I'm feeling hopeless (got denied a job due to BP)

Good question. I did see an endocrinologist. Hes the one that ordered the adrenal and kidney MRI. He also checked aldosterone, renin, nor-epinephrine, etc. and he said everything came back normal. I'm assuming he did check for adrenal hyperplasia. I don't have my u/e on hand but everything came out normal, kidney function (BUN, Creatinine, GFR) "is great" according to my doc.

I've had several blood work studies done. Most come back normal. Metropolol tartrate doesn't have a long life, I believe 10-12 hours thats why he wants me to take it twice a day. There is Metropolol Succinate (extended release, so I could take that once) but I'm not on that one.

Loxie,

Please shed more light on "quite noticeably lower" if you can.

Paul

Hi Conns. At the surgery i regularly tested at over 130/90, sometimes as high as 145/95. During the 24 hr monitoring the highest was 131/89 and the lowest 115/78, depending on time of day, activity, food intake etc. Most of the time it was around 122-126/80-85 - I'm more than happy at those readings. I get anxious at doctors' appointment I guess.

No, I haven't had that done but it does interest me. I get constant fluctuation depending on my mood and time of the day per my own BP checks (bought a machine at Target). But one thing is for sure, readings are definitely lower in a comfortable environment. I'm at the point where I can literally feel my heart race when the BP cuff is being put on me (at doctor's office).

Ioxie,

122-126/80-85 is very good and ideally this is where you need to be as often as possible. This is not intended to put the wind up you but under the new 2017 BP guidelines this is now known as elevated. If you want to no the new boundaries just let me know.

If you haven't a BP home device suggest you get one, in particular one that allows you to Bluetooth to your Smartphone so your GP can see what's happening weekly, mothly and yearly. There is a strong desire by the Heart & Hypertension specialists to move away from GP's and Nurses taking your BP ad you doing it yourself. You would need the correct guidelines to monitor at home, and be aware that annual re-calibration is key to accurate results.

Paul

Hi Conns. I have a good quality home BP tester - my partner has to check his BP daily, as I said above when I tested it on my home monitor it was always much lower than at the doctors. I've read the new guidelines and to be honest at my age, with a stressful sedentary job and not as active as I used to be due to a slight disability, I would be hard pushed to get down to the "perfect" levels recommended - it just aint gonna happen. I dont eat meat, dont eat junk food, and I'm not overweight. I've watched my partner's health be badly affected by increasing BP meds and the nasty side effects of some of them so for me, I'm steering clear until it's deemed essential.

Hi Ioxie,

Sounds like your doing very well. keep up the good work.

Paul

@Conns - smiling here - as an almost geriatric female, with all the usual bits falling apart, 'doing well' is not quite how I'd describe myself lol but worrying about my BP and cholesterol will just add to stress levels. Dont even get me started on statins......:)

loxie...My doctor told me that for a lot of people, it's next to impossible to get bp levels down to the 'golden numbers'. Age, etc.etc. must be taken into consideration. Everyone is different., our bodies don't all work the same. A person of 20 something may have a bp reading of 120/80...but when you think about it, how could someone in their 60's have the same readings...most do not., while I will admit, there are some out there who do.

My wife's best friend had a bp reading of 118/90 at her Dr. last week.

She's 63., is a little on the slim side, & eats very healthy. The diastolic number (lower) could be a bit lower.

loxie...I say the same..."don't even get me started on statins". Quite frankly, I would never take a statin. I think they do more harm than good. A person can lower their cholesterol on their own by healthy eating, healthy fats, fruit & vegetables, lean meats, & 150min of exercise/week.

Stress is the biggest enemy to the body. If you're stressed even the slightest, the bp goes up.

I have familial hypercholerolaemia - fancy name for inherited high cholesterol - first time i got tested it was at 9 (at the time the recommendation was 5 -6 or below - its now around 3) my doctor went ballistic at me, accusing me of eating myself into an early grave - I pointed out I was vegetarian and ate a really healthy balanced diet, slim, very fit, very healthy otherwise and if he'd bothered to ask my family history would know that nine members of my dad's family had died of heart related issues, including high cholesterol! He prescribed simvastatin and told me I had to take them as I was a stroke waiting to happen. I believed him and took them. Six months later I was house bound, overweight and in constant pain. Ended up in the ER one day when I couldnt even get out of bed. The registrar at the hospital told me it was most probably the statins. I flushed them and havent taken them since and I have no idea what my cholesterol level is - I dont want to know as there is nothing further I can do to reduce it without meds, which I am never going to take again. Stress as you say is a BIG factor but modern life/work is not easy and getting rid of stress is SOOOO hard. Just happy my BP is relatively normal for my age and my blood sugar level is just fine.

absolutely right mike. i liken my body to a car - when its new it works fine as it gets older it takes more attention to keep it running and we dont get excited about every knocking noise or squeak 😃 same with our bodies - I'm just happy mine's still running at all some days. Getting stressed over a couple of digits outside of 'perfect' could end up making it worse. I'm already older than any of my father's family when they popped off this mortal coil so I count myself lucky.

i have an OMRON machine at home. how can we re calibrate them ?

Ideally package up and return to Omron. BP results are too important and to not have an accurate device is a bad idea. Always follow the correct procedures when using your BP unit and if your Omron allows transfers via Bluetooth to Smartphone do it. Very useful.

Paul

Good advice Conns. We bought our machine from a local chemist who specialises in disability aids and health equipment, we take ours back to them each year and they send it off to be recalibrated at reasonable cost.

I took mine into my GP's surgery and we ran tests on both arms with the OMRON followed by the practice nurse checking it with her calibrated equipment, mine was within an acceptable tolerance of the nurses reading so we all accepted it as working correctly. Quicker and (probably) cheaper than sending it off to the manufacturer. Saying that a new basic one from a well known on-line retailer named after a South American river is only around £24

loxie...Drs don't get all bent out of shape over a few digits, so neither should we. Even if a bloodtest result say for sodium is a few points above or below the guideline, they don't bother with it. My doctor explained that a day or so can make a huge difference. I could have a certain reading one day, then a few days down the road, it would be normal. Also, some labs have different parameters. I know this to be true because I keep copies of test results. I had blood done on Tuesday...& I pulled out the results of a bloodtest I had done at a city hospital. The bloodtest I had done on Tuesday was at a local lab..big name. The parameters between the two were slightly different. So you see, it's quite right what my doctor told me. If they don't stress over it, we shouldn't.

Conns...I have a huge problem with having to send a bp monitor back to Omron. Not that I've had to do it. These people 'swear' that their machines are accurate when used properly. The cuff shouldn't be too tight, or loose, it should be place on the arm properly, the patient must be seated correctly..all those things. A lot of times, a dr office doesn't have time to sit with you to compare readings between your machine & theirs.

Also the companies don't charge a cheap price to calibrate..& you could be waiting weeks upon weeks to get your machine back. I don't know the answer to this problem, but it shouldn't exist in the first place.

youre right - probably cost more to send it back than to buy a new one - they've reduced in price enormously since we first bought one, as Jason mentioned above, theyre available on A....... for around £20 - £25, perfectly acceptable quality. As long as correct within a few points of tolerance and if the reading is way out of line from acceptable then obviously visit the doctor and be tested at the surgery.

great idea. which machine do you have?

VeeWat..."calibration" is widely misunderstood....If a machine is sent back to the manufacturer, they do something technical... When taking the machine to the Dr. office, he would take your bp with his equipment, then take a reading with your machine. You compare the readings. If they differ by just a very few points, then all is fine. A lot of Dr offices still use the cuff with the little bulb. Different machines indeed.