High blood pressure

[Havejoy]

I had a cardio exercise ECG today.

My BP went up to 190/100 after 2 minutes.

Anyone else have problems with blurred vision dizziness or temporary sight loss during limited exercise ?

[Lisalynn715]

Hello Havejoy, do you have trouble getting your blood pressure to stay at a normal level on a daily regular basis? Or does it just shoot high when you perform exercise? As for your vision, do you frequently suffer from blurry vision, or is that also only during exercise or BP going high?...

I have battled extremely high blood pressure ever since I got sick and was diagnosed with lupus 5 years ago, prior to that I always ran on the low to normal range..I am on 3 HBP meds taken daily but still can't get mine anywhere close to normal, one doctor told me it was most likely from vasculitis, but offered me no solution to get it lower. Another doctor told me it was likely from my sympathetic nervous system as a reaction to being in a state of chronic pain, but again offered me no suggestion or solution on how to lower it, so I'm baffled by that. As for my vision, it has deteriorated constantly over the past few years, horribly blurred, it is blurry to a certain degree all the time, but..if I do the slightest physical activity it quickly becomes dangerously blurred, also it becomes worse in the evening and if I get super stressed out or extremely tired, It gets so bad that I can't make out a single word even if it's right in front of my face, scares me to death. I seem to have a lot of muscle problems, cramps, spasms, twitching, jerking, extreme tenderness and unbelievable weakness, and every time my muscles go into over drive and feel like they are gonna stop working, I notice my blurry vision corresponds with them, which makes me think my vision problems are somehow tied to the muscle problems, it all has me stumped, and can't seem to get a straight answer or solution from any of my doctors.

[lupus-support1 Administrator in reply to Lisalynn715]

I am sorry to read this and cannot understand why you have not been sent to a specialist for your BP, especially if your BP is unstable.

I would also ask to see a consultant ophthalmologist.

I always had low BP which then suddenly became high BP, no doubt the result of corticosteroids. I had to have a major spinal operation and since then my BP has been normal. No doctor can explain this as a spinal operation has nothing to do with BP!

I am not advising a spinal operation! But, I would urge you to see both specialists. For example, has your eye pressure been recently checked?

With good wishes,

Ros

[lupus-support1 Administrator]

IMHO, I think you need to see your doctor if you are worried.

It is true that physical activity (exercise) will cause your blood pressure to rise for a short time. However, when you stop the activity, your blood pressure should soon return to normal. The quicker it does this, the fitter you are likely to be.

Most people with high blood pressure should be able to increase their physical activity levels quite safely.

bloodpressureuk.org/BloodPr...

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

With good wishes,

Ros

[leakeadea]

Hi Havejoy, sorry for what you are going through. Can I ask, do you have high heart rates with your high BP, or only high BP?

I am not yet diagnosed with SLE but I'm due to see someone from Prof D'Cruz' clinic in July. I have pretty much every symptom of SLE and have terrible problems with blurred vision, altho I had put this down to my blood clotting Issues.

I have had two exercise tests, a cardiopulmonary one on a bike and a cardio one on a treadmill and both of them were aborted due to excessively high heart rates. The cardiopulmonary one was aborted at about 2 1/2 minutes due to my Sat's dropping to 50% and my HR going over 155bpm. The BP monitor wasn't able to get a reading despite multiple attempts, another reason why it was aborted. This was frustrating for me tho as I have no idea if my BP went too high or too low.

The cardio one on the treadmill was aborted at 4 minutes because my heart rate was at 178bpm but I don't remember if my BP was being tested as well. To be honest I can't remember because I was practically passing out after both tests. I'm pretty certain that my vision was extremely blurred after both but I put it down to the fact that I was on the verge of collapse! 😮 Having said that it did remain blurred for sometime after both tests.

Like Lisalynn715, I used to always have low blood pressure 90/70ish, a normal BP of 120/80 was high for me but in the last couple of years or so my BP has been yo yo-ing all over the place. One week at a hospital appointment it was 110/78 the following week at another appointment it was 154/96. My highest was 220/102 but I was super ill then and ambulanced to A&E.

Also like Lisalynn715 my vision seems blurry most of the time and is often much worse in the evening when I'm really worn out and my face rash is super inflamed. It can be so bad that I can't focus on any words that's extremely worrying.

I've been putting my vision issues down to having sticky blood. I've had lots of PEs, DVTs, CVEs and TIAs and went from having 20/20 vision in both my eyes, to having significant vision reduction to both long and short sight in one eye only, after suffering multiple TIAs in 2016.

I'm on ambulatory oxygen and exercise for me consists of just every day tasks like getting washed, dressed and around my own home. Now that I have the oxygen however I've started being able to get out into my garden a little. It's only a small garden but I do have to go up and down some steps, so I'm going to see if my blurred vision gets worse after any physical activity in the garden.

I hadn't considered this before but my vision is definitely always worse in the evening, especially after a more physical day. I'm also going to start checking my BP and see if it's higher when my vision is more blurred.

I have a huge amount of floaters in my eyes but I don't know if they are linked to SLE or my blood clotting Issues, or just one of those things you get more of as you get older!😟

I will get back to you if I find that my BP is higher after activity and when my vision is more blurred.

Claire 😀