Health
Related: About this forumBlood pressure concern; looking for similar experiences
I monitor my bp regularly (at least a few times per week). Last several days it was between 121/71 (best) to 133/83 (worst) except 1 day about 145/85. Then today was about 160/90. I was shocked. took again after another 15 min and it was 170/95! Wtf.
I admit I was pretty anxious about it for some reason before I took it. I'm a sensitive person emotionally. I consider myself very healthy. I exercise 45 min to 1 hr plus every day, eat well (lots of vegetables) have a significant other whom I get along with quite well weigh about 150 lbs at 5' 10". I am 71.
triron
(22,020 posts)Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)I know that many OTC medications can make your BP shoot up momentarily, so take some time to review any changes to medication you may have made in the last week or so.
Squinch
(51,004 posts)Ilsa
(61,698 posts)these episodes. He or she may prescribe a low dose (and inexpensive) anti-hypertensive drug to take during these events if you are unable to bring it down using mindfulness techniques, meditation, etc.
triron
(22,020 posts)I did talk to my doc about increasing it to 50 mg, I think I will try that.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)if you flare up.
I take a low dose hctz on stressful days. And I have to remember to take extra potassium those days.
triron
(22,020 posts)show reduces bp significantly (Tai Chong).
GP6971
(31,205 posts)My bp used to fluctuate like that and still does. But we went to a higher end monitoring device and the variances started not to be so great. My new doc wasn't liking it though and put me on meds about 3 months ago. Now it's pretty constant....a little above the new safety range of 130/70 (I think it's 70).
Historic NY
(37,453 posts)My Dr does it the old fashion way......
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)wandering BP. Sometimes high, sometimes low. My cardiologist has stabilized it for me over the years. My BP medication causes me no side affects.
Ohiogal
(32,057 posts)It can really vary a lot from one day to the next, or even one hour to the next. Stress and anxiety can really make it fluctuate. Don't get too frustrated about the higher readings (I know, easy for me to say). Are you under a doctor's care and so you take any medication for it?
I take meds for mine - I was able to reduce the amount of meds I take by trying a holistic approach - now I am the first one to say this sounds goofy and weird .... But my hubby tried this when his BP started to go up a little, and it worked amazingly for him.. There's this fruit juice you can buy, he sends away for it and it's expensive, like 30 some dollars for one bottle that lasts you about a month. It contains a mixture of four fruit juices - mangosteen, acai, goji, I forget the last one. 😕. You drink 2 TB per day. I mix mine into about a half a cup of organic cherry juice because it doesn't taste too good. He was able to bring his slightly elevated BP down to a textbook 120/70 after drinking this stuff for several months. I got tired of taking a high dose of meds and finally decided to try this juice - VERY skeptical at first - well I've been drinking it for about 2 months and lo and behold, my readings are going down, it's like magic! I was able to cut the amount of meds I take in half. I don't know if this is helpful to you, but this has been my experience. I'm seeing readings of 110-120 over 70-72 on a regular basis. I wish you all the best with your issue and wish you good health as well! BTW I am 61 and my hubby is 70.
triron
(22,020 posts)Thanks!
lunasun
(21,646 posts)Doodley
(9,124 posts)Response to Ohiogal (Reply #8)
progree This message was self-deleted by its author.
progree
(10,918 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 15, 2018, 07:16 PM - Edit history (1)
My last 2 years of blood pressure readings, all done by the same person:
month/year and systolic reading
08/16: 147
12/16: 144
07/17: 146
10/17: 145
01/18: 146
04/18: 128 - reading taken 10 days after starting the juice blend
08/18: 126
I began a 4-juice blend of noni mangosteen goji and I forget the last ingredient ... I have reason to believe its the same as what you describe.
I take 1 ounce a day (=2 tablespoons).
It costs me 68 cents/day (I order in large enough amount to avoid shipping charges)
I don't know what else could have caused it.
elfin
(6,262 posts)Have white coat effect when it is taken at doc's office. However, this year it was smack dab 120/80.
Before my cataract procedure, it was a whopping 170/90. Apparently not all that unusual. It subsided quickly once everything went well.
The only difference was adding three shakes of cinnamon on top of my ground coffee before making it and also taking a cinnamon capsule with my daily meds and supplements. No other changes to regular exercise, good diet etc.
Talk to your doc for sure and take your complete list of meds and supplements when you do that.
I have been turning off cable news quite a bit to keep from getting too upset.
Checking in with DU keeps me up to date without the highly charged conversations on TV..
triron
(22,020 posts)I freak out easily. Like you it usually returns to normal a few to several hrs later
Doodley
(9,124 posts)Doodley
(9,124 posts)A few years ago, I kept on taking my blood pressure. I took it several times a day. I wanted to find out if there was a pattern I could see to help get it lower. One day it was high. I kept on taking my BP. It kept going up. I called my wife and took it again. It went to over 240/220. I thought I was going to die. I told my wife to call an ambulance. In ICU they brought my blood pressure back down. I was having a panic attack over my blood pressure. My BP is always elevated when I see my physician. He takes it again before I leave and it is near normal. Fear raises blood pressure. I made a deal with my doctor that I would never take my BP again. I have not taken it one time since. Maybe a similar thing is happening to you.
triron
(22,020 posts)Not long ago (a few months) my bp was as low as 106/60+, most of the time it was below 120/75.
I got scared a few times by much higher bp at drs appts where I was getting a procedure done. Since then it has been unstable.
And the more I take it when it starts to go high the higher it gets.
Well Now I upped my bp med from 25 to 50 mg/da. I also take an ayurvedic herbal called mukta vati.
I try to take at least 600 mg of magnesium per day. I also take high gamma e, fish oil, coq10, 500 mg of arginine.
However every time I try to take my bp (even though relaxed before I begin) I start getting nervous as soon as I strap on the monitor,
then my anxiety grows as the machine does it thing. Suffice it to say all of these changes I described seem to have little to no effect.
Now I've added beet juice and nattokinase. A psychologist I talked with about this (who has the same problem) told me anxiety overrides everything. Anyway I am totally frustrated as I am very ft for my age, eat very well, and have a healthy relationship
with my gf. I feel very healthy. My dad is 95 , is in a wheel chair and does no exercise to speak of yet his bp is better than mine!
At least according to the machine. Am beginning to believe high bp is a farce perpetrated by the drug and supplement industry.
Doodley
(9,124 posts)or brain, etc. No, it isn't a scam. It is real. Keep doing all the healthy things you describe, but stop taking your blood pressure and relax! What are you achieving by doing it? I took mine multiple times a day and got more and more worked up about it and freaked out until I almost died. I haven't taken it since and I am more relaxed. I realize I was irrational.
Remember this: It is normal for your blood pressure to vary, depending on many factors, including how anxious you feel. There is no benefit at all to keep on taking your blood pressure if it is actually raising your blood pressure by doing so. You are wasting your emotional energy and time on focusing on your blood pressure! Stop doing it!
triron
(22,020 posts)I talked with a cognitive psychologist about it. He has the same problem!
So he doesn't take his. Perhaps what you say is true. I get annual blood tests
and my kidneys are fine (so far). So is my liver.
Response to triron (Original post)
ResIpsa This message was self-deleted by its author.
Jane Austin
(9,199 posts)I had an angiogram on Friday so I was hooked up to an automatic blood pressure thingy all afternoon.
After a while, I asked if I could watch tv, and requested MSNBC.
My blood pressure had been 116/56 earlier, and after watching a couple of minutes of trump on tv, it went up 20 points!
My nurse got a huge kick out of that.
Seriously, though, a little magnesium and a tablet of B6 are supposed to help.
Something is keeping mine low. I'm old and I'm too fat, but I have lovely blood pressure.
triron
(22,020 posts)I had blood pressure almost like yours a few months ago. I recall once it was like 99/56. But most of the time between
110/70 and 120+/80 (or near that). But recently had a drs appt (after a very bad night emotionally) where it was like 180/90.
Sine then have not been able to get it back down except for a few times where it was 121/74 to 129/80. Otherwise it bops around over 140 to 160 systolic over 83 to 98 diastolic. just increased my bp med and still not below 140 systolic. Even taking extra
magnesium and l-arginine. I workout once or twice a day, get plenty of sleep, have a wonderful relationship with my gf. Eat a good diet, take coq10, tumeric, fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil. I am very frustrated about this. I am 5' 10" and weigh 150. 5% body fat.
womanofthehills
(8,761 posts)You might also try some enzymes that thin the blood like nattokinase and serrapeptase. Vit e also thins the blood. I only take my blood pressure when I am relaxed. When I was bitten by a rattler my blood pressure dropped big time for months as venom thins the blood and thinner blood drops pressure. So now I take these two enzymes, larginine, lots of magnesium and freshly made organic beet juice every day.
triron
(22,020 posts)I knew about beet juice. I continue to be frustrated occasionally with temporary systolic hypertension.
I will try to start using beet juice more often and see what happens. I still wonder if my bouts of systolic hypertension
are largely due to news lately (about Trump--how I loath him). Also will add more serrapeptase/nattokinase and also use
high gamma vit E more often. Otherwise I feel very healthy and am quite fit (hike/jog, swim, dance, weight lift), also have
a very good companion. btw I have developed a phobia of taking my blood pressure (and even worse of having it taken
by a physician) so I'm not sure how to deal with that. Taking my bp is one of the most distasteful things in my life (of which there are few).
triron
(22,020 posts)I also wonder whether its my thyroid med raising my systolic bp.
triron
(22,020 posts)I have been taking those enzymes daily and also frequently take l-arginine and beet juice.
Today my bp was 122/75. First time in awhile systolic has been below 129. Usually it has been in the 130s and low 140s.
triron
(22,020 posts)low 120s. Then started to creep back up. WTF! No matter what I do nothing helps. I work out 2 times a day, eat lots of vegetables, fish, chicken,
drink plenty of water, take 50 mg losartan, fish oil, coq10, 2 other bp supplements, magnesium... I could go on.
nitpicker
(7,153 posts)Not just about the new BP issues (which I put off more than I should have), but also all that you are taking?
And when the foot doctor had my BP taken immediately after splinter extraction, it was up over 30 points. It came back down, but they started me on meds (other stuff). It took a while for them to work for me, but eventually they did.
When the news starts fixating on distressing issues, I switch over to music stations, NWS weather broadcasts, etc.
((Just switched back to NWS, as the radio station put on that annoying BP PSA again.))
triron
(22,020 posts)The kavanaugh shit had me uptight for awhile. I was able to let it go finally. Also my dad just passed away (he was almost 96).
Takes awhile for the body's nervous system to even out again.
No My doc is pretty open minded. I doubt he would have a problem with what I am doing.
Also I am a retired scientist and do quite a bit of independent research on holistic heath and anti-aging; I don't even consider
most MDs legitimately interested or educated in that.