I Have Been Having Real Bad Headaches At The Occipital

Posted on Tue, 20 Nov 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 20 Nov 2018 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I have been having real bad headaches at the occipital area of my head..I never get headaches.. I can feel it tightening and my blood pressure shoots it to 160/110..I take a blood pressure pill and the headaches stops and blood pressure goes down.. it is fine for about 8 hours and then I feel the tightening again ..it makes it that I can not think clearly.. when I sleep my arms go numb.. what is possibly causing this.. I work out everyday and on occasion have had high blood pressure when going to the doctors office ..or when under stress most of the time my blood pressure was great! Now it seems like my blood pressure will not go down without a pill..it happened like overnight...my husband and I got in a fight and my blood pressure and other symptoms continued to get worse.. I thought you didn’t have symptoms with high blood pressure.. thanks

Answered by Dr. salah saad shoman (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Essential hypertension

Detailed Answer:
Dear Ma’am, I have gone through your question and I understand your concerns but it seems that you have developed essential hypertension so I would recommend that you keep record of your blood pressure every eight hours for one week and if it is eleveated most of the times then you will need to take your anti hypertensive medication regularly in two divided doses every 12 hours. I hope you find this helpful..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. salah saad shoman (14 minutes later)

What is essential hypertension.. is it worse than regular hypertension.. how much blood pressure meds do I take?? Can I eventually get off the meds or will I need them for the rest of my life..did I do this to myself by taking the drugs as needed?

Follow up: Dr. salah saad shoman (2 hours later)

Do you think if I lost some weight I can go off the blood pressure medication? I am 5’10 and 198 pounds.. would that cause the spike in blood pressure? Any other disease that would cause the spike in blood pressure.. thanks again!!!

Answered by Dr. salah saad shoman (21 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You might

Detailed Answer:
Dear Ma’am, hello again. essential hypertension is increased blood pressure without an obvious clinical cause. You might require taking antihypertension medications for life but this is not related by taking drugs to reduce blood pressure when needed. Some patients manage to get off medications with a salt-restricted diet, exercising daily and losing weight. Other medical conditions that might cause hypertension include hyperthyroidism and kidney impairment, so I would recommend that you get a blood test for thyroid hormonal profile including T3, T4, and TSH together with a blood test to assess kidney functions including urea and creatinine. I hope you find this helpful.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana