Blood pressure

120/80 is considered the norm but small fluctuations are expected when on meds. A lot of people get white coat syndrome apparently when blood pressure is checked.

Visgir1

High BP can be genetic. There is nothing we can do to change our genes.
I was diagnosed with highish BP 10 years ago, couldn't understand why? I don't fit the normal risk factors but my Dad had high BP. I was told it can run in families.
Trust your GP if the meds don't agree with you, there are lots on the market see what suits you, if you have any issues get back to the GP, they will sort it.

Well, we have been waiting decades for the GPs to sort it!

The weeks roll into months and then years but I believe they are now at the point where they have exhausted all BP meds for my husband. The renal specialist wrote to him last week and prescribed some more BP meds. He went to the GP pharmacy and they said you cannot get it in this country. He came home and did some research and discovered it has been withdrawn here as it was unsafe and you can only get it in the US. Back yo Square One!

After they refused his surgery due to extremely high BP we made an urgent appt to see his GP. Two week wait, asked to see another named GP, two week wait. Eventually the girl said they had a new GP and he could see him next day. This man took his BP and said it was the highest BP he had ever seen in his career (hubby reckons he was in his 50s) and he immediately rang the hospital and told us to get there straight away. Spent 6 hrs up there being tested and came away with yet another prescription for pills that caused him terrible side effects so that was a total waste.

Redhead56

120/80 is considered the norm but small fluctuations are expected when on meds. A lot of people get white coat syndrome apparently when blood pressure is checked.

My husbands BP was 220/90 the day they refused surgery and after making him get into bed and listen to relaxing music for nearly 2 hours the lowest it got to was 217/90. It has been as high as 250.

I spent my whole first pregnancy in ante natal ward because my blood pressure was figures like your DH.
Mine is genetic as is cholesterol which I am having problems with now. I do hope your DH blood pressure stabilisers and he can have the treatment he needs.

Redhead56

I spent my whole first pregnancy in ante natal ward because my blood pressure was figures like your DH.
Mine is genetic as is cholesterol which I am having problems with now. I do hope your DH blood pressure stabilisers and he can have the treatment he needs.

Thank you Redhead! Not sure there is much left that they can try on him. Pleased they sorted you out though.

Blood pressure should be 120/80 so the top reading in the 120s. My husband had health check in his 40s when we moved to another part of the country. He had been living with undiagnosed HBP it damaged his kidneys his heart was enlarged. HBP is the silent killer as there is no symptoms. A few years later he had an aortic heart valve replace replacement. That worked very well. His kidneys got worse and in his 60s had dialysis. He had a kidney transplant few years ago but with the lowered amunity of anti rejection tablets he couldn't fight a cancer of the bowel. He lived to 68 considering the damage that high blood pressure did to his body he nearly reached 70. So BP can cause stroke heart attack if left untreated. I take BP tablets started when I was 60 health check up. You can't lower BP by diet and exercise but a good diet and exercise keeps you fit and healthy ok

I take medication for high BP and it’s extremely effective. No side effects. Your doctor will know which tablets are most suitable for you and least likely to cause side effects. High BP is a killer. You can’t manage it by diet and exercise alone. See your doctor.

Ace inhibitors (eg Perindopril, Ramipril, Lisonopril) are well-known for causing a dry cough which doesn't go away. If you're prescribed one of them, go back to the GP and ask to change. Angiotensin receptor blockers (eg Losartan, Candesartan) work in much the same way and the GP can easily change the prescription.

I've been taking Candesartan for six years without any side effects.

I take Candesartan too. Have been taking it for at least 15 years. No problems.

I was first diagnosed with HBP in my mid 50s and my doctor advised lifestyle changes that could reduce, mainly exercise. And this did work for a few years but I had to admit it wasn’t enough by my mid 60s and was prescribed medication which was effective without side effects. Recently I have been prescribed additional medication as BP shot up again.

What I’ve found is that I’ve been in some kind of competition with myself to keep it down naturally without medication/increased medication which is of course ridiculous when one sees the results of untreated high blood pressure. Increased exercise and a better diet are never a bad idea but there comes a time when it needs to be addressed this isn’t enough. OP - a regular reading of 150/90 is too high and needs to be brought down so would advise a trip to the doctors and an acceptance you might be prescribed medication. As many have said in this thread, side effects are unusual.

According to my GP 150/90 is about the average threshold reading at which medication may become appropriate. Not always, but it needs monitoring. At 180/120 it needs some serious attention. I've experienced both readings in the past, but thankfully my present cocktail of medication is keeping it down to around 135/80 with no side effects, so I'll soldier on with it, continue moderate exercise (mainly long walks with the pooches), and keep to a sensible diet, so the weight stays off. No complaints, really, as I'm pushing 80 and still fairly active, so I'll just keep taking the tablets.

