Hi Harriet--ah, I'm glad you remember. I would definitely suggest getting seen soon, although it's not an emergency situation (or even urgent care). But I would make clear at the earliest possible opportunity that you want meds to get your bp down to 120/80. Every day that it's high does permanent damage to your organs :(. If you exercise and get it lower, and you find you can go off the meds, that's great. But IMO (and of course this isn't official medical advice, just my experience and what I've read, so do more research--I'm just a lonely data point : )), getting it down as early as possible is what's important. The meds may very well knock you for a loop until you adjust to them, too. The docs said no driving for a month but I was back behind the wheel of a car, no problems, in a week and a few days. terri, that was another odd thing - my cholesterol is beautiful. I'm not the highest in HDL, but my LDL was *quite low* (blanking on the #s) at the time of the heart attack. As much as I believe in taking bp meds (within reason), I was *staunchly* against statins, and got out of it only by digging my heels into the ground and saying I'd take red yeast rice. I took that for a while and then stopped. My LDL isn't bad enough for me to worry about. There's also debate over what numbers are o.k. and what are worrisome wrt cholesterol anyway. But this little lonely data point would encourage you to take action on the bp as soon as you can (non-rush).

Almost exactly a year ago, I had a similar thing - my bp, which had always been on the low side, started running 145/90 or so. The docs wanted to put me on meds, but I tried them for a week or so and had awful side effects, so I decided I was going to try lifestyle changes. I had really let myself go and gained a lot of weight over the past several years, and I was pretty much a couch potato. And I had a strong family history of heart disease working againast me as well. So I went from halfheartedly exercising once or twice a week to 4-5x/week for 45 mins or an hour at a good clip (usually, I ride the recumbent bike and I'm usually dripping sweat by 20 minutes into it). I also cut back on salt and started eating healthier food and less of it. I've lost 50 lbs in the past year and my bp has been pretty good for the last 8 months or so -- it will still occasionally spike with stress or too much caffeine so I know I don't have the problem licked, but I am at least keeping it at bay. A few things you might consider if your bp is up even though you don't seem to have changed anything (and you don't have 50 lbs to lose like I did, LOL!). Some meds have the side effect of raising bp - these include antihistamines, cold medicines/decongestants and some antidepressants. If you've started any meds since the last time your bp was normal, you might want to talk to your doc about whether that could be contributing to the problem. Also, watch what you drink -- too much caffeine can definitely raise your bp. Also I found that all the diet coke/nutrasweet I was drinking seemed to be contributing -- when I was diagnosed, I was drinking probably 8-10 cans of diet coke a day. While researching high bp, I came across a page that said that nutrasweet breaks down into a chemical very similar to epinephrine and can raise your bp. So I quit diet coke cold turkey and within two weeks, my bp was much improved. I have since had diet coke a few times at parties and such and I always notice a bp spike afterwards (not sure if it's psychological though - maybe I'm just expecting it so nerving myself up). But if you drink a lot of diet soda or eat a lot of artificial sweeteners, you might try cutting them out for a week or two to see if it helps. Also, be sure you are eating enough potassium. Potassium helps remove water from the body in the same way that sodium retains it. Many folks do not get enough potassium in their diets and that in itself can raise bp. Try eating some foods high in potassium or taking some supplements to see if it helps. Finally, try amping up your exercise if you are physiucally able to - walk faster, work harder, and sweat more. Sweating removes excess water from the body and will help to lower bp, while the cardio helps strengthen your heart and overall health of your circulatory system. Good luck - I hope you are able to find something that works for you!

Thank you for taking your time to respond catherinet, agnespuff, and goldy. I am 65 years old female. Yes, I use my own equipment 'OMRON' to check my bp. When doctor checked my bp about week ago, my bp was 130 and he told me it is normal. I was relieved but now my bp is between 160-180 but today, I took for 1 hour walk and few second ago I checked my bp. My bp is 129. I cannot believe it. My pulse is 82, DIA is 79, SYS is 129. I hope I continue to have low bp but I think I start having much higher bp at evening and night. Only thing I needed to lower bp is one hour walking? I am not sure if this much simple or not. If I continue to see bp of over 150,160,170 I am going to see doctor quickly. I am concerned about connection between memory lose and high bp. I know what do you mean goldy. Worry doesn't help us at all and elevate our bp. I just cannot understand why suddenly I forgot how to turn wiper because I was using wiper thousand of times when I was driving in rainy day. Strange part is my dream became reality. I dreamed about my confusion about turning in pool and next day, I experienced exactly what I saw in my dream. I joked with old lady in swimming pool and I said "I am going to drown if I suddenly forget how to swim". When I think about it, it is no laughing matter! I start learning how to swim when I was over 60 years old and I am swimming over 3 years now. I am sorry for my poor English. English is my second language.

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.