I USED to have HBP - - no symptoms whatsoever. Supposedly that is common.

It was discovered through routine checkups, then I had followup checkups specifically for the HBP.

I was first diagnosed with high BP about 18 years ago. I am not one to go to the dr's. for regular checkups. So as I was coming off the golf course one day I got very dizzy, that had never happened before so that prompted a vist to the doctor. It was then they diagnosed my problem as hypertension, and was put on meds to control the situation. Now I have not had any episodes since. I was not overweight at all, just hereditary in my case. So make the call and have it checked out.

June

High blood pressure has no symptoms. Low blood pressure does. With that you get dizzy a lot, sometimes fainting.

Here is a link that might be useful: symptoms

I had no symptoms.

Discovered when I had numerous BP checks with the arm cuff in the doctor's office on various times/days.

I have high blood pressure, but no symptoms.

I've had high blood pressure for years. I've been overweight most of my adult life and I'm a couch potato. I'm not one to go for a daily 10 mile bike ride although I have done that many times in the past for a family outing with hubby & kids. Many years ago, I began waking up each day with a head-ache. Sometimes it was a bad one, as in migraine, sometimes not. I was also noticing a funny noise in my ears ... it's hard to describe but almost as if someone was wiping the outside of your ear with a tissue ... not the feeling, just the sound.

My boys were maybe 10 & 12 at the time and the head aches scared me. I thought I had a brain tumour and was afraid to go to the doctor. Finally, after having headaches in the mornings for over a year, I went to the doctor and my blood pressure was slightly elevated...something like 130/95 so he slapped me on meds for the BP, gave me imitrex for the migraines, told me to get off my butt and get more exercise and lose some weight.

I have a few other things with my health right now including type II diabetes, nicely controlled with Metformin. He's watching my cholestrol but says its good. I had an incident with vertigo back in October where I actually fell to the floor in a local store. I saw the doctor the next morning. He couldn't find anything wrong and I haven't had a repeat. I go for a regular follow-up every 3-4 months.

If you think there's a possibility of high blood pressure, don't ignore it! Go see the doctor.

altho for most there are no symptoms,I had headaches...major ones and am tired,really tired when mine is up..that is how now,altho on bp meds I know it has gone up..tired and super headaches

I also have the adrenal tumors..bp issues go
hand in hand with those

I had light-headedness and headaches. When BP was checked, the diagnosis was --- hypertension. I was put on a low dose of HP meds., and the headsaches stopped right away.

I think mine started at about 40, with a hugh amount of stress while I was married to an alcoholic. And I was somewhat heavy. Not like now though. I had headaches too. After I divorced him, I started to walk (rapid) everyday, and lost about 50 lbs. in doing so. BP went down. Then a few years later, I'd quit walking and gained the weight back, and along with that the BP rose. I'm on meds again.
Rita, go to a drug store, and check it out with one of those cuff machines. Or just go to your Dr.s office and ask someone there to check it for you. I don't know if everyones Dr. office would do it, but mine will.
Leslie

They call it the silent killer for a reason. There are usually no symptoms until it's too late. Go ahead and get a checkup! Good luck!

Wow. Very informative stuff! Thanks for all of your insight...and I will follow up on this.

My DH has no symptoms either. He is over weight and they noticed it when he had his kidney stone surgery last month. My in- laws sent him a BP cuff a few years ago and we are watching. So far he is pretty normal, but when stressed it does rise. Please go get checked just to be safe.

Trish

No symptoms here, either. I was diagnosed at age 30, even though I'm in good physical shape, excercise, eat right, etc. Started taking meds daily. Got pregnant at 31, contined with the meds, had the baby at 32--induced because of the pre-existing HBP issues with the preganacy. Felt terrible after the baby was born and was horribly dizzy and ringing ears for the first 2 weeks of his life. Then, BP went down and I've been off meds since June 2008.

I had no symptoms other than my BP was fairly high at a doctors visit. We watched it for a few months and it stayed consistently on the high end of the spectrum...so I went on Lotensin BP meds. My BP is very stable now but I continue to take the Lotensin.

I forgot my pills one time while travelling and the only thing I noticed is I was a little "high"...kind of like I was nervous about something. Of course that might have been my stress at forgetting the pills. LOL

Susan

I had low blood pressure all my life until after menopause. I used to take my blood pressure at home occasionally because my DH had a blood pressure cuff. I noticed it was high one day and had my doctor check it out. No symptoms here either.

I have low blood pressure, and it causes me to feel dizzy and light headed at times.

No symptoms for me either. They refused to let me donate blood the last two times I went because my blood pressure was too high. So I went to the doctor and he said I was borderline high. I took meds until I started chemo and my blood pressure went back to normal. No meds in the past year.

I was diagnosed in nursing school, flushed face, massive headaches, neck throbbing with a pulsing sound in my ear(although my MDs/PAs told me that is not a symptom of anything, why then does it throb when I forget to take my med or run out?). One day I came into class with a throbbing headache, my face was flushed and my teacher told me I probably had high bp and needed to see my dr. She was right.

Don't they call it the "silent killer," or something like that? If you have high BP, DO NOT ignore it because you feel ok.

Go to the doctor and get it checked. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all. I went to the DR. for something else entirely and when she checked my BP, it was through the roof. I also had a flushed face and she also had me tested for Lupus (negative). She put me off work (jr. high teacher - no stress there LOL!!) for at least three months until it was under control. I have been on meds ever since and it is under control. I have it checked every 4 - 6 months and my readings have been really god lately.

But go to the dr. just to make sure! I cannot stress that enough. It could save your life or prevent a stroke!

Most of the time I can tell when mine is high. My pulse races and I just feel generally crumby. High BP runs in my family so I guess I was destined to have it. Hope yours is alright Rita but do have it checked.

What Debby Ab said is true. The connection in feeling poorly when you have high blood pressure is not the HBP causing the illness but oftentimes blood pressure rises when one is ill or fighting off an infection. BP readings taken while you are ill are misleading. It is important to track them when you are well. It's a hidden killer.

Massive headaches here too....Stacy

Mine was caught at a gyn visit. He sent me to my GP and I was put on BP meds. I did have headaches that stopped when my BP went down.

Linda

Definitely get it checked out, especially since it runs in your family. If it's high, you need to get it down. For the last couple of years, I've been checking mine weekly at the grocery store. Most pharmacies have the machines. I always do this at the same store so it's taken on the same machine each time. It's best to sit still for a few minutes before taking it. Since you are having some sort of symptoms and are concerned, I'd have it checked at your doctor's office. If it's ok there, then start the periodic checks at the pharmacy.

A year or so ago, I noticed mine was creeping up and was borderline, so I read up on natural ways to bring it down. If I couldn't get it down in a month, I was planning to go on meds. What I did was I started walking every day, for about 30 minutes. And I started taking the supplement hawthorn extract 2-3 times a day with meals (healthier meals!). My BP went from 137/88 to 115/76 in one month. So that method worked for me, but as we are all different, it may not work for another. Also, I've read that even a modest amount of weight loss, such as 10 pounds, can make a big difference.

But DO NOT try natural remedies without first checking with your doctor to see how high it is. Of course you may need to go the med route, especially if you can't commit to regular exercise.

Just two weeks ago, I popped for a monitor (linked below, about $65) so that I can take it daily at home. I'm very happy with it. Good luck, and let us know what you find out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blood pressure monitor

Careful with the bp machines at stores or pharmacies, as they are not always accurate. It may be possible to pop into your doctor's office for a quick check for several days, if you're feeling well. They used to sell the machines at Costco, and if you're with Kaiser, they do too. Mine was caught by my gyn nurse practioner who noted that my pressure had been a little high the last couple of visits. I was sure it was due to "doctor's office" stress, but after I bought my own bp kit I could see that wasn't the case so I stayed on the med. My sister also gets headaches when her bp is too high.

HBP has no symptoms!

High Blood pressure often does not have symptoms,but to say it has NONE is mis leading!! I had chest pain and three cardiologists told me it was from high blood pressure,,,also when mine is up my vision gets off a bit and my head feels tight. The machines at the drug stores arent real accurate, but they can help you determine if there is a rise or fall and see your doctor if you notice a sudden or dramatic change.

None. None at all.

One day, about 6 years ago, I was waiting in the supermarket pharmacy for someone to get a prescription filled. they had one of those free BP machines. I sat down and tried it. The number was waaaay too high for normal...so I assumed the machine wasn't working properly. Because,I felt fine.

A couple of months later, one morning, I had horrible dizziness, nausea, and very short of breath. I thought I was having a heart attack, was afraid to drive, and called 911.
I walked into the ambulance,sat on the cot, and as a formality...the EMT took my BP. He yelled to the driver to turn the siren on, pushed me down on my back, dialed the hospital...and then started giving me these horrible little pills (nitroglycerin).

My BP was 250 something over 180 something !

Turns out I didn't have a heart attack, but whle I was in the hospital the next few days...I lost count of how many people came in to see the woman who was walking and talking with the highest BP they had ever seen, and without having an MI.

I always had normal to low BP, especially so during my two pregnancies, where I got checked at every visit. Then I started getting headaches, I woke up every single morning for six months with a terriible headaches, which went away sometimes with tylenol, sometimes on its own. Then one horrible Saturday I was running errands, came home and went into the bathroom. I felt incredibly dizzy, felt muself falling, and laid down on the bathroom rug. DH came in later to find me unconscious, he called for an ambulance. My Bp was incredibly high 190/135. Taken to the hospital, I had had a stroke. How's that for symptoms?

I had symptoms of my heart beating hard. My head didn't feel right and feeling anxious everywhere. My bp was 178/95 for a good amount of time. I went to the Doctors unannounced and they kind of poo-pooed me off. When I insisted they take my BP, their heads finally perked up! Be your own advocate and go get a check.

Hypertension is also called The Silent Killer with good reason.

Nice post, Shea. Regular exercise, stop smoking, lose weight if needed, watch salt intake can all help. Shea you did a beautiful job on that one, but sometimes meds are needed in addition to the above. It's sure a common problem.

That's right, Socks, sometimes meds are needed even when one is doing the right things. The same with cholesterol, some people cannot bring it down with a proper diet. Luckily, my body responds positively to life-style changes, so hopefully for me that will result in fewer years on meds. But as I said in my earlier post, we're all different and that's why it's important to get it checked out with our doctors.

I had a doctor's appt. last week, and took my new blood pressure monitor with me. After the nurse checked my BP, I asked her to check it with my monitor to check its accuracy. It passed the test.

I had no symptoms at all. Only high readings when taken.

I have been taking BP meds since I was 28. A huge family factor for me.
I didn't know that I had symptoms then, but when I have forgotten to take my meds, or take them late, my ears will get really red and I feel a tightning in my chest.
I have monitored myself closely over the years and know exactly how I feel when it is high.
Thank goodness there is a way to control it. I don't like that feeling at all.

Trin

I am almost 50. Mine started almost 18 years ago. All of a sudden, I started getting migraines. I had never had them before, and haven't since I started taking meds. It was so bad the first day, that I could barely drive home. I was in the grocery store with my kids.

Tami