For so many years, I’ve struggled with a myriad of symptoms that have (at times) severely affected my quality of life: dizziness/fainting, fatigue (both physical and mental), shortness of breath, tension headaches, and lack of motivation. I have seen many doctors about these symptoms for many years, and I have been given a myriad of suggestions:
- It’s just obstructive sleep apnea
- Use a regular sleep schedule
- Reduce caffeine intake
- Exercise regularly
- Maybe you’re depressed
- It’s all in your head
I have dealt with each of those suggestions (for that last one, I fired that doctor immediately; problem solved!), and I still have problems to varying degrees. To be fair, some of those have gotten better, but have not completely gone away. So I resigned myself to just living with it.
I recently made an appointment to have a colonocopy, and I was reading through my clinical summary, when I fell upon my blood pressure (120/86). The doc wrote “Your blood pressure reading was elevated at your visit today. It is suggested that you visit your primary care for further evaluation.” He never actually mentioned this to me. Not even the nurse who took my blood pressure, nor the PA. So I got curious, and I looked up what my blood pressure should be for my age (120/80 and below for the curious).
I found this neat little chart that tells about blood pressures, and what is considered elevated, and stage 1/2 hypertension. According to that chart, my blood pressure is not elevated (because my bottom number is not less than 80). My blood pressure is stage 1 hypertension! Never once had any doctor I had ever seen ever muttered the words “stage”, “one”, or “hypertension” in the same sentence. Ever.
Anyway, I am just a lowly pleb who knows nothing (i.e., “I am not a medical professional”). But, because I feel that my doctors failed at doing their jobs at the most basic level, I felt compelled to tell you all my story so that you all can check your vitals and decide whether or not you should have a conversation with your medical professionals. Be safe!
Welcome to the Death Spiral.
Sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, which in turn triggers the cortisol hormone which makes it hard to lose weight, which causes your sleep apnea to get worse which …
Your doctor noted hypertension because you were 120/85 before a procedure? Were they brand new?
I got pretty bad high blood pressure, but only diastolic was high, from long Covid and I had similar symptoms. It took forever to figure it out because apparently nurses sometimes assume if only diastolic is high that you were moving your arm or something.
Do you get blurry vision and headaches? I figured out it was from inflammation in my arteries, and antinflamatories for a week actually ended my long COVID symptoms. I’m now back to working out and full energy after 2 and a half years.
I’ve pretty much always been like 140/100, and doctors have said, “meh, seems to work for you”
Dang that’s awesome! I am genuinely happy that you got yours figured out. That gives me hope.
Define blurry vision. Not counting having to wear readers recently (past 3 years), sometimes my eyes get fatigued and become unfocused until I force them to focus again. I do sometimes get tension headaches (back of my head, usually behind my ears on both sides).
Also, you should treat hypertension with medication immediately as it’s actively bad for you. You may get off the medication when you’ve improved your BP through lifestyle changes - diet, exercise, sleep, work, stress management.
How old are you?
(If you want to share, of course)
I am 48.
Don’t know if you already got it checked but you should , a single measure isn’t enough.
You could measure 3 times a day for at least 3 days by yourself to get a better picture too.
I made up a spreadsheet of my past BP, weight, pulse, etc based on what was available in MyChart. Historically, I’ve had non-normal BP.
I also decided to buy a smart scale and smart BP cuff too, so I can take regular measurements. I’ve noticed MyChart didn’t always record my vitals (or maybe it was the docs didn’t always enter them); some docs just carried over the same vitals from previous visits. 🤦♂️
