High Blood Pressure

[Lynne1]

My husband had dual valves replaced and pacemaker 1 1/2 years ago. Has been doing great since. Had excellent/normal blood pressure. In last month or so his blood pressure has been high - especially in the morning (varies but over 130-90 vs usual 115-120 over 70ish). It then goes down to those levels in the afternoon. Doctor is wanting to now put him on a beta blocker. I am wondering what would cause him to suddenly have rise in BP and have it be so erratic. Has anyone experienced this?

 

[Tom F.]

That happens to me sometimes and mine is medically controlled. While it is usually less than 120/75, it sometimes goes into the 130's range. I noticed that when I take Aleve, the painkiller, it seems to go up, same thing if I take some cold medications. Also, salt seems to do it to me as well. But its still a bit of a mystery.

 

[Randy'38]

My husband had dual valves replaced and pacemaker 1 1/2 years ago. Has been doing great since. Had excellent/normal blood pressure. In last month or so his blood pressure has been high - especially in the morning (varies but over 130-90 vs usual 115-120 over 70ish). It then goes down to those levels in the afternoon. Doctor is wanting to now put him on a beta blocker. I am wondering what would cause him to suddenly have rise in BP and have it be so erratic. Has anyone experienced this?

Lynne:

This is kind of a late answer. Before my AVR I was in the high 130's/70's range range with a very slow HR (45-50). After my surgery and on Captopril, I was in the 120's and a HR of 65-70. I stopped the Captopril after 2 months. But now after 8 months I'm up into the 140's-150's/70-80 with a HR of 50-55. My cardio put me on cozaar, but I had a terrible time with that (aching legs) so now I'm on 2.5mg Norvasc, which is a calcium channnel blocker. My BP is now steady in the 130-140/70-80 range with HR of 50-55. I'm an active athlete (singles tennis 4-5 times/week) so don't know if that's part of the numbers. I do have mild ventricular hypertrophy from all those years with AS, but my cardio seems satisfied with my current state. He wouldn't put me on Beta blockers due to my slow HR. I was on Beta Blockers at one time and my HR went into the 30's. Really scared the night nurse!

Randy

 

[Abbanabba]

I always thought it was pretty "normal" for BP to vary quite a bit throughout the day. I once read an article where someone had been on a BP monitor for 24hrs and when they charted the readings they were all over the place. I've been charting my own BP for sometime now and although it's averaging at 111/67, it has varied from 106/55, to 94/62, to 131/74.

From my understanding anything under 130/85 is within normal parameters, 130-140/85-90 is "high" normal, and anything above that is deemed hypertension. It surprises me his doctor would be prescribing medication for his BP at this stage - especially if it drops to a perfectly acceptable level later in the day. I would think there would be further investigations into why it is suddenly "higher" than normal in the mornings - it could be a number of things that could be treated with "non-medical" intervention.

Best wishes
Anna : )

 

[hensylee]

the important thing right now is to get it down. Then look into the why of it. Read all you can on the net about blood pressure. If it's been this high for a couple of months, he probably needs something to get it down to normal limits.

You can also go to Dr Rich in heart disease/cardiology in about.com and ask him. He will answer you personally, but won't give medical advice - just general answers. He's an EP.

 

[Barry]

...Had excellent/normal blood pressure. In last month or so his blood pressure has been high - especially in the morning (varies but over 130-90 vs usual 115-120 over 70ish)...

He's probably waking up in the morning next to a woman whom he finds to be exceptionally exciting.

 

[tobagotwo]

It usually works the other way around - the pressure gets higher during the day, then goes down at night. I would want to know why that's happening.

Because it is still dropping down to his norm every day, I would consider looking for causes, such as the salt or cold medications mentioned by Tom. Anna's statement about it being all right if it regularly goes back to normal exhoes what my cardiologist has said to me.

Also, is there a reason why he might be suddenly sleeping on his back most of the night, and not turning onto his side or stomach? I've read recently that sleeping on your stomach will reduce most people's blood pressure 10+ points at night.

Best wishes,