hi, I’ve had low blood pressure my whole life, then the last few years, my blood pressure has been recorded as too high. After a wellness check at work afew weeks back, my blood pressure was recorded as 138/86
i went to docs today and she said she will give me a blood pressure monitor for the day and do blood tests and i eill probably need to go on ramipril.
Over the last few years I have drunk alcohol more regularly, I have one strong coffee a day, not enough water, and my diet is moderately ok, sometimes I eat too much crap and not enough good stuff. I am qyite active/ busy in general , I have no weight to loose.
I’ve had lots of stress.
I don’t know enough about this condition and wonder if Once you have high blood pressure under these circumstances if medication is the only way,
over the last few weeks since my wellness check I’ve already turned to decaf coffee, had lots more water and improved my diet, next is to cut right back on alcohol, but I’m worried it’s not enough. As I don’t have weight to lose.
Any input/ thoughts would be great, Thankyou
Ren
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We're well into the flu season, and as well as flu there's the normal winter crop of nasty coughs and colds. Any one of these can add twenty points to your systolic blood pressure reading...and here's the thing, it can do this even if you're asymptomatic, so unaware that you even have a bug in the first place.
Next up. When I had high blood pressure (similar readings to yours in fact) I found three factors contributed equally to getting my blood pressure well down into the safe zone.
First was exercise and weight loss. I can't separate them as they happened together. I appreciate your weight is okay, but you didn't mention exercise. Even now, if I've had a good work-out in the morning, then my blood pressure will be lower than usual all that afternoon and well into the evening. This is a common phenomenon that many on this forum have reported.
Second was a low salt diet. Our modern diet is a killer. The average person in the UK obtains over 50% of their calories from ultra processed foods, which pretty much all contains way too much salt, even sweet snacks contain salt! Additional salt means additional water retention, which in turn drives up our blood pressure.
Third was medication.
However, having said all this, the number one risk factor for Hypertension (high blood pressure) is age itself. So it's pretty common to see blood pressure notch up as the years roll by, but there are still plenty of initiatives we can take to pull the scores down. So never stop trying!
Thankyou, that’s very helpful, I have about a month I think until my next checks so will go all in on eating no processed food , drinking water, no alcohol or caffeine and doing the exercise. And see what the results are then
You mention having a lot of stress in your life. This too can have an effect on BP - both at the time it's taken and during stressful periods in your life.
BP should be taken when you are sitting at rest. If your wellness check at work was during a stressful day, this could have caused an increase, as can 'white coat syndrome' when being checked by medical professionals.
You may find that when you take your readings over a day, and at times you are not under pressure, you get better results.
When thinking about exercise, you don't necessarily need to book into a gym! Walking is good, and making simple changes such as taking the stairs rather than the lift can all help.
Hope you manage to bring it down without having to accept medication.
Thankyou! The wellness cheek was after a very busy morning and the job has been feet stressful, I’ve had loads of personal stress too so I’m going to work on refusing the stress where I can and get a heart monitor for home, do you face any advice when best to do it at home? After doing some sort of relaxation for example or just in the course of an ordinary morning or afternoon? Thankyou for y or d advice, much appreciated
I have my own BP monitor and the instructions that came with it said to sit on the chair at the table where your monitor is set up for around 10 minutes before to relax (that's the bit I find hardest to do!!), also not to eat, drink,or smoke for 30 minutes before ...and make sure you don't need the loo at the time!
Wellness checks at work are very unlikely to be held in optimal conditions. Was the BPM at the right height? Was it accurate? Were you nervous? Did they wait 5 minutes for you to sit down calmly and take 3 readings with a minute in between?
Any monitor from the GP is also likely to cause anxiety and a high reading but at least it means the GP is involved.
These cuff monitors are very cheap and readily available from a chemist. Why not get your own and take a morning and evening reading for a week when you are relaxed, warm and not anxious? As others have said there are other things you can do if the reading is correct which includes weight loss and lifestyle changes
I have recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure, very high, and was to,d that age and female gender were risk factors we can’t control, as opposed to lifestyle factors like alcohol, coffee, weight and exercise which have less of an impact on blood pressure. I too was resistant to taking medication but was told the risk of stroke was too great. I am also to monitor using my blood pressure monitor I have at home. Your blood pressure was a lot lower than mine though and I am surprised if you will need medication at that level although of course I am not medically qualified.
You have had some great advice already.The guidelines for the management of high blood pressure have been renewed. It means that many more people are now being told their blood pressure is too high.
Hopefully through the life style changes suggested you will be able to reduce your blood pressure.
This is from the NHS guidelines.
"As a general guide:
high blood pressure is considered to be from 140/90mmHg (or an average of 135/85mmHg at home)
– or 150/90mmHg (or an average of 145/85mmHg at home) if you're over the age of 80
Hi ren I see you are doing everything you can to try and bring your BP down which is fantastic.Keep up with the healthy eating plan but do go back to your Dr if things don't improve.
I was also a fit healthy person who suddenly developed high BP also like you I drank coffee and was very stressed.
I started out on Ramipril ,however after multiple medicine changes I was diagnosed with endocrine hypertension. Just something to watch out for if the drugs and healthy eating dont help.
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