Hi I would say I'm healthy up until a month ago I started getting out of breath and now it's got to a point I can hardly to much with getting breathless it feels like bad anxiety so I found out my BP is high -168/95.....I'm a full time carer to my autistic children so I'm busy....well was busy...last night GP put me on medication, I'm scared to take it as so many side effects but I know I can't carry on feeling so bad either, I can't sleep as it's worse at night I'm feeling very scared at moment, I'm not overweight, I don't smoke or drink and was always on the go up until recently can anyone give me advice please x
Hbp and scared : Hi I would say I'm... - British Heart Fou...
Hbp and scared
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Currymetoo
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66 Replies
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I am taking meds for high blood pressure. The list of side effects is all the side effects ever reported by anyone taking that drug. Nobody gets all of them and most people don't get any. These drugs have been around for many years, so are as safe as anything can be.
I had some swelling of the ankles with my first drug, but am doing well with the second one. There are many alternatives, so if you're not happy with your meds, there's lots of others to try.
I'm generally not keen on medication, but my father died very young from a bleed on the brain (stroke). He had high blood pressure but did not take his meds regularly, so I'm making sure I take mine every day.
Just give the meds a try and let us know how you get on. Good luck!
I don't get any side-effects from my heart-rate/blood pressure meds, or my anticoagulants, or my anti-platelet meds.
I got dry mouth from my anti-depressants when I first started, but that went away after a few weeks. I still get headaches from them, but for me a headache beats the heck out of depression (and I can take something for the headache).
As Silvermedal says, you probably won't get any side-effects from your meds. But even if you do, they're likely to be better than the side-effects from high-blood-pressure (which can include heart failure and stroke).
Keep us posted.
Hi I have been taking them for 5 days now and only get face flushing at moment and my Bo has come down but not my pulse, I have been resting alot and when I do walk a short distance I get very breathless and my pulse goes up to 101 and higher so not sure what's happening, it was like this before the BP medication too , thanks for giving me all the advice too
If you don't take your medication you are putting yourself at risk. Who will care for children of something happens to you. They always put all known side effects on the leaflets, it covers them from prosecution that's all. So take a breath, take your meds, take care of yourself, then the kids.❤🤗
Currymetoo• in reply to
Thank you I have been on the medication now and it's come down
If you have been offered meds, your doctor will have done a risk benefit assessment. Drugs cost money, they would only spend on you if necessary. I am long (20yrs) retired and they keep moving the goal posts re BP readings. High blood pressure does increase your risk but I bet you wouldn't win the lottery with the same odds.
I have my BP checked for over 5 weeks and it kept going up so they decided to start me on the medication
I agree with the other posts. On a risk/benefit basis, much better to be on the meds than not.
My husband went through a period of feeling awful - being out of breath, feeling unwell. He was not overweight, didn’t smoke, was fairly fit. He had a 24 bp monitor which showed high bp, but they thought not high enough to warrant medication. He had a heart attack a month later.
Luckily he survived and we discovered that his high cholesterol causing the high bp is hereditary. Diet, exercise, all the other risk factors turned out not to be his problem.
So sorry to hear this but really pleased he is better now , I have started my medication and my BP is down but I still feel breathless and high pulse
You don't have to be overweight,smoker or drinker to get heart or blood pressure problems,it's just one of those things,but you do need to get blood pressure down and worrying will add to high BP, you haven't said how old you are,I'm 67 and had no health probs until last year so it's a lottery,I feel sometimes these things happen to our bodies to say "stop"
Thank you, I'm 49 and normally very active my BP has come down now but my pulse still high and I'm still getting breathless, I had a ECG and that was fine and had bloods my ferritin blood is low so on iron tablets too
along with what’s been said . Have a look at the website of Blood Pressure UK for general information.
And - you have to prioritise your own needs above those for whom you care. Otherwise you cannot care for them.
Thank you yes definitely
While I'm not a doctor and cannot hope to medically diagnose the issue (nor should I), my advice would be to address the cause not the symptoms. Just giving you BP medication sounds like only addressing the symptoms. How can you do this? I would advise you see a cardiologist. Your heart is working very hard to supply blood in your body. Much too hard. There are many many options but you need expert care.
I've never been a fan of the nhs. Difficult to get appointments. GPs see you in 5mins and things are sometimes not taken seriously. That was my experience of the nhs. But I always go private nowadays and I get much better care and am listened to as a patient. It's your life so I would be prepared to pay even. A strange concept to some people but not to most of the world. Nor myself.
youtu.be/Q8RQz8jd1qc?si=JNt...
