My Blood Pressure Is Usually 120/80; Today It Started With

Posted on Thu, 29 Nov 2018

Question: My blood pressure is usually 120/80; today it started with a headache and my blood pressure today is 154/90. What's going on?

Answered by Dr. Remy Koshy (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Need more info

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to Ask A Doctor,

Sudden increase in blood pressure associated with headache requires immediate attention. I would like to know a few more related details in order to guide you better:

- Do you have any associated blurring of vision, tiredness, weakness in your limbs etc?
- Any loss of balance or slurring of speech?
- Any history of chronic illness or any history of chronic intake of medications?
- Do you have any history of diabetes, high cholesterol or heart diseases?

Kindly keep monitoring your blood pressure every half hourly, and if it keeps increasing kindly visit the ER ASAP.

Headache caused by high blood pressure would not be resolved with Tylenol, You may require some potent anti hypertensives to resolve your symptoms.

Kindly revert back with the above details,
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy

Follow up: Dr. Remy Koshy (8 hours later)

Thank you for the information; I do not have any of the above problems excepting high cholesterol (240) but also have a very high HDL with a good ratio. I take no medications and have no history of chronic illness.

However, out of 6 siblings, one sister died from stroke/heart attack (63), one had a heart attack (63) and 2 others diagnosed with heart disease. Both parents died from heart disease. My A1C is 5.6 and I had a catherization in 2005 after a stress test. The result was "your arteries are smooth as silk".

My blood pressure occasionally spikes accompanied with a headache but normally is 120/72-80. Yesterday it stayed high all day with the headache but went back to normal at about 8:00 p.m.

My blood pressure this morning is: 155/86 left arm
164/89 right arm

Slight headache

Answered by Dr. Remy Koshy (11 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Explained below

Detailed Answer:
Hello again,
Thanks for writing back,

Sorry for the delay in replying back as I was travelling,

Sorry to hear about your sisters.

Since you seem to be having raised blood pressure for 2 days, I would suggest it better to start with a low dose of calcium channel blocker- Amlodipine 2.5mg once daily. You can monitor your BP after an hour of taking this medication. If your body is responding, you can continue this for a month's time. Also low dosage of losartan can be tried. This is a good medication considering your age. See if your physician agrees to this.

Drink plenty of water and take adequate rest.

I hope this helps,

Please feel free to discuss further,
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy