High Blood Pressure

[sara_0562]

Hey

I went to the doctor a few days ago and my blood pressure was 180/100 which is very very high. The doctor took some blood work and i have another appointment in a week to see if its still high. In the mean time he said to "eliminate any stress in my life." Im only 20 and am not overweight so its very stange that this is happening. I know its very common to have high blood pressure so im wondering what you guys do to bring it down. Im finding myself getting more stressd out about trying to not be stressed...

[Hope75]

What sort of diet do you eat?

 

A diet high in sodium can cause hypertension,

 

and a stressful lifestyle, or a person who is very anxious on a day to day basis, can have hypertension too.

 

It also runs in families, and can increase with anxiety at the doctors- called "white coat syndrome", although I have never seen a reading that high based solely on anxiety about being at the doctor's.

 

While your BP was indeed very high, hypertension is diagnosed based on serial readings, not just one reading alone.

 

A good idea would be to get a BP cuff/monitor (CVS sells them) and check your BP at home too- where you are probably less anxious than at the doctor's. Check it every day until you go back and keep a record of what it is. Check it at different times of the day also, and see if there is a difference.

[applepie]

That's scary! Did your doctor give you any blood pressue lowering medications? You don't have to be overweight to have high blood pressure but you can get it if you don't get much exercise. Are you on birth control pills or anything else that can affect your BP?

 

I think most of the time doctor's can't find a cause for HBP and you just need to do things to help lower it- medication, exercise, relaxation techniques.

 

I hope it all goes alright for you

[MeMonkey57]

The basics, no salt, meditation quiet reflection, enjoy some nice deep breathes and relax.

The doctor may have a lot more to say after the blood work.

Keep us updated OK?

 

John

[sara_0562]

Im on Birth control now thats the reason i was at the doctors to get the brand im on changed cause i was having side effects. he said it was very uncommon to have high blood pressure from BC but can be a side effect. I dont excercise very much so that could possibly be a cause. He didn't give me medication yet. He said if its still high at the next appointment thats when he will give me some

[unface]

Whoa! That is high.

 

How many times did he check it? Were you feeling nervous or anything during the appointment? Did you eat before you went?

[missmebaby]

hi there im a nursing student so i know a little about blood pressure. there is a thing called "salt sensitive" which means if you are "salt sensitive" and you consume a lot of salt your blood pressure will shoot up. you could have this problem so you might want to cut back on your salt intake. also, a lack of exercise will cause you to have high blood pressure. i am the same age as you and a few months ago i checked my blood pressure and it was pretty high. i started exercising at the gym and 2 weeks later my blood pressure was even below the normal range of 120/80 which is good. so you might want to try that also.

[BeStrongBeHappy]

please buy yourself a home monitoring b.p. checker and check your b.p. at several different times a day over the next week... this way you can measure it when you are more relaxed. sometime speople's b.p. will shoot up for no reason other than nervousness while having the b.p. taken at the doctor...

 

you b.p. can spike for lots of reasons, stress, caffeine, drugs, illness, overweight, etc., but yours is high enough that you might want to monitor it over a couple weeks to see if it stays that high. high b.p. runs in families to, so there could be a genetic component to this, irrespective of diet etc.

 

there are also some medical conditions/diseases that can cause high b.p.. most doctors will NOT ignore sustained high b.p. because of the risks for stroke and other arterial damage over time, even if you are young, the effects can be cumulative and set you up for heart disease/stroke in the future if ignored. so it is good that you are being monitored and returning to the doctor to get to the bottom of the problem.

 

it may be nothing at all, but it is certainly something to monitor, and investigate further if it stays high. there are a million different b.p. medications that work very effectively these days, and you can find one that causes no side effects at all... so even if the doctor does prescribe medication, it really is no big deal if you take it, but could become a big deal if you ignore it.

[coollady1957]

I agree with the post that suggests you get a home BP monitor. That way you can monitor it during periodic times of the day. Keep a record of it and take it back with you to the doctors appointment, or better yet take the BP machine with you and let him look at your readings. I have done that before so he could actually see my readings i took at home.

 

IF you smoke then that could raise your BP as well as having too much salt in the diet and the lack of exercise that someone had mentioned. And yes, reduce as much stress and anxiety that you can.

 

There is a possibility that you are nervous at the doctors office thereforeeee resulting in what some call " white coat" high BP. I am not sure if being nervous at the doctors would cause it to go as high as yours though. It certainly will pay off for you to get that monitor for at home. Let us know how you are doing on the BP.