A question from lovingmomhappykids: Can anyone answer my question about Blood Pressure?
First let me say I just started seeing a cardiologist and I am scheduled for more testing next week. I have been having chest pains and I had a small heart beat irregularity. The Cardiologist thinks it is benign, but I am having a stess test and an echo on Wednesday. He just wants to rule out a blockage, because I have never had an irregular heart beat or pain in the past. But in the mean time the doctor asked me to log my blood pressure. And what I am seeing is scaring me a little.
My BP is normally around 117/70 but my pulse has been on the high side around 85.
But last night there was a good bit of drama at home and my Blood Pressure shot up to 150/100 and my pulse was 108. It stayed at that level for a while even after I relaxed so, I took Nitro prescribed by my Dr. It went down to normal within 20 mins.
Then today, I did my wii fit for less than 10 minutes and my BP went up to 144/82 with a pulse of 89. This time It did go back down as soon as I sat down and relaxed so I did not take any nitro.
SO the question is IS THIS NORMAL. I mean it may well be. I have never tracked my BP before. I know 150/100 is stage 2 high blood pressure by the charts. And a resting pulse should not be more than 100, and when I had the 150 I was not exercising (just stessed out) SO I am pretty sure that this is not a good sign. I am taking the record to my Cardiologist on Wednesday. But I am there for tests, so I do not even know if I will be able to talk to him.
Should I be worried, or am I just blowing things out of porportion?
As for not taking the nitro if I am not having chest pain. Believe me I was having chest pain.
As for external causes, doctor already ruled these out and that is why he is running the tests, Don’t drink, smoke, do drugs, no caffine, I certainly was exercising in his office or the previous drs office that found the same thing. He said it “looked” benigin but he also said he had to do further testing to rule out a blockage.
MIstake “I certainly was NOT exercising in the doctors offices”
AGAIN I am not using Nitro for blood pressure, it is for Chest pain. It just so happens when my blood pressure goes up, that is when the chest pain kicks in. I have been having chest pain for 3 weeks and it has gotten very intense, especally after I exercise.
The No 1 answer:
Answer by J B
You are blowing things out of proportion. Your blood pressure naturally rises with any activity or stressor to the body and when at rest, comes back into a normal range. Unless you are having chest pain, do not use Nitro for blood pressure control. It will lower your blood pressure temporarily but will also dilate all the vessels in your body which could give you symptoms you don’t need. If your doctor mentioned the word benign with the irregular heart beat, you need to stop stressing about this. Many, many people have palpitations (irregular beats) and most of them are benign in nature and are often caused by external causes such as smoking, too much caffeine, fatigue, stress, lack of sleep, physical exercise and some medications – to name just a few. And, once the external cause is removed, these irregular beats often go away. Your heart rate and blood pressure elevate in response to any muscle use in your body – this is perfectly normal so you need to stop stressing about this, get the testing done and find out (hopefully) that there is nothing wrong.
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Many things can change our blood pressure. Stress is one of them. Pain also raises blood pressure. Of course, exercise will raise it. The fact that your blood pressure went down after you sat down and relaxed is normal. Our blood pressure can flucuate during the day and night. Keeping track of your blood pressure is a good start. I would also suggest that you also keep track of what your activity, any stressers etc. at the time you take your blood pressure. This will also help the Dr. make a more accurate diagnosis and what kind of medication you may need to be on, if any. Another bit of advise. Keep track of your blood pressure when taking nitro. It can cause your blood pressure to drop low. Also, it takes more than one blood pressure to diagnose you as having high blood pressure. Another reason to take good notes when taking your blood pressure. The Dr. will probably be looking at the trends rather than one or two blood pressures. Hope this helps.
There is no hard and fast number for what is normal… in a sense.
Your body constantly regulates your blood pressure according to what you need at a given moment. While exercising, you need more oxygen and therefore, more blood to carry it.
During stressful times, your body responds, thinking that you may need to run, therefore, it increases your blood pressure then too. It doesn’t matter if you actually need to run or not, your body gets ready, the old fight or flight scenario.
The question is, What is YOUR normal? That is what your doctor is trying to figure out. A good indicator, what is your blood pressure in the morning, when you first get up? That will help you and him or her figure it out.
I have seen every combination under the sun be someones normal… when it’s trouble is early in the morning, after a good night’s sleep and you get 180/98 for a pressure. Over time, that is just too much stress on the blood vessels.
So, be sure to include your stress level in your documentation.
However, please understand that Nitroglycerin is NOT a standard treatment for high blood pressure. It is used for the treatment of chest pain related to lack of blood flow to the heart. Because of HOW it works, it just happens to lower blood pressure too.. If you are having to take Nitro for chest pain, then you need to consider going to the Emergency room for further evaluation.
You actually skew your blood pressure readings if you use your nitro to treat your blood pressure and not to treat chest pain.
Your doctor is trying to determine if you need blood pressure treatment.
The echo and stress test will help determine if you have heart disease starting up that requires treatment or just monitoring. Relax, he is taking a conservative approach, but, still watching you closely.
Keep doing the wii fit… it sounds like it’s doing what it’s supposed to, raising hr and pressure for a time, then with rest, you drop back to normal. That sounds good.
You might consider increasing your water and salt intake.
I know that the mention of salt flies in the face of the advice put out by the medical profession, but they don’t seem to be doing a very good job doing it their way, do they? Medication does nothing but artificially control the blood pressure, keeping it within a predetermined range. The body changes and the prescriptions need to be constantly monitored and changed as needed – is this any way to live?
The blood is made up of 94% water and salt and must be maintained at this level for proper health. When you don’t drink enough water, the cells become dehydrated and the body will often borrow the water it needs to inject into the cells using a process called osmosis. Drawing the water from the blood causes the arteries to constrict and the blood to thicken due to the loss of volume. This requires additional pressure to move the blood through the cardiovascular system.
Filtering fresh water from the blood causes the salt that is left behind to become concentrated. Technically, it is “excess” since it falls outside of its normal ratio with the water. But this isn’t the reason for the rise in blood pressure. If this were the case, then simply reducing the salt intake would lower the blood pressure. But it doesn’t work this way. People follow their doctor’s advice to cut back on salt and the doctor STILL writes a prescription.
Obviously, salt doesn’t make a substantial difference.
But increasing the water intake will refresh the cells and will signal the body to quit borrowing water from the blood. This will bring the blood pressure back to normal.