Hey,
This is a follow-up from my post High blood pressure for no reason - Medical Q/A with Drs. Feigenbaum & Baraki - Barbell Medicine Forum.
After having the high readings at home, I tried some relaxation techniques and afterwards had some very promising readings (117/75).
I then went to the doctor to talk about this and mentioned my readings in the 140 range. She told me that this is perfectly fine, measured it again at 135/76 and told me that this is nothing to worry about.
I am pretty confused by this as every source tells me that 135/76 is borderline hypertension and should be reduced. How should I go from here ?
I was thinking about getting a home monitor to see whether stress is the cause and relaxation decreases my blood pressure but as I am a pretty anxious person about my health I also figured that this could go either way.
What do you think ?
Thanks
This is a situation where I would probably consider ordering Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) for a patient in order to help differentiate anxiety/white coat syndrome-type issues from true hypertension once and for all. I agree that your readings in the 130s-140s are elevated.
Thanks for your response, that’s what I figured. But how would I get one if my doctor does not agree that it’s even elevated. Do I need to change my doctor?
Potentially.
When I was in training we were often OK with low-risk people running up to 140/90, but this has changed with more recent evidence and guidelines. It sounds like they may be unaware of these current guidelines: https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2017/11/08/11/47/mon-5pm-bp-guideline-aha-2017
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Yeah that could be the case, I am based in the UK and your guidelines are from an American organisation so maybe thats the problem.
I am getting an appointment for a sleep study in roughly 8-16 weeks. Should I do something in the mean time or just wait what comes out of that ?