im 24, skinny, and dont smoke. Im really very healthy. but my blood pressure has been high lately, so I had to stop taking the birth control pill. A week later, I went into the doctor and my bp was 170/118 !!!!!! The put me on Cardizem (calcium channel blocker), and ordered all these sorts of tests, like an EKG, renal sonagram, and echo cardiogram, along with various blood/urine tests. I havent gotten any of the results yet, and havent scheduled the sonagram or echo yet because of the holiday. But i DID start the Cardizem. WOW, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my head! even after the first pill! And my mom took my bp at home (shes a physician assistant) and it was already lowered to 140/98 after the one pill.

But anyway, I'm pretty scared. Why would someone like me have hypertension? im not overly stressed. I dont eat too much salt. I eat well and exercise.. my dad has hypertension, so all they could think of was heredity. they explained that it could just be unexplainable, they called it "essential hypertension". but im just really concerned, because why on earth would someone like me have such high bp? Im having all these tests and i fear that they'll find something wrong :( with say, my kidneys or something. Not that I really have any reason to believe I have something wrong with them. ugh. Anyone else like this here? :confused:

Hi,

I'm 23 male and I have High BP since I was 16 and maybe before than that. Anyway, I think that you are fine and all your blood tests will be good. I say that because I'm in a similar situation, my father has High Blood Pressure and also 2 of my sisters so it's genetics :(.

I'm also on Cardizim SR 90 twice daily, tell me something do you expereince any side effects from that medication?
Thanks,
Michael

I agree. I'm sure your blood tests will be fine. Unfortunately HBP does have heredity tendencies. Both of my parents have it. So I constantly have to watch mine now since I've noticed my issues with it this year. Sigh.

One thing, though. I'm surprised they put you on medication so quick. Usually they have you monitor your BP for a couple weeks before concluding that you may need medication. But I'm glad you're feeling better.

thanks for the responses.. yep my blood tests turned out OK. my EKG was normal, except that one of the waves (cant remember if it was the P or Q) was just a little higher of a spike. my mom said that could mean the upper left part of the heart might be enlarged a bit. She didnt seem too concerned though, because I will get an echo done.

Well, ever since I was in high school my BP has been a little high, that doctors would raise their eyebrows, and wrote it off as white coat syndrome. But even when I check it at the drug store, its still high...


do you expereince any side effects from that medication?


Ive only been on it 3 days, but the first day was such a shock, I felt like my head was so light it was going to roll off my shoulders. but i didnt feel faint. Yesterday I had a headache. Today I just feel sort of exanimate, and pretty tired. And a lot calmer than usual. But I feel a lot better than the first 2 days. Im on the 120mg, I thought that was the lowest dose.

Maybe you need to have a thorough physical to rule out secondary causes of your hbp? Maybe you also should meet with a specialist to figure out various strategies
besides medication to bring it down? You're right that you need to deal with it somehow, but don't be too quick to fall back on the medicine.