Should I Be Overly Concerned I Took My BP This Morning First Reading Was 139/96?

Posted on 18 hours ago

Question: I took my BP this morning first reading was 139/96, second 141/93, Third 148/93. I am on 75 mg. of Metropolol. Should I be overly concerned?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (26 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

I understand your concern and would explain that a single spike in blood pressure values is not concerning, especially considering the values which are not too high.

I recommend closely monitoring your blood pressure values in the next days, frequently during the day.

If your blood pressure values are above the normal ranges most of the time, I would recommend adding a calcium channel blocker ( amlodipine, lercanidipine) to your therapy in order to have a better control of your blood pressure values.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

I remain at your disposal for any further questions whenever you need!

Kind regards,

Dr.Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (6 hours later)

I did contact the doctors office this morning, and they called me back to say that the doctor didn%E2%80%99t think that my blood pressure was too high, And recommended moderate salt use, and increasing my exercise. I do eat a lot of frozen meals which Have a lot of salt in it because I don%E2%80%99t cook. I%E2%80%99m going to try to pick out some meals with a little less salt, and switch to low sodium crackers and other snacks and hope that that helps, and also start exercising at least three times a week. Do you think this will help? If you can look back at my post from October 10, and you%E2%80%99ll see that I have been monitoring my blood pressure. Although I have not taken her in a few weeks up until this morning. Any other thoughts you might have would be helpful.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (10 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
The decrease in salt intake will help lower your blood pressure values.

Detailed Answer:
Hello again!

I think that the reduce of salt intake will definitely help improve your blood pressure values.

Anyway a close monitoring of your blood pressure values in the next weeks is very important in order to judge on the need for other anti-hypertensive drugs.

If the reduce in salt intake will not help to lower blood pressure values at the optimal levels, adding a calcium channel blocker to your current therapy would be a reasonable option.

Hope to have been helpful!

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask me directly at anytime!

Wishing all the best,

Dr. Ilir Sharka

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (17 hours later)

Is it safe to wait a few days before checking my BP again to see if the salt reduction and exercise is helping? I always get nervous if I even think about checking my BP.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
My opinion as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Yes, it is OK to monitor your blood pressure a few days later, as you are making these diet changes.

But, if you are having headache or palpitations, it would be reasonable to monitor your blood pressure values during those episodes too.

Hope to have been helpful!

Wishing all the best,

Dr. Iliri

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar