Hypertension/ High Blood Pressure

Clementine · 10-05-2010 12:17pm #1

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else has been diagnosed with this recently? What are your experiences?

My story: I'm in my mid-20's and have been on medication for hypertension for the past 3 months. I've always had high blood pressure readings but it was usually explained away by White Coat Syndrome. My GP asked me to get a monitor back in December to see what the story was and it came back that I had hypertension as well as White Coat Syndrome!

I'm on my third 24hr monitor today and I still despise it. Does anyone else dislike them?

I am currently being treated publicly and even though I've been into the hospital 3 times now I've only spoken to a doctor once briefly when he gave me my script that he had pre-written. Has anyone had any experience of going private? I have health insurance and I don't mind spending money now to try and get the right treatment because at the moment I'm feeling a little like my young age is being overlooked and I'm being treated the same as the granny's behind the curtains next to me!

Has anyone had any similar experiences?

cynder · 10-05-2010 12:25pm

my husband has had high blood pressure for 3-6 years medicated for the last 3 years, he was 27 when he got medicated, his on diovan. high bp from an early age runs in my husbands family.

he has never been in hospital with it highest was 146/220 the doc gave him a month of work.

Diovan is working well for him, it a pain that i cant put salt in any food. he has vhi bu never needed to use it for the bp. he had the 24 hour monitor on and took it off at night cause he couldn't sleep. his sister had the 24 hour monitor on as well and she was sent to a heart specialist to investigate, my husbands wasn't investigated.

enda1 · 10-05-2010 12:36pm

Any other symptoms OP, I presume you have had blood and urine taken?

How's your weight and exercise level and height?
How's your salt intake?

Clementine · 10-05-2010 12:50pm

I'm on Diovan at the moment too. I switched from Cordura as I was getting really bad side effects that were only getting worse, not better. When I told the nurse about this today she said that I shouldn't have changed and that feeling so terrible was a sign that I was getting better... Right.

he has never been in hospital with it highest was 146/220 the doc gave him a month of work

.
:eek: That's high!

I presume you have had blood and urine taken?

I have, this is my 3rd trip to the Blood Pressure Unit. ECG fine, Kidney function fine. My Dad has high BP so it's probably hereditary, but there's no record of it being picked up this young.

How's your weight and exercise level and height?

I weigh at the moment 8stone 3lbs, weighed a bit more before I started taking the Cordura but I completely lost my appetite on it and only slowly building it back up. I'm 5'3". I'm quite active, walk everywhere (briskly). I used to do some exercise classes but again, the Cordura completely wiped me out so now that I'm on Diovan I'm getting my energy back- can't wait to get back to jumping around the place.

How's your salt intake?

Very low before all this started. Lower/non existent now. According to the bloods they did 3months ago I have high cholesterol. I've always eaten well. Don't eat takeaways or processed foods. I love cooking so don't see the point in them! I have changed things in reaction to the high cholestrol but it's not very noticeable given my diet beforehand (I've cut out cheese and avoid meat more).

Any other symptoms OP

Well there's the high cholesterol and family history of high BP. I don't know if it's relevant as none of the docs have thought so but I am a very anxious person, I get worried and nervous and panicy about small things (hence why they dismissed the high BP for White Coat Syndrome for so long). Oh, and I've had two varicose vein operations so far also. Old before my time! :rolleyes:

enda1 · 10-05-2010 1:09pm

If I were you I would keep a very close eye on blood and urine.
Hypertension is often a symptom of disease especially at a young age (as it was for me) so keep a close eye on everything else. Every 3/6 months if it was me...

I guess you are female, looking at the weight, height etc.?
Are you taking the COCP (the pill) which can also raise BP?

The brisk walk needs to turn into proper cardio exercise however to have a substantial impact on your cardiovascular system, 3/4 times a week and 30 mins each time.

Clementine · 10-05-2010 1:25pm

Thanks for the advice Enda. I think I'm going to insist on having a proper private chat with the doctor in the Blood Pressure Unit tomorrow to try and get all the ins and outs of this. The only advice/information I was given by him was that I was not to get pregnant as I would have a premature baby!

Think it's time to make a list of questions!

Enda1- were you referred to a specialist or were you monitored by your GP or local hospital?

I am keeping an eye on all the tests they are doing although they don't seem to be communicating these back to my GP which I think is a bit odd. All this confusion isn't good for my BP!

I am female, and I've been off the OCP since before my 1st BP monitor. I also need to discuss that with the doc tomorrow. I was on the OCP before for various reasons, not just contraceptive so I want to look into progesterone-only options which I've read can be ok in certain high BP cases.

The brisk walk needs to turn into proper cardio exercise however to have a substantial impact on your cardiovascular system, 3/4 times a week and 30 mins each time.

Yep, that's the plan this week. Finally have my strength back to go back to cardio exercise, can't wait*!

*Never thought I'd say that but being totally wiped of energy and feeling so sick for ~2 months can really change your attitude!

enda1 · 10-05-2010 1:33pm

Firstly I live in Belgium though the same should apply in Ireland.

