someone explain blood pressure please.

[Brandi]

Can someone explain how it works. I ask this because on sat my blood pressure was high. 149 over 82. I have seen it as low as 115 over 72. I have anxiety problems right now that I am getting under control. But if my pressure is high one day and not the next should I be concerned. Can your pressure be up one week and then be normal the next?
This morning I took it about 20 minutes after I woke up and it was 124 over 73. I have been almost staying completly away from coffee ( I have 1 cup in the morning, I had not had my coffee yet this morning when I took it).
My dh was worried on sat but then it seemed to calm down.We have a blood pressure cuff cause dh had a problem some years ago and now takes med's. So we monitor him every so often.

[mimitabby]

Stress definitely can make it go up. It has to do with the flexibility of your veins and arteries. Dr's are most helpful here. I suggest you talk to one, that IS high

[Brandi]

Well that is funny Mimi! I was just at the Dr's last week and it was 140 over 80. They seemed to think it was cause I was nervouse. And up until lately my pressure was really good. Then this anxiety hit and has thrown me off somewhat.

[guanajagirl]

In short blood pressure measures the pressure in you arteries when your heart is contracted ( the top number)or systolic and then when your heart is relaxed ( the bottom number) or diastolic. Pain, stress, coffee and soda's and your arteries can def' have a effect on your bp. It is a good sign that its not always high. Track your blood pressure for a few weeks and see if you can trace the times when its high to periods of high stress or dietary habits. If so make some changes in those areas and see if it makes a difference. If not or it stays high ( and really most of the cardiologist i work with dont get concerned unless its high 140-150 systolic bp sustained.), then see your doctor again. Hope this helps!

[Kimmyt]

I know mine is very variable depending on the situation. With doctors, many times it will be high. Once they recommended I get blood tests done if it was high two visits in a row, because it was high, but then the next time it was fine. THey even suggested it was the stress of being at a doctor. I just had it taken a week ago and again it was high, but I had just been running around and doing errands beforehand and fighting traffic to get to my appt on time, so I think it was stress there too. I had it taken several months before and the lady said I had near perfect blood pressure so I am just going to keep an eye on it and see if it is high again in the near future.

K.

[Tokie]

It's a good idea to check your BP in a consistent fashion. (same time of day,perhaps in am before breakfast?) Make sure your arm is relaxed and supported on something at about the same level as your heart. Sorry for all your stresses - you do need some cute PJs! (retail therapy, my favorite next to cycling!) Tokie

[Brandi]

Thank you very much. I will track it! I have been really. But I don't want to obsessive either.

[sundial]

I was just at the Dr's last week and it was 140 over 80. They seemed to think it was cause I was nervouse.

Maybe you suffer from White Coat Anxiety.

Brandi, I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on t.v., but......when I was in menopause, my blood pressure was up one week and down the next. After I had my hysterectomy, my blood pressure settled back down and now it's the lowest since my 20's.

[LoriO]

I suffer from high blood pressure and yes, stress will definatly cause your blood pressure to go up. My BP was always through the roof while I was at the DR's office so I finally started checking at home on my own. While it was still high at home, it was no where near where it was at the DR's. So I know for a fact I suffer from white coat syndrome.

I have been on BP meds for about 2 years now and with a better diet and more excercise it has come down quite a bit. I used to be on 2 different BP meds and now I am down to just one and it is a very low dose.

Unfortunatly my job is a huge contributing factor to my high BP. I'm a 911 dispatcher and I work midnights. So I'm problaby stuck taking the meds until the day I finally am able to leave my job

Just check your BP regularly and don't always do it at the same time every time. Try and pick a couple different times during the day and rotate through those times when you do your checks. Say one day at 1pm, another day at 6pm, and maybe one more day in morning. While your BP may be low in the morning when you first get up, it may be high by the afternoon once the daily stress has a chance to kick in.

[Crankin]

Brandi, I was in the same situation as you last summer when I was having stress from health problems. My bp was like 150 over 90! It's usually low or normal. They even had me on medication for a month or two.
Everything everyone said is true; what helped me was meditation. Also, when I do go to the doctor, I don't have any coffee and I don't walk fast from the parking lot, or climb the 6 flights of stairs as I usually would.
My bp is now at 110-115 over 70 and has been for months.
You might want to track your resting HR also. When I was really anxious, mine was sky high in the morning when I woke up and one time when I went to the doctor just sitting there, it was 115. I knew it was stress and coffee, since my HR, while not super low is low enough that doctors usually ask if I'm an "athlete."

[Scarlet]

Hi Brandi,

I agree with many of the comments posted here, why not ask your doc for a twentyfour hour monitoring if you and he/she are concerned although BP does fluctuate according to what you are doing as well as being influenced by you having any predispositon to hypertensive disorders. (eg family members ) regular exercise should improve your BP overall but if taken immediately after or within a short while of exercise of course your BP will be elevated (unless you are atop athlete)

the twentyfour hour machine is put on and you go about your daily/nightly activities maybe they ask you to record time if you do something unusual:p
the machine does BP every so often.

