High blood pressure in young

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m just turning 20, am thin and in above average shape. But my doc recently put me on a beta-blocker to control high blood pressure. I was kind of shocked that I had it… But mom and dad have it as well, so I guess I’m game.

What ticks me is these doctors and nurses that bring you in to have your heart looked at and expect you to ‘be calm’! What? I’m having an EKG and echocardio done and I’m supposed to remain calm? The first time my physician took my BP, it was a tad high. So he scheduled me for a cardio doc… Naturally, I go in worried and my heart is pounding out of my chest. Woah! My BP is up and she can’t seem to understand that it just might be because I’m worried about my BP to begin with! ARRGGG!

And then the nurse takes it and says… “And don’t believe them when they tell you it’s just because you are at the doctor.” I wanted to say, “But my heart does not pound like this when I’m at home, either!” There seems to be a point when the docs and nurses become desensitized to the average doctor visit heebee-jeebees. Now, I’m not ‘afraid’ of the doctor or the office… I’m not too good around people to begin with, so I am always a little uptight when I go in for anything, even a shot or a exam.

So here I am, on meds because the doc thinks my BP is too high all the time. I’ve taken it (BP) at home since then and it is at or below average… But I don’t want to be taking it if I don’t need it. No side effects, at least.

The good thing is, though all of this I was prodded for just about every condition known to man. Before they gave up and classified me as ‘benign hypertension’, I had four blood tests, three urines tests, an EKG, and an echo within a 3 week span. Damn! But everything came out clean…

Okay… I’m done with my rant. I had to vent… Now I’m feeling better and am open to stories and such from others. Any insights/advice?

Infamus

2

Get a second opinion.

I’ve learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.

3

DO get a second opinion.

When I was in high school I got my physical for college, and my blood pressure came up “dangerously” high at the doctors. I was maybe 30 pounds overweight, and had been heavy all my life. The doctor put me on blood pressure medication at age 18, and told me to have it checked every month at college.

The first two months at college I went up to the infirmary to have my blood pressure checked – a much more informal, lower-stress environment. Not only was my blood pressure NOT “dangerously high,” it was quite low. I went off the medication. Up until about two years ago I have always had blood pressure on the low side, even when pregnant, and even though I still have those extra pounds (and, sadly, a few more). In the last two years it has started to be more “normal” than “low,” but it is still okay.

DO take the prescribed medication, but do get a second opinion. And try to get it under less stressful conditions.

-Melin

Voted Best Moderator (Emeritus)

4

There is a thing called Dr. induced high blood pressure. I read about it in. . . um… . saw it on. . … Well, I don’t remember.

When I was 5 months pregnant I was told by my OB that I was having twins. She then proceeded to take my blood pressure. Shock of shocks, it was high!! The Dr wanted to hospitalize me.
Gosh, you’d think these medical professionals would use a little common sense.

Teacher, my red crayon tastes funny – Ralph Wiggum

5

I work in a cardiology office and have been witness to the, “Higher BP while in the office” phenomenon plenty of times. We always have our patients check their pressure at home and in the office it is almost always around 10 points higher.

That said, I too, would get a second opinion. Cardiologists are infamous for “drumming up business”, if ya know what I mean…

Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel,
a beautiful red steam shovel.
Her name was Mary Anne.

6

If you are white, developing high blood pressure in your early 20s is abnormal, and needs to be worked up pretty thouroughly (If you black, it is less unusual, but should still be investigated). Unless the high blood pressure (hypertension = HTN) is severe, it is best to complete the evaluation before starting medication, since medication may interfere with some tests.

Internal medicine doctors & other primary care providers (family practice doctors, general practitioners, physician assistants, & nurse practitioners) take care of most routine HTN. But when it develops at such a young age, a one-time evaluation by an internist with special interest in HTN, or a cardiologist, nephrologist (kidney specialist), or endocrinologist (hormone & gland specialist) is necessary.

Most HTN is termed essential, or primary hypertension, and we don’t really know what causes it. There appears to be some miscommunication between the heart muscle, the kidneys, and the muscle cells that encircle arteries, leading to some combination of excessively forceful heart contractions, excess salt & fluid retention, and narrowing of the arteries due to contraction of the muscle cells around them.

Sometimes, ~ 5% of the time (but as high as 20% in someone very young), there is a secondary cause, so that the abnormal blood pressure is secondary to a tumor secreting aldosterone, or an abnormality in the arteries feeding the kidneys, or multiple cysts within the kidneys.

Here is a link to a Mayo Clinic article discussing secondary HTN.

I would recommend reviewing it with your primary care doctor & determining if all of the appropriate conditions were screened for by your cardiologist. Or, you could ask for a referral to either a nephrologist or an endocrinologist.

What not to do under any circumstances:

Do not stop taking your blood pressure medicine without medical supervision It is very important to taper some medicines gradually to prevent rebound (blood pressure can be significantly HIGHER than pre-treatment for a few days after stopping a med). Beta-blockers can do this.

What to do:

Go ahead & get yourself a blood pressure monitor. Bring it in to a doctor’s appointment; the nurses should be able to compare a reading on it with their machine. ~ 10% of the population has so=called “white coat hypertension”, where their BPs are significantly higher at the doc’s office than at home or at work.

Hope this helps!

Sue from El Paso

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

7

Thanks for scaring the hell out of me with that link, Dr. Sue. :stuck_out_tongue:

And seriously, thank you for giving me more questions to ask. I’ve got more on my list to discuss at my next appointment tomorrow now. Maybe now I’ll have something better to go on.

I had HTN problems back in my very early 20’s as well. The doc adamantly put me on meds, which did nothing to help. They had my history, current meds, you name it.

At a family get together, my aunt, a doc, noticed me taking the BP pills. She wigged out. I told her what was going on, and the first thing she asked me was, “Are you on the Pill?”

Of course, the answer was yes. Her answer? “Stop taking them. Now.”

My BP was back to normal in less than a week.

Now, however, more than 10 years later … after normal BPs for years, they very suddenly spiked again. I’m not only NOT on the Pill, but I’m not pregnant or capable of becoming so. (Pregancy being the only other times my BP has been bad.) One week’s appointment, it was normal, the next, through the roof. We’re talking going from a steady 130/80 to a regular 160/110 BP, and not just in the doc’s office.

My cholesterol is JUST barely over the “high” mark. The only salt in my diet is what is regularly in foods. I don’t smoke. I don’t have a sudden or severe amount of stress in my life. I’m not on any new medications.

And I can’t miss a single dose of my BP meds without it spiking right back up. I missed one by 12 hours one day. We left the house, and were some distance away before I remembered that I hadn’t taken them. It was bad. My hands and feet swell. I get nosebleeds. My face flushes. Oh fun, I even get dizzy.

I haven’t even hit 40 yet, and I’m falling apart. Wheeeeee.

I just haven’t been the same since that house fell on my sister.