narrow pulse pressure?

[ocilac]

ill keep it short for now; i was monitoring my blood pressure for a few days, and have subsequently encountered the subject of 'pulse pressure', as my diastolic has been much higher these last two years.  in 20 counts, my blood pressure ranged from 95/79 to 114/88.-- with pulse pressures from 11-30 and most often around 20. in the past its always been 100/60 or just under.

  from what ive seen, there arent a tremendous amount of potential reasons (or maybe its not as well researched/dicussesed of a topic?) fbut i have been scouring for reasons for my many generally lousy feeling symptoms (some more distinct and obscure than others) for a long time, yet seeing as they may or may not be relevant, ill refrain from describing them now.

im 23, 5'4, 105 pounds, female, and moderately active/athletic. what could this narrow pulse pressure indicate? and what measures might I take to try and normalize it?

[Jerry_NJ]

Okay, I did a little bit of research and learned that the pulse pressure (difference) is the difference between the Systolic and Diastolic and "normally" should be more than 25% of the Systolic - typically numbers in the 40 range, yours are indeed lower.

This looks to be an important "number" and one I have never paid any attention to, I will going forward.  It seems, to my understanding, that pressure is indicative of (not a precise measure of) the left ventricle ejection volume.  A low number can indicate a (serious, to my reading) problem.  Thus, my conclusion is one should discuss with a doctor.

I believe the public BP testing machines at a pharmacy are reasonably accurate, that said I do find a variation from very normal, to low normal to very occasionally a little high.  When I get a high reading I usually run the test again and it may go down some.  In any case I will estimate that I check my BP about 2 or 3 times a week, depends on how often I pass one of those public testing machines.  This seems reasonable to me, but if one checks their BP several times a day it is time to discuss BP issues with a doctor.  It is my view that frequent checking of the BP may be one is obsessed with health issues/heart and that alone can cause out of range BP readings and heart rate readings.  I think mostly too high, not too low, and until now I have never considered pulse pressure range.

I don't know what else you'll get here, we do have a number of contributors who know a lot more about the techncial details of the heart and clinical measurements, hope they will comment and correct any misconceptions I may have produced - again I just looked on the web to see what Pulse Presure is about.

[helyanna]

I forgot to give my age. I am over 60 years.

[helyanna]

I have had very variable pulse pressures from 14 to 135, but I don't know why. These are from the same day. It was a holter registering. I have not got any reason for that.

[ocilac]

*same day

[ocilac]

oh, the second through 20th value were all taken on the same time, the others over 5, so the spread isnt any overall representation

[ocilac]

i mean to say in regards to bp measurements inthe last 2 years, ive have it checked by about 5-10 medical workers/apparatuses once one of those chairs at the drugstore, ya know, get bored with the manic lines sometimes) and i very much noticed the diastolic rise each time.
these are values from the last week or so--was taking them along with some other measurements more to possibly conjure some scientific experimnt i could expand on others.. irrelevant . here ar the values so thatyou can decide how much i am over emphasizing... im not sure if you meant 'being dramatic about' or 'focusing more than necessary on

110/90
105/80
100/78
98/86
110/85
105/94
105/85
108/82
110/90
110/88
114/88
114/85
110/88
110/82
106/86
110/82
112/88
115/95
110/85
95/79
102/84
105/75
110/90
108/88
108/88
120/90
108/92

[Jerry_NJ]

Sorry you haven't gotten any helpful inputs.  One reason is others, as is the case for me, have never considered or even been aware of "narrow pulse pressure".

A couple of things that occurs to me:
1) are your over emphasizing you BP condition
2) how accurate are your measurements
3) your BP readings don't look troubling to me, 114/88 may be a little high on the low end.

You may want to consider getting a general physical check-up and discuss concerns with the doctor.

Wish you a good and Happy New Year.