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Low pulse high BP
I have worked very strenuous jobs most of my life I am 50 years old resting pulse rate is usually below 60 BPM but my blood preasure has been high for years. I worked out in the hot desert with excessively high BP thru 116 temp and high humidity due to unusual amount of rain. I know my BP was over 200/120 while I was booming and chaining heavy equipment. I did feel discomfort at times. I guess my question is people who lift heavy weights working out have their BP go off the charts when they do it...is it maybe not normal to have higher than usual BP much the same as body mass weight to height is a joke for anyone of my stature? (I am 5'9" 230 LBS pretty lean my bmi says for my height I should weigh 165).
In a nutshell my theory is this: I work long and hard hours quite often for the last 30 years my resting heart rate is low is it unreasonable to think higher than average BP is not always bad? My bp right now is like 150/100 heart rate 57 bpm without meds. I take meds which has it down to 124/77 with 59 BPM.
I was taking lotrel 5/20 which costs like $90 a month (Hence working in the desert with extreme high BP)
Now I take Lisinoprell HCTZ 10-12.5 which is a $4 wal-mart med. The cost of the med is what made me go without BP med an unrelated trip I also couldn't afford to the ER is when I discovered the $4 perscription.
In a nutshell my theory is this: I work long and hard hours quite often for the last 30 years my resting heart rate is low is it unreasonable to think higher than average BP is not always bad? My bp right now is like 150/100 heart rate 57 bpm without meds. I take meds which has it down to 124/77 with 59 BPM.
I was taking lotrel 5/20 which costs like $90 a month (Hence working in the desert with extreme high BP)
Now I take Lisinoprell HCTZ 10-12.5 which is a $4 wal-mart med. The cost of the med is what made me go without BP med an unrelated trip I also couldn't afford to the ER is when I discovered the $4 perscription.
Best Answer
How can both be true lower pressure at higher temp. environment and higher when exerting yourself? Sounds like excuses for either result being normal or abnormal. Under that hypothesis one would offset the other.
Just for the record I sure can tell when my BP is 200/120 or greater and that BP has been measured by nurses not just my feeling it on several occasions...they wouldn't let me leave the ER till it came down a bit.
Just took my BP it is 108/68 heart rate is 62. I took it a day ago it was like 127/84 but my heart rate was 50...It just seems backwards that my heart rate goes up when my BP goes down. This is no new observation I have noticed this for years.
Just for the record I sure can tell when my BP is 200/120 or greater and that BP has been measured by nurses not just my feeling it on several occasions...they wouldn't let me leave the ER till it came down a bit.
Just took my BP it is 108/68 heart rate is 62. I took it a day ago it was like 127/84 but my heart rate was 50...It just seems backwards that my heart rate goes up when my BP goes down. This is no new observation I have noticed this for years.
Interesting replies...I have had a BP kit off and on for at least 15 years. I have researched and done much observation to come to my "self diagnosis"
Self diagnosis is the only one you get with the health care plan I have...natural selection. This is the plan most middle class Americans are on when they loose their job or change jobs.
The lisinopril does pretty much control my BP at this time as well as abstaining from alcohol. There was a few years I only took BP meds to pass my DOT physical for landing a truck driving job as lotrel was too expensive when i was unemployed. I stashed back enough to get by on to land a job. Fortunately my new found med is like $10 for 3 months no reason not to take it other than I do notice my blood is very thin and when I bleed it takes a long time to stop.
Seems to me that low heart rate and high BP is not common I wouldn't mind being involved in a study.
Thanks again for the replies!
Self diagnosis is the only one you get with the health care plan I have...natural selection. This is the plan most middle class Americans are on when they loose their job or change jobs.
The lisinopril does pretty much control my BP at this time as well as abstaining from alcohol. There was a few years I only took BP meds to pass my DOT physical for landing a truck driving job as lotrel was too expensive when i was unemployed. I stashed back enough to get by on to land a job. Fortunately my new found med is like $10 for 3 months no reason not to take it other than I do notice my blood is very thin and when I bleed it takes a long time to stop.
