what the devil is going on here? BP all over the place!

[oona]

I have been really sick and in bed since the end of september. i have many symptoms, but one of the most alarming and confusing is this continuous flux in blood pressure readings. i am in the in-between stage of diagnosis at the moment. i can elaborate on test results if anyone is interested. what i wanted to ask is if anyone on this board has had my problem with blood pressure fluctuation.today i was seeing my nurse and when i first arrived they took my blood pressure, the reading was the highest i've ever seen it: 138/96 (i was having a strange headache at the time). because of this reading and my general feeling that my blood pressure is constantly low (and the fact that i've noticed my blood pressure go very low on several occasions on my home bp monitor), i asked her to check it again before i left and it was 90/69! i know that my normal (in the past) has been somewhere between 120/80-110/70. my average the last week or so has been 100/65 and i have had one or two readings that have been as low as 87/45. i also consistently have a high heart rate, it's normally over 100 bpm and goes as high as 166, but it has also been 82 bpm (awake), with the lowest being 56 (asleep). anyone have any experience, knowledge advice about this? i have multiple ECG & EKG's and all of them are apparently normal. what the devil is going on here?

[cindy707]

Hi i read your post too.....you have to remember that home blood pressure systems can a huge margin for error since they need to be calibrated annually and i personally feel cannot be trusted.  As far as your blood pressure readings go.....altho 138/96 is a little on the high side it is not alarming because the other readings that you have posted look great to me.  I know from time to time that my own b/p gets pretty low too....i have had readings of 82/60  a couple of times and the docs have to re take it thinking they are wrong and aren't.  Trust me it is much better to have low b/p rather than high and actually the number that docs worry about is not the upper number but the lower number on the reading and yours is staying pretty consistant from what i read.  The one earmark that i have found when my b/p gets too low is that i get dizzy which is the norm and followed my docs advise that when it happens to put either a little sugar or salt into my system to raise it and it works for me but dont do that unless the doc gives you a green light for it.  If your pulse rate is moving into the 166 range at rest that is definately something that needs to be addressed because that is way too high but if you have other medical issues you are facing the heart rate tends to increase when we have specific medical issues going on as our body attempts to fight off whatever it is facing..  When we sleep our heart rates normally drop drastically so that is normal and a heart rate at eighty two during the day falls within normal limits on the scale so i wouldn't be worried about that.  I think you should concentrate on the fact that all of your heart tests have come up normal.....deal with the other issues as you said you have going on and thank your lucky stars that the docs don't feel you have any heart issues to toss into the mix here.  I don't know how long you have had your home b/p test but it may simply be that it needs to be replaced.  You could do a self test and go to a drug store where they have the monitors near the pharmacy that you can use for free and take your home test with you and see if both tests come up the same...that would give you your answer.....good luck to you.....

[yarrow]

There is such a thing as labile hypertension in otherwise healthy people, but if you are sick, your blood pressure will reflect whatever is going on in your body, depending on the nature of the illness.  BP is affected by so many things: body temperature, hormones, kidney function, adrenal function, vascular conditions, heart rate, nervous system disorders, and on and on and on.  I suspect that only someone familiar with your history and your medical chart can give you valid info about this.