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High Blood Pressure to Low Blood Pressure

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Posted 9/20/2014 2:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hello,

I'm hoping someone has experienced something similar and can share their experiences.

I'll be 27 years old this October. When I was 25 years old I was diagnosed with High Blood Pressure. I was classified as stage 1 hypertension although my average blood pressure was 135/85 it would sometimes spike up to 150/90. Sometimes after exercise to would drop below 120/80 but it was consistently high. In February of this year I was prescribed Lisinopril, and two weeks later I thought I had a heart attack. I spent a day in the hospital where they did all sorts of tests, EKG, Chest X-Ray, Chest CT Scan, Echo-cardiogram, Stress test, blood tests. They did not find anything wrong and released my with instructions to continue taking Lisinopril. Well two days later I was back in the ER and taken off Lisinopril.

At that time I weighted about 280 lbs. Since then I've lost 50 lbs through diet and exercise. I was walking for exercise before but the health scare was enough to really get me into gear, I've been doing bicycling, running, and walking on inclines.

My resting heart rate and blood pressure have come down and I've noticed my heart recovery rate after exercise is much better than it was before.

However I've been getting what I think are unusual blood pressure readings. My systolic number will typically stay around 120 to 130. However at the same time my diastolic can range from 60 to 80.

Examples:

130/70
120/60
128/65

My pulse pressure tends to be around 50 most of the time, but reaches up to 60.

I guess what is the most concerning for me is my diastolic number is sometimes getting close to 60 but the systolic does not seem to be lowering proportionally. I also get erratic readings. I can be sitting at rest and get 122/77 and 15-30 minutes later I'll have 130/70, 15 minutes later I'll have 125/65.

I'm using a Omron BP785 to take and track my blood pressure. I'm not sure about the accuracy of that model or if it is my blood pressure actually fluctuating.

Anyone experience anything similar? Is this normal for someone who is in shape? I was an athlete and in great shape up until I was 23 and took a desk job. Right now I can run 2 miles in 20 minutes without getting winded and actual usual feel pretty good.
Posted 9/20/2014 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

Congratulations on the weight loss, its benefits show up in your new Blood Pressure readings, which all look very good. Some tips below on taking your blood pressure, including, at the first link, the caveat that even slight differences in the way the cuff is placed can have big differences in the readings.

http://adctoday.com/learning-center/about-sphygmomanometers/how-take-blood-pressure

Copy and paste the above link, the URL feature refuses to work with it.

www.medic8.com/healthguide/blood-pressure/using-a-home-blood-pressure-monitor.html

The body dynamically manages heart rate and blood pressure, it's not something sent in stone. There are Baro-Receptors in the Aortic Arch and Carotid Arteries, they measure stretch on these blood vessels, the fact that they are stretched would indicate raised blood pressure, and the heart rate is decreased accordingly. As the stretch diminishes, the heart rate is increased.

My wife worked for a cardiologist. He instructed his patients to take their blood pressure twice per day, at a set time in the morning and evening.

Post Edited (JungRulz) : 9/20/2014 6:07:05 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/21/2014 11:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi JungRulz, thanks for the feedback. I have noticed if I move the cuff, move my arm position, or even sometimes just sitting still and taking another reading it will be different, sometime a significant amount, other times just a few in either direction.

Do you know anything about the accuracy of the home automated blood pressure cuffs? This is the model I have http://www.amazon.com/Omron-BP785-Series-Pressure-Monitor/dp/B004H4B3W4#.

What about pulse pressure? I've read that high pulse pressure can indicate potential heart issues but that seemed to be more of a concern of the elderly. My pulse pressure seems to range between 40 - 60, but on average I would say its around 50.
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