Seems to me that low heart rate and high BP is not common I wouldn't mind being involved in a study.
Thanks again for the replies!
George
I bought a portable wrist blood pressure taker for less than $20 which works quite well. You push the button and it takes your blood pressure. I have taken mine many times while doing different things.
You are correct about the variability of blood pressure. If your blood pressure is as high as you think it is, I would suggest you take it very seriously. I would see a doc and have it checked out. You are taking lisinopril, like I am
and that should be lowering the pressure.
It is like having a plumbing system that is designed for 60psi and intermittantly pushing the pressure up to over 100 to 200 psi. Do you think that could cause problems? I think it could.
As we get older we fall apart. Try to slow down that process.
Good luck
****
I bought a portable wrist blood pressure taker for less than $20 which works quite well. You push the button and it takes your blood pressure. I have taken mine many times while doing different things.
You are correct about the variability of blood pressure. If your blood pressure is as high as you think it is, I would suggest you take it very seriously. I would see a doc and have it checked out. You are taking lisinopril, like I am
and that should be lowering the pressure.
It is like having a plumbing system that is designed for 60psi and intermittantly pushing the pressure up to over 100 to 200 psi. Do you think that could cause problems? I think it could.
As we get older we fall apart. Try to slow down that process.
Good luck
****
Diastolic of 90-95 is, as you probably know, just borderline high or mildly elevated. I didn't think lots of heavy work would chronicly increase the blood pressure. After all, that's what we used to do a couple of thousands of years ago. Now most of us are using computers instead, that's maybe a bigger threat to life and health?
Maybe your (very understandable) stress is more of a cause, I can't say for sure.
I don't know how you can feel a high blood pressure (not saying you can't, by all means), but also be aware that the sensation of pulsating veins, headache, etc, also can be a sign of dilated blood vessels in the heat, or a high heart stroke volume, which is not necessarily signs of a high blood pressure. I often tend to believe I have high blood pressure when I have a headache or feel dizzy. Turns out it's the opposite. My blood pressure is usually low (except during stress, like everyone else). I have an excellent 95/60 in the morning and 125/75 after a stressful day. I don't want to know what it is when I'm really stressing at work..
Maybe you should ask for an ultrasound of the heart to rule out an enlarged left chamber of the heart muscle (which is often a consequence of heavy work and high blood pressure). If you have that, the heart need more oxygen supply (which makes angina symptoms occur more often).
Also, it sounds like you have more or less diagnosed yourself with coronary artery disease (again, not saying you haven't got that, but an opinion from a cardiologist is never a bad thing). If I should give a recommendation, it would be:
1. Ultrasound of the heart.
2. Stress test (stationary bike, treadmill or medications, the last one is easy to combine with an ultrasound)
3. 24 hour blood pressure test, so you can see what your BP is on average and during work
If there are signs of heart disease, the cardiologist will probably recommend further testing.
Maybe your (very understandable) stress is more of a cause, I can't say for sure.
I don't know how you can feel a high blood pressure (not saying you can't, by all means), but also be aware that the sensation of pulsating veins, headache, etc, also can be a sign of dilated blood vessels in the heat, or a high heart stroke volume, which is not necessarily signs of a high blood pressure. I often tend to believe I have high blood pressure when I have a headache or feel dizzy. Turns out it's the opposite. My blood pressure is usually low (except during stress, like everyone else). I have an excellent 95/60 in the morning and 125/75 after a stressful day. I don't want to know what it is when I'm really stressing at work..
Maybe you should ask for an ultrasound of the heart to rule out an enlarged left chamber of the heart muscle (which is often a consequence of heavy work and high blood pressure). If you have that, the heart need more oxygen supply (which makes angina symptoms occur more often).
Also, it sounds like you have more or less diagnosed yourself with coronary artery disease (again, not saying you haven't got that, but an opinion from a cardiologist is never a bad thing). If I should give a recommendation, it would be:
1. Ultrasound of the heart.
2. Stress test (stationary bike, treadmill or medications, the last one is easy to combine with an ultrasound)
3. 24 hour blood pressure test, so you can see what your BP is on average and during work
If there are signs of heart disease, the cardiologist will probably recommend further testing.
