Is this high blood pressure?

[dande4]

Dear Dr:

Thanks again for a very informative and helpful site. I am a 36yr f, w/3 children and work p/t I am also on the b/c patch to control irregular cycles. This past Fri. I took my son to his bowling league. I went into the snack shop and felt tightness in my chest. I thought it was from the smokey atmosphere. No chest pain or rapid heartrate. I felt like this for the rest of the evening. Almost like not being able to take a deep breath in, that a good "sigh" would help. I felt like my b/p was high. I took it on Sat. and it ranged during the day from 110/75 to 130/95 mostly on the high side all day. I normally have low b/p 110/70. I have allergies and MVP by echo as mild and not meeting strict criteria from MVP but I suffer from dysautonomia. I went to a walk-in clinic on Sun. My b/p was 114/95 dr. said he would not even give the b/p readidng a 2nd thought,ekg normal, chest x-ray normal and O2 normal b/c which I have taken for the past 3 months and previously took b/c on and off for years did not feel connection. Was sent home as anxiety/stress related.I had a visit with my gp/cardio on the Weds. prior and had normal ekg and b/p.

Since I feel very congested in my sinus since that time, could that cause the rise? Allergies?

Does is sound stress related, the "tight band around the chest" feeling and tight neck muscles. Would taking a beta blocker if the rise is caused by stress, would it lower the pressure? I have atenolol to take on an as needed basis for palpitations.

I am calling my dr. this a.m. to advise him what has happened.

Any opinion? Thank you!

[oic]

I have had some blood pressure issues over the last couple of weeks. Generally, I am a 120/80 guy(55yrs old). However, I have been up lately. Specifically: from 130/85/78 to 156/90/89.
Last night when I went to bed I was running 130/82 with pulse of 81. However, I felt a little pinching sensation in my left upper chest and in my left arm. Today I do not have chest pain issues although my left arm seems to feel like it has some pressure periodically.

Last week I went to the doctors. He felt is had something to do with some cold medication that I was taking and ask me to wait a week so the medication could leave my body. Well after a week there has been little change. My best times are in the morning when I run close to normal.

OIC

[Impotant1]

Are you taking any sinus or cold medication, if so what kind? When I had my heart attact last year I had trouble breathing up but no chest pain. Both arms felt heavy. And I just felt weak all over. Had 100% blockage RCA. My former boss had a heart attack & 6 way bypass a few months before me said all he felt was like he had gas or heartburn all week end & no chest pain either. I think this is why it's called the silent killer. Some people have the chest pain and I guess some don't. I would talk to your doctor about "asprin therapy" everyday anyway. Better safe than sorry. Maybe also keep a bottle of "Nitro's" on hand & worry less. LOL

[dande4]

Thanks Mel,

I went to my allergist and had a PFT done, came back o.k. My Cardio thinks the tightness is from allergies and the b/p is  not from a "heart issue" but rather from the autonomic problems that I have. My b/p has gone down the past day and is almost back to normal. Today again I felt the heaviness and my sinuses have been killing me for the past few days. I'm thinking that it is all related..Thanks for the input!!

[Mel22]

Maybe respiratory?

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Dande5,

Thank you for the questions.

Unfortunately, descriptions of symptoms like those you have had do not lend themselves to accurate diagnosis over the internet.  Your symptoms could have been from something mild or from something serious.  You really need to discuss them with your doctor.

Your blood pressure was elevated by strict criteria (the bottom number), but it would be difficult to know how to treat it given that the upper number was in the low-normal range.  I would be very suspicious that the blood pressure reading was inaccurate.

Beta-blockers are used to treat hypertension, among other things, but you should discuss taking this medication with your doctor if you are planning to expand the indications from palpitations to hypertension.

My best advice is that you discuss your symptoms with someone you trust.  If you leave the office dissatisfied, try another doctor, or go back to the first with your concerns.

Hope that helps.