I was watching GPs Behind Closed Doors recently. In between patients, one if the GPs was chatting to thee nurses. She said 'I've been taking my BP all day and the top figure won't go below 196. They were laughing about it.

Different countries have different limits.

I read a paper recently which explained that some of this is to do with lifestyle and diet.
Found it on Google Scholar so could probably find it again.

NanaDana

According to my GP 150/90 is about the average threshold reading at which medication may become appropriate. Not always, but it needs monitoring. At 180/120 it needs some serious attention. I've experienced both readings in the past, but thankfully my present cocktail of medication is keeping it down to around 135/80 with no side effects, so I'll soldier on with it, continue moderate exercise (mainly long walks with the pooches), and keep to a sensible diet, so the weight stays off. No complaints, really, as I'm pushing 80 and still fairly active, so I'll just keep taking the tablets.

From the British Heart Foundation website:

"For over-80s, because it’s normal for arteries to get stiffer as we get older, the ideal blood pressure is under 150/90 mmHg (or 145/85 mmHg at home)."

www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/high-blood-pressure#whatcounts

I've been on Amlodipine 5mg for several years now with no side effects at all and it has stabilised my previously high blood pressure. At a recent check up mine was 137/60 which I'm told is good for my age. (I am very old).

Those of you who are able to reduce your BP with just one or two pills and suffer no side effects are very fortunate indeed. No pill or combination of 6 pills brings my husband’s down.

Primrose53

Those of you who are able to reduce your BP with just one or two pills and suffer no side effects are very fortunate indeed. No pill or combination of 6 pills brings my husband’s down.

It's good that he's finally being referred to a specialist. The underlying cause needs identifying.

I want to avoid meds. I take half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (in a drop of water), then a teaspoon of cinnamon (either in a smoothy or on toast) every morning and that seems to do the trick.

Beware the 'guidelines' are very heavily weighted by your age alone. A factor you can't do a lot about! And GP are rewarded for the number of people they get on to medication - so you will not necessarily have unbiased advice. There may be something here you are not already doing - www.patrickholford.com/advice/how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure-aturally/#:~:text=In%20summary%2C%20to%20lower%20your%20blood%20pressure%3A&text=Eat%20a%20low%20GL%20diet%2C%20with%20plenty%20of%20fresh%20fruit,oily%20fish%20for%20essential%20omegas.

I've been taking BP tablets for over 20 years. In the beginning I had two kinds which caused side effects but my GP moved me onto a third kind (Losartin) which causes me no problems. Speak to your GP.

I take Losartan 75mg. I boost them with beetroot tablets. It does help.

I read this thread with interest and with great sympathy/empathy for those who suffer with this condition. Both my parents suffered with this, my father from genetic disposition I am sure, as both his parents (who were first cousins) had the same. So I am obsessed (sometimes terrified) with monitoring mine which, at 66, is normal right now and I do try to keep fit, healthy and cholesterol conscious. I know that many people do the same and still have high BP, which seems so unfair. I can but hope that all here can keep themselves well and happy and enjoy the life they deserve. .

I was diagnose with high BP after a bleed at the back of my eye, not horrendously high but it has come down and I send the doc a week's worth of morning and night measurements. Eye now ok now ok
It was it higher at a pre op assessment recently but had been rushing as couldn't find the room I needed. I'm on amlopidine
One thing I've noticed is that I do not get as anxious as I did, maybe the feeling of baseline high blood pressure with higher pressure in a stressful situation makes you feel more anxious

sandelf

Beware the 'guidelines' are very heavily weighted by your age alone. A factor you can't do a lot about! And GP are rewarded for the number of people they get on to medication - so you will not necessarily have unbiased advice. There may be something here you are not already doing - www.patrickholford.com/advice/how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure-aturally/#:~:text=In%20summary%2C%20to%20lower%20your%20blood%20pressure%3A&text=Eat%20a%20low%20GL%20diet%2C%20with%20plenty%20of%20fresh%20fruit,oily%20fish%20for%20essential%20omegas.

I assume you realise that Holford is neither a doctor nor a nutritionist and is considered to be a pseudoscientist who flogs books about alternative remedies.

Mine is often at 190/90, but heart condition and lung conditions, along with genetic factors play a major part.
I have a healthy diet, low chlorestoral and try to do a little exercise, despite mobility issues.

I am on all sorts of BP and heart medication, sometimes you just have to put up with the side effects to stay alive! I no longer see any point in fretting about it.