My BP

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Simusid

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So for decades, whenever I get my BP taken, I hear "oh it's 145, we should keep an eye on that" and in the back of my mind I've been thinking that eventually I'd have to start taking BP meds which I didn't really want to do.

I'm possibly a max of 10 lbs overweight, I think I eat really well, I exercise a lot, and there just didn't seem to be anything else I could do to improve things other than meds. Two weeks ago I took my own BP when I thought I was feeling a bit odd and it was over 160. And I'm thinking "crap, now I really have to do something about this"

The only lifestyle thing left to change is coffee. I love it and I drink too much of it. So I decided to give it up for decaf for two weeks to see if it made a difference at all. Today was the end of two weeks and one of our medics just took it. 122/78! Not only is that good, that is the lowest my BP has ever been in over 25 years. So I'm really psyched up about this! Psyched up enough to post to a bunch of strangers about it :)


crap, I didn't mean to reply, I meant to start a new thread in the break room :(
 
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Two weeks ago I took my own BP when I thought I was feeling a bit odd and it was over 160
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You do realize that taking your own BP can give you a falsely elevated reading, especially if you're concerned and stressing about a potential need for treatment, right? That probably explains why you've gotten such a massive variability in the readings. Decaf has a growing amount of evidence that it has a negative effect on vascular tissues for various reasons. Unless you're pounding a case of Red Bulls per shift, a 40 point change in the systolic (which by the way, I would suggest you remember that the diastolic is often what docs are more concerned about in chronic HTN) is unlikely to be solely based on the removal of caffeine.

Go see your primary care doc and remember that treatment should be based on a series of BP readings over a few days and not isolated readings.
 
I have white coat hypertension. Ever since I switched Dr's (peidatrics to adult) I have always had a 14X/6X or 7X something. Since the first one I have had the FD check it every so often and it is always 11X or 12X/6X or 7X.
 
I know taking my own BP is wildly ineffective but even if it was very inaccurate I'm glad I did it. If it's the push I needed to be healthier then I'm ok with that. I've been drinking between 1 and 2 pots of coffee every day for well over 25 years. I'm 48 and I know things won't get better on their own.

As far as my workouts, I religiously go to the gym on fridays for a good bike/stair machine workout (90 minutes total) then 1/2 hour of lifting and once a week I do a 7-10 mile run. Lately I try to add in one Insanity (tm) workout once per week but wow is that hard!
 
Usafmedic45 has made an important point. Systolic BP is important to a point, but your Diastolic number is more important, long term. As that creeps up, your heart has to work harder just to start pushing blood around...
 
Akulahawk said:
Usafmedic45 has made an important point. Systolic BP is important to a point, but your Diastolic number is more important, long term. As that creeps up, your heart has to work harder just to start pushing blood around...
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It's much like how we focus on SBP for shock resuscitation, but there are far better measures that we don't use (MAP, CVP, etc depending upon the type of shock in question).
 
usafmedic45 said:
It's much like how we focus on SBP for shock resuscitation, but there are far better measures that we don't use (MAP, CVP, etc depending upon the type of shock in question).
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Exactly. Some of which may require instrumentation that isn't normally available for field use.

And speaking of shock, if I had the chance, and could take the time off, I'd jump at taking a course specifically devoted to shock management. While I may not be able to implement some measures, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't better understand what needs to be done and try to stay ahead of things...
 
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