I did a health check in work where they found the high BP and also some slightly raised blood and urine signs.
Then I went ot the GP who told me to change diet to very low salt and cholestrol for 6 weeks and recheck blood/urine, and during this time keep checking BP.
Did this BP always high 160/100 no matter sitting, lying, morning afternoon, evening etc.
Then got new blood and urine results which showed worsening of some things.

Long story short kidney disease which was found out early because of good work by GP and free (voluntary) health checks in work.

Good luck OP anyway with everything!

Ask the hospital for your file. Your GP needs everything! It is them who can best see the overall picture and patterns between things.

Clementine · 10-05-2010 1:36pm

Glad you caught it in time Enda. My kidney function is fine. They'll be doing an ultrasound to rule it out though, just in case. They've told me what feels like a million times that in 95% of cases blood pressure is just high with no other contributing factors but they still need to rule out everything else just in case I'm in that 5%.

bubbaloo · 10-05-2010 2:03pm

Hiya. I have a thread on here about Conn's Syndrome but nobody has responded. Basically it means there is a small benign (non-cancerous) lump on my adrenal gland and it is causing my high bp. My kidney function was showing no signs of any problems.
With regards to being pregnant, I had high bp all through my pregnancy and it was controlled with medication. I was induced at 38 weeks but high bp doesn't necessarily mean a premature baby so don't be overly worried about that.
Anyway, the only way Conn's Syndrome can be diagnosed is by CT scan, so maybe you could ask the BP unit about this.
Good luck - I know it's a pain but hopefully you'll find a solution soon.

cynder · 10-05-2010 2:16pm

Clementine wrote: »

Glad you caught it in time Enda. My kidney function is fine. They'll be doing an ultrasound to rule it out though, just in case. They've told me what feels like a million times that in 95% of cases blood pressure is just high with no other contributing factors but they still need to rule out everything else just in case I'm in that 5%.

My dad had malignant hypertension caused by kidney failure, he had bad headaches worse than migraines and was peeing blood, he went to doc and they didnt bother with his bp as he had liver problems.

anyways he brought a bp monitor and took it to the doc to show her the readings, she admits him straight to hospital where he is told is he in kidney failure. that was April last year he died in august age 54 from complications arising form the kidney treatment he recieved (he had a massive internal bleed) as it interfered with his liver treatment.

My husband should have been admitted to hospital, but sure thats doctors for you. Hid bp should have been investigated but it wasn't but it is down to his genes and not kidney failure.

Clementine · 10-05-2010 2:27pm

Hi Bubbaloo, how long were you treated for high BP before the Conn's Syndrome was picked up? Were you seeing a consultant or just your GP? And what were the reasons for ordering a CT? Lots of questions but I'm curious!

Thanks for the reassurance about the pregnancy issues. It's just that that's the only thing that the doc in the BP Unit told me when he was giving me the prescription so I was quite freaked out. I thought he was telling me that I couldn't have children :rolleyes: Felt very relieved when I had a chat with my GP about that!

Grindelwald- I'm very sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing your experience.

goat2 · 10-05-2010 2:38pm

Clementine wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else has been diagnosed with this recently? What are your experiences?

My story: I'm in my mid-20's and have been on medication for hypertension for the past 3 months. I've always had high blood pressure readings but it was usually explained away by White Coat Syndrome. My GP asked me to get a monitor back in December to see what the story was and it came back that I had hypertension as well as White Coat Syndrome!

I'm on my third 24hr monitor today and I still despise it. Does anyone else dislike them?

I am currently being treated publicly and even though I've been into the hospital 3 times now I've only spoken to a doctor once briefly when he gave me my script that he had pre-written. Has anyone had any experience of going private? I have health insurance and I don't mind spending money now to try and get the right treatment because at the moment I'm feeling a little like my young age is being overlooked and I'm being treated the same as the granny's behind the curtains next to me!

Has anyone had any similar experiences?

did you have all the tests
angiogram as well to make shure valves are ok
a lad of 19 my son had high blood pressure, found out by accident when he went to doc with kidney infection,
found high blood pressure
then heart murmer
then angiogram
found one of his valves whacked
he had to have one installed within 3 months
he went private on vhi
ask doc for the best specialist he knows, and go, let your health insurance do the paying

Clementine · 10-05-2010 2:48pm

Hi Goat2, I had an ECG which they said was fine and that they weren't going to do a chest X-Ray because it was ok.

The test I'm doing at the moment (in conjunction with the 24hr monitor to make my like even easier!) is a 24hr urine collection to monitor Metanephrines and Catecholamines. The nurse told me it was something to do with my kidney function. I'm a curious person, I like to know what I'm being tested for and what my results mean (not a hypochondriac, just like to learn and understand!), so I had a quick research on the stuff written on the bottle (Metanephrines and Catecholamines). It's to test my adrenal gland so maybe it will be able to rule out Conn's or other similar illnesses.

bubbaloo · 10-05-2010 2:50pm

I'll PM you.

Emiso · 10-05-2010 6:38pm

I was diagnosed with hypertension a few weeks ago. Over the past few years my BP was always very high in Dr's surgery but normal when I had the 24 hour monitor done on a few occasions.

Anyhow, I started experiencing chest tightness a few months back and was referred to a private cardiologist. My BP recordings were very high 210/120 !!
I ended up in hospital and had numerous tests including coronary & renal angiogram, echocardiogram, ecg, 24 hr urine for catecholamines.

While I don't have angina luckily, my high BP has caused thickening of part of my heart muscle ( Mild Left Ventricular Hypertrophy) which could have got worse and led to heart failure if my hypertension hadn't been treated so it was lucky for me that I got symptoms to warn me as most people with hypertension don't.

Also, I'm a non smoker, not overweight and my cholesterol is low.

Now the fun has begun. I started on Zanidip and that was knocking me out so now I'm on the highest dose of Solvatan which seems to have no side effects for me so far though I don't think that its controlling my BP as tightly as the Zanidip.

Feel free to pm me if you want details of where I went privately.

DrIndy · 12-05-2010 12:09am

Hypertension is actually a topic which i am quite interested in.

In general - the only person who can diagnose this or who should start and stop your medications is your GP or a specialist - either a cardiologist or a hospital physician.

Its effects are long term - it damages the brain, heart and kidneys over years to decades (unless it is sudden and extreme where this can happen in days - but this is very rare).

It is one of the arms of the metabolic syndrome triad associated with high cholesterol (or high LDL and low HDL - so high bad cholesterol and low good cholesterol - you can have significant cholesterol disease even if the total is normal but the HDL is very low) and diabetes. People with one of the arms have a much higher tendency to develop the other arms and they all make for early heart disease as well as stroke and Peripheral vascular disease (cutting off blood supply to legs etc...)

So you treat the obvious arm and keep screening to get treating the other components is the general theme doctors use.

90% of hypertension is called "essential hypertension" - ie no obvious cause is found and doctors thought that it was "essential" to overcome the stiff arteries they found on post mortems rather than the stiff arteries being one of the causes and effects.

10% of hypertension is called secondary hypertension which is caused by a myriad of conditions including glandular diseases like conns, phaeochromocytoma (this is what you check urine metanephrines for), heart valve and blood vessel narrowings, kidney failure.

Secondary hypertension is more common in younger people - but the commonest cause still remains "essential hypertension" in this age group.

Testing for this is not on any one reading - you do need 3 readings time apart to diagnose this and ideally a 24hr blood pressure monitor - which are great because it removes the white coat element and also shows up people who are naturally stressed or active (who have high blood pressure during the day) but return to normal at night time when asleep. Night time dippers to normal in fact shows that there high blood pressure during the day is not as significant. Absence of the night time dipping effect is one of the key facts doctors use whether someone needs medicines or not. For screening for secondary causes - it involves blood and urine collections, heart and/or kidney ultrasounds, and potentially more expensive tests to confirm and can be a very laborious and time consuming process.

So what causes essential hypertension? There are no one clear theory for the cause and it is associated with the metabolic syndrome triad and western living.

Less exercise, smoking, obesity, high salt intake, high animal fat and low vegetable/fruit. You do get people who eat the worst diets but are healthy - so there is genes at work - probably hundreds of them built together meaning that people EXPRESS the condition differently and for some people - there are strong environmental factors but for others - they will get it anyway as thats the cocktail that they were born with.

Prevention is very important. Getting (usually LOADS) more exercise, stop smoking, lose weight and improve your diet are preventers. However, as i said about the genes and expression - some people (but much fewer) will still need medication.

A recent major initiative is the DASH diet:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf

This is endorsed by the US heartl, lung and blood institute and shows dramatic improvements in blood pressure when implemented. They key to the diet is they took all that makes people healthy in southern europe and far east and "americanised" the diet to the american palate without losing the key benefits.

Of note - only your doctor should stop/reduce your medicines - so before attempting major diet changes and exercise programs - see your doctor. That way they know to keep an eye on you and reduce your medications if improvements happen - maybe even stop them entirely! However don't be too disappointed if this doesn't happen because for some people it has a secondary cause or is just resistant to dietary changes.

enda1 · 12-05-2010 9:28am

Thanks DrIndy for the good advice.

Reducing salt is my one major priority at the moment alright.
Also I need to get some good regular exercise I know.

For someone who is on corticosteroids how wold you advise getting exercise.

I'm worried about going near a gym or swimming pool becasue of the risk of infection and my lower immune system. Probably jogging is the best!?

cynder · 12-05-2010 9:31am

when my hubby exercised at the gym his bp hit the roof, the female trainer said "jesus the thing must be broken you could never be that high"...... little did we know the reading was right....

goat2 · 12-05-2010 10:34am

DrIndy wrote: »

Hypertension is actually a topic which i am quite interested in.

In general - the only person who can diagnose this or who should start and stop your medications is your GP or a specialist - either a cardiologist or a hospital physician.

Its effects are long term - it damages the brain, heart and kidneys over years to decades (unless it is sudden and extreme where this can happen in days - but this is very rare).

It is one of the arms of the metabolic syndrome triad associated with high cholesterol (or high LDL and low HDL - so high bad cholesterol and low good cholesterol - you can have significant cholesterol disease even if the total is normal but the HDL is very low) and diabetes. People with one of the arms have a much higher tendency to develop the other arms and they all make for early heart disease as well as stroke and Peripheral vascular disease (cutting off blood supply to legs etc...)

So you treat the obvious arm and keep screening to get treating the other components is the general theme doctors use.

90% of hypertension is called "essential hypertension" - ie no obvious cause is found and doctors thought that it was "essential" to overcome the stiff arteries they found on post mortems rather than the stiff arteries being one of the causes and effects.

10% of hypertension is called secondary hypertension which is caused by a myriad of conditions including glandular diseases like conns, phaeochromocytoma (this is what you check urine metanephrines for), heart valve and blood vessel narrowings, kidney failure.

Secondary hypertension is more common in younger people - but the commonest cause still remains "essential hypertension" in this age group.

Testing for this is not on any one reading - you do need 3 readings time apart to diagnose this and ideally a 24hr blood pressure monitor - which are great because it removes the white coat element and also shows up people who are naturally stressed or active (who have high blood pressure during the day) but return to normal at night time when asleep. Night time dippers to normal in fact shows that there high blood pressure during the day is not as significant. Absence of the night time dipping effect is one of the key facts doctors use whether someone needs medicines or not. For screening for secondary causes - it involves blood and urine collections, heart and/or kidney ultrasounds, and potentially more expensive tests to confirm and can be a very laborious and time consuming process.

So what causes essential hypertension? There are no one clear theory for the cause and it is associated with the metabolic syndrome triad and western living.

Less exercise, smoking, obesity, high salt intake, high animal fat and low vegetable/fruit. You do get people who eat the worst diets but are healthy - so there is genes at work - probably hundreds of them built together meaning that people EXPRESS the condition differently and for some people - there are strong environmental factors but for others - they will get it anyway as thats the cocktail that they were born with.

Prevention is very important. Getting (usually LOADS) more exercise, stop smoking, lose weight and improve your diet are preventers. However, as i said about the genes and expression - some people (but much fewer) will still need medication.

A recent major initiative is the DASH diet:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf

This is endorsed by the US heartl, lung and blood institute and shows dramatic improvements in blood pressure when implemented. They key to the diet is they took all that makes people healthy in southern europe and far east and "americanised" the diet to the american palate without losing the key benefits.

Of note - only your doctor should stop/reduce your medicines - so before attempting major diet changes and exercise programs - see your doctor. That way they know to keep an eye on you and reduce your medications if improvements happen - maybe even stop them entirely! However don't be too disappointed if this doesn't happen because for some people it has a secondary cause or is just resistant to dietary changes.

you sound like a person who is very well up on this subject
so i have a question
if a heart muscle has been damaged, stiffened, enlarged heart by a wonky valve,
when there is an aortic valve replacement inserted
is there a chance that the heart can get better, ie this muscle damage will it reverse

DrIndy · 12-05-2010 12:32pm

goat2 wrote: »

you sound like a person who is very well up on this subject
so i have a question
if a heart muscle has been damaged, stiffened, enlarged heart by a wonky valve,
when there is an aortic valve replacement inserted
is there a chance that the heart can get better, ie this muscle damage will it reverse

There is indeed - the heart is to a certain respect responsive especially in young people and does enlarge in athletes naturally. When the heart is PATHOLOGICALLY enlarged or stiffened it can reverse back to normal sometimes - this can be seen on followup echos over several months/years

Certain drugs like ACE-inhibitors (perindopril (coversyl) ramipril or the other "-pril"'s) and Angiotensin-2 antagonists (drugs ending with "-sartan") reduce blood pressure but also help the heart to remodel back to normal after damage. You may be on this - but if not - your doctor is the person to chat to about this further as there may have been other reasons for not starting them or the damage was not enough.

Cardiac rehab may help too - this is a graduate exercise program - but this is also medically supervised.

BC · 12-05-2010 12:40pm

I'm interested in this at the moment also.
I'm a type 1 diabetic (good control, last a1c 6%).
My cholesterol (HDL, LDL and triclycerides are all fine).
At my last 2 checkups my consultant noticed that my blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, i've never had this before. I went on a 24hr monitor and it was consistently high during the day and normal during the night.
I'm not quite overweight (5 ft 5 and 10 1/2 stone) but i could do with loosing about half a stone as i've gradually put on weight over the last 5 years or so.
I'm focusing on loosing the weight at the moment then i've to get another 24hr monitor in a couple of months. My consultant has advised that he may put me on blood pressure tablets if he can't find a cause relatively soon. I really want to avoid this. I have already cut salt out of my diet (as much as possible). Other than the weight & more exercise, is there anything i can do?

goat2 · 12-05-2010 12:40pm

he is on tritace, ramipril
and wafarin.
still tire easily, i also find he has gotten very forgetful
have to watch out for him

DrIndy · 12-05-2010 12:41pm

grindelwald wrote: »

when my hubby exercised at the gym his bp hit the roof, the female trainer said "jesus the thing must be broken you could never be that high"...... little did we know the reading was right....

Blood pressure is supposed to go high when you exercise or are stressed - it helps get blood to the muscles - however - it should not remain high - this is harmful.

People have attended me with a story along the lines of "I got stressed and checked my blood pressure. It was high so i checked it again. It was still high and i got even more stressed and it kept going higher!" cue to call an ambulance and me looking at them!

This is the importance of 24 hour BPs to eliminate this and why I would only cautiously recommend those home checkers - they often turn into random number generators and when you only check your BP when off or stressed - it does go very high and that can just create more anxiety.

Doctors never act on blood pressure on one reading unless its bejaysus without a good reason. We use averages and tend to send you packing with "change the diet and more exercise" before pills.

DrIndy · 12-05-2010 12:59pm

BC wrote: »

I'm interested in this at the moment also.
I'm a type 1 diabetic (good control, last a1c 6%).
My cholesterol (HDL, LDL and triclycerides are all fine).
At my last 2 checkups my consultant noticed that my blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, i've never had this before. I went on a 24hr monitor and it was consistently high during the day and normal during the night.
I'm not quite overweight (5 ft 5 and 10 1/2 stone) but i could do with loosing about half a stone as i've gradually put on weight over the last 5 years or so.
I'm focusing on loosing the weight at the moment then i've to get another 24hr monitor in a couple of months. My consultant has advised that he may put me on blood pressure tablets if he can't find a cause relatively soon. I really want to avoid this. I have already cut salt out of my diet (as much as possible). Other than the weight & more exercise, is there anything i can do?

The reason your consultant has an interest is that it goes back to the metabolic syndrome of hypertension-high cholesterol-diabetes and the fact that they are manifestations of the same disease.

Interestingly - tight blood pressure control in diabetics has been proven in trials to be more important than tight blood sugar control in prevent complications like heart disease and particularly kidney failure and mortality. In fact the targets for diabetics are lower than for non-diabetics with medications and those ideally used are ACE inhibitors (the "-pril" medications) and Angiotensin 2 antagonists (the "-sartan" medications) in combination. Hence maybe why he is still considering it even though you do night-time dip. Follow up on this.

Other advice is that most salt is in fact very hidden. There is a ridiculous amount of salt in bread and virtually any non-home cooked food so you have to be very canny indeed if you don't cook and BAKE everything from scratch. Look at the DASH diet as I quoted before.

Another interesting general fact about hypertension is it is a disease best treated by a combination of agents which is why some of you lurkers may be on more than one and up to 4 different pills. The St. James's hypertension crew published a study on the polypill which showed 4 drugs at 1/4 strength across the main spectrum of medications was much more effective than any one drug at normal strength. This showed that multiple targets is better rather than maxing out one agent first.

DrIndy · 12-05-2010 1:10pm

goat2 wrote: »

he is on tritace, ramipril
and wafarin.
still tire easily, i also find he has gotten very forgetful
have to watch out for him

If you have any concerns - you can always contact his consultant for an early appointment or take him to your GP if that isn't possible.

Its a big thing to happen to someone at a young age. Being sick sucks - but as you get older you expect a "bit of wear and tear" and to end up on a few pills so are more pragmatic which is a lot easier than when you are young. Warfarin also means you have to be very careful with alcohol which can interfere with the usual teenage socialising and also people often take a long time to get used to the constant ticking coming out their chest after a metal valve.

Its an adjustment - but what i always advise people - especially young people to do is: You control your disease - don't let it control you. Your able to do loads of stuff afterwards and indeed near normal but with caution. Also talking to mates helps a lot - the party piece of a zipper scar across the chest is something to be proud of as well as the watch ticking effect. Education and googling EVERYTHING about the condition, treatment and side effects from sensible websites means in the end less hospitalisation and more empowerment rather than feeling controlled by the condition and doctors.

BC · 14-05-2010 12:39pm

Thanks for the info Dr Indy.

The Big Red Button · 15-05-2010 5:00pm

I'm also a female in my mid twenties. Long story short, I was brought to A&E in September 2008 after fainting, and my blood pressure was extremely high (the high bp probably didn't cause the fainting, there were other issues involved too, I had been sick for a couple of weeks.) The doctor in the hospital told me to stop taking the pill, which I had been on for a couple of years. My blood pressure had always been fine at my six month check ups.

Anyways I went back to my own GP a couple of weeks later, and my blood pressure was really really high again. She kept me lying down in her surgery for an hour to relax and see if it improved, but it didn't! She took bloods and asked me to come back a couple more times over the following month, and it was the same each time. So, over the course of the year, I did the 24 hour urine test (twice), the 24 hour blood monitor (three times - such a feckin awkward yoke!), lots of blood taken, ultrasounds on the kidneys, etc. Anyways the doctors didn't think it was because of my diet or exercise, and I don't smoke ... apparently it was being caused by a very high level of cortisol in my system, and this was consistently high every time my blood was taken during the year.

So, I saw the endocrinologist in September 2009, got more blood taken, but this time the cortisol levels were back to normal and my blood pressure was fine. And I had a follow-up appointment just last week with him, again the cortisol levels and bp were OK. So he said just to get my own GP to check it every now and again, but he didn't think it was anything to worry about.

So, I'm just hoping that my blood pressure is back to normal for good now! I never really got an explanation of what was causing the cortisol to be high in the first place. Must ask the doctor next time I go.

That's my experience anyways ... oh and I have VHI, but as far as I'm aware I was being treated as a public patient. Never had to stay overnight in hospital for treatment anyways so it didn't really make a difference to me.

Clementine · 16-05-2010 3:16pm

Hi all, apologies for delay in update, I had a pretty stressful week. There was a death in the family which I found out about the evening of having the BP monitor on. I continued with the monitor and urine collection anyway, and told the doc in the hospital that the BP monitor results might not be as accurate given the situation.

My average is now 132/87 which is brilliant compared to the last readings. The highest reading from the monitor seems to be 159/116 which was around the time I got the bad news.

In the meantime I spoke to a family friend who is a GP to get a second opinion on everything. She was brilliant, very reassuring in comparison to the doc in the hospital, which makes me feel calmer and which in turn is better for my blood pressure!

I have an ultrasound for my kidneys in mid June. Handed over my jars from the 24hr urine collection (hope I never have to do that again) and was told they'll get the results in a few weeks. And I don't know if they have any other tests lined up for me. My next 24hr BP monitor is in 5months time. I might see about changing hospitals though since it seems quite inconsistent in there and I just want to feel reassured and calm when thinking about all this!

Dr Indy- thanks a mil for all the information, it's great to have a comprehensive piece about the ins and outs of BP!

Chatterpillar- so glad for you that the BP has calmed down. The tests are an absolute pain. As a young person going into those specialists, how did you find your treatment? Was it addressed that you were a person in your mid20's or do you feel you were treated like a much older person? As you can tell I found that my age and size wasn't taken into account at all, to the point where the cuffs of the BP monitors for my first two were way to big! I got the child's cuff I think for the last one.

azzie · 16-05-2010 6:17pm

I've got high blood pressure and I read that it can be caused by being hypothyroid (which I am)
The doctor said the hypothyroidism was probably caused by stopping smoking - and he said the high blood pressure was too!
I thought stopping smoking was supposed to be good for you!!!

The Big Red Button · 16-05-2010 9:26pm

Clementine wrote: »

Chatterpillar- so glad for you that the BP has calmed down. The tests are an absolute pain. As a young person going into those specialists, how did you find your treatment? Was it addressed that you were a person in your mid20's or do you feel you were treated like a much older person? As you can tell I found that my age and size wasn't taken into account at all, to the point where the cuffs of the BP monitors for my first two were way to big! I got the child's cuff I think for the last one.

That's really bad!

For me, I felt that they definitely took my age into account from the very start. All of the doctors stressed that it was very unusual for me to have issues with blood pressure at my age, which was why they were taking it so seriously and doing all those tests ... and I think that's why they didn't put me on medication for it - I was never prescribed anything at any stage.

Also the weird thing with me was that it was never high before - I had been getting regular six month check-ups for the pill, and it was always fine - so I think it was unusual for it to suddenly zoom up ... it was averaging about 150-160 over 100-110 most times I got it checked, as far as I remember ... to be honest, I don't know if that's particularly high or not though!

It's great that you're getting the ultrasound for your kidneys, hopefully they'll be fine, and for me it was a great relief to know that no damage had been done to them by the high blood pressure. My ultrasound was pretty scary to be honest, I was fine going into it but then the radiologist was looking at the left one for ages and ages at different angles, before telling me that there appeared to be a "lump" on it and she had to go show the scans to a consultant! :eek: I was lying there freaking out for about twenty minutes before she came back and told me that the "lump" was just part of my spleen!

My GP told me that high pressure in healthy young people is rarely anything to worry about ... all these tests have to be done, but she said that generally nothing shows up in them. I suppose I'm just lucky that mine calmed down on its own! But yeah, I did feel that my case was definitely assessed in the context of my age, and I felt like the doctors were being a bit more thorough because of that - repeating tests several times, etc. - it seems ridiculous that they're treating you the same as any other patient with high blood pressure! I mean, it's probably not anything serious that's causing it - but at the same time, as far as I know high blood pressure in an otherwise healthy young person is quite unusual ... it's strange that the doctors aren't treating you as such!

