Im confused and reluctant to take the tablets the doc has prescribed.
l have been given Ramipril to take for a few weeks - l said l didnt mind if l didnt have to be on them forever. l am now exercising in a gym 3 times a week in the hope l can bring my blood pressure down naturally. But do l have blood pressure problems? My new Lloyds home tester says l have Systollic 133
Diastolic 89
Pulse 72 then l took it again this evening and it was 122 Systolic and Diastolic 87 and Pulse 83.
And whenever l do the test at home it seems to be ok - l looked up the meanings of the numbers on the internet and it seems normal - what do you think??
By the way l am 43

Normal blood pressure is 110-120/70. Your numbers indicate you have high blood pressure. Try avoiding foods that raise blood pressure (salty foods) and eating those that lower blood pressure (those high in potassium).

a normal Blood Pressure is 115/75.
a BP of 120/80 or more is pre-hypertension
a BP of 130/90 or more is hypertension

so your numbers would indicate that you do in fact need the Ramipril.
At least for now.
Exercising and losing weight can help to control the BP, and you may be able to stop the Ramipril in future, but right now, you need it.

133 over 89 is not high enough to worry about. If your dr. has put you on meds for this, get a second opinion.
Or a new doctor.

l saw a piece on t.v. the other week, it was about home blood pressure kits and it showed how inaccurate they could be. l don`t know how reliable yours is.
Ask to speak to a different doctor and get them to explain what the readings mean and whether you can manage your blood pressure by exercise alone

There r several things here - do u have diabetes? Chronic kidney disease? Past history of heart attack or stroke? These conditions can lower ur blood pressure goals. If u do not have any of these conditions, ur blood pressure goal is less than 140/90 but of course we would like to see u closer to 120/80.

Second - what kind of blood pressure tester do u have at home? Remember that an arm cuff will be more accurate than a wrist cuff. Also, it will be more accurate with ur shirt sleeve rolled up (no clothing between ur arm & the cuff). Doctors, nurses, & pharmacists (as well as other health care professionals) r trained well to take an accurate blood pressure. Here in pharmacy school, we've done it in two labs (last year & this year) with our lab partners as well as a fake arm that u can set the BP on to test accuracy. For exams, when we take a BP, it has to be within 2 mmHg to pass.

Third - & this may contribute to having a higher BP at the doctor is office - have u ever heard of white coat hypertension? It is a well studied & documented phenomenon where people have higher blood pressure just at the doctors office. It may be that you're nervous (and may not even know it) so you're BP is a few points higher during that time.

Finally - talk to ur doctor or pharmacist more about it. Great job for working out & staying healthy & checking ur BP regularly. But remember that for some people that may not be enough.

Hope this helps!

You know, l hate home machines - they do not address one simple problem. There is no doctor there. Your blood pressure is a little high, & it may be higher in the doctor is office. Something for u to consider is that when u r at home, u may be more relaxed & the potential for u to have a lower blood pressure is increased. Going to the doctor causes anxiety for most people & they worry & the blood pressure goes up. You r sitting in a dr is office, u had to drive there, wait however long, deal with stresses & maybe other things u have to do - added stress. I'd like to suggest to u that u bring the blood pressure monitor with u the next time u go to the doctor is office. Tell the doctor what u noticed & take ur blood pressure with ur machine while u r in their office. It may be higher than at home.

Honestly, l sometimes get angry when people seem to think they know better than doctors. But l also understand that sometimes u can not think of everything, or do not know how to ask the questions, & sometimes the doctor is off. This is ur health, so u need to tell ur doctor. If u can not talk to ur doctor print out ur question & & bring them with u next time u go to see dr.

if your blood pressure is higher when you go to the docs you could be one of thousands who suffer from 'white coat syndrome', this is where the stress of going to the docs increases your bp. Monitor bp daily on your lloyds monitor and take results to doc next time you go. They are realy accurate as long as you follow the instructions to the letter.

Hope this helps

Fellow sufferer of high bp 165/116 yesterday :-(

Any stroke or heart problems in ur family history? Are u diabetic? Are u overweight? The standards of ''normal'' BP have lowered slightly for some groups with other health issues.. & the blood pressure equipment used properly in a Dr is office may be more accurate than ur at home. The doctor should be able to explain why he gave u meds. to put u at ease. You might want to bring ur tester to the office & do it there - there r some who always test higher in the office (white coat syndrome).

