Bought a BP monitor and am worried

[balin333]

Hi I have suffered from anxiety and stress most of my life and been on bp tablets (Lercanidipine 10mg and Bisoprolol 5mg)for at least 10 years (I am 58) My weight is fine I have never smoked and dont drink. All my other health stats seem to be fine. To be honest most of this time I never understood bp I cut out bread tried to eat healthy and went to the doctor who seemed to be happy. At my last 3 monthly nurse check up she said my bp was a bit high and go to 20 mg Lercanidipine. I tried to be clever and went to 15mg then with covid my last check up was cancelled so I just kept on 15mg. 6 day ago I bought a BP monitor took my bp and it was 178/113 I was somewhat worried! I went to 20mg lercandipine and since then I have learned as much as I can about bp and took alot of readings. My bp monitor is supposed to be good and I sure Im useing it correctly it sends the reading to an app on my mobile so I can see averages I take about 6 or 7 reading through the day and in the morning my bp can be around 150/95 but by evening/night it goes to about 175/113. I eating as healthy as I can going for walk breathing deep in the 6 days I have been on 20mg my lowest reading was 141/90 but that is rare and only morning. My question is should I contact my gp surgery now or give the 20mg more time to kick in i believe it takes at least 2 weeks to get full effect. My pulse is fine around 61 and the strange thing is if it goes up my bp comes down my best readings are all with higher pulse maybe high 70s. I feel fine (apart when I look at some of my readings go on the internet and see it go red at the reading and say run to the hospital). Sorry for long post I seem to have entered a nightmare since getting my monitor I cant believe how ignorant I was.

[seasider18]

From the sound of it stress seems to be playing a large part in your variable readings and that you are self medicating which is obviously not a good idea. You should ask your GP for Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to get a 24 hour series of readings. If they are till high you need proper investigation at a hypertension centre. They are part of kidney units at major UK hospitals and can do proper investigations. As my one said cardiologists are very clever people and do things that I cannot do but they do not understand BP like I do.

I was told to take three readings over a ten minute period and to only believe them if two of the three were similar. My first of the three is normally the highest and morning readings are usually much higher than later ones.

[lettingoffsteam]

I agree with seasider18 as it does sound like you are getting very anxious over taking your bp.I'm the same and I can definitely drive my bp up hugely with anxiety, which is one of those special skills us hypertensives have....no half measures for us!😄 Is there someone else at home who can take your bp?My husband does mine and records it for me, giving me a monthly average.By not dwelling on the numbers myself my readings are now quite low which was confirmed by a recent 24 hour bp check ordered by my cardiologist. That said, have a word with your gp, but it may take a while to adjust to the new dose.Hope it settles soon.

[springcross]

Hi balin. I am like you too. I can drive my BP up with anxiety and stress which often happens. It happened to me also when I was fitted with an ambulatory monitor, as soon as it started to take a reading, my stress level would go up and I would panic which gave me quite high readings throughout the day. Also, my BP is usually acceptable if my heart rate is high usually in the top 80s, most strange. Mine is usually good in the morning (now, but never used to be) but high(ish) in the afternoon - I think it's because I take my two medications in the evening so by the next morning, I still have some of it left in my system but by late afternoon, early evening it has started to wear off a bit (well, that's my theory anyway). I think you should consult with your GP and ask his/her opinion about your dosage. Good luck with it and let us know how you get on.

[Philsy1946]

Hi balin I tried bisoprolol and amlodipine (was on that years) bisoprolol added made me dizzy in combination standing up and sitting. Doc switched me to slozem dropped biso and amlod much better. 74 reasonably fit eat wisely drink a bit enjoy life not crazy about lockdown but got a garden. Try laying off the monitor its winding you up! Test once a week quite enough you know when pressure is rising you feel it if its very high. Mine around 140/ 90/80 varies a bit. I exercise love it static bike, rower, stepper daily a few floor exercises fun keeps weight steady all cardio exercises fun not bad light weights and loads of stretching and floor exercises. At 58 your quite young see a trainer rehabilitation (in combination with Dr) expert likely put you on a better tack. Worrying so much is stressing you relax have some fun!

[balin333]

Thank you for all your kind replies and helpful advice. I realised last night after another high nightime reading it would never go down enough just waiting for the 20mg to kick in given that I was already on 15mg. So this morning I rang the surgery and the main nurse called back having explained the situation to her she said I was taking to many readings and she would send me some info by email how to take the reading with a chart I have to fill in for the next week. Basicaly I have to take two readings at 11 and two at 7 and no more. Then drop them off at the practice next week. She said they might have to up the dose but did not want to unless certain. This mornings 2 reading were around 151/93 good for me and I felt alot better for contacting her but tonights was around 175/111 which it has been around about every night since I started. Will continue to fill in the form but I think I will need either a higher dose maybe split morning and evening if you can do that or different bp medication but I will definatly follow what doc says. Thanks again

[lmeyer36]

Hi, first of all DON'T PANIC!! I have had BP as high as 230/120!! I am 41 female. My issue came out of nowhere. My BP had always been normal. I have no other health issues. You do not need to run to ER with high BP unless you have symptoms along with it like extreme headache, chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath....BUT you cannot leave your BP that high for too long either. Days is ok, but weeks/months no!! You sound like you do need a medication adjustment but do NOT do this on your own!! Call your doc and explain your situation. Have your readings on hand. And make sure to take 3 readings 5 min apart in the sitting position with your arm resting at heat level and not hanging down at your side. Relax, or your readings will be high! Do this in the morning and before bed. I take 10mg amlodipine daily and my BP now ranged from 125/88 to 145/98ish. I will prob need to add another medication in to get proper control. Bottom line is to relax but to get things under control asap. Be glad you are aware though because many ppl are not and they have major events like heat attack or stroke from years of hypertension that was left untreated!!

[Mancy]

Great to see a post from someone with really high readings. Most seem quite low to me.

[CJ70]

Hi, I’ve just seen your post from earlier this year, and the comments from others - and wondered how you are getting on? I had same issues last year, and ended up in a&e several times before they took me in at new year. Same - lower heart rate means higher readings, and I also do better with bpm in 70’s. Like you, my resting is around 60. I’ve been on Lercanidipine after disasters with Ramipril and Amlodipine which didn’t work. They took me off ramipril in hospital and my bp dropped to 112/79! I’m 49 and started on HRT this year, I’ve since managed to lose a stone and had regular readings of 125/80. Until this week when told to do a 7 day bp diary and it’s 185/103! Maybe it’s the diary causing it, I don’t know. I do think women react differently to men on meds, especially when combined with menopause.

[xAnn2002x]

I was always told to sit for 10 minutes with the blood pressure cuff on your arm which allows you to relax, then take your blood pressure.I was also told by my nurse to take two readings am and pm at exactly the same time for 5 days.

After five days add up all the figures on the top line and divide them by 5 then do the same with the bottom numbers and this should given you your average blood pressure. This is due to the fact your blood pressure obviously goes up and down throughout the day depending on what you have been doing. Hope this helps