High blood pressure

[swillsh]

My doctor has been having me monitor my blood pressure at home. It has been mostly high 180/88. Today, I was tired and could feel pressure in my neck. I took my bp, expecting it to be high. Instead, it was 125/55. Why would it be so low instead? Is that too low? I will be having a stress test in a couple of weeks. I am 47, not overweight and have never had any blood pressure problems before, althoguh I do have MVP. I have been told that the MVP is not a big deal though.

[funkywoman]

MVP is common and doesn't indicate anything. However a BP of 125/55 is great! Are you on medication for your BP? If so it seems to be working!

Are you taking your BP every day at the same time in the same position? That's important because BP can vary from minute to minute. That's also normal. 180/88 is high. Ideal is what you had today!

Here's a chart to go by:

    *  120/80 or lower is normal blood pressure
    * 140/90 or higher is high blood pressure
    * 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number is prehypertension

or use this:
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/blood-pressure.htm
It's a graph, but a good one.

Make a note about the pressure in your neck too when you give him your book.

[swillsh]

I have been taking klonidine for about 1 year, but I take it for hot flashes. Today it was 192/90 while taking klonidine.

[madjlp]

Tough to say so soon - keep documenting your numbers and make notes about how you're feeling if there's anything dramatic.  What jumps out at me most about both your readings is that the spread between your systolic (the top BP #) and your diastolic (the bottom BP #) is substantial - so the pressure difference between when the blood is pumping through your arteries and when your arteries relax right after the beat is high, but you really need a couple weeks of readings at least to get a clear picture of whats going on - the good news is that there are some very good blood pressure treatments (natural and prescription based) so once you've got things figured out you'll have options if necessary.  Best of luck.

[swillsh]

Thank you for the response. I have been taking my blood pressure fro about 3 weeks now. There are alot of days when I feel the pressure in my neck, which prompts to tae my blood pressure. Is there a number that I should contact my doctor regarding. I'm just wondering how high it needs to be before it is of immediate concern. My Grandmother had a stroke  and my Mother has high blood pressure as well. As I said before I am having a stress test in 2 weeks, so I will be seeing the doctor then, but I am concerned about high it has been. Aslo, I don't now if it's worth mentioning or not but I am a breast cancer survivior and did have chemo 6 years ago. Could this have had an effect on my bp?