Hypertension & High Blood Pressure Community

This month, the 7th I started to have extreme swing of my heartrate....40bpm to 80 bpm. Also palpatations. This lasted about 3 days. The events lasted about 3 hours per day. Finally went to ER. BP was 223/149. EKG was ok. Lab was ok. I am 71 years old. They determoned that during the events,which they recorded while there in ER, my heart chambers were out of sink......they felt that there was no danger at this time but to get my BP under control. I am now on Procardi 60mg. Everything seems fine now.

Since 2008, I've experienced several BP hikes to 200 and 3 hospitalizations: #1 brain hemmorhage (took 3 days to diagnose; no known reason); #2 diagnosis was anxiety from #1; #3 was unknown; #4 was "mystery"/ panic attack/PTS, 40,000$ later and every test conceivable; and #5 has been add diuretic. Fear of unknown and mixed physician reviews have left me trying anxiety coping measures. Some discussion regarding trying pacemaker. Wish you some good results. Florida.

Last July 2009 my troubles began. First started the palputations, shortness of breath along with the elevation of the bp. I made two emergency room visits and the finale was the bp elevating 200/100. Hospitalized for 11 days with $100K of testing and no results. I had wonderful doctors but they were totally stumped. They increased my medication but could not provide any answers. They put me on lupus mediciation for a while, thinking that could be a possiblity, they tried estrogen for a short stint, no success. They now think I have a bad case of menupause. I still have no answers, I have incorporated execise in my routine 5x a week. Exercise definitely helps keep the pressure down for a few hours, but still searching for an answer.

I have no idea if this is anyone's issue with "spiking" blood pressure, but I wanted to pass it along. I don't have perfect BP, but several months ago, it spiked to 180/120 and I ended up in the Emergency Room. Only after my own research, (no Doctor even mentioned it) did I find out, that eating genuine "black" liquorice can cause this in some people. I stopped eating it and my BP returned to my normal. If you do any internet searches on High Blood Pressure and Liquorice, you will learn a lot about it. I hope this may help some of you.

CRW1951

Get an endocrinologist or a family practice doc to check for glandular problems such as with adrenal and further thyroid checks. I'll bet they just checked the TSH for thyroid function in the ER.

Check for sleep disorders, especially for sleep apnea and/or restless leg syndrome. This can take a while to get scheduled with both the sleep specialist and a sleep lab, so if it's a possibility, start trying to make an appointment or get a referral now. Some doctors may prescribe devices that can detect some sleep disorders at home now for cheaper, but a sleep lab can be more comprehensive in detecting problems.

Check your other prescription and non-prescription meds - some can raise blood pressure (bp). Try looking them up in www.rxlist.com or www.drugs.com .

For me after 2 trips to emergency room with bp spikes and palpitations, it turned out to be a combo of sleep apnea (which makes bp hard to control even with multiple meds) and a beta blocker I was on. I'm still on 2 other bp meds, but with cpap treatment for the apnea and discontinuing the beta blocker, my bp is getting pretty stable and much lower in just a month. For some people (like me), a beta blocker can make bp more variable, where a calcium channel blocker can make it less variable. I'm now on a low dose of an ace inhibitor and a calcium channel blocker. (My hubby does fine with a beta blocker for lowering his bp, however.) The cpap treatment made more of a difference than getting off the beta blocker, but both were factors for me.

Good luck, be persistent, don't give up, and don't forget gentle regular exercise.

I have a similar problem with no diagnosis. I appreciate the other comments. What has helped me immensely is regular exercise, mostly walking but also some strength training, and following Dr. Ornish's diet in his book Spectrum. I take my blood pressure daily and for the last 6 weeks it has been running around110/70. I have had no further spikes. Before it would regularly spike to 180/110 when stressed or tired or??? Normal pressures used to be around 140/90.

The doctor wished to prescribe BP medication but I asked to do this first. I will continue with Dr Ornish as this seems to work for me.

I had an unusual episode of palpitations and higher than normal bp (165/115) in the context of sitting in a very hot room (with no a/c) for over an hour and a half on a gruelingly hot day. For a few months prior to the episode, I had been changing the way I was taking my Synthroid (taking it an hour before meals and taking supplements 4 hours later, instead of taking everything together, hoping for better absorption of the thyroid hormone if it was talken alone on an empty stomach). I've always been acutely sensitive to thyroid hormone. I think that made me slowly hyperthyroid, which brought on the palpitations under the circumstances. We're still trying to sort it all out medically. I'm now on a low dose of a beta blocker, which has brought the bp down to 118/80. BP prior to that was borderline, maybe 140/90. I'm continuing to stay on a lower dose of thyroid meds since changing how I took them seems to have changed the dose I can tolerate. It may be that taking Synthroid together with food and supplements meant I was absorbing less thyroid hormone. I took a Thallium stress test which showed no cardiovascular disease, l and am waiting for the results of an echocardiogram. It's still unclear why I would've had that sudden episode of scary palpitations (pulse up to close to 130) that I've never had before. All labs were ok. I'm hoping when all this sorts out that I'll be able to d/c the beta blocker and just maintain a normal bp with lifestyle changes.

