Erratic BP readings - should I be worried? Welcome your thoughts and views

[spr123]

Hi

I last posted here about 4 months ago and have to say what a helpful community this is, great to share experiences and welcome your views!

I'm 39 and last May had readings of around 175/125 and was prescribed Amlodipine and Ramipril...rather annoyingly I felt for my age! However, I was drinking 4 or 5 days a week, diet wasn't great and I have a fairly stressful job (all perfect factors for High BP I guess).

I lost about 10kilos over the summer and have held my weight there, controlled my diet, reduce drinking to 3 days a week and lowered the amount of alcohol too. All this resulted in my BP coming down to around 132 / 85 as a weekly average which i was really pleased with.

It stayed around this level +or- 10mg on each reading. I got to a point where I was checking myself daily having worked from home over the lockdowns. I wanted to stop taking daily readings and try just 1 or 2 a week.

However, in the last month or so, I find myself really nervous/anxious if I do not take a reading in the day, almost lull myself into thinking 'what if my BP now is high'?!

Secondly, when I then sit down to measure my BP my first 2 readings come out much higher c160/105, however, I can tell within myself I am feeling very nervous as I want a good reading! Inevitably, the further readings do come back down in the range of 130s/80s but I guess human nature makes you remember the bad readings more than the good ones.

Do any of you have this. High 1st or 2nd BP readings and then normalish ones? Should I be worried about these initial readings or should I disregard as nerves? Am I checking the readings too much with the extra spare time working from home?!

It's really annoyed me more than anything else as I felt I was in a really good groove with the BP. When I see a 160/105 for example, I think to myself what was the point of losing the weight and controlling the diet if I am still recording these high odd readings!

Any advice, encouragement, do's, don'ts are welcome

Thanks in advance

[Happyrosie]

Hello spr123. A bit of background. Some people (I was one) had what’s called ‘white coat hypertension’. That is, when you see someone with a white coat, that is a doctor, your BP goes up. I resisted getting my own BP monitor because I felt that I would be taking the pressure every few minutes. I talked this over with a nurse, who said “be disciplined, take your pressure on the first day of the month”. So I got a machine and that’s what I do.

So many people now have their own machines that white coat hypertension is badly named!

Now, why does your BP go up? If you are nervous, part of your brain is saying to you “there is danger, I may need to escape!” And because you can’t run if your bp is normal - you just wouldn’t get up speed - your bp goes up to help you. So, it’s a very natural reaction to being anxious.

How to keep the anxiety away when you take your pressure, then?

Firstly, just do it once a month, or every Tuesday morning, or whatever suits you - then stick to it!

Secondly, you must be relaxed. The recommended readings of, say, 110/80, assume you are sitting quietly

Put your monitor on and sit and read a nice book or whatever, for ten minutes. Take your pressure, write it down. Wait for a minute. Breathe gently, not with deep breaths but slowly. Then take your pressure again and take the average of the next three, throwing away the first reading. After a bit of practice you will find you can bring your systolic down by at least five, more like ten, points. Like anything new, this does take a bit of practice but I think if I can do it, anyone can!!

So, to answer your question, yes quite often the first reading is high, that’s normal.

Do try this out and post back to us - in a few months time when you are used to taking your body this way.

[spr123 in reply to Happyrosie]

Hi Happyrosie, thanks so much for taking the time out to advise.

I have not checked my BP for the last 3 days at home as I am trying to break the daily cycle of checking. However, I have felt really nervous almost anxious for each of the 3 days and had poor sleep as a result.

I keep telling myself this is stupid and not to get so worked up but I just cant shake the nervous feeling off.

I am taking a reading later today and I know the 1st 1 or 2 will be ridiculously high - but equally I am telling myself that this is not a true reflection of my Base BP - this is a heightened escalated reading.

I really want to reduce the frequency of checking and maybe I should start with checking just every other day instead of leaving a 3 day gap.

I will try putting the sleeve on and sitting for up to 10 minutes, either reading a book or doing a Calm meditation / breathing exercise to see if this makes a difference - thanks for the suggestion.

[Happyrosie in reply to spr123]

Well done spr123 for holding back for three days. Do as you suggest. Don’t forget, your body is being told by a (primitive) part of your brain “danger danger I must run” so your bp goes up in order that your body can, indeed, run. It takes a little while to train it to realise there is no danger.

