New to HBP and scared - twice in the ER this week alone

I don't know how any of you went through this and came out the other side.  All week my BP has been going from 115/70 (at a low) to 177/113 (at the high).  Twice this week I have gone to the ER (3 times if you count the twice in one day) to check my BP.  The first time they gave me clonidine, guess it worked but not as quickly as it usually does.  Went to my cardio's NP (he wasn't available) and she rx'd Cardizem.  Took it last night and my throat was tight so they told me to stop.

Tonight my BP shot up to 177/113 (on my home monitor) - went to the ER again and it was 158/99 when I checked in.  Again, they gave me the clonidine and an rx to take it for the next few days.

I'm so frustrated and I'm sure my nerves are not helping out any but I am trying to relax as much as possible.  I'm 45 yrs old, good weight and general health so this is all freaky to me.  What bothers me the most is that during the day I'm fine, as the evening starts my BP goes up and up.  At that time I'm generally home alone watching TV or reading with my kitten - I am not under stress then.  So far, the docs seem to be without ideas - I've done the stress test and echo and those were fine.  Perhaps I'm asking too much, it just seems my HPB is so specific -occuring only in the evening for a few hours.  I feel like there must be something causing it.

Any thoughts or advice you have would be so appreciated.  Thanks!

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

One thing I would recommend is to bring your home monitor with you the next time you go and have it's accuracy checked.  Obviously it's showing and agreeing with the high BP but it still could be way off.  I calibrated mine by using it and immediately after had the nurse check it.  They was two digits off so I know mine was accurate at that time.  I don't know how far the batteries have to be drained to start showing wrong figures or even normal ware and tare but I do know it will be off at some point and will have it calibrated again sometime soon.

  Outside of that advice, I sorry I can't help.

[ireneo]

I wonder if lowering the sodium in your diet would help. I know if I eat too much sodium during the day, I tend to retain fluid by evening and my BP rises and my heart rhythm gets worse.

Try watching your sodium for a few days; keep the overall intake under 1500 mg. That means watching for sodium in packaged foods. You'd be shocked how much is in a can of soup. Those prepackaged meals are off limits. There's more to sodium than what's in the salt shaker.

[lauriannem]

Thanks for the comments.  I actually did calibrate it and it seemed pretty close.  Unfortunately you can take my BP one minute and it changes the next.

I really watch my sodium - I get very little, the last blood test actually showed low sodium.  I don't eat fast food, use salt and use very little prepackaged foods.  As a matter of fact my nightly dinner is usually a bowl of hot whole wheat cereal with dried cranberries, blueberries and a little maple syrup.  I'm the poster child for low sodium ;-)  Unforunately that doesn't seem to have any effect right now.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Well, there's your problem, your too healthy ;-)