Blood pressure question

[roco2929]

Blood pressure was recently discussed during a late night party, and we decided to take our pressure mine was around 144/96. Having stayed up all night worrying only sleeping 4hrs i decided to have my blood pressure check it was around 146/95. the doctor decided to get me to monitor my blood pressure during the week, the results are
Day 1
142/94 am - 132/92 pm
Day 2
126/89 am - 129/90 pm
Day 3
132/93 am - 111/88 pm
Day 4
126/90 am - 126/78 pm
Day 5
114/80 am - 109/75 pm
Day 6
119/81 am - 108/76 pm

On day 7 having had a late night and very little sleep again I went back to the doctor in the morning again only to find my blood pressure was now 158/96, I was advised to take medication straight away unsatisfied i went back home and took my blood pressure only to find it only 120/87 this got me confused. My blood test came out all good except of a slightly high cholesterol level which the doctor advised was not that serious.

To rule out the machine being faulty my wife decided to have her pressure taken by the same doctor she was within range around the 120/80 when she got we decided to take her pressure only to find my pressure was now lower than hers?? mine being 117/82 and hers 122/86.

sorry for the long read, im just confused why medication was prescribed straight away as i heard it take at least a couple of visits for some people before medication is given, by the way im suffering from lack of sleep for a couple of months and currently have some post flu coughing which the doctor was aware of.

[Itschuck2c]

Usually its a 3 consistent high readings before they prescribe meds.

[Barbarella]

If your BP is normal at home, but rises when you see the doctor it could be white coat hypertension, I have that.  

The jury is still out with different opinions from different doctors.  Some doctors brush it off, and say as long as its normal at home you do not need BP meds, others will tell you "if your BP rises during a doctor visit it might also rises when you are under different kind of stress.

I saw a Cardiologist and a Hypertension Specialist and both advised me to take BP meds.  I'm on it for the last 4 yrs and never had a side effect.
  

[roco2929]

[roco2929]

thanks for the reply.just worried about the drug side effects being a male, as im only in my 30's and dont wanna take pills for the rest of my life.

i will ask for a second opinion from a different doctor this time.

[.john57]

Some Doctors feel that if your B/P is high in the office then it will be high in most social situations. They feel the "white coat hypertension" theory could apply to any social situation and will treat even mild hypertension as you had in the office.