In the er

[kasiejuhnay]

My blood pressure was high at work...my cheek felt numb and tingly...my heart rate was high. My boss drove me to the hospital...and now here I wait. So scared I'm going to have a stroke.

[temperancebrennan]

That's how I feel too. It's good that your boss took you to the hospital though. At least they care. I hope you'll be okay.

[SunnieDebris]

Kasie,

I'm glad your boss took you to the ER. How are you feeling now? Were they able to diagnose you?

Sunnie

[trinidiva]

Wow..that was good of him to take you....they should take you right in if they suspect at all that you are having a stroke or heart related event. I was just in the ER a few days ago with something similar, and they got me right in. They did an EKG, some bloodwork, took my BP, pulse, temp, etc....no heart attack or stroke....I had just pulled a muscle in my chest that was causing pain.
Do keep us posted, and hope you feel better soon.

[kasiejuhnay]

Blood pressure started at 160/100. Anxiety attack. Now it's down to 138/80 but my pulse is still high. What does everyone's pulse run? They haven't said what it could be yet. Possibly the new birth control and having my hormones out if whack.

[trinidiva]

Could be the birth control elevating your BP. I cannot take Birth control because I have high BP and take meds for that.

[Tritter]

Systolic (top number) should be anywhere from 100-150 and Diastolic (bottom number) should be anywhere from 60-90, but everyone's normal is different. Ideally, the best blood pressure to have is 120/80. I've gone to the er with anxiety/panic attacks before and I always tell them up front that I have anxiety issues. This sometimes helps but then I also worry that if anything were to really be happening to my body they would over-look it.

[kasiejuhnay]

They told me to call my gyno tomorrow and see if i should stop the birth control. I went and bought a blood pressure monitor on my way home and just checked it...it's once again elevated. They told me that temporarily it's ok...but in the long term it needs to go down. It has probably been this way for weeks and I'm just now realizing it...but because of it I'm afraid to go to sleep tonight.

[heyikr1]

I had a bad panic one time due to palpitations ....when i got to the er my bp was 182/ 95...pulse was around 150. They admitted me...ran a bunch a test and finally concluded that it was Anxiety / panic attack. Word of adice throw away the bp monitor or at least limit taking it to once a day...you'll make your anxiety worse which will drive up your bp and pulse.

[kasiejuhnay]

They told me to monitor it 3 times a day. That's why I bought one. I think I'm just going to lay down and try to pretend this didnt happen. I will call the doctor in the morning and go from there.

[SunnieDebris]

Birth control can cause your blood pressure to spike. You probably will not be able to take oral contraceptives anymore, and your blood pressure might still need medicinal intervention to bring it back down. That's what happened to me.

[kasiejuhnay]

The pill I was on before this one was a mini pill and my blood pressure was a low normal. I was still anxious but felt better then than now. I'm so nervous I'm afraid to sleep.

[SunnieDebris]

Hypertension can be very serious, but they would have kept you in the ER if your pressure did not come into normal range. The best thing you can do is sleep. The more awake and anxious you are, the more it's going to send and keep your pressure up.

[trinidiva]

Birth control can cause your blood pressure to spike. You probably will not be able to take oral contraceptives anymore, and your blood pressure might still need medicinal intervention to bring it back down. That's what happened to me.

That's exactly what happened to me. I cannot take any birth control meds, and now I am a very low dosage of blood pressure meds that I take once a day. I've also cut back on my salt intake. I've been on it for a few years now. I agree with not getting too obsessed with monitoring your BP, though. At its highest, my BP was 186/110, which REALLy is not good. They made me stay in the hospital until it dropped some. Your BP is a bit elevated, but its definitely not in stroke range. Don't worry.....you will be fine.

[dazza]

If it's NOT the birth pill then look at your weight.

Being overweight... not necessarily hugely, is one of major causes of elevated b/p.

(Build up of fat tends to put some pressure on your arteries, which obviously elevates b/p... plus your ticker has to work harder to move the weight around)