Went off to the E.R this morning because my BP measured 222/119.

[Girard442]

Sure, I gained some weight over the holidays and worked some irregular hours, but we all know that wasn't what caused the BP to spike, don't we?

I'm somewhat better now. Calling cardiologist first thing tomorrow to get an quick appointment.

[Midnight Writer]

1. Good luck to you.

[Girard442]

14. TY

[malaise]

2. Get it down

Quickly

[rasputin1952]

3. That's only a 3 pt difference...See EDIT

Last edited Sun Jan 5, 2025, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I hope it's back to normal.

I would not have let you go with a B/P like that.

Please update (old Medic here, and I worry when I see things like this).

On edit: "Screen Eyes" did me in...

[ProfessorGAC]

10. 103 Not 3

OP says 222/119.
Both extremely high, but not as desperate as a 3 point delta

[rasputin1952]

11. My bad, I've got "Screen Eyes", been on this thing since 0800 CST

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Oh, That'll Happen

I'm on a cocktail of 2 low dose meds for BP control myself.
But, whenever I check it it's lows 130s over low 80s.
If I have it done at a doctor appointment, it's always about 5 lower for both values.
Have no idea what it would look like if not for the meds, which I've been on quite a long time.
My screen eyes more effect my typing. I make a lot of stupid typing errors when I've been on too long.

[walkingman]

4. Glad you are doing OK now - did they give you some BP meds until you can get an appointment?

These days it seems to take a long time to get an appointment to any specialists - at least that is the case in Texas.

Good Luck!

[Girard442]

16. They monitored it for a while and it fell enough that an office visit to my regular cardio seems adequate.

[Aristus]

5. Narrow pulse-pressure.

Very bad sign.

Glad you’re better.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

21. Perhaps it is wide? 103, not 3 ?

[Aristus]

22. Oops! You're right!

I don’t know why I read the diastolic as 219.

I need to get back into the clinic. I’m losing my clinical medicine mojo.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

23. lol

I'm going to go sit in the corner now.

[Aristus]

24. Thanks for the encouragement.

The middle-management drones at my last job did their best to disparage everything I did.

My only consolation is that they didn’t know me. Everyone who has actually seen me practice medicine knows how good I am.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Was this a home BP monitor ? Do you know it's accurate ?

I got readings of 208 and 222 for systolic using a monitor I bought on Amazon, which supposedly had lots of good reviews. Turns out it was "only" 150, according to my doctor's office -- no big surprise, since I had run out of my medication before Christmas and couldn't get to the doctor until after. That model has now disappeared without a trace from Amazon's Web site. Hmmmm.

There seem to be lots of China-based sellers showing up on Amazon and Walmart these days. I think some of them hire people to write lots of good reviews online as part of their business model. Of course their listings include some atrocious Chenglish, which can be a red flag, but not reliably enough.

[dalton99a]

9. +1. Most no-name Chinese BP monitors with good reviews on Amazon are trash.

In fact, most no-name Chinese products with good reviews on Amazon are trash.

[eppur_se_muova]

27. It's gotten very much worse, very rapidly lately. I suppose AI is involved as well.

Does anyone here remember that Amazon basically started out selling books ? I suddenly found I could locate all kinds of interesting books, some of which I had been looking for for years ... then they moved into computers, electronics, cameras ... eventually everything. The more they moved away from books the less I was interested in them. And the 'Amazon marketplace' means Amazon isn't even the real seller much of the time.

I bought a ton of books from Amazon in the early days. Now I seldom use them. I actually had to double-check to see if I got that bp monitor from Amazon -- it was a few months ago.

[Girard442]

13. I've had it for a long time and cross-checked it with other machines.

Besides, with a reading like that, you don't need spot-on accuracy to know there's a problem.

[rasputin1952]

15. I got mine from the VA...

Other than changing the batteries, it's been fine for a decade.
They also gave me oximeter (I have COPD).

I have never bought anything from Amazon.

[JohnSJ]

7. If the BP is that high they better have brought that down. You can't wait until tomorrow to consult with a cardiologist

with a BP that high.

If they gave you some BP meds to bring it down that is good, otherwise I strongly suggest you go back to ER or and urgent care facility.

Those readings are indicative of a hypertension crisis, and unless they brought the BP down they should NOT have released you.

All the best.

[Girard442]

18. As I said above, they had me on a monitor for a long time and it fell enough to make an office visit seem adequate.

[JohnSJ]

20. I didn't catch that. All the best.

[Duncanpup]

8. Good luck

[WarGamer]

17. obsessing over politics isn't worth it...

Let's face it... there's nothing much WE can actually do about it and the vast majority of us won't be directly touched by the 4 year term of the asshat.

[Quixote1818]

19. Make sure you are getting enough potassium. It helps eliminate sodium

[Meowmee]

25. I'm glad you are ok

I’m surprised they didn’t give you some medication to lower that. My father had idiopathic high blood pressure which was not treated properly and it caused damage to his vessels which was not known about. He also had a fib and sic sinus rhythm… had a pacemaker and he was on medication for the blood pressure and anticoagulant, etc. however, the blood pressure medication was not properly controlling his blood pressure which is very dangerous.

About two years ago, my brother had an emergency and discovered at the ER that he also has a fib so now he is on better medication for that and for the blood pressure. During the pandemic, he took his blood pressure once because we were constantly taking my father‘s blood pressure and it was high. I told him you better start taking more medication, but he ignored me. He already saw a cardiologist for other issues which were cardiomyopathy which he had from the time he was a lot younger. So he was already on medication for that for a long time but I think he ran out of it maybe during the pandemic or it just wasn’t enough to control his blood pressure. He lost a lot of weight recently, and that is going to help a lot too.

A friend was diagnosed about 3-4 years ago with a fib after having a stroke. It’s really criminal that his doctor did not figure this out in advance because he obviously had it for a long time. He’s older… fortunately, he made a very good recovery from the stroke and is now on anticoagulants etc., and also has a pacemaker.

I am on blood pressure medication because I have type one diabetes and they tell you to do that to protect your kidneys. Most of the time my blood pressure is normal. However, when I go to the doctor, it seems to always go up, not every time though.

It’s probably the white coat syndrome but also if I’m not feeling well, it seems to happen more. And they don’t take it the right way- they’re supposed to take it once in the beginning wait 20 minutes and do it again. And they don’t do it in the right position, etc. even at my cardiologist- at least at my cardiologist they take it on both arms.

The only time that it has been really high when I was in DKA, when I had Covid, and one other emergency I think. Usually, it’s when I’m having some type of respiratory issues. One thing I noticed is that when my blood sugar is very low my blood pressure also seems to be low. However, when my blood sugar is high, my blood pressure is not high. I do have some type of cardiology issue going on since I had Covid so, I’m monitored for that but they can’t seem to figure out what it is. But there have been changes in my echo.

I hope your cardiologist figures this out. And gets you on medication that will control it.

[AllaN01Bear]

26. eek. went into ear last sunday got sent to the hospital proper and didnt get out till xmas eve.

went in with a pulse of 122 bpm. glad you went.