Raised Systolic BP

[woodbon]

I'm on bp medication and my blood pressure is usually about 125/59. Tonight my bp is 167/62 and pulse 62. I haven't been doing much today and my bp is usually on the low side. I have mild heart valve disease but my cardiologist said I don't need to see him for 5 years. I'm female and 64 years old.

[Hidden]

Five years is a long time! Again the practical advice is to record your BP three times a day for 3 to 5 days and then go see your GP who may refer you to see your specialist early. However, there are many causes for raised readings, drinking a hot drink, too much coffee, exciting book, scary film, mother in law visiting and much more. I assume you know all that and would take another reading some time later - did it resolve itself? If not get a BP reader and begin recording your readings as indicated - good luck, probably nothing but good to know you are aware and are being pro active

[woodbon in reply to Hidden]

Hi, Thank you. I have just taken my blood pressure, as I'm alone in the house and quiet! Today, my first measurement was 163/61, second a few minutes later, 140/61 and the last about 5 mins later 134/56. My diastolic is usually in the 50's but my GP said not to worry as long as I feel alright, which I do. I'm seeing my GP tomorrow about a back problem, so I will discuss it with her then. I'm going to the dentist this pm so maybe thats not helping!!!

[Hidden in reply to woodbon]

Well it certainly would not help my BP of that you can be assured. Your recovery rate is good and I personally feel that 134/56 is fine. I'm not too sure the Dr's words that if you feel OK then all is well for high BP can catch up on people and be a total surprise.

[Manhattan1 in reply to Hidden]

had to be taken into A&E recently due to slight chest pain and low heart rate when i was there BP was 202/99..nurse asked if I suffered from high BP i said yes but generally under control with medication .. she left without saying anything.. bp tajen again an hour later 199/95.. .. nurse joked with me it was high but again nothing else mentioned..i was a wee bit concerned that i didn’t see a doctor until 5 hrs after being admitted to casualty ( there were a few emergencies admitted while i was there and only seemed to be 2 young docs on duty).. is this seemingly (it’s ok attitude) the norm for people displaying high bp after coming into A&E?

[Hidden in reply to Manhattan1]

I certainly would be concerned if I had a BP of 200/100. However, I am somewhat confused regarding the nurses question and your answer - If I was asked whether I had high blood pressure I think I might say, yes but controlled by medication and never recorded at this value before - emphasising my own concern to something totally unusual. As for the nurses attitude, perhaps if you had made more of the extremely high values, they might have acted differently - I really do not know.

[Manhattan1 in reply to Hidden]

thing is i would’ve thought that as a trained NHS professional she would’ve been a bit concerned at the high bp reading and asked questions of the patient or seek advice from a doctor on duty.. but there you go.. maybe she thought it was a case of the so called ‘white coat syndrome ‘

[Hidden in reply to Manhattan1]

Thats possible however there is also the milk of human kindness which costs nothing to administer and is worth a fortune