I know what my BP was running at rest during that time,,,no I didn't strap on a BP cuff in 116 degree weather while dragging chains and cranking booms. I do feel discomfort when my BP gets that high but not to the point I feel the need to go to the ER (I know it is the silent killer). Part of my hypertension can be attributed to chronic pain (17 years of inflamation in the left shoulder due to bone spurs). Part can be attributed to stress of job changes divorce and raising 4 kids. I also know too much alcohol use raises my BP 10-20 points for a fact. I know my high BP is not good but I wonder if diastolic BP of 90-95 is not normal of someone who has worked the way I have. I'm talking moving furniture, digging ditches, hauling heavy equipment ect. for more than 10 hours a day in the Texas and New Mexico heat. The last EKG I had showed good blood flow. My biggest complaint is chest pains at times from what I percieve as oxygen deprivation to my heart.
I was riding my bike one time and started having chest pains half way back home one time and experienced excruciating pain in my chest for about 2 hours...might have had a heart attack it sure as heck hurt like I think one would feel. I took a primatene pill a few days later and was able to ride with no problem. I was a bit over weight then @265 lbs. I was born with asthma but have not been treated for it since I was an infant. I never have had lungs to run but had no problem swimming all day when I was a kid.
Thanks for the quick reply hope sharing this info helps others with the same questions.
I was riding my bike one time and started having chest pains half way back home one time and experienced excruciating pain in my chest for about 2 hours...might have had a heart attack it sure as heck hurt like I think one would feel. I took a primatene pill a few days later and was able to ride with no problem. I was a bit over weight then @265 lbs. I was born with asthma but have not been treated for it since I was an infant. I never have had lungs to run but had no problem swimming all day when I was a kid.
Thanks for the quick reply hope sharing this info helps others with the same questions.
Hello.
First, how do you know your BP was above 200/120 while working in a hot environment? Did you measure it? Usually, the blood pressure is lower when the temperature is high, than the opposite, because blood vessels dilate with high temperature.
That said, your blood pressure should increase with physical activity, though 200/120 sounds too high (if that was your real blood pressure).. You are right that weightlifting may make the blood pressure go extremely high when you lift weights, also the diastolic number. A fairly normal blood pressure (120/70) at rest can develop into 180-210 / 80-90 at max aerobic exercise (like running) and maybe 300/200 or even more during intense weightlifting (at bodybuilder level)
You can have high blood pressure with low heart rate, and you can have low blood pressure with high heart rate. You can't say that if your heart rate is 60 and your systolic BP is 140, that it's 280 at rate 120. The body doesn't work that way, blood pressure is determined by cardiac output x blood vessel resistance. Cardiac output is stroke volume x heart rate. At slow heart rates we often have a high stroke volume, and at high heart rates, we often have lower blood vessel resistance.
First, how do you know your BP was above 200/120 while working in a hot environment? Did you measure it? Usually, the blood pressure is lower when the temperature is high, than the opposite, because blood vessels dilate with high temperature.
That said, your blood pressure should increase with physical activity, though 200/120 sounds too high (if that was your real blood pressure).. You are right that weightlifting may make the blood pressure go extremely high when you lift weights, also the diastolic number. A fairly normal blood pressure (120/70) at rest can develop into 180-210 / 80-90 at max aerobic exercise (like running) and maybe 300/200 or even more during intense weightlifting (at bodybuilder level)
You can have high blood pressure with low heart rate, and you can have low blood pressure with high heart rate. You can't say that if your heart rate is 60 and your systolic BP is 140, that it's 280 at rate 120. The body doesn't work that way, blood pressure is determined by cardiac output x blood vessel resistance. Cardiac output is stroke volume x heart rate. At slow heart rates we often have a high stroke volume, and at high heart rates, we often have lower blood vessel resistance.
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Another cause can be if you are well hydrated, your cardiac stroke volume is higher, which can increase the blood pressure, if you are dehydrated, the body compensates by increasing the heart rate.
Both 108/68 and 127/84 are normal.