Blood pressure 144/102

[Frimley111R]

That sounds a bit high? Anything to worry about? I used a machine my mum has (which rads the same as one my sister has so I am sure its right). I did 4 readings and they were all about the same. I always though my pressure was low/normal from previous readings

[neenaw]

I'd be paying a visit to my GP if I was you.
The systolic pressure, the higher number, isn't too bad but the diastolic, the lower number, is high.
Usually anything over 140/90 is considered high and needs looking at.

[mattikake]

It used to be until about 3 years ago, now officially anything less than 159/100 is considered high-normal, but does not require GP investigation - they'll just tut and send you away. The systolic number is the more important one.

More than 160 is the "latest" hypertension level and should be checked out.

edit: sorry, I didn't look at the diastolic.

Edited by mattikake on Wednesday 5th February 12:44

[Grandfondo]

Neenaw is right the bottom number is high!

[Frimley111R]

Hmm. Docs tomorrow. Given that I exercise 2 times a week (circuit training), never smoked, am not overweight and don't drink excessively or have a stressful job this is a bit disappointing.

[J4CKO]

Can be down to other things like recent activity, having a salt laden meal recently, needing a poo or seeing a nice looking girl, blood pressure is very fluid and you cant base it on one number.

My systolic can get pretty high, have seen 160 odd before but the Diastolic is always lower, between 60 and 90, it really is all over the place, the doc said I was going to need meds if it went any higher so I am losing weight, I know that will help as last time I dropped some I noticed it go down and was getting a bit dizzy standing up from bed, doc said that was my BP coming down and my system adjusting, also didnt help that I had an under active thyroid which can cause it to elevate.

Just go and get it checked, sometimes it just is high for no reason, genetics or whatever, just the way you are made.

[J4CKO]

Just took mine, 143/73 with a pulse of 68, systolic is high but have had a few coffes and am a bit wound up with work, Diastolic is in the ideal and systolic is Stage 1 Hypertension, still needs more work.

[Pickled Piper]

Frimley111R said:

Hmm. Docs tomorrow. Given that I exercise 2 times a week (circuit training), never smoked, am not overweight and don't drink excessively or have a stressful job this is a bit disappointing.

I wouldn't worry unduly. (It pushes your BP up). You really need several readings over a few days to make a meaningfull assessment.

[NormalWisdom]

Other factors including time of day and your age should be taken into account.

Mine was 170/130 and is now 145/110 having been "regulated" by daily intake of drugs.

I lost weight, cut down on booze and fags by 60% and that made no difference!

140/100 is, as mentioned earlier, something a GP will not get unduly bothered about

[J4CKO]

NormalWisdom said:

Other factors including time of day and your age should be taken into account.

Mine was 170/130 and is now 145/110 having been "regulated" by daily intake of drugs.

I lost weight, cut down on booze and fags by 60% and that made no difference!

140/100 is, as mentioned earlier, something a GP will not get unduly bothered about

Yeah, its fine, just running a little extra boost than standard

[FiF]

The other thing I would advise is to make an appointment with the practice nurse to get it checked out. Take your machine along and ask if you can take a test with that as a sort of calibration exercise. Mine consistently reads a bit higher than theirs.

[mr.man]

Another thing to be consistent with is the level of your arm when using your machine.
Sit in a chair and let your arm hang low then take another reading standing up with
your arm higher than your shoulder. Expect two very different readings.

[J4CKO]

The docs tend to get you to do a 24 hr monitor, you have to wear it all day and it pumps up at innoportune moments, I have had it twice, the first time the doc asked me what the spike was at about 1pm and I went bright red so I think she guessed....

[Heaveho]

J4CKO said:

The docs tend to get you to do a 24 hr monitor, you have to wear it all day and it pumps up at innoportune moments, I have had it twice, the first time the doc asked me what the spike was at about 1pm and I went bright red so I think she guessed....

I was having high readings, white coat sydrome related, they were about 110 / 160, a 24 hour monitor revealed it to be much more normal over that period, so don't stress over it too much....as said, it can vary wildly over the course of the day.

[J4CKO]

Heaveho said:

J4CKO said:

The docs tend to get you to do a 24 hr monitor, you have to wear it all day and it pumps up at innoportune moments, I have had it twice, the first time the doc asked me what the spike was at about 1pm and I went bright red so I think she guessed....

I was having high readings, white coat sydrome related, they were about 110 / 160, a 24 hour monitor revealed it to be much more normal over that period, so don't stress over it too much....as said, it can vary wildly over the course of the day.

Yeah, I get rattled at the docs, think its all my bad habits coming back to haunt me, feeling guilty about drinking, eating crap, being overweight even though I am pretty active. Mine was still a bit higher than it should be but not enough for the pills, I really want to avoid those as they cause side effects so if I can get it down via diet and exercise, I will.

[Heaveho]

They put me on 5mg tablets against my better judgement, fortunately I don't seem to get any side effects. Remembering to take the bloody things is the hard part!

[Frimley111R]

Thanks guys. I had the nurse check it and the lower figure was 95 but the higher was 155! Off to the docs on Monday morning to see what he thinks.

[Frimley111R]

J4CKO said:

...the first time the doc asked me what the spike was at about 1pm and I went bright red so I think she guessed....

[Hackney]

Frimley111R said:

Thanks guys. I had the nurse check it and the lower figure was 95 but the higher was 155! Off to the docs on Monday morning to see what he thinks.

It's an interesting one, I think you're often better monitoring it yourself - morning and night at the same time - as this gives a truer reading.

I was diagnosed with high BP in a pre-surgery check up which delayed the surgery while I got the BP down.
(Long and annoying story ended with the surgery being put back about 7 months in the end)
Because I really wanted the surgery so I could get active again (knee injury) I was seeing a higher BP at the Doc's than I was at home, brought on by stress / worry that this was the guy who'd make the decision.

My mum has had high BP for years and really works herself up when she has to go for her regular checkup giving effectively a false reading at the doc's compared to what the norm is.

What I'm saying is, check it yourself and go to the doc's armed with the results. So when it's 155/95 in surgery you can (hopefully) say that at the same time every day prior to the appointment it was 135/85

[FiF]

This ^^ I keep a chart. Always making sure sitting in same way, as somebody said, arm in same position, no talking, no movement.

It's also amazing how stressful situations affect bp, not just the white coat effect.