High Blood Pressure....at what point is medication needed?

Question

Most of my life my b.p. has been normal, really perfect. Twice now it has been high, once a few years ago from a medication interaction that lowered my sodium dangerously, and my b.p kept going up, and the past month or so its been high.

Generally I was only getting it checked when in the Dr.s office for other things, like an ear infection or my annual exams. In the past two months, there have been three visits, and all three were high. This past time, they actually kept me for a couple of hours to keep taking it, gave me something to lower it, and sent me home with instructions to take it twice a day for a week. Its now 162/110, after just hanging out with my dogs on a sunny afternoon in the backyard. I thought it may be another medication thing, since I have been taking Allegra or Zyrtec the past few months for allergies and ear problems, but I haven't taken them for two days and its going up. Any ideas?

I am 42, and slightly overweight, and am working on that.

I have been checking my pressure 2-3 times a day, and the lowest in the past five days was 128/84 first thing in the morning, but the highest was 179/92 and 144/107 this morning.

Answer 1

Hello,

The normal blood pressure depends on various factors, not least your age. If you are under 60, your blood pressure should ideally be below 140/90, with both the systolic (numerator) and diastolic (denominator) below these figures. It depends how much higher your blood pressure is at rest than this, and whether consistently so, to decide if it needs treating.

A systolic blood pressure of 160+ like your would need treating if it was a genuine reading. THe fact that it was taken after you "played with your dog" suggests it may be higher than your resting figure. However, even if it is about 150 systolic at rest, it would probably need treatment to prevent cardiovascular, renal and ophthalmic complications many years later.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Yeah. High blood pressure is 141/91, so you've got a substantial case. Did you tell the dr. the story about lowered sodium?

Unless you can get documentation that allegra or zyrtec have side effects to higher bp, you've got a syndrome that needs medication. Fortunately the med is not very expensive. If you were to lose 20 lbs (I'm assuming you are overweight, since I am), often the bp will go back to normal.

Take care,

TX Mom
hbp patient

Answer 3

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