My mom has a high blood pressure.Her B.P often fluctuates and it leads to weakness.Normally she has her B.P at around 145/90.But when it starts fluctuating it goes upto 180/110 and back to around 140/90.Please suggest me a way to control her fluctuation.

From what I understand, most people's bp fluctuates throughout the day depending on the time of day, activity level, emotional condition. Does hers spike at the same time everyday? Does it rise when she's under emotional or physical stress? These are some of the things I'd try to figure out first.

If it's a regular rise at a certain time of the time, sometimes an adjusment in the time meds are taken will do the trick. For example, cutting the dose in half and taking it 2/day instead of once/day dosing.

Has she discussed her fluctuations with her doctor?

Good luck. I hope she finds a resolution to her problem.

I have also had this occur. It has happened at various times of day and not daily. Mine will go up so fast and gets up to 177/90 to 190/101 etc. I have caught it at the 150/90 and 161/90 and took the medicine that my doctor told me to take if it gets 150/90 or above.(Clonidine 0.1mg) The only thing is that it makes me feel terrible, it does bring the bp down but it takes me two days to start to feel better. I have only been on medicine for 4 weeks since I was just recently diagnosed and the doctors told me this is not unusual until my bp gets adjusted which takes 6 weeks or more. I start to feel a little normal until the bp spikes upward then I feel I took a few steps backwards. I had the spike happen yesterday at 8:30 am ( I take my bp meds at 6:00am) took he clonidine and had to leave work because of how it makes me feel. I just hope I get normal soon.

When I was having sudden spikes like that during my hard-to-control blood pressure days, I asked the cardiologist about it. He was quite laid back about the whole thing and told me not to worry as long as it returned to normal. Clonidine is a short-acting bp med which I suppose could be used for sudden spikes, but my question is are you going to constantly be taking your BP all day long? I'm sure we all have spikes we are totally unaware of. My question would be is it really necessary to pop a clonidine when you know you're experiencing a spike in bp? Then at other spikes you're unaware of, not be taking something? Just thinking aloud! Best thing is to do what your doctor suggests.

I hope everything works out for you.

Hi London,

Be careful with clonidine. I took it as a regular b/p med. It can easily get you into a withdrawal mode. I'm with you on how terrible it makes you feel. Don't do anything that requires mental ability in the first two hrs after taking it . I once couldn't find my Dr's office after taking it & I live in a small town & had been there many times!!! That was the last time I drove until after I got off Clonidine which took two tries & two months!!!

I think Labetalol would be a safer drug for you to take during short spikes. You would still have to be cautious though. Fam

I will check with my doctor on my check up. I hate the side effects and thank goodness I only take it when my bp spikes. I could not stand to be on it if I had to be on it full time. I have to leave work when my bp spikes and I have to take it. I still would like to know what causes it to spike for no reason. I will just be going into my 5th week of bp meds starting Monday. The first medicine I took (exforge) for the first two weeks was terrible, I had severe side effects from it. I am on Avapro now with Metaprolol. I am only to take the other med with my bp gets 150 and above because my bp shoots up to over 190 within minutes and the doctor said it is dangerous for it to be that high.

london lynn,

I agree with edelweiss. Many of us eperience bp spikes we are not even aware of. Stressing over when the next one might occur will not help. Many blood pressure spikes go completely unnoticed, because in most people there are no symptoms of elevated blood pressure. A few of us get symptomatic with a sudden substantial rise in blood pressure.
Sudden bp spikes often point to hormonal causes, (adrenals & thyroid) if you have secondary hypertension. Besides prescribing the meds to control hypertension, your doctor should actively look for its cause. Has there been proper diagnostic testing? If you suffer frequent considerable fluctuations in blood pressure, their cause should be thoroughly investigated. In some cases the causative factors/conditions can be treated, resulting in a normalized blood pressure.

flowergirl

When I get a bp spike I can tell it is rising with the effects it gives me, when it starts I take my bp and sure enough it has usually gone way up to over the 150/90. One time I took it and it was 177 and continued to rise. I was getting really stressed when it first started to happen so as I stressed it continued to rise. The doctor told me to take 1/2 zanax twice a day to help with that. I have been doing it and it has helped but the zanax makes me so tired it is hard to get through a day of work. I am only 5 ft and weigh 120 so I am small. My body has a hard time dealing with meds of any sort. I have been on thyroid since I was 40, I am now 56. All of my test came back good that they ran when I started with the pb over a month ago. They did a 24 hour urine collection and it did not show any problems with kidney, liver etc. My thyroid test was still good but I am due for another thyroid test this week. I am also on a hormone patch, was on pills but it was not working when I started taking the bp pills so my gyno dr. has me on the patch. It is safer and by passes the liver. The drs at the hospital and my regular dr. said the spikes are no unusual because my bp is not yet under control with the medicine and may have to be adjusted accordingly as I go. I just have to keep from getting stressed over it which is very hard to do when it jumps up so high so sudden. I have been at work on my computer or here at home just watching tv when it has happened. My brother went through 3 changes of pills before they found one that worked for him. My sister and other brother were lucky, the first pill they took has worked for them and no problems at all or spikes in bp. Some people are just lucky their body adjust so well to the medicine.

london,

I wonder if the hormone patch could be affecting your blood pressure and somehow contribute to your spikes. It's worth looking into. Have you checked the listed (and UNLISTED) side-effects of your hormone therapy?
I hope it is helping you. Some people don't seem to tolerate hormone treatments of any kind. What a relief to hear you've had all the necessary tests done. I am glad they call came back fine. Looks like you are on the right track!

Best of luck, :)
flowergirl

I was having severe hot flashes when when I started with the first bp meds. The gyno said that the hormone pills was not doing it job because so much of the meds go through the liver then the pb meds were wiping out what was left so we went with the patch. I was having the spikes all along. My dr. changed my bp meds so with that along with the patch the hot flashes are gone. The spikes stayed however. Today, my dr. increased my avapro from 150 to 300. My spikes were happing a couple of times a week and at all different times, not set time or day. I take my meds early morning and had a spike 2 1/2 hours after taking them. Hope the increase helps me. I need to get better and get back to my old self.