really high over really low B/P

[heart_in_the_keyes]

take high blood pressure meds....if you took your blood pressure and it was 120-160 over 50-70 what would this tell you?

[Rubright626]

I have heart failure (EJ: 35%) and am having a hard time taking care of myself food and alcohol wise. Living in Kansas, there isn't really much to do besides eat and drink. So what do I do? They are understanding, but playing cards sober isn't as much fun as it is after a few glasses of wine.

I still need to loss about 25 lbs. and need to be on a strict diet. I'm only 46...this is such a drag!

Suggestions!!!

[is_something_wrong]

Just wanted to add, there are a couple of conditions that may cause an increased pulse pressure (systolic minus diastolic).

After long standing (untreated) high blood pressure, the arteries may get stiffer. Picture pumping water through a pipe, when pumping the pressure would be very high, and between the pumps it would be close to zero. The arteries are usually flexible and able to smooth out the pressure during the heart rhythm cycle, but with age and after having untreated high blood pressure, the arteries may lose some of this ability. The result is a wide pulse pressure.

An uncommon but severe cause of high systolic/low diastolic, is a leaky aortic valve. If the valve is leaky enough to cause blood pressure changes, it would usually be noticed with a stethoscope, so I assume your doctor has ruled this out.

Excess adrenaline and excess thyroid hormone can also cause a wide pulse pressure, but you would usually have other symptoms as well.

I'm not a doctor, I just wanted to add this. Hope you'll feel better.

[CCF CCF]

This could be a perfectly normal blood pressure.  For example, 130/60 is a normal blood pressure.  If you are consistently having blood pressures of 160/50, you should let your physician know.  There are different conditions that can cause a large difference between the top number (systolic pressure) and bottom number (diastolic pressure) and your physician can evaluate for these as well as work on changing your blood pressure regimen for better blood pressure control.