Blood pressure help please

[treyjeff]

Hello, I recently just turned 20 and have really bad health anxiety. In January I went to the hospital because I thought I had appendicitis (I ended up not having it) however I saw on my visit summary paper my blood pressure was 149/78. The first number seems mighty high to me and is freaking me out big time making me think I'm gonna have a heart attack or something because of it. Any advice

[bantam12]

In a stressful situation and with health anxiety it will be higher, you need readings taken at home over a week or so to see what your normal bp is. The more you stress over it the worse it will be so relax !

[Pippa1234]

That's systolic blood pressure, it is high. Go to doctor if your concerned.

[SuzzieQ]

You need to try and do Yoga & Mindfulness learnnto relax. Also Reflexology is good!

[Shockedwithstent]

Hi, its normal to have high readings if you are stressed but its also not good for you. Ask your dr to put you on a 24 hour bp machine or keep track of it over time. I If you r stressed, dont sleep enough, drink too much caffeine - that wont help either. Best thing is to go to your GP, as an anxious person who always suffered anxiety attacks I strongly recommend you see your gp. Best of luck

[Qualipop]

Anxiety puts you BP up as you kow. IT's temporary but if still worried ask GP for a home BP monitor for a week. Don't worry about occasional spikes, doctors look at the average.

[treyjeff in reply to Qualipop]

My thoughts are that if they didn't mention it to me they don't think it's an issue ? So maybe it was momentary and the docs understood that

[Hidden in reply to treyjeff]

yes, mine is always up, especially when in pain or stressed, like in emergency or Dr office. At home, its great

[ang3675]

That blood pressure is not that high, when you are worried or unwell your blood pressure will tend to go up slightly. You could pop into your local pharmacy or boots store and ask them to check your blood pressure. Your target blood pressure is 140/80 or under.

[Chappychap in reply to ang3675]

"Your target blood pressure is 140/80 or under."

I'm not sure I'd agree with that. The NHS say the ideal blood pressure is between 90/60 and 120/80. Anything over 140/90 is hypertension.

For many years my regular company medicals were showing a blood pressure of a little above 140/90, the doctors didn't make a big deal of it especially as there was no family history of early age heart problems and my other risk factors weren't especially high. Because the doctors weren't too fussed neither was I...right up until the moment I needed a triple heart bypass!

My advice would be to take all risk factors seriously, and if you start to drift out of the ideal range and get amber warnings then keep monitoring while you make lifestyle changes to get you back to the ideal. If that doesn't work then talk to your GP about medication options. You don't have to panic, and "white coat syndrome" is an established fact, but neither should you ignore blood pressure readings above 120/80.

[ang3675 in reply to Chappychap]

I'm a nurse and we use nice guidelines and targets. Diabetics and stroke patients have a target of 130/80 or under, everyone else is 140/80 or under. A blood pressure of 90/60 would cause most people to suffer dizziness or fainting with an increased risk of falls which is not good for the older generation.

[Inamoment in reply to ang3675]

No it's 120, i would have thought a nurse would have known that. nhs.uk/conditions/high-bloo...

[ang3675 in reply to Inamoment]

You don't have to be quite so harsh with your reply. A blood pressure of 130/70 would be ideal but we have to take other things in to consideration as everyone is different. As I said we follow nice (national institute of clinical excellence) guidelines .

[Inamoment in reply to ang3675]

Read what nice say

[ang3675 in reply to Inamoment]

I was just trying to help support someone, with cases of anxiety and blood pressure, a bit of tact and sensitivity goes a long way. Guidelines are what they say, just guidelines, they are not set in stone. Best wishes.

[Lezzers in reply to ang3675]

My husbands BP is usually low 90's/low 60's & often dips to low 80's/50's, it doesn't cause him to have dizzy spells. His nurse says low BP is normal for him so possibly it depends on the individual?

[ang3675 in reply to Lezzers]

That's very true. Some people do have naturally lower blood pressure and some are naturally higher. I'm glad to hear that it doesn't affect your husband, I have seen some people in a terrible state. We don't all fit into a neat little box and everyone is different. Take care

[Lezzers in reply to ang3675]

His low BP is due to medication, so it's a compromise really. But it's all swings & roundabouts when it comes the medical conditions & medications.

[Prada47]

Hi Jeff

90/60 is regarded as Low I was always under the impression that 140/80 was my target BP. Don't forget an awful lot depends on Age, Current Level of Overall Health, and of course Medication. If your concerned see your GP but looks like your discharge summary didn't ring Bells for concern

[Chappychap in reply to Prada47]

"90/60 is regarded as Low I was always under the impression that 140/80 was my target BP."

The NHS say the ideal blood pressure range is anywhere from 90/60 to 120/80,

nhs.uk/conditions/high-bloo...

BUPA agrees that 90/60 to 120/80 is the target range, but they describe the range 120/80 to 140/80 as "pre high blood pressure". I see that as similar to "pre-diabetic", it's not a reason for panic, more an amber warning light saying this needs attention before it gets worse.

bupa.co.uk/health-informati...

[Prada47 in reply to Chappychap]

Please see my caveat depends on Age, Current Level of Fitness, and Medication. so anything below 90/60 is Low 89.9999/59.9999 would be considered as a Low Blood Pressure reading. source BHF. Ang3675 I agree it depends on so many factors and I am a fan of NICE, Clinical Excellence in the title says it all for me. Just been for a Blood Test as my Potassium levels are High causing my Heart Rate and Blood Pressure to be very erratic Upwards and Downwards. The Cardiologist just said Heart Sounds are 1 & 2 irregular have his Us & E s checked weekly until Heart Rate and BP stabilise. So it does depend on a lot more than just a figure.

[Lezzers in reply to Prada47]

Hi, do you mind if I ask what your potassium reading was? My husband has also had issues with high potassium

[Prada47 in reply to Lezzers]

Hi Lezzers Potassium 5.5 I think normal range is 3 to 5 !!

[Lezzers in reply to Prada47]

That is high. On my husbands results it says normal results it says anything above 5.3 is high. Once his reading go to this level they took him off spironolactone. Do they know what's causing your high level?

[ang3675]

Don't worry about your blood pressure, try some relaxation exercises. Try to get your blood pressure checked at the local pharmacy which may be less stressful than attending your GP. You should discuss your anxiety with your GP though as dealing with this will help a lot. Take care.

[Lezzers in reply to ang3675]

Maybe worth investing in a BP monitor, although that can become obsessive

[Deanosbeano]

Less than 150 /90 isn't alarming , as others have said do average over week

Max when exercise is 220- your age ,so take into consideration fight or flight feelings will up your rates but you won't be massively ott