Something that someone on this forum suggested a few weeks ago, and this works if you live with someone (I shall call that person your friend) in the same household. Sit down as you suggest with the monitor on. Your friend times you ten minutes - NO TALKING - and presses the button for you and writes down the result without telling you what it is. Repeat three times. Resist the urge to find out the result, Do this a couple of times a week or whatever your interval is.

I found that, when I was on a 24 hour monitor I just could not resist looking at the readings. Bad idea!!!

[Collywobbles64]

Hi spr123, congratulations on loosing weight and reducing your alcohol intake. My readings also fluctuate with the first often being high. I wait a further 5 minutes or so then take it again. It usually comes down. Your anxiety could be making it worse.

[spr123 in reply to Collywobbles64]

Hi Collywobbles64, thanks for taking the time to respond and the comments reference weight loss and alcohol intake - my weight loss has stayed down (must admit alcohol intake will probably increase as pubs open)!

I think the few days gap between readings is definitely making me nervous / anxious and hence the dramatic increase when I first take the reading. Just need to find a way around this somehow.

[Collywobbles64 in reply to spr123]

Just sit calmly for 5/10 minutes after first reading. Think of nice things to take you mind off your anxiety and then take reading. Don’t take off pressure cuff just stay sitting there and good luck.

[Brisk61]

Most first reading on taking B/P are high, they tell us to disregard the first reading and average the next couple. It sounds like u are getting worked up before taking it, not unusual. Lots of us on this site have ‘ white coat syndrome’ . Much as I try & wish for a normal reading in GP surgery I have not achieved this over the last 5 years but all home readings are within normal limits. Taking long slow deep breaths and trying to free my mind usually works. 🍀🍀

[spr123 in reply to Brisk61]

Hi Brisk61 thanks for responding, I am the same in the GP surgery but have been fine at home. Just annoyed recently where i am trying not take daily readings, the first few when i check after a 3day break can be up as high as 185/115 - that's only the first reading and it comes down on the next 3 or 4 when i calm down.

It just annoys me seeing these levels of readings when i have never seen them before!

[Brisk61 in reply to spr123]

I feel your pain...it’s all in the mind 😂 at least it’s temporary.

[Brisk61]

Meant to add so well done on lifestyle changed they will benefit u in the long run. 👏

[spr123 in reply to Brisk61]

Thank you very much Brisk61

[Happyrosie]

I meant to add too: congratulations on the lifestyle changes.

[spr123 in reply to Happyrosie]

Thanks very much Happyrosie

[Ukscorpio]

Same here. The first one for sure just ignore it. Once I get to around 2 at Uber 140 then I’m ok with it. I nearly always get there within 4 tries. Like another reviewer I never get anywhere near a good reading at the GP and they don’t help as they are always too busy to take more than 2. I’m looking forward to the time I can get off the Amlodipine. Losing plenty of weight by managing the intake better and x trainer with light weights

[spr123 in reply to Ukscorpio]

Hi Ukscorpio, thanks for your reply. I've never previously paid any attention to first readings, just when you see it so high out of the blue, it kind of lingers in the mind - I need to do better at focusing on the positive readings and forgetting the outlier.

When I see a extremely high first reading now, it makes me question - "has my BP been this high for the last 48 / 72 hours?" I know it probably hasn't, I just need to condition the mind not to think that.

[Ukscorpio in reply to spr123]

Just have a mindset that says ignore it. The next 2 or 3 matter that’s all. It’s safe and everything I’ve read says the same

[Ukscorpio]

That’s ‘under 140 ‘ 😀

[onadiet]

Yes I get the same. Spoke to a Dr recently who also has hypertension. She told me to always take the lowest reading. She also told me to stop taking daily readings. She herself takes hers only every 3 monthsI find it compulsive to do a bp testing as I can feel when my no is higher.It is best to not overobsess and try to get on with living. Hard to do I know.

[peter999999999 in reply to onadiet]

seems like you have a good doctor, mine told me do it once a year and enjoy life .i find i could not enjoy life on pills though

[peterjones105]

It is quite normal to experience high BP readings at first mostly due to anxiety and then for your BP to settle down with subsequent readings, my GP advised me to disregard the first reading or two, good luck.

[onadiet]

Yes I always get a higher reading first and third is usually better so I use that one as advised by Dr.