High Blood Pressure

[Linda]

Hi everyone,
Within the last few months I found out that my blood pressure is rising. According to everything I have read I have pre-hypertension. I am not on medication, the Dr. is just monitoring it. I was at my Gyn's office the other day and it's slightly elevated, bottom number was 92.
My Dr. is on vacation this week and I just don't feel right. I'm not sure how to describe it, I just don't feel good. I've been feeling this way for a couple of days. My head really hurts, I went to bed with a headache and woke up with one. I feel very tired and I slept good last night. I feel very nervous inside, almost shaky and I am emotional. My chest has felt slightly tight and my heart sometimes is beating a bit rapidly.
Even though the blood pressure isn't all that bad, could it make me feel this way? I am unsure whether to go to the ER or not, I kind of feel silly but my grandfather died of a heart attack when he was in his 40's and I know it can happen. I am in my early 40's.
Am I making too much of it or should I be checked out to be on the safe side?
Thanks for reading my post.


Linda

 

[DonM]

Well something is not right.

Call your Dr right now- he has someone covering for him

 

[Kay H]

Good advice. It's always better to get checked out and find out it was nothing than to not get checked out and find out you should have.

Bottom number of 92 is not slightly elevated. It needs checking out.

 

[Linda]

Unfortunately, he doesn't have anyone covering for him. His office said to go to Urgent Care of ER if I felt I needed medical attention.
I will be finding another primary care physician, this Dr. is a new one & knowing that he doesn't have anyone covering for him, doesn't make me happy.

 

[DonM]

Hi everyone,
My head really hurts, I went to bed with a headache and woke up with one. I feel very tired and I slept good last night. I feel very nervous inside, almost shaky and I am emotional. My chest has felt slightly tight and my heart sometimes is beating a bit rapidly.Linda

Go to the ER

 

[Icarus]

I doubt if it's the high blood pressure. High blood pressure really has no symptoms.

-David

 

[DonM]

I doubt if it's the high blood pressure. High blood pressure really has no symptoms.-David

irrelevant.

-something is wrong

Go to the ER

 

[cali girl]

Go to the Urgent Care nearest to your home. They will check your blood pressure right away. And you can tell them about all your symptoms.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

High blood pressure when out of control does have symptoms, including headache, I know because someone I worked with would get those kinds of symptoms when her blood pressure shot up. Go get checked at the ER. They can run all the tests you might need there to rule out any heart problems.
Liz

 

[Passepartout]

You can get a blood pressure check at any fire station. And quick. And free. And if you need transport to the ER, they will do it.

Jim Ricks

 

[dopeyfav]

Your blood pressure can change rapidly for no apparent reason. Go get checked out. Headaches are a symptom of high blood pressure, don't ignore your symptoms. Better safe than sorry.
Rhonda

 

[saf512]

An end-diastolic pressure of 92 is not low. Your symptoms would not likely be blood pressure related but perhaps stress related. Have you been worried about your blood pressure?
Sandra

 

[Icarus]

irrelevant.

Not to the OP it wasn't, and I wasn't saying not to go to the doctor. If something is wrong, you go to the doctor. But that had already been posted so many times in the thread I didn't repeat it.

Yes, my post was terse, but there's a reason that high blood pressure is called the silent killer. In most cases, there are no other symptoms until it's too late if it remains untreated.

-David

 

[silvib]

I definitely wouldn't wait until your Dr returns. Unless you're prone to headaches as some people are, it's not normal to go to bed with one and still have it there the next morning, accompanied by your other "symptoms". Don't forget our symptoms of heart trouble can be quite different to a mans. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[DonM]

re: Irrevelent

Not to the OP it wasn't, and I wasn't saying not to go to the doctor. If something is wrong, you go to the doctor. But that had already been posted so many times in the thread I didn't repeat it.-David

I'm sorry no disrespect intended, but I stand by my statement. I think it was irrevelent especially to the OP.

This woman was having symptoms whether or not it was from the high blood pressure and needed to seek out medical attention ASAP. She was on the fence whether to go or not to do so, and she didn't need to hear anything else!!- especially that high blood pressure has no symptoms (which is not always true). I think her need to see a Doctor trumps the redundancy of repeat posts of the same nature. Her circumstance and mindset certainly didn't need any distraction about anything else- which I'm sure was not your intention.

 

[dougp26364]

Looking at this from a nurses perspective, a headache is NOT a good reason to use the ER. Unless you want to spend the better part of a day while everyone who has a more serious problem is triaged ahead of you, I'd go to a minor emergancy center if you felt it was necessary.

A diastolic B/P of 92 is high. It does need to be treated but it's not an emergancy. High B/P may or may not have symptoms. The headache may or may not be related to the elevated B/P. The high diastolic B/P could be a symptom of some other disease process. It does need to be checked out but, and ER is not the place unless there are other symptoms associated with the headache and elevated diastolic B/P.

