Blood pressure question (TW: grief)

[charlatti]

This is probably a dumb question but I’m not thinking clearly and need reassurance. My mom had a massive stroke over the weekend and passed away Wednesday night. I’m obviously very stressed and have been for a week now. I have been monitoring my BP at home since last May when I had a month or so of usually high reading, was on BP meds for a while but even the lowest dose made me too low. Since discontinuing meds I’ve been normal with occasional high readings that come down fairly quickly when I sit for awhile. Today I can’t get it down to normal. That’s to be expected, right? I probably shouldn’t have even checked it.

eta: it’s not so high that I need to call the doc. Just not in the normal range, bottom number in the 90s, top 130s. (Yellow on my cuff, was orange when I first did it but that was before I tried sitting and attempting to be calmer)

[mysteriouswife]

Stress and grief will cause your body to do weird things. An occasional high reading isn’t abnormal or too concerning. Give yourself some time and see how it is in a week or two. If you are asymptomatic I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m sorry for your loss

[bex1973]

So sorry for your loss <3

[Jalapeñomel]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I can imagine this is terrifying.

[slbride2003]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I have zero medical knowledge but would thinks swings are normal when you are going through a traumatic experience.

[mcsangel2]

I am so, so sorry for your loss, truly. The last thing you need right now is additional stress worrying about your BP. So I would ditto what everyone else has said, and add that if there is any way that you can take some time each day to consciously relax/meditate/listen to asmr/whatever, it should both help with your BP numbers and help give you some peace of mind that you are making an effort to help your health.

[abs]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[charlatti]

Thank you all. My rational brain knows swings are normal, but it’s easy to get caught up in overthinking everything right now.

[VillainV]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

That’s about the same as my normal BP, and nobody has ever told me that it was high or that I should do anything about it. I was told once that it was “borderline” so I did some deep breathing and grounding exercises and it went down. So I’d recommend trying a calming exercise with deep breathing on Calm or Headspace App or even YouTube and see if that helps.

[dexteroni]

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about your mom. I have hypertension, and yes stress definitely raises it. And when I'm stressed, knowing my BP is high makes it stay high. Brains and bodies are funny things. Fortunately your high readings aren't super high, so hopefully that helps calm any worries.

[nicolewi]

I'm so sorry.

[dancingirl21]

I’m so sorry for your loss. BP can definitely be higher in times of stress.

[minzy]

I’m so sorry about your mom. ☹️

[sonrisa]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[buffalogal]

So very sorry for your loss.

i was recently put on a med for high blood pressure, and i swear the worst thing for high blood pressure is thinking about your blood pressure.
i agree with PP take some time for yourself, avoid salt and drink lots of water..

[dexteroni]

Dec 16, 2022 13:44:01 GMT -5 buffalogal said:

i swear the worst thing for high blood pressure is thinking about your blood pressure.

omg amen to this. My brain can be my body’s worst enemy sometimes.

[momin2013]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I agree with PP’s that your anxiety over the whole situation is likely contributing to it. I’d try to hold off testing for a bit unless you’re actually feeling symptoms.

[charlatti]

Thank you all for your kindness and reassurance. It helps. ❤️

[Pilsy]

I'm so sorry for your loss. How awful.

I will be thinking of you.

[jinkies]

I'm so sorry, charlatti. My H monitors his heart pretty closely because he has had problems with AFib. When his dad died suddenly last year, it definitely triggered changes to his heart rate for quite some time. It did eventually regulate. He does also have general health anxiety that tends to create bad cycles, and adding in the trauma of his dad's death fed into the cycle.

Take care of yourself. If you think anxiety meds may help, I know that my PCP would prescribe them no questions asked in this situation.

[skidunks]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I don’t know a lot about BP but I’m sure your grief could be affecting it right now.

[stemmie]

I am so sorry for your loss.

Your body is dealing with some powerful emotions right now. It's also likely given the past week that you been running on adrenaline and haven't been able to make the usual sorts of choices around diet, exercise and rest.

Given the readings you are getting, I might put the cuff away for a couple weeks and visit your PCP to discuss if it's still an issue.

[liverandonions]

I'm so sorry for your loss