It is supposed to be a better way of looking at your overall BP as opposed to a single reading.

hope this is useful

Scarlet

[Brandi]

Thanks everyone. I am going to see if i don't calm down some after I get into my work season as well. Also I am now thinking all this might very well be hormones. I seemed angry last week and a bit irrational. I have an IUD that has stopped my periods. I have had it now for over 4 years. And when I think about it there seems to be a couple times of year when I get this way. The Dr said i would still have the pms just not the periods. Now I know some of you will not agree with not having my period. And it is strange. But it has been good in ways like the fact I work in sand and not the most clean places are available when you travel.
But I am wondering if my PMS is not getting worse as I get older? MAybe I should talk to my gyno. The first time I had the palpatations come back strong was about a month ago. Then they stopped. Then they started again last week and have now subsided. My bp is up. I am eating a lot of cookies and cleaning. But the palps and high bp I have not had with pms. I creid so hard over a aspca ad last week! I was bawling my eye's out. Does pms cause these things. (bp up and heart palps) See I feel myself calming down more this week too.

[bounceswoosh]

Thanks everyone. I am going to see if i don't calm down some after I get into my work season as well. Also I am now thinking all this might very well be hormones. I seemed angry last week and a bit irrational. I have an IUD that has stopped my periods. I have had it now for over 4 years. And when I think about it there seems to be a couple times of year when I get this way. The Dr said i would still have the pms just not the periods. Now I know some of you will not agree with not having my period. And it is strange. But it has been good in ways like the fact I work in sand and not the most clean places are available when you travel.
But I am wondering if my PMS is not getting worse as I get older? MAybe I should talk to my gyno. The first time I had the palpatations come back strong was about a month ago. Then they stopped. Then they started again last week and have now subsided. My bp is up. I am eating a lot of cookies and cleaning. But the palps and high bp I have not had with pms. I creid so hard over a aspca ad last week! I was bawling my eye's out. Does pms cause these things. (bp up and heart palps) See I feel myself calming down more this week too.

I'm fine with skipping periods -- I used depo and considered the lack of periods a major perk =)

Is it possible you could be entering menopause? That can cause all sorts of symptoms.

[Kano]

I'm not going to argue with the possibility of PMS, Brandi! It changes over the years, I know that for darn sure! I retain water. Used to be my breasts would swell to the point where I had two wardrobes. Now, my joints get all that fluid and ache like crazy...

Used to go all cranky and teary -- couldn't seem to live with myself, poor everyone around me! Good thing I outgrew that!

Used to be regular as clockwork too, and that just gets weirder and weirder!

(did you see the Saturday Night Live spoof on one of those never have a period product commercials? Just once a year -- be sure to call your local police department to warn them that it's coming around...)

Karen in Boise

[Brandi]

[QUOTE=Kano;315645]I'm not going to argue with the possibility of PMS, Brandi! It changes over the years, I know that for darn sure! I retain water. Used to be my breasts would swell to the point where I had two wardrobes. Now, my joints get all that fluid and ache like crazy...

Used to go all cranky and teary -- couldn't seem to live with myself, poor everyone around me! Good thing I outgrew that!

Used to be regular as clockwork too, and that just gets weirder and weirder!

(did you see the Saturday Night Live spoof on one of those never have a period product commercials? Just once a year -- be sure to call your local police department to warn them that it's coming around...)

Karen in Boise[/QUOTE ]
will have to do a utube search on that one!

[sundial]

I creid so hard over a aspca ad last week! I was bawling my eye's out. Does pms cause these things. (bp up and heart palps) See I feel myself calming down more this week too.

Yes, and so does PMDD. I was a total emotional wreck 3 months before I had my surgery. I thought I was going crazy but turns out it was all related to my ovaries that had basically shut down due to cysts and a mass. I'm so glad I don't have those darn mood swings anymore. Occasionally I have adrenaline rushes and then I feel like cr@p, but at least it doesn't last a week. :)

[Brandi]

Yes, and so does PMDD. I was a total emotional wreck 3 months before I had my surgery. I thought I was going crazy but turns out it was all related to my ovaries that had basically shut down due to cysts and a mass. I'm so glad I don't have those darn mood swings anymore. Occasionally I have adrenaline rushes and then I feel like cr@p, but at least it doesn't last a week. :)
So what did you do for it? I am wondering. I am being very aware of my moods day by day so if this is pms or what you called pmdd I want to be sure. All I know is I do not like it one bit. I am not myself in any way mind wise. It is scary. I am just so over emotional. Not right now. Even though I did wake this morning and felt kinda panicky thinking of all I have to do before my work trip to Philly. But I always get like that before my first job of the year.