Clementine · 16-05-2010 10:02pm

Wow, that is scary about your kidney u/s :eek: I've never had any kidney infections or anything odd in my bloods related to kidneys so I'm hoping it'll all be alright.

My GP is very good, he referred me to the unit in the first place because he was so concerned at having the high bp at a young age. I think though he's more concerned about the treatment (or lack of!) that I've had in there... I'm just moaning now I know but I'm glad that I have my sensible GP and the advice on this thread to help me along!

Are you back on the pill Chatterpillar? I'm hoping I'll be able to go back on one but it'll have to be a Progesterone only one which limits things a bit.

hinault · 16-05-2010 10:16pm

I take my blood pressure readings three times per day - at the same time each day.

My family have a history of high blood pressure and it is more a preventative step (in taking those readings) on my part.

My BP readings can vary between 150/130 to over 90/80.
The ideal measurement reading is 120/80.

I do notice that the more fit I am, the closer my reading measurements get closer to 120/80.

It is important to take some simple steps to rectify high blood pressure.
Make sure to exercise regularly and to control your foot intact.
Try to increase your intake of potassium (fresh fruit and vegetables and fruit) are excellent sources of potassium.
Potassium is the antidote to sodium (salt).
Try to cut out your sodium (salt) intake.

DrIndy · 17-05-2010 7:48am

It's great that you're getting the ultrasound for your kidneys, hopefully they'll be fine, and for me it was a great relief to know that no damage had been done to them by the high blood pressure. My ultrasound was pretty scary to be honest, I was fine going into it but then the radiologist was looking at the left one for ages and ages at different angles, before telling me that there appeared to be a "lump" on it and she had to go show the scans to a consultant! I was lying there freaking out for about twenty minutes before she came back and told me that the "lump" was just part of my spleen!

Incidentalomas (harmless things found incidentally) as we call them are quite common in the kidney and liver on any scan and are usually harmless fat clusters or cysts - sometimes people then get CTs and other scans to double check they are indeed normal.

Not to worry - sounds like they got the top doc to double check!

Feel free to post up any general questions you have on hypertension on this thread and I will be happy to help explain things further for you.

Clementine · 20-05-2010 7:52pm

bloodpressure.ie was launched this week which has a few tips about managing blood pressure. They also have a link a new free website dontforget.ie which is text service for reminding you to take your tablets.

Also, article in the Irish Times on Tuesday about High BP in Ireland:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2010/0518/1224270592868.html

SeaSide · 23-05-2010 9:30am

DrIndy wrote: »

Feel free to post up any general questions you have on hypertension on this thread and I will be happy to help explain things further for you.

Hi DrIndy,

Quick question about hypertension and heart rate.

To my (engineering) mind if you have a slow heart rate and assuming the same amount of blood has to be pumped the only way to do this is to increase the pressure or am i completely wrong?

Thanks

DrIndy · 26-05-2010 6:49pm

You are right and you are wrong!

There are several components to this. The heart can increase its speed and its contractile strength increasing cardiac output as well as the arteries contracting to increase blood pressure. The best way to explain is through an introductory chapter on vascular (blood vessel) physiology as there are interlinked processes and images asre easier to follow.

But it is not completely straight forwards - in natural periods of stress - adrenaline is released which increases blood pressure but also relaxes blood vessels in muscles and increases the pressure in the gut and this diverts blood to where its needed.

High blood pressure (the bad sort that doesn't leave you) is caused by pathology and is not only due to the tensing of the blood vessels but also why the heart increases its output when it doesn't need to and the linking of various hormones like ACTH, Angiotensin, renin, aldosterone, natriuretic peptide, catecholamines and the dysregulation which allows the disease to form. No one actually fully understands why people get essential hypertension (ie - no secondary cause). Hence it is an interesting subject.

talkin · 13-09-2010 8:53am

i've had high blood pressure-even had the 24hr monitor thing on my arm. but yesterday and today i checked it because i was feeling dizzy and tired and thought it might have been up but it seems low now. i dont know if its very low though. im 27 yr olf female and iv never been on blood pressure meds-my high blood pressure was been monitered but i stopped going to doc to be honest. a few of my readings throughout yesterday and today are 109over63 pulse49. 115over66 pulse47. 122over66 pulse52. 111over68 pulse50. 115over67 pulse55. 99over63 pulse 54. 101over62 pulse 54. 105over59 pulse53. 104over60 pulse56. 110over59 pulse62. 107over63 pulse60. 106over68 pulse 56. 105over61 pulse 58. 107over63 pulse 57. 101over56 pulse53. 103over59 pulse54. 101 over58 pulse51. 118over63 pulse 59. i know i took it alot

does anybody think this is normal or what?