Thanks for sharing and suggestions.

I called and got into Mayo Clinic next week.

Now the doctors are talking about Kidney problems. And want to run me all over to all kinds of doctors. Forget that.

Most of you did not say anything much about thryroid which can totally mess up everything.

But I really think it is something with the medications, and reactions to them. They have never stablized my blood pressure in 4 years.

Thanks Heartston

I've always had normal thyroid test results regardless of what I'm feeling clinically, and have ended up adjusting my thyroid meds. myself (always downwards). In the past I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and was also given a pituitary challenge, where the results were equivocal, but when the endocrinologist drilled down and just looked at the results for women my age, he could see that I was hypothyroid. That was all many years ago, which gave me the basis for being put on synthroid to begin with. But years later, if your test results look normal, no one listens to you about how you feel. Finally, my doctor is actually listening to me about my being acutely sensitive to the amount of thyroid hormone in my system (practically the definition of being subclinically hypothyroid). I believe that too much thyroid hormone can cause the pulse rate to rise. I may have two things going on (high pulse rate from the medication change, and blood pressure going up - possibly for other reasons). We're still waiting for more test results. I know that nephrologists are considered the doctors to go to for blood pressure issues. Good luck to you.

Dear Heartston you can get past this horror by using your own intellegence BP Gauge i had months of this, wake up hertbeat extreme BP same as yours some panic sit down check BP back to normal within 5 to 10 minutes135/70 the first time this happend over 2 years ago i was taking Nefidapine i got onto General Practitioners Panel 8 doctors held conferance usless they looked down on me as an old man which i am, still got my marbles though -hert consultants 2 a little bit better but not a lot no answers i thought (yer on yer own mate) i was very suspicious of nefidapine after looking it up on the net with the backing of my BPGauge i left it off it worked i was ok i did not need it BP lowered without this unnecessary prescribed anathema 6 months ago horror upon horror its come back, are but i am wiser now consultant had put me on adelat after taking my Blood Pressure after i had climed 4 flights of stairs it staggers belief leave off adelat BP returns downwards to normal dont laugh but my initials are BP good luck mate as i know your on your own give it a try some drugs are not for everyone

dear Heartston forgot to add Adalat and Nefidapine are the same i was not told this doctors nurses medical staff etc all try there best to help you but where to start the worry =sleep disturbance= BPspikes=etc=etc doctors and consultants are not Gods they are quite fallible-only human some are very good some shy away at the sight of blood at times one has to think it out and use the tools at our disposal-brain - BPgauge-computer because what ever has happened to you there is some one out there who knows been there and knows what you sir are going through.Beta blockers have an extremely bad affect on myself just thought i would mention this it may be useful.I am new to computing type with one finger so please forgive spelling mistakes i normally use google spell checker but this is the first place this excellent device is disabled !! once again good luck=

look to your medication=work on the internet needed eg side affects caused by whatever medicine your on ??

I've experienced sudden spikes in BP since March, usually occurring several hours after falling asleep. Although, lately the spikes occur anytime. My BP can go from 110 to 150 in minutes and last for about 35 to 45 minutes before coming down to 120. I take an anti-anxiety med when I feel the rush and it does help within ten minutes. I, too, have been to the ER with a BP over 200.

I have recently seen a hypertension specialist who thinks the spikes are caused by emotional distress. I'm currently taking an ACE Inhibitor and Adrenergic Blocker daily. The spikes don't seem as high but I'm experiencing side effects.

Check out on the internet Pseudopheochromacytoma and particularly a paper written by Dr. Samuel J. Mann. I found it very informative.

Good Luck!

I've been going back and forth to the doctor for the past seven months with spiking high blood pressure. I've had every blood and urine test known to man. I've had a pelvic ultrasound, a CAT scan, an MRI, a venous scan and a host of other exams prescribed by my primary care physician and two specialists (kidney and adrenal). All blood tests, all scan and all or exams have come back normal; they have ruled out pheochromocytoma (a tumor on the kidney adrenal gland). I'm at my wits end now because I'm taking four prescriptions and my blood pressure still rises up unexpectedly without warning. I can be drawing (one of most relaxing things to me), I can be writing (another very calming activity) or I can be just stand or sitting and my blood pressure will rise up. When it first happened, it went up to 220/114. Last night it rose to 196/114. I'm scared and I'm worried about me. I'm afraid I might have a stroke or heart attack while they're trying to figure it out.

I have also done the sleep studies and wear a cpap at night, but my blood pressure still ues up! My doctors are scratching their heads while I'm going crazy with fear and anxiety.