Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have been dealing with severe hypertension ever since I had my first baby. it's been about 4 years now. I keep getting spikes of 181/106 and in the ER they do nothing, just send me home with xanax and tell me to take my medication. My blod pressure shoots up just from doing smal activites or just stand out in the sun for a half hour. I hate it!
What bothers me is, my pressure is near impossible to lower and I am too young to be fighting this. I am far from overweight, I dont use drugs or drink. My Mother and grandfather had severe hypertension so it's probably genetic, giving me little hope of even trying to find a way to control it better such as diet etc.
My doctor just tells me it wil get worse with age and it really depresses me even more. I am worried I could end up with maligant hyprtension, which it seems like thats what my mother had, even though she never mentioned it.
I hate it when I asee obese people eating hamburgers, donuts and smoking etc.... and don't even have a BP problem and then there's me.
Anyone suffer from severe blood pressure issues and how do you deal with it?
I was on 20mg of benicar, now they switched me to 40mg benicar HCT. I went off medication for awhile because I was on Azor 40/5 plus an HCTZ and after a year my BP got too low and I was short of breath and just going up the stairs made my legs burn, so I stopped taking it and felt better.
I was off medication for a year and my bp was fine... then it spiked. Apparently the 20mg of benicar wasn't working well enough.
From what I understand, to treat it they may have to try changing the BP meds to find the one that works right for each individual person. You need to work with your regular doctor to find the right one or combo that works for you.. If he won't work with you, it is time to find another doctor. It could take a long time to find the one that works but you need to see a doctor that will keep trying. (I am by far, no expert in this but I have family members that have high BP)
The ER only puts a band aid on what is going on and always tell you to see your regular doctor the next day for treatment.. I find them a big waste of time and money.
I have been dealing with severe hypertension ever since I had my first baby. it's been about 4 years now. I keep getting spikes of 181/106 and in the ER they do nothing, just send me home with xanax and tell me to take my medication. My blod pressure shoots up just from doing smal activites or just stand out in the sun for a half hour. I hate it!
What bothers me is, my pressure is near impossible to lower and I am too young to be fighting this. I am far from overweight, I dont use drugs or drink. My Mother and grandfather had severe hypertension so it's probably genetic, giving me little hope of even trying to find a way to control it better such as diet etc.
My doctor just tells me it wil get worse with age and it really depresses me even more. I am worried I could end up with maligant hyprtension, which it seems like thats what my mother had, even though she never mentioned it.
I hate it when I asee obese people eating hamburgers, donuts and smoking etc.... and don't even have a BP problem and then there's me.
Anyone suffer from severe blood pressure issues and how do you deal with it?
Cupcake, about 5% of people with high blood pressure have an underlying treatable cause.
You might want to ask your doctor to perform "continuous ambulatory blood pressure monitoring". You wear a BP cuff for 24 hours, and the readings are recorded. This gives a sense of what your pressure is doing throughout the day and whether you might have higher pressures in the office, what is known as white coat syndrome.
If you check your BP yourself, make sure you are using a good cuff. Some of the automatic ones are not real reliable. I would not use the machine that you see outside the pharmacy.
If your pressure is truly not well controlled, it may be time for your doctor to consider testing for those things that are the cause of elevated BP in that 5% minority. These are mainly some problems with the arteries to the kidneys and some glandular problems.
As noted by some of the other posters, it may just be the meds need to be fine tuned. It may take 3 meds for some people.
Of course, maintain your weight, consider exercise a BP medicine that needs to be taken every day, and consider active stress management. You might find yoga very beneficial. Watch your salt intake!
Last edited by suzy_q2010; 07-08-2010 at 11:29 AM..
Reason: added comment
Cupcake, about 5% of people with high blood pressure have an underlying treatable cause.
You might want to ask your doctor to perform "continuous ambulatory blood pressure monitoring". You wear a BP cuff for 24 hours, and the readings are recorded. This gives a sense of what your pressure is doing throughout the day and whether you might have higher pressures in the office, what is known as white coat syndrome.
If you check your BP yourself, make sure you are using a good cuff. Some of the automatic ones are not real reliable. I would not use the machine that you see outside the pharmacy.
If your pressure is truly not well controlled, it may be time for your doctor to consider testing for those things that are the cause of elevated BP in that 5% minority. These are mainly some problems with the arteries to the kidneys and some glandular problems.
As noted by some of the other posters, it may just be the meds need to be fine tuned. It may take 3 meds for some people.
Of course, maintain your weight, consider exercise a BP medicine that needs to be taken every day, and consider active stress management. You might find yoga very beneficial. Watch your salt intake!
You're right. I guess I am scared because my mother had horrible hyprtension all her life, even lost vision in one eye, survived an aoritc anursym and finally died of a stroke after living 5 years with oxygen and always had to rest where ever we went. It was not uncommon for her numbers to be 250/120. My Father said my grandfather was the same.
I do not want to live like she did. All my doctor would tell me is that sometimes it's just genetic and have a nice day.
I do feel my hypetenson is secondary but having a hard time having anyone pay attention to me. This all started when I had chest pain and they ruled out cardiac but said I had a lipase level 3 times higher than normal bit all my scans were normal. Now I am super nausious all the time and the raises my BP really high and other gastro symtpms I wont go into. My doctors just ignore it and I think it might be partly responsible for the spikes.
You're right. I guess I am scared because my mother had horrible hyprtension all her life, even lost vision in one eye, survived an aoritc anursym and finally died of a stroke after living 5 years with oxygen and always had to rest where ever we went. It was not uncommon for her numbers to be 250/120. My Father said my grandfather was the same.
I do not want to live like she did. All my doctor would tell me is that sometimes it's just genetic and have a nice day.
I do feel my hypetenson is secondary but having a hard time having anyone pay attention to me. This all started when I had chest pain and they ruled out cardiac but said I had a lipase level 3 times higher than normal bit all my scans were normal. Now I am super nausious all the time and the raises my BP really high and other gastro symtpms I wont go into. My doctors just ignore it and I think it might be partly responsible for the spikes.
The elevated lipase and nausea suggest a gallbladder or pancreatic problem. Have those been checked out?
With your family history, it is most likely that you have what is called essential hypertension. That just means no one knows what causes it, but it is some genetic factor, most likely. If you are young, it would be considered worthwhile to check out the other problems that I mentioned. Those are conditions for which the elevated BP is a symptom, making the elevated BP secondary to the underlying condition. It is likely that you do not have one of them, but if you do, it is possible to treat them, and your BP may improve. If you also have essential hypertension, you may still need medication, but it may be easier to control.
Keep in mind that no one has the same blood pressure all day long. Some spikes are normal. You just do not want them to be as high as what you are describing.
When doctors diagnose conditions, the saying is, "If you hear hoof beats on the bridge, think of horses, not zebras." But if you don't look, you may miss seeing the circus crossing the bridge, and you never see the zebras.
go to a zen center and start meditation like yesterday.
also consider alternative healing like christian science.
Meditation could be a valuable part of stress management. For me, petting the dog works.
Cupcake is at risk from a serious medical condition. I would not recommend any "alternative healing" unless scientifically proven to work better than the medication she is already taking.
We have that kind of HBP in my family too. My brother started at 18. My mother and I are both on a couple of kinds of bp meds at a time and cholesterol too. She always said she felt better when her bp was over 200 and she wasn't taking any pills but you really need to. The aortic aneurysm is of concern as you can drop dead on the spot without any previous symptoms. I've had that too and now must keep my bp artifically low which meds slow me down a bit. Mine was discovered in one of those community health fairs where they do an ultrasound and check your bp on all four limbs. Otherwise I wouldn't be here today as it required open heart surgery. You should advise your dr that your mother had this.
Whatever stomach issues you're having can cause your bp to go up, any stress, any pain, etc. Have him check for crohns and celiac disease. You will not be able to treat your bp without medication.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
