Spikes In Blood Pressure & Irregular Beats

[thuckatash]

30 year old male. Had high blood pressure back in 2001. Many tests were done and they couldn't figure out why it was so high. Said arteries were fine but I did have an enlarged heart due to the high blood pressure as well as an irregular heart beat and they said if I lost weight and stopped being stressed out so much that it should go back down which it did.

Promoted to a desk job and I have all that stress back. Bought a home blood pressure moniter because I figured it was up again. I took it during the day and sure enough....150/110

When I take it in the morning after just waking up it's a 145/95 with a pulse rate in between 60 and 70.

Now here comes the part that has me stumped. When I get really angry or nervous I took it and it was 210 over 140. I took it twice just to be sure because I was shocked. I've heard of white coat syndrome but that's just scary. I took a xanax and 15 minutes later it was back down to 145 over 100 which I know I still need to get down but I don't know what would cause these spikes in the blood pressure. I mean if I laid in bed all day long then then maybe I'd be better off ???

This is where the irregular heart beat comes in. It's not described like many people on here have described them. Mine pulse doesn't shoot up to 100 + or below 60. It's always relatively the same.....65-75 througout the day. My problem is a get these .....I don't the proper word.....surges that last for a second and I usually feel them in my throat where it feels like my heart has done an extra beat like beat...beat...beat...beatbeat...beat....beat. They seem to get worse AFTER I exercise never during. Xanax seems to help them a good bit as well but not entirely. I had them about two years ago as well and they eventually stopped after around 6 weeks when I moved out of a stressful situation. They seem to be ahppening more frequently this time around as well.....about a dozen times a day.  

Sometimes I also get a pain directly under my left breast that feels like a sore/pulled/strained muscle and that's been going on for about 4 months now.

I know most will say go see the doctor again but the last trip was $ 10 K in test ran and I have no medical insurance just to find out that my BP needed to be under control. Soooo...kinda don't want to go thru all that again for the same results.

  

[Barbarella]

Call a Teaching Hospital to make an appointment.  Tell them that you do not have health insurance.  You will get an appointment at one of their clinics.  You will get billed "accordingly" since you do have a job.

You cannot fool around with a BP as high as yours.  I do not have to point out the consequences of high BP to you I am sure you are aware of it.  

Please see a doctor soon!

P.S. your pulse rate has got nothing to do with your BP.  I had a spike of 255/160 at one time, was brought to the ER, and my pulse was only in the low 70's.

Irregular heart beat as in palpitations and PVC's can come from high BP a Cardiologist told me.  High BP will also enlarge your heart if not treated.

Good luck!

Make an appointment soon!

[mml78]

Hmmm...  I'm not sure what the weird beats are, but if you think your heart is becoming enlarged, you should definitely go see your doctor.  I posted some links below to articles about enlarged heart/cardiomyopathy.  It looks like it is treatable, but please seek the advice of your doctor.  You might be having anxiety as well, but I would think that if your blood pressure is that high and your heart is becoming enlarged, you need a physician, not just a psychiatrist.  Good luck to you and let me know about your progress!  

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4517

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cm/cm_treatments.html

[thuckatash]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Alot of people say they feel a pounding in their chest which I don't. I had palpitations once before I went to the doctor where my chest made quick beats for 5 seconds and it was so bad I looked down at my chest and could see it jumping. Scared the hell out of me which is why I went to the doctor. This time around it isn't doing that.

I fear that my heart is becoming enlarged again because of the blood pressure. This would explain some of the pain that I am having under my left breat......pounding against the chest wall perhaps? And once your heart is enlarged does it stay that way for life or does it go back down if the cause is rectified?

They had me on blood pressure meds for a couple months but they didn't seem to help back in 2001. They then gave me effexor that helped some and then switched it over to xanax for when I felt stressed out. That and the combonation of weight loss and exercise seemed to keep under control....130/90

All the sites you seen on the web can be very frustrating. Eveything seems to have the same symptoms from Anxiety attacks to Heart Failure.  

[mml78]

Sorry to hear about all your blood pressure and heart issues, thuckatash.  At such a young age, too.  First, I have heard that "skipped beats" (pvc's and pac's) can increase after exercise and tend to subside during exercise.  I have this same issue.  During exercise, I'm fine but in the hours afterward, I get a lot of skipped beats.  This is considered normal if you have a healthy and structurally-normal heart.  If your doctor says you can exercise, then you should because that would probably help with your blood pressure, too.  

The blood pressue is very concerning.  That's really high I think.  Did you ever get a prescription for a beta blocker?  Xanax might help calm you down, but beta blockers actually help lower your blood pressure and heart rate.  One of my sisters, who is 32, takes one every day for atrial flutter and high blood pressure.

I'm sorry about the health insurance thing, too.  I have a-fib and I went many years without health insurance and it sucked!  But you need to see a doctor to find out what's going on with that chest pain you describe and find out how to get your blood pressure under control.  I'm sure you already know about eating a low-sodium/low-fat diet and exercising, but you might need more help.  

Also, go on-line and check out the symptoms for a heart attack, and if you experience those, be sure to get to an ER.  Don't worry about health insurance at that point, please.

Best of luck to you!  Let me know how your progress goes with getting your blood pressure down.

(Oh, and the skipped beats sound exactly like how others have described them to me.)