mickman · 13-09-2010 9:12am

talkin wrote: »

i've had high blood pressure-even had the 24hr monitor thing on my arm. but yesterday and today i checked it because i was feeling dizzy and tired and thought it might have been up but it seems low now. i dont know if its very low though. im 27 yr olf female and iv never been on blood pressure meds-my high blood pressure was been monitered but i stopped going to doc to be honest. a few of my readings throughout yesterday and today are 109over63 pulse49. 115over66 pulse47. 122over66 pulse52. 111over68 pulse50. 115over67 pulse55. 99over63 pulse 54. 101over62 pulse 54. 105over59 pulse53. 104over60 pulse56. 110over59 pulse62. 107over63 pulse60. 106over68 pulse 56. 105over61 pulse 58. 107over63 pulse 57. 101over56 pulse53. 103over59 pulse54. 101 over58 pulse51. 118over63 pulse 59. i know i took it alot does anybody think this is normal or what?

a more normal thing would be for you to stop taking your blood pressure and live your life. you are 27 for goodness sake

talkin · 13-09-2010 9:22am

easier said than done mickman when you've had high bloodpressure. wouldnt have checked it if i hadnt been feeling dizzy.

mickman · 13-09-2010 9:23am

talkin wrote: »

easier said than done mickman when you've had high bloodpressure. wouldnt have checked it if i hadnt been feeling dizzy.

none of the measurements you provided above show a blood pressure problem. for you to feel dizzy it would have to be in the region of less that 90 / 50

bit of hypochondria id say :-)

talkin · 13-09-2010 9:28am

no way! if you knew me ud know i defo dont suffer from hypochondria(not even sure how to spell it!)im the last person to go to the doc over anything.....but thanks for your reply

mickman · 13-09-2010 9:29am

talkin wrote: »

no way! if you knew me ud know i defo dont suffer from hypochondria(not even sure how to spell it!)im the last person to go to the doc over anything.....but thanks for your reply

u have measured your bp about 15 times over two days. thats excessive. if your feeling tired why would it be linked to your bp? it could be anything. anxiety i would say

talkin · 13-09-2010 9:32am

because iv had cholesterol reading of 7.8 with high bloodpressure and i thought it might have been playing up again.

mickman · 13-09-2010 9:33am

thats a fair high reading for someone your age. how did you manage that?

talkin · 13-09-2010 9:34am

my hypochondria or stress i suppose(oh anxiety)

cynder · 13-09-2010 11:30am

Those bp measurement are very like mine. ( i take mine for the fun of it as my husband has high bp and has to check his regularly)

I get dizzy if i skip a meal (low blood sugars) or get up to quick or i have an ear infection, never down to my BP which is always in the low 60's. Heartbeat can be anything from 60-100, which is normal.

I do have high LDL.

Im 30 and female and slightly overweight (thanx to my 3rd baby)

sam34 · 13-09-2010 9:26pm

talkin, please see your GP rather than looking for & taking advice from randomers on the internet

mickman, please do not give medical advice here.

Clementine · 21-09-2010 1:59pm

Hi all, OP here.

Just wondering how everyone's getting on with their BP management?

I haven't been on boards in ages due to more health problems (including a wisdom tooth surgery, ouch!).

I had my kidney ultrasound and was told that everything is normal. After consulting with my GP she thought the best thing to do would be to monitor the BP her practice as its under control with the medication and there's no other contributing factors. It's such a relief to not have to go back to the hospital to do another 24hr monitor and all of the stress of the inconsistencies in there that go with it.

Given I'm finally back on track healthwise I'm starting proper exercise tonight- one of those outdoors fitness boot-camp style classes (but this one seems friendly, no shouting while doing press-ups!

). I'm a bit nervous as I have had experiences with this medication of feeling a bit faint or lightheaded if I've overdone it a bit- any advice?

cynder · 07-10-2010 5:54pm

Well my husband has just been called into hospital, long story

Docs changed his meds 3 weeks ago, since then high bp, arrhythmia and tachycardia, stopped meds last week and he has got no better, in fact its getting worse.

bp max 140/90 sometimes a bit less
pulse always over 100 average 125 max 130
palpitations all the the time
chest pains

Will let you know how he gets on, recon he will be kept in so they can do a whole heart check up, ecg, ultrasound and anything else they think of.

pauline fayne · 16-10-2010 7:25am

Hi all, I have been taking Istin for the last ten years for high blood pressure . Had some bouts of dizziness over the last few months , very brief , but i thought i might buy a home monitor . Have researched them on the internet but have a problem deciding on the cuff size . I measured my upper arm as 12 inches which is the upper limit of the medium cuff but the lower limit of the large . I have seen it mentioned on many sites that too small or too large a cuff will give inaccurate readings . Anyone got any idea ??

cynder · 16-10-2010 12:12pm

When my husband got his bp monitor the chemist took him into a private room and tested the monitor and cuff on him, he had to order the larger cuff, i use his cuff and my arm is not that big and it gives correct readings (between 107/61 and 118/67). The chemist should advise you on the correct cuff size. Keep it in mind that you need to be able to stick you finger between the cuff and your skin as its not supposed to be tight or loose when you put it on. As I said do a test run at the chemist.

*I've never seen a doctor change the bp cuff, I bet you never have either, 1 size fits all at the hospital/doctors office.

Hypertension/ High Blood Pressure

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