high blood pressure

[R TOY]

Hi folks

I recently went for a well man check up and was surprised to find my blood pressure is high. 185 / 85 . I returned for a recheck a week later and result was slightly better at 175/74 .
The bonus at the recheck was my cholesterol result is great at 3.8.

I'm 56yrs, non smoker, not overweight, I don't drink a great deal and I exercise regularly so other than cutting salt from my diet I haven't really been able to change much.

I'm guessing stress is the main cause, from work , family and general stuff although I don't think i'm a particularly stressy type person.

I've had an Msa medical for the last 5/6 years and last year I recorded 138/78 . No data for previous years tho.

I'm not really sure what to do next, any advice be appreciated ??

Thanks Dave.

[J4CKO]

Get a home monitor and check it when relaxed and get a feel for actual readings, any kind of medical environment can cause false high readings, I would expect your GP to have you wear a 24 hr monitor, they would never prescribe medication on a couple of isolated high readings, but they can be a bit over keen to give you BP drugs, I kind of got a choice and have lowered it through losing weight and getting fitter, I usually see 120 to 130 odd over sixty/seventy, I can see upto 150/80 but it always comes down once I calm down and relax.

It does go up with age but they dont use that 100 plus your age thing any more, it was 120/70 but the guidelines are lower than that now but not sure I would want medication to drop it, can cause other side effects.

[R TOY]

The nurse (health nurse, not a doctor ) said I would get a call in a few weeks to be given a home monitor but not had any news as yet.
she didn't advise being put on any medication or going to see my GP at this stage but I have now made an appointment for this week . A second opinion can't hurt and check nothing is blocked in there.

Now I know I have high bp I am constantly assessing myself and I think I am generally tense , almost an excited sensation internally, but feel mentally relaxed if that makes sense !

The main worry now is how to relax and get it down ? , but worrying is probably pushing it even higher. Maybe early retirement is looming ?

Thanks Dave

[Depthhoar]

J4CKO said:

Get a home monitor and check it when relaxed and get a feel for actual readings, any kind of medical environment can cause false high readings, I would expect your GP to have you wear a 24 hr monitor, they would never prescribe medication on a couple of isolated high readings, but they can be a bit over keen to give you BP drugs, I kind of got a choice and have lowered it through losing weight and getting fitter, I usually see 120 to 130 odd over sixty/seventy, I can see upto 150/80 but it always comes down once I calm down and relax.

It does go up with age but they dont use that 100 plus your age thing any more, it was 120/70 but the guidelines are lower than that now but not sure I would want medication to drop it, can cause other side effects.

This /\.

Also:-

A 24hr monitor is the gold standard for blood pressure checks. If you're a powerfully built PH-type then you'll need the wider arm cuff due to your massive 'guns'!

Seriously, if you're a big guy make sure you get the wider arm cuff as part of the 24hr monitoring kit. A lot of well-built guys register false high readings because the the regular arm cuff is used. Simple physics really. My consultant anaesthetist brother-in-law says this is an all to common error in primary health care BP measuring.

The 24hr monitor can be a royal pain to wear for that period, especially when it runs checks (though fewer in number) during the early hours.