howjack

Hi,
I had a baby in November. My BP was normal throughout the entire pregnancy. In March, I went for a routine OB/GYN checkup, and my BP was 120/98. He told me to buy a BP machine and monitor it for a few days. If it was still high, to go to my PCP and talk to him.
Well, I ran right out and bought a BP machine. That night, it went as high as 160/115. I probably took it 100 times and it fluctuated a lot, never going lower than 140/90
The next day, I went to my PCP and he gave me Benicar 20mg. He told me to take it if I saw my diastolic go over 90.
I took it for 10 days. I also exercised everyday. I saw my BP drop at one point to 89/68. I called my Dr., and he told me to stop the meds.
When I went back to see him several days later (med-free), my reading was 125/86

My history.
I am very overweight. Before the high BP reading I had recently lost over 30 lbs.
Since then, I have lost another 15, and still have another 50 to go.
I jog/brisk walk at least 3 miles per day, and do weight training (not very heavy). My resting heart rate is good (about 68).
I saw a cardiologist had a stress test and echo, which were good.
Blood tests were good.
Renal and adrenal scans were good.


I find that if I don't exercise, even for one day, my BP shoots up to 125/90 or so. If I miss two days, it goes to 135/95.
As long as I exercise everyday, my BP is around 110/78

I am scared, because there are just some days that I can't exercise (if I work too late, etc.)

Should I go on meds?
I was hoping that continuing to work out and lose the weight would help me stay at a good level. However, if I miss one day, my BP rises and that freaks me out.

Also, I can't stay away from the BP machine.
Yesterday, my husband told me that he was going to hide it if I didn't get away from it immediately.

I am giving myself headaches and want to take it all the time just to check.
I even have the urge to bring it to work with me (though I haven't gone that far yet).