not sure if this is teeth grinding)  it dosen`t hurt when eating, just tender.  The blurred vision is still there, and by the time I`m ready for the next 15mg, I feel really quite ill....flulike/fatigue....my BP is now araound 145/80...I have been told to take it twice a day until next Wednesday, and then go back to the doctor`s.....is it ok to leave it this long, and should the symptoms have eased by now.  when I first went on 15mg  3 years ago, I felt like a new woman.....not so now....I`m not sure what`s really going on...
    • EileenH
      EileenH linda17563

      Posted

      Why do these things always happen at the weekend! 

      I'm sure MrsO will say the same - I would at the very least call 111 although I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope for their abilities unless you can see an out of hours doctor. Another option is to go to an optician and ask if someone can look at the back of your eyes as they can see if the optic nerve is affected but I would go to A&E if it were me since that BP is now perfectly acceptable so shouldn't be leading to any symptoms. 

      What do you mean by tender? I didn't have what felt like pain with the jaw problem, it was more it got tired really. Is it just blurring or is there any double vision? 

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey linda17563

      Posted

      Yes, as Eileen has thought, I am of the same opinion.  Either dial  999 as advised by your GP if feeling no better, or go to A&E.  It may not be GCA but that needs to be ruled out along with other nasty illnesses that can cause the "crushing" head pain that you describe.  If it is GCA, then the 15mg dose may just be taking an extra day or two to work or it may not be sufficient for the level of inflammation.

      The improvement in your blood pressure is at least one box to tick, but we're not medics on here and you need expert investigation and advice.

      Whereabouts are you, Linda?   

    • linda17563
      linda17563 EileenH

      Posted

      I have taken a painkiller for headache, and this has eased a bit....I called the doctor (should have surgery Sat am) they were closed this week!  I was  hoping blood test results had been sent through, hospital said they would be...I have blurred, not double vision, and my BP just now was 149/81, so for my age (63) is ok I`m sure.  I am thinking that 15mg is not enough to ease the "pressure"   The doctor did look in my eyes, and said that was ok, but obviously he`s not an optician....I just hate the whole waiting in hospital thing I suppose, and hope it will resolve itself.  I am determined though, if it hasn`t eased by Monday am...I will go somewhere about it!!  Thank you for advice, it is always the best, when someone has actually experinced these things to get opinions....it difficult to explain to others just how we feel isn`t it.  I have had years of it with ME/Fibro....and it still frustrated me!
  • MrsO-UK_Surrey
    MrsO-UK_Surrey linda17563

    Posted

    Linda, your symptoms do sound very GCA-ish.  My blood pressure soared followed closely by the arrival of symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as GCA.  I had just seemingly recovered from what had apparently been undiagnosed PMR during the previous 12 months which, untreated, landed me in bed for several months, attending hospital by ambulance and wheelchair.  

    If you do, in fact, have GCA, then possibly the steroid increase to 15mg may relieve your symptoms - I have recently heard of some latest expert thinking that 20mgs can control the inflammation of GCA!

    It's a bit of a catch 22 situation for you right now because the obvious worry about GCA won't help your blood pressure.

    As the others have said, don't hesitate to take your doctor's advice and dial 999 if you get any worse.

     

    • EileenH
      EileenH MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      "I have recently heard of some latest expert thinking that 20mgs can control the inflammation of GCA"

      That isn't an uncommon idea - for the patients where there is no cranial involvement, ie no visual symptoms or claudication (jaw pain and scalp pain) a lot of doctors use 30mg. 

      Did they suggest where your GCA was affecting?

       

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey EileenH

      Posted

      Eileen, I don't think they needed to as I had the works (I'm greedy!): blurred vision, jaw pain on chewing, nausea and vomiting and head pain like no other - well apart perhaps from the head pain of meningitis some years before which interestingly a home visit GP at the time suggested might by something called temporal arteritis!!!  - It wasn't then, but ludicrously when it did arrive years later, three GPs failed to diagnose it.  
    • mollymoos
      mollymoos EileenH

      Posted

      Had GCA for 5 years   dropped 2 stone in weight and took hospital 3 months of investigations to figure it out... and 10 mins for the doctor to do it...  blood tranfusions, scans etc etc..  your inflamation levels will be sky high up in the 200s as a big big clue lol lol . 
    • EileenH
      EileenH mollymoos

      Posted

      Not necessarily - whilst that may happen for some people, most have values more in the range 50 to 100 and 1 in 5 will have normal values - all the way through. 

      MrsO - well I wouldn't expect you to go halves on anything! Shame you hadn't stuck with that original GP! Or maybe he wouldn't have recognised the real thing either!

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey EileenH

      Posted

      Eileen

      "Shame you hadn't stuck with that original GP!"

      The times I thought the same during my GCA years.  However, she was a locum and only at my surgery for a very short time.  She was brilliant with the house visit and with the care, taking a urine specimen to the hospital herself and ringing me back with the results to put my mind at rest that something serious wasn't going on kidney-wise.  She eventually prescribed 40mgs Prednisolone thinking it was this strange thing I'd never heard of called Temporal Arteritis!  I asked her if I could be referred to a specialist urgently.  Then that night was the first night in ages that I hadn't lain awake longing for a couple more hours to pass so that I could take my next 'fix' of Paracetamol, so I held off the Pred first thing the following morning.  She rang mid-morning to enquire how I was (more like the friendly caring  'Doctors' drama on tv than what many of us experience with our local GPs these days, it seems sadly!)  When I described my easier night with the head pain resolving, she made me promise to take the Pred if the head pain returned.  I later saw a consultant rheumatologist who took further blood tests and swabs and diagnosed meningitis, saying he was uncertain as to whether it was bacterial or viral.  But wherever that lovely locum went, her patients are very blessed!

  • linda17563
    linda17563

    Posted

    Thank you everybody...it all sounds familiar....I have always had normal blood pressure, I told him his machine must be faulty!!  I do feel very odd....all well as the other symptoms, but the doctor did say, GCA is a single eye pain, swelled ateries etc...I had to smile to myself, after having read the experiences on this forum....but when he said come down 1mg a month I was ready for him.  I told him that`s unrealistic, and quoted him Eileen`s way of doing it...he agreed that it was logical...and to do whatever I want...I shall.  Thank you all again, and hope blood tests are ok, but then again, they aren`t always the true picture are they...hey-ho!
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