If this were me or a member of my family, I'd be asking for references from friends/family in the area as to who they think is a good doctor. I'd call and make an appointment. Many times if you tell them you're having symptoms they'll get you in that day or the next. This would be more appropriate than going to an emergancy room.

Emergancy rooms are choked with people seaking treatment for things that are NOT an emergancy. It runs up the cost to you, your insurance company and the hospital when people use the ER as their primary care physician. It is a waste of time, resources and money unless it is something that demands attention and treatment on an emergancy basis.

Yes we do care and you will be seen if you come to your local ER. But keep in mind that it's not a first come, first served situation. It's a most critical first situation and a headache isn't high on the priority list unless it's the worst headache you've ever had in your life. If that's the case then yes, go to the ER. You're B/P could be the least of your worries and it might only be a symptom of a much different problem. But if it's like most headaches make an appointment with a doctor's office or go to a minor emergency center if that's an option.

 

[sfwilshire]

I think you should visit a doctor to ease your mind. It's also possible that you're working yourself up to the point that you're making yourself feel bad. A quick doctor visit might ease your mind and make you feel better immediately.

Don't think I'm belittling your condition. I've been there myself, even visiting the ER with what they diagnosed as a panic attack a few years ago.

As others have mentioned, I can also tell when my BP is too high. The symptoms you describe may be related. It might be time for a low dose of BP meds. Forgive me for suggesting it (again, reflecting my own experience on you) but dropping a few pounds might also help. I've never been successful in doing that, but 20 pounds made the difference with DH. He lost the weight and was able to go off meds.

Please give us an update and let us know you're OK.

Sheila

 

[DonM]

Looking at this from a nurses perspective, a headache is NOT a good reason to use the ER.

A diastolic B/P of 92 is high. It does need to be treated but it's not an emergancy. ..It does need to be checked out but, and ER is not the place unless there are other symptoms associated with the headache and elevated diastolic B/P.

You seemed to have missed or ignored the most important symptom mentioned by the OP:

My chest has felt slightly tight and my heart sometimes is beating a bit rapidly

I originally suggested that the OP seek medical care. When her GP didn't have someone covering for him I suggested she go to the ER mainly due to the tight chest and irregular heartbeat.

Do you still feel the ER was an inappropriate recommendation?
don

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Please let us know what happened. Your tug friends are concerned.
Liz

 

[Beaglemom3]

A diastolic B/P of 92 is hypertensive, not acute but her symptoms, chest tightness, rapid HR, headache[/U] are and should be assessed ASAP. Could be cardiac, vascular or panic or other.
Let the E/R or Urgent Care make the call.

The parameters have been changed, pre-hypertension is now 129-130/80.

Hypertension may present with and/or without symptoms. Silent killer, yes, for long standing, non-treated conditions and as acute episodes leading to stroke/brain attack. Both are two different scenarios resulting in target organ damage to kidneys, eyes, brain, etc.

Beags(N.P.)

 

[Linda]

Thank you all for your responses and for your concern.
I am going to be seeing a new primary care physician and have the blood pressure issue looked into.
The headache has went away, although I had it for 2 days. There has got to be a reason my blood pressure is going up and down. I am not under stress, I do not eat salt and I eat pretty healthy. I do realize there are many other reasons for HBP but I don't know what they are.
How on earth do they determine why your blood pressure is going up and down?
I don't know a lot about it but will have to do more research on it.
Once I get a diagnosis I will post it.
God Bless you all.

Linda

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Thanks for keeping us updated, Linda. I've had friends with blood pressure problems that could just spike up and cause symptoms like yours, even though they were on medication. I'm glad you're finding a new doctor.
Liz

 

[Kal]

If you do not have a good instrument at home to measure blood pressure and heart rate, go buy one immediately.

And if you do have one, what are the other numbers for systolic pressure and heart rate? If your heart rate sustains at >100 bpm then there is an issue. There are heart issues where a sustained high heart rate could have serious complications (i.e. stroke) if it persists for more than 48 hours....atrial fibulation.

 

[dougp26364]

You seemed to have missed or ignored the most important symptom mentioned by the OP:



I originally suggested that the OP seek medical care. When her GP didn't have someone covering for him I suggested she go to the ER mainly due to the tight chest and irregular heartbeat.

Do you still feel the ER was an inappropriate recommendation?
don

These are still vague symptoms IMO that do not warrent a trip to the ER. By now I would hope the OP had been seen at a doctors office or a minor emergancy center for further evaluation.

I agree that it is something that needs to be seen sooner than later but, I disagree that these symptoms, as they are now, warrent a trip to the emergancy room. It is not, based upon what I've read and IMO, an emergancy.

 

[JimJ]

You can purchase a good BP machine for home use for probably $50-60. Your BP also varies throughout the day.

Most pharmacies (Walgreen, CVS, etc., as well as Walmart) also have BP machines where you can take your own readings. I have found these machine readings to be fairly consistent with my home readings.