All well and good for people to pay privately if they can afford it! I know the NHS is far from perfect but I for one have never been let down when I was in need of help
Agreed. Not a helpful comment
If you scroll down lower you'll realise my comment is much more helpful than yours.
I have had amazing care from my NHS cardiology team and no problems with my GP either.I have had to wait a long time for some not so urgent treatment but when It was my heart and cancer it was dealt with immediately and they saved my life.
I had a poor experience with the nhs because I've seen what truly great health care looks like elsewhere, and it puts the nhs to shame. Most people who left a review of my local surgery also feel the same. It is difficult to get an appointment even I hear or even get through to my local surgery nowadays. Google review 1 and 2*. The reviews below make sad reading indeed.
But that is not my point.
My point is to get potentially a 2nd opinion which yes may mean at times God forbid, paying something. There's nothing wrong with that.
Conversely, reducing, or even getting rid of the symptoms, can also reduce or remove the cause.
It depends but normally, just fighting symptoms is not ideal. Preventing or rectifying the cause normally ends better. The cardiologist in the video reinforces my point.
By the way, to all the people seemingly scoffing at the idea of paying to see a doctor or cardiologist of your choice. There are a number of world expert online youtube doctors that offer online or in person consultations quite inexpensively. Many of them in the UK. E.g. try doctor Sanjay Gupta. He's well known on youtube and clearly knows his stuff. He happens to be based in York. Here for example he discusses not just treating high blood pressure symptoms alone:
youtu.be/XjF5QgFARVc?si=zfu...
Unfortunately Dr Sanjay Gupta doesn't always know his 'stuff'.
The information he gives about microvascular and vasospastic angina and Myocardial Infarction non obstructive coronary arteries MINOCAs is out dated.
I met him at a conference and ask him to update his information even providing the latest research. I didn't receive a postive response.
He knows it better than you or I and an average GP, of that I'm sure. If you don't like him, no problem, try someone else, who you do favour. This was my original suggestion anyway, to seek a 2nd opinion from an expert that you are happy with and yes pay if necessary. I have watched many of his videos and find them very informative and helpful. Just my take on him. I like him, many others do too. He explains things extremely well. You don't like him. That's ok. Peace. I hope sharing the links helped some people albeit not you.
No idea why you have got such a negative response?. I live in Ireland where roughly 60% of people have and pay for private health insurance at approx £2000 per person annually. Well worth it when something goes wrong and so strikingly efficient in what they do. We of course have out HSE which is identical to your NHS and has exactly the same problems. The big problem is you only get in when something serious occurs but its the testing and scans that take so long and cause the serious issues to advance while you wait your 12 months or so to be seen. Of course our GPs always charged a fee and are only free to over 65s and people on very low income so getting an appointment is not very difficult. Private for me is second nature at this stage.
Well said. Thank you. I think some people almost feel offended at the concept of paying anything for healthcare. If something is free, it loses its value and is not respected. E.g. missed GP appointments. Someone somewhere always pays. I hope my Dr. Gupta videos helped someone anyway.
Maybe he thinks your information is wrong or out dated.
Maybe he doesn't acknowledge that there are expert patients by experience?
Some expert patients are co authors of academic papers, co applicants to research studies, are members of professional working groups with their contributions respected by prominent leading Cardiologists.
Work with researchers in the design of research studies.
Speak at NHS and professional organisation's conferences.
Even have Orchid accounts
Act as expert patient advisors to the information on the BHF website
Some of the members of this forum carryout these important patient representative roles.
I'm sure he does and gets on well with them. Good for you!
The patients asking questions here on this forum are not world experts. Otherwise they would not be asking their questions.
Good afternoon Milkfairy just out of curiosity are you one of the members who is a representative patient on this forum. Please only reply if you feel happy to.
Hi I can't afford to go private but thank you
Then maybe look for an alternative nhs doctor. But I guess you'll have to wait longer. I wish you a speedy recovery.
I've been on blood pressure meds for about 30 years now. I have had some mild side effects on some of them but only one gave me frightening side effects (Ramipril) and worse because they were giving me the same symptoms as my aortic valve malfunction so masking it for some time. I'm on one of them that I have been on the whole time and the doctors just dumped the others and put me on it twice a day. Oddly since then and my TAVR my blood pressure has been much lower so they halved the dose and sometimes when I take my BP I have to omit the dose altogether.
