blood pressure

[Terjo]

Had to attend Moorfield eye hospital with VA and they advise me to lower my blood pressure I was wondering what other AF patients blood pressure is ? My BP was 158/65 it's not quite so high normally.

[Rosie1066]

took mine earlier this morning and it was 110/63 - but it does vary.

[jeanjeannie50]

Mine can vary. This morning it was 119/68. I would guess your anxiety took your BP up at the hospital. Mine did the same when I attended hospital a few weeks ago.

Jean

[Desanthony]

Blood Pressure does vary - mine is hardly ever high and usually in the 120/80 ish area. You may find that just stress at being in the Doc's surgery can make your BP higher. We were joking about it a couple of days ago that you get to the Doc's spend 15 mins trying to find a parking space - eventually double park or manage to get into a tight space with little room to spare and you pray that the other car owners are as good at getting out of their tight spaces as you are getting into yours, after muttering under your breath at a few drivers who have no idea etc, then you rush into the surgery sit down to wait your turn a little later than you would like to be and then they expect you to have normal blood pressure ! Yeah Right!

[Threecats in reply to Desanthony]

I had exactly that when attending a cardiology appointment at a local hospital a few months back. Parking is notoriously difficult there, plus there had been an accident that closed the road I needed. I eventually managed to park, galloped into reception bang on time , got taken straight off by a nurse who slapped a blood pressure cuff on my arm, then asked what I was taking for my high blood pressure🙄 I explained why it was raised but regardless, the cardiologist still mentioned my “high”blood pressure in his letter to my GP! You couldn’t make it up!

[Desanthony in reply to Threecats]

They thought my wife had high blood pressure a while ago - her BP is on the high side of normal. They were monitoring her and things were OK - she actually walked down to the Doc's surgery far easier than driving and trying to park Everything continued to be normal. Then she remembered that she had a large cup of caffeinated coffee in the waiting room when she was waiting for her BP and blood tests to be taken by a nurse - she had already seen a respiratory consultant and asked to wait. Now for about 20 years we haven't drunk caffeinated coffee because of my bladder and she said within a year of drinking only decaff that when she did drink caffeinated tea or coffee she got headaches and felt a little light headed and needed to go to the loo within quarter of an hour - so we think that the coffee in the waiting room was the cause of this blip with her BP. Having said all this since we had Covid she has had lower readings - amazing - mind that could be because we spent 10 days doing nothing and then she spent another half a dozen days sat down because she had an inner ear problem like vertigo - weird feeling like you are falling down when you are actually sat down!

[mjames1]

Many people have higher blood pressure in the doctor's office (white coat syndrome) and because of that, blood pressure medications are often prescribed when not necessary. Invest in a good home blood pressure device that takes it on the arm, not wrist. Omron has a nice line.

Jim

[mjames1]

Then 118/79 is your real blood pressure and does not need treating. Unless, of course, you're spending most of the day seeing doctors.😀 BTW I have the same thing except with my gp who knows how to take bp correctly, which is when I'm relaxed and in the middle of our visit. But with other docs, where bp is taken by the nurse, prior to the appointment, I just say "I took my bp at home this morning and it was x/x and I prefer not to take it again". Sometimes I flash a picture from my phone of the reading. Always works.

Jim

[Pindarus in reply to mjames1]

My blood pressure is invariably 15 points higher at the doctor's. 120/80 is supposed to be the gold standard. Make sure you are relaxed when you take it.

[irene75359 in reply to mjames1]

That's exactly what I did, only I showed my diary where I had all the entries for my blood pressure over the past two weeks, my GP was completely happy about that.

[KMRobbo]

I get white coat taking my own blood pressure! I takes 3 or 4 goes to get me relaxed!

[Nerja2012 in reply to KMRobbo]

🤣 That made me laugh KM as I'm exactly the same, as soon as I put the cuff on and it starts to inflate that's me gone, only way Docs can get a true result is a 24hr monitor.

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi

Systolic is high.

Could be the white coat syndrome.

Get your Dr to advise. Your Diastollic is low at 65.

What is your heart rate?

Pressure in your eye is a concern of Opticians.

cheri JOY. 74. (NZ)

[Terjo in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

I've taken it at home and it's 142 to150 over 65 . I have had high blood pressure for about 30 years .I was given Digoxin in hospital and have taken that for many years together with bisoporol .I stopped digoxin recently . My blood is "shined"with warfarin I am 91 and my husband is 96. We are both vegetarians and try to eat plant based food. We weigh around 8 st each

[JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply to Terjo]

Hi

High Systolic can still lead to Stroke.

My last top heart specialist up from Auckland decided that I had a quiet Systolic Heart Murmur.

You are both doing well.

Pressure in eyes is not desirable and your Dr may find a solution but ow diastolic should not go much lower.

I take my Bisoprolol at night as my H/R is 47 at night and it acts more on BP. The Diliazem works dramatically on H/R which rises during the day.

Your optician has a gadget which measures pressure in your eye.

Cheers JOY. 74. (NZ)

[Qualipop]

There is a condition many people suffer from and doctors understand well- white coat syndrome. You BP rises in medical sett ings, probably due to underlying anxiety. You shoudl get your GP to check your BP and keep a re cord yourself. GP will probably tell you to check it 3 times a day after sitting resting for 15 minutes; no food or drink. Then send your results to your GP who will work out the average. Blood pressure is never treated on teh basis of just one reading. Mine is always ridiculously hight when I go to the doctors. It's your top number that was raised at your appointment. The idea is for it to be anywhere in the 120s up to about 135 depending on your age

[Karendeena]

I wouldn't say that is particularly high. Mine is the other way often around 100/68 but often lower

[ozziebob]

As someone who has had borderline BP readings over many years, I took notice when I read on the Forum that an important measure of heart health re BP is the Pulse Pressure. Investigating further revealed that this is the difference between the systolic and diastolic readings. A difference of 40 is ideal, but above 60 is a concern. The numbers you quoted were 158/65, a Pulse Pressure of 93. I am not medically trained, but can see why this might be of concern. I realise you said your BP was usually not so elevated, and you are 91, both mitigating factors surely.

Perhaps you could research further into the relevance of high Pulse Pressure to your situation.

Good luck.

[fibnum]

I recommend that you take your blood pressure at home in mid morning and evening daily for 2 weeks and write it down. You will either find that you do have some issues to address or be well documented to tell the doctor no thanks to BP meds. It is surprising how susceptible BP is to emotions. I generally do a few minutes of relaxed breathing and mental distraction (Fibonacci series) before taking it.

I am not a doctor, but there is nothing risky in my suggestions. I have kept a record of my BP a number of times at a doctor's request.

[Terjo]

I took my blood pressure today at home and got 134/50 pulse 76. Why does the diastolic go so low ? what does it mean ?

[Billblue]

I was advised by doctor to do a 7 day home reading send the results and they do a average I’m 78 and came out 134 over 87 not bad for age