Your doctor has prescribed Ramipril.
He knows your case history and has been monitoring your B/P over a period l would think?
Do you know what your readings were at the surgery?
You are simply relying on your own monitor-you have not said what the doctors readings were.
The machine you bought may not be correct.
The surgery one should be correct as they get tested quite often.
B/P in the region of 120/80 is OK.
.

l have had a heart attack, been in hospital & rehab. l am not a doctor or nurse but was told ramipril is to strengthen the heart. That best blood pressure was 120-80 & heart beat of 60 was good. There is a vast amount of drugs for heart related problems they usually have details inside the packets about what they r for, how to take & what is in them. l had to stop smoking which l think was the single best improvement without medication. Do not stop taking tablets that ur doctor has prescribed, go back to ur Doctor & double check what it is for & if needed some booklets on blood pressure ect.

The next time you have to see your Dr bring your BP cuff with you and you can check it is reading against what the Dr is gets. For now take the Ramipril, my numbers are normal and l still take it. You can be reevaluated down the road and your Dr.may discontinue it. It is too dangerous not to take right now. Take care, Donna

Everyone is blood pressure readings vary over the day, every day, & the readings u quote r quite average. Unexceptional in any way, & ur doctor is simply wrong, along with all the other weird students, nurses, & ''paramedics'' above. All quite wrong. You do not need pills

These pressures r set by the brain in ''optimum'' configuration for maximum efficiency for YOUR body, that is, taking account of the needs of every organ, for blood & oxygen. If u alter the settings then u r fighting what ur brain considers best for u & ur body. Who knows best? ur own brain? or ur silly doctor?

What he does not realise (or even know, if l know doctors!) is that increasing or decreasing ur blood pressures will be neutralized, & compensated for, by ur brain. Your pulse rate, ur blood vessels' dilatation (or constriction) & ur temperature, breathing rate (and depth) will all be re-configured by ur brain to restore the equilibrium of ur cardiovascular system to its original state.. so what is he achieving? Absolutely nothing.

Change doctors. Forget the tablets, & if those r the figures ur Lloyd is Monitor says, then it is trustworthy.

Your systolic pressure (the top one) should be roughly { 90 + ur age} for a female ... You can not get more normal than that, can you? !!!

EDIT : Whether diastolic pressure rises or falls during exercise depends solely upon the individual & his physiology. Since it is determined by the difference between Cardiac Output & run-off, & is affected by both compliance & the volume of the conduit arteries, (as well as the efficiency of cardiac function, - that is, the ability of the heart to match 'supply' & 'demand') it sometimes rises, sometimes falls, & sometimes remains pretty well constant DURING exercise. It returns to relaxed status quo values when stress level returns to original 'relaxed' level.

What DOES rise during exercise is pulse pressure, because of its proportionality to stroke volume, & it (SV) rises (roughly in sync.) with pulse rate. Since systolic is the sum of diastolic & pulse pressures, it (Ps) also almost inevitably rises too, because no diastolic drop is never large enough to exceed the pulse pressure rise, almost by definition, borne out certainly by the haemodynamics of the mechanisms, as well as the morphology of the P.P wave..

Far be it for me, to question the opinion of a Cardiologist, but since it does not agree with what l have observed, learned, & understand, l would be most grateful to learn of any published research, papers, or conclusions to support & substantiate the statement that (Quote) : ''50% plus BP or Home BP machines r inaccurate''.
Since they do not (in any case) measure true absolute arterial pressures, what defines ''accurate'' ? The nearest one can get to an ''accurate'' figure is by applanation tonometry, & any fair-minded physicist would be doubtful  about that..

OK first of all l am a cardiologist.

Ill keep it short.

1.Your BP is high, not too high but high enough to be followed & treated quite easily

2. Most cases of hypertension need medical treatment, l dont care for anicdotal examples & someones sisters friends uncle who controlled it with herbal medicines etc. BOTTOM LINE: let the doctor treat it not ur friends.

3. Chances r very high u will need to take medications for the rst of ur life. Its not the worst thing in the world. Its better than having a stroke & oesnt take much more than putting ur pills by ur tooth brusg so u dont forget.

4. Kidney disease & all the other conditions mentioned by others can be ruled out in thier own time but only account for less that 0.1 % of high blood pressure cases

5. 50 % plus BP home BP machines r inaccurate. Try the ones made by A N D. They r good. cost around 90 bucks but well worth it. take ur BP after 10 minutes of rest. Same goes when u go to ur doctors office. If the nurse rushes u in & takes ur pressure & its high & then takes it again right away & its high again, insist that u lie down for ten minutes & it be retaken (chances r yu will be waiting for ur doctor in that room for longer than that anyway)

6. Blood pressure varies all day long. Systolic goes up with exertion exercise & stress, diastolic actuall comes down during excercise. During not after.

Hopefully no one is going to be foolish enough to answer this question. The decision is between you and your GP. If you have concerns ask him!

Home testing is notoriously unreliable.

Automatic spygs can also be unreliable - personally if i'm having my BP one l want a good old fashioned mercury sphyg and someone who knows how to take a reading.

Go with your GP is advice not he home testing kit.