Don't refuse to take them when your BP is so high. You really don't want to risk a stroke. As others have said, most of those side effects you never have them and if you do get any they aren't generally anything dangerous and you just notify the doc and get them switched.
Thank you for this advice
I forgot to add about the breathlessness. I had it and badly before I went to the emergency room where my aortic valve problem was found. I also had pulmonary edema which can be life threatening and definitely was in my case. Have a doctor see to it ASAP.
Get a BP monitor-very cheap from any pharmacist- and take your own blood pressure morning and afternoon for a few days. GP's rarely take it correctly and it might be high because of nerves.
I don't know what medication you are on but take it and together with the monitor that will give you a good idea as to whether they are effective. That is high BP but might be accounted for by nerves and the medication might bring it down.
However it doesn't explain the breathlessness, although that can have a number of causes. If the BP remains high and you remain breathless then you need to go back to your GP and get a more detailed assessment which might be at the hospital-many GP's are not very expert at hearts.
You say you are not overweight. Being busy is not the same as eating well or being fit.
Yes, I am concerned about Currymetoo's breathlessness. High blood pressure on its own does not cause this. Other causes need to be looked into, as well as treating your high blood pressure. Best wishes
Thank you I'm going back to the doctor's on Monday
Any luck with the GP on Monday?
Hi I was setup the hospital for a chest x-ray, my resting pulse at the doctor's was 102 and the GP is sending me for an echo scan next week and I will have to wear a ECG for 24 hours, I'm still getting breathless but not as bad now taking the BP medication so yes it's still a worry for me
That's good news. The echo and Holter monitor will give your doctors a bunch of info.
Hang tight. They'll get to the bottom of it.
I will.be glad then I can get some of my life back as feel very restricted at moment 🤞
I'm certainly not overweight, if anything I'm under. I eat healthy, don't drink and had an active job and home life. My only sin was I did smoke, not many on a daily basis but had done for 40 years. I had high blood pressure, under active thyroid and developed type 2 diabetes in the last few years. I'm 61, work 5 or 6 days a week and was too busy to take my meds regularly. My plan was to work as much as I can and retire at 64. The problem with that plan is you have to get to 64! Two months ago I was blue lighted to hospital, kept there for a fortnight before being transferred to Bristol for a replacement aortic valve and bypass. The surgeon said it was the longest and most challenging operation he had done and if I hadn't been so fit beforehand I it's unlikely I would have survived. 6 weeks post op I'm starting to feel better and now take my medication without fail, morning and night. I don't have any side affects, it's possible Bisoporsol or Furosemide caused a bit of nausea to start with but that has passed but couldn't easily have been the effects of the operation. I have to rethink my plans although the Drs say in 6 months time I will feel better than I've done for years, i will hopefully go part time or find a different job and just work longer but not so much. I'm sure my meds will need to be adjusted in the next few months. One thing I will do though is take my medication as prescribed!!
Hi I take medication every day and my BP has come down but my pulse still high with breathlessness when I walk a bit
I think you should take the meds.Not everyone has side affects. Go back to gp if you do but they might make you feel much better.You won't know unless you try.Good luck. From Nanna Jude.
Hello, please take the doctors advice and treatment for hypertension (high BP). My mother died instantly of a massive brain haemorrhage caused by undiagnosed hypertension. I had 2 heart attacks, thought to be related to high BP and cholesterol, despite some normal blood pressure readings most of the time I'd checked myself. High blood pressure is very damaging to your cardiovascular health, that can lead to heart attack and stroke. Please don't risk this, your children need you. Yes, there are potential side effects from meds, these sometimes settle or you could try alternative tablets. Yes, do check your blood pressure at home as someone else said, this is deemed to be best practice now as some people suffer white coat syndrome. However, sometimes people get stressed by self check. I assume the GP has also arranged for you to have some blood tests, check urine for ACR and an ECG this is standard guidance in the UK. Also find some time for yourself to relax, go out walking alone, some way of destressing if possible. Good luck. Let us know how you get on.
Hi I had had a ECG not unrine test and I can't walk much as get breathless and high pulse I do have an under active thyroid but have done for years I'm going to the doctors on Monday thanks
Are you on treatment for your underactive thyroid?
Yes I have been on levothyroxine 100mg every day for years
Are you on treatment for your underactive thyroid?
I sympathise with your situation. From being on no medication to being prescribed it is a big step mentally. Somehow we can equate it to our body failing, but in reality it is just in our minds. Please do take the medication you have been prescribed and if it doesn't suit you then get straight back to your GP. There are many different types of BP medication and hopefully one should suit you. Medication is formulated to help us, so do work with your GP to get the one that works best.
High BP is a fact of modern life. It is better to deal with it than not. At one point I presented a BP of 220/111. I had actually suffered high BP for a decade and had been prescribed a diuretic by my previous GP, but I cannot cope with diuretics. That GP refused to prescribe anything different, so I went unmediated for a decade. A change of GP initiated a health review and finally I got prescribed proper BP medication and my BP came under control. It did take a few changes to find the best one for me.
Thank you I have been taking it now
Hi it's only three months since I have been taking tablets for high blood pressure and very reluctantly as well , last week my friends husband had a heart attack the reason being he had not been taking his blood pressure meds, that has gave me a big wake up call. I spoke to my consultant yesterday about feeling more tired since I had started taking them and she is going to check my bloods and decide whether to change to a different one but in the end I can put up with it rather than have the danger of a stroke or heart attack hanging over me. Give the pills a try and if you are having side effects go back to your GP there are so many different meds for I am sure you will be able to get one that suits you take care Char.
Thank you I have been on the tablets now and they have helped with my BP but I have high pulse and still getting breathless
Nobody likes going on the meds. I was a very fit cyclist + gym goer. I thought going on meds would be the end of that.Been taking them almost a year now - no real side effects.
My advice :- take the meds + get on with your life.
Thank you I have been taking them.now
Maybe should check with ECG and ultrasound first.. and MRI if possible if heart is ok.
I had a ECG on Friday and looked fine so I'm going back on Monday as still feeling breathless
I was struggling with extremely high blood pressure and was terrified that a stroke may be imminent. I tried a few different meds at different doses, until we got it down to the just within the upper limit of normal.It remained on the high side for a couple of years.
Along with my cholesterol and low mood.
All of this changed abruptly when for other reasons, I decided to quit alcohol.
To my shock, within.a few months, I have been taken off all meds, as my blood pressure had fallen so much I no longer needed them.
So did my cholesterol.
My mood improved enormously.
My energy levels.
Breathlessness.
Unbelievable!
To give you an idea.
I went to A&E at one point with bp at 205 over 135.
When the doctor told me to stop taking the medication, my last reading was 99 over 72.
No more antidepressants.
Cholesterol down by three points.
(With the use of plant sterol containing daily mini drinks too)
I'm shocked.
Relieved.
Rarely anxious.
The thing I though was helping me relax at night, was the direct cause of most of my problems.
No amount of alcohol is good.
If you don't drink. Brilliant.
Either way, I'm sure the doctors will provide you with the right solution for your needs.
All the best.
I would suggest you follow the advice given to you by your GP, the person that I owe what they are talking about.
Seeking advice from unqualified non-professionals is never a wise option.
I assume yoru GP has done several readings and knows your high BP is not just caused by anxiety. In that case you absolutely must take the tablets. However high BP doesn't usually cause breathlessness so they need to be finding out the cause not just treating the symptoms. Take the tablets but at the same time keep pushing them for more tests to find out why you are so breathless.
Thank you I'm going back on Monday to push them
High blood pressure is a very common . Nobody dies from high BP but dies from the effects of it particularly stroke and heart attack. The medication for high BP are many and improving all the time with lesser and lesser side effects . Anxiety is bad for all medication and I find in my own experience the BP rises when I am stressed. It is important you check your BP first thing in the morning after a good night's rest. That gives a good base of BP control. You mention that reduction of common salt and perhaps your GP might add water tablet ( diuretic ) in addition. The diuretic also helps to stabilise your BP. What medication are you taking for your high BP because certain medication causes ankle swelling. It's good idea to get a second opinion from a cardiologist. Hope you soon get better. Regards.
By now, I certainly hope you are taking it.
Yes I am and it's come down thank you
Hopefully your Dr will gradually introduce the medication if they are able to. Most wont have any dramatic side effects, I'm sure you will be fine. Just monitor them yourself and let your Dr know if there are adverse side effects. Hope you feel better soon. I started using meditation too that reduces the BP ( nearly 10 points) and makes you feel better.
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