What Causes Increase In Blood Pressure Level?

Posted on Tue, 20 Jan 2015

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

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 Answered on

Tue, 17 Feb 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I have increasing blood pressure (tonight) (now 9:30 p. MST) and dull pain that was for about 2 weeks, 1 " below and 2" in from my left armpit, now has moved to both sides of chest, near arm pits and a litttle above the breast nipples not increasing in intensity but is consistent. My complete physical exam on 01/09/15 and ekg and xrays werer great and well as all blood and urine work. Does bloodwork show any clotting isssues or not? I am fairly anxious now... but cannot afford the er per say. Took 650 mgs of aspirin about 1/2 hour ago. Pain seems to wax and wane somewhat I guess... What is my best decision at this time? Usual bp is 120/70 not up to 156/78. Does Pleursey these characteristics? Can being anxious spike the bp too?

Answered by Dr. Moumita Chakraborty,MD (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Yes anxiety can spike your BP

Detailed Answer:
Hello Sir!

Welcome to HealthcareMagic!

I understand your concern.Since you had a thorough check up recently which includes your chest X ray ,a complete physical examination,chances of pleurisy is very less.

Yes! your blood pressure could fairly rise that much if you are too anxious.Though your EKG was normal when you took it, this doesn't exclude your heart issues. This could be stress induced angina pain.I would suggest you to go for a Treadmill test to look for your heart function under stress.

You can use sublingual nitroglycerin tablets when this pain happens and if you get relief then you can probably doubt a heart disease.

So you can avoid an ER and go for a TMT to rule out any cardiac disease before any emergency happens.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more.
Dr.Moumita Chakraborty

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju