Here we go again...

[OrlandoTommy]

Ok everyone, so the double vision episodes seem to be gone, have went a whole week without another so thats good..

I go to the doc today, and he checks my blood pressure and says "Im not liking your Diastolic pressure, it was 120/100.

3 hours later i went to CVS and use the machine there and it was 135/90.

I have never had a blood pressure issue until after my surgery, it really bothers me, i get over this double vision thing and now this blood pressure thing.

I have been eating really bad the past few days, wings, cheese sticks, etc.. and fighting with my girlfriend, i dont know if that would do it but this is driving me crazy, i have also taking Xanax a few nights to help me relax.

I read on google that a high Diastolic means your heart is enlarging and its a bad sign, i seriously am goinig to develop a panic disorder soon if things dont get better.

Bad part is I FEEL TOTALLY FINE all the time, i felt totally perfect at the docs..

UHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
!

 

[Ross]

Tommy white coat syndrome could be the cause for the elevation. Do yourself a favor before you drive yourself insane, get yourself a cheap, but decent BP unit and check your BP in the a.m. and then again in the p.m. for a week. See what the average is for the week. I'm willing to bet, your near normal, if not normal.

I know mine skyrockets at the sight of a Doctor. As soon as I see one, my mind associates them with some very unpleasant experiences.

 

[geebee]

Tommy,

Sorry to hear of your problems. Sometimes it is difficult not to go down the "what now" road.

Eating a lot of salty foods always messes up my BP, as well as stress, so it sounds like you have 2 things that can wreak havoc. The problem I have is, when I am under stress, I crave salty foods - truly a double edged sword.

Try to avoid the stress or the salt and you might have some success in getting your BP back to normal.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Bina]

You have gotten good advice worth repeating:

Get a BP machine, mine was about $80.00 Cdn.
check your pressure when you are relaxed, (not after a big salty meal )and mark it on a calendar.

I understand you are feeling kind of bummed, but try hard not to eat that junk, it is murder on the BP.

Hang in there

 

[Karlynn]

My BP is always higher than usual when I visit the doctor. Ross gave you a great suggestion.

 

[OrlandoTommy]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks everyone for the good info, i will get one, i saw quite a few that were "wrist" models, are those ok or should I stick with the traditional arm cuff unit?

Thanks ~

 

[geebee]

I use an Oregon Scientific wrist model and it seems to work just fine. I have checked my BP right after a visit to the doctor's and the readings were very similar.

 

[Philip B]

Worries

Worries

Hey Tommy,

During my four week post-op check by my surgeon, I brought up questions about my blood pressure. We've seen some spikes along with some really good numbers. The surgeon told me that I was too fresh off of surgery to be overly concerned with the spikes. He was firmly of the opinion that things would level out as I continued to heal. His recommendation was continued monitoring.

My BP actually spiked today when I checked in with my cardiac rehab program nurse. It had been running 120/70 all week, but was high today at 135/90. We don't know for sure, but may have an idea about the cause. The cause is a real bummer because it is a real bummer.

On Wednesday, I hit that wall folks who have OHS often hit called depression. My cardio doc told me it's actually a form of post traumatic stress disorder and they see it with the majority of OHS patients. Think about this: Do you find yourself fighting with your girlfriend over little things that are really meaningless. Do you find yourself easily agitated or bummed out? Do you have any urges to engage in behavior that might be self destructive like eating lots of junk food when you know you need to eat better? If so, all of this additional stress could cause your BP to be spiking. It might be a good idea to carefully assess your situation and have a talk with your cardio doc. If you've got it, they can help you fix it. My cardio doc told me it's tough to beat without help.

-Philip

 

[hensylee]

just about anything can cause your bp to rise temporarily. I once passed my ex in my car and was on the way to my dr a few doors away from that event. I told the dr my bp would be up and sure nuff it was something over 200! (He knew my ex and understood). If your bp rises and stays up there, then there is the concern. That's why you need to have a home machine to measure it and keep a record. Mine came in a small zipper bag and in there I have lists that go back into the 90s.

Recently I began having headaches all the time. After a couple of weeks, it suddenly dawned on me that I better check my bp and did. It was high. Went to dr, sure nuff his cuff confirmed. He added another bp med and the headaches went away, my bp came down and is still down. I followed my bp for two or three weeks and watched it get lower. A couple days ago I was at my dr and it was just fine.

Any of us who have an ongoing problem with bp need to have a way to measure it at home because for many, the white coat syndrome is very real and can cause a problem if your dr doesn't see that outside his/her office it's different.

 

[michellep]

Dehydration can also cause blood pressure to rise. Be sure to drink alot of water and stay away from caffiene. You may find a difference.

 

[kbheart]

Also, I've read that the bp machines in the stores are notoriously inaccurate. Think about it, hundreds of people use them and the store doesn't have time to check it's accurracy because they're busy running the store. I bought my own at Walgreens for about $40 on sale--it works great.

 

[OrlandoTommy]

Bp

Bp

Well I took Ross's suggestion and bought a BP reader, a wrist one, which is kinda cool, its very quick..

I took my reading yesterday AM it was like 139/90. Yesterday afternoon i was at Best Buy and my right eye became a little blurry, so yes, i did my typical thing, left the store (ill get a bluetooth headset one day!), shot home and took a xanax, i tested my BP about 30 minutes later and it was perfect, it was 117/74.

This morning i tested it as soon as I woke up and it was 135/90. UHG!

Maybe its myself making it high? I have a appt with my cardiologist tommorow so i guess ill get the final word then but just wanted to let everyone know what ive found so far.

Thanks
Tommy

 

[Ross]

Tommy give yourself a full week and then find the average. Sometimes were just in a high pressure rut that resolves in a short time. This may not be the case, but before jumping to conclusions, get that average. Yours isn't terrible. A little higher then they'd like, but it's not that bad.

 

[Pegasus]

I think a nurse told us that BP is higher in the morning.
My husband also had a patch of higher than usual BP post-op and it resolved itself. He'd wake up, take his BP and it would be like 127-130/85. He'd eat his breakfast, read the newspaper and 20 min. later it would be normal again 110/72. I hope your BP issues will resolve by itself as well! Good luck!
astrid

 

[hensylee]

I think a nurse told us that BP is higher in the morning.
My husband also had a patch of higher than usual BP post-op and it resolved itself. He'd wake up, take his BP and it would be like 127-130/85. He'd eat his breakfast, read the newspaper and 20 min. later it would be normal again 110/72. I hope your BP issues will resolve by itself as well! Good luck!
astrid

My dear Joe had a stroke in his 50s early one morning. I read up on strokes after that and found that most occur in the morning and the patient is at rest. I found that interesting because I thought that they were always brought on by events and activity and all through the 24 hour period of a day. Not so.

I know my bp is higher in the morning when I get up. I now go straight to my weekly pill box and take mine first thing and try to just relax for a half hour or so til it gets into my system.

 

[sue943]

Stress does it for me everytime. Wham and up it goes. Even the anticipation of "Will it be high again this morning?" can send it up.

Mine is normally absolutely fine, unless I get stressed then wham up it goes! Normally mine is at its lowest first thing in the morning - I keep my wrist BP monitor by my bed.

 

[briansmom]

They told my son to take his bp, pulse and weight every morning. I have bought Brian one of those date books that has one month per page and he is charting it daily. Very interesting that you guys are saying it is higher in the morning. I did not know that. Also, very interesting about the post traumatic stress. I have heard about depression in the patient, but PTS makes more sense. Our whole family seems to be going through it right now. As usual, you guys offer a wealth of good info.

 

[temp69]

Tommy: don't know if this helps but i stopped drinking caffinated coffee and my bp's been pretty good. but i'm on metoprolol, and exercising. avoid emtional stress and salty foods if you can. there's a wonderful book called YOU ON A DIET which is chock full of great information about why we eat, etc. good luck, things will work out.

"today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday." And all can be well if you choose.

t