I'm having poblems with high blood pressure, any advice?

Ahmijoy, 140/80 used to be considered OK for an older person.

I am usually 120 over 70/ 80. I had a bulging disc with pain this time and my top level was 165.

You might want to consider purchasing a home BP machine, available at places like Walgreens, and some grocery stores. Then you can monitor your BP at home, keep a log, and take it to your doctor. It'll show what the readings are when you're in a more relaxed situation, and give a better picture of your BP history than a one or two time reading at a doctor's office.

Go to a specialist immediately. There can be many factors. You may have resistant hypertension. Or your high blood pressures may the result of another condition. It is not uncommon for someone to require 3 or 4 medications if they have resistant blood pressure. You need to see a specialist and have a complete evaluation.

My BP is 140/100. I’m in Lisinopril as well and my doctor says my bloop pressure is damaging my kidneys. She did suggest that I purchase a home BP monitor and take my BP daily. If your BP is consistently that high, you need to go to the ER.

Keep a log. Know that some bp meds can actually raise bp. Most people take three different ones.
Try to help yourself while you are searching.
Salt/sodium increases fluid retention and can cause higher BP.
If you need to lose weight, try for 10% of your current weight. If possible, walk 30 min everyday. Just do 5 min at a time if that’s all you can do at first but increase daily. Try meditation to reduce stress.
Almost everything affects our blood pressure. Standing up, sitting down. Lying down.
But losing weight, picking up the pace, avoiding processed foods and added salt can give you back a measure of control.
There are many bp meds.
If one doesn’t work keep working on it.
My mother developed CHF because she didn’t gain control of her high BP in her older days. Of course when she had to start taking Lasix and quit eating salt and started exercising the bp was perfect.
Try this. Take your bp.
Then Sit for a few minutes with your legs uncrossed,feet flat on the floor. Lower your shoulders. Rest your hands palm up on the top of your legs. Breath deeply to a count of five. Hold the breath for a count of five. Exhale to a count of five. Do this a few times and then take your BP again.
Try eating a plant based diet for a few days and see if that helps.
Remember that most doctors only give medication to lower bp. That’s what they do. Very necessary for many but don’t forget that what you do, eat, think, drink, smoke everyday