Q: My BP is 137/99. What are the risks? Is this really high?
A: Blood pressure that is 137/99 increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. It is at the level where treatment is recommended. Since treatment may be as easy as listening to music and breathing, i.e. the Resperate, why take the risk?
Further Reading:
Info on High Blood Pressure – American Heart Association
Information on RESPeRATE
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Good Advice! First step to control it is exercise and diet. Second step is a natural cure. And always get many readings before taking a number as accurate. Many nurses do not take it properly. Blood pressure should always be taken while sitting down with the arm supported after a rest of 5 minutes or more.
Right on! A reading like that is not really that alarming, considering you can easily turn it around with diet and exercise. Resperate is useful, but I wouldn’t even consider it until you have adjusted your diet and gotten into a regular cardio exercise program. And by regular I mean daily1
I agree with Jim. Many nurses don’t take blood pressure right. You are not suppose to talk while taking b/p & yet they start asking you all kinds of questions & never take it twice if reading is high. My b/p machine takes 3 readings one right after the other.
Many factors increase the chance of heart attack and stroke. A bp reading such as this by itself, is not a substantial risk. However this is when a lot of doctors will recommend treatment, including prescription drugs. A change in diet and regular exercise (every day) could lower this reading, but even if it doesn’t, taking care of the lifestyle factors make a reading such as this less of risk. Stress has now shown up as a big risk factor in more recent research….so finding ways to reduce or manage stress is another way to reduce risk for heart attack and stroke. Prescription drugs should always be a last resort, and even then some people do not believe in using drugs. I have read that blood pressure medication can actually weaken the heart. I recommend doing some of your own research on that.
I agree with all of the above. Your bp reading is not one to panic about, at all. But try to lower it some with more exercise, weight loss if appropriate, resperate etc. Remember that no responsible doctor recommends meds unless bp is consistently over 140/90. Do not be drawn into talk about how you’re going to stroke out unless it always under 120/70. Relax.
No, actually, your blood pressure is not really high. Many people with really high blood pressure would envy that reading!
First of all, is that an isolated taking of your blood pressure? I noticed that you didn’t have a range for your blood pressure over time. If it is only one reading, the first thing to do is to take your blood pressure at home on a consistent basis for a few weeks and see, on average, what your blood pressure really is. There is no need to worry over your reading at all, IF it is an isolated event, and your average over time is actually within normal limits!
When you take your blood pressure, if you do not have a machine that takes 3 readings and then averages them for you, then the best method for a single reading machine is the Mayo Clinic protocol. After you have rested in a sitting position for 5 to 10 minutes, take your first blood pressure reading. Then wait another 5 minutes resting in the same position, and take your blood pressure again. Take it a third time, again after resting for 5 more minutes in a quiet, sitting position. Do not cross your legs when you take your blood pressure. After you have the three readings, throw the first reading out, and average the remaining two readings. If you did this a couple of times each day for a few weeks, you would have a true understanding of your blood pressure on average and taken in the proper method.
After you do that, hopefully you can relax about it!
If you find mildly elevated levels on average over time, as you have told us about, then there are many, many ways to bring it into normal ranges without medications. Diet and exercise have been mentioned here, there are natural foods and natural supplements that can act as natural diuretics and ace inhibitors, there are relaxation techniques such as resperate, and many other approaches that can help. Drugs, in my humble opinion, are a last resort because they all have negative side effects. I hope this helps……good luck…….and all the best to you!!
WHAT IS WITH THIS “DOCTOR” ALWAYS IT SEEMS THAT MEDICATION IS THE FIRST SUGGESTION, WHY NOT, AS THESE PEOLE HAVE SUGGESTED, OF WHICH IS ALL TRUTH, WOULD SHE NOT RECOMEND DIET AND EXERCISE, AND THE KIND THAT IS NEEDED?
Since 1998 my BP has really been a concern. My last reading was on Monday and it was 180/95. The last time it was that high I had TIA and still the doctor said that it was normal after a Tia. A warning stroke that is. I’m on prescription drugs since. T cardiologist treated me for all this time but no improvement. I’m worried.
Take a second opinion and hopefully change your medication as well. In general this reading is too high and risky
I have been taking Micardis/hct for 3 years and my blood pressure dropped from 160/100 to presently 117/66, but I am always worried about the side effects? what is the real long term side effects of these two meds? I have been told by my doctor that the dose of both meds is so low, that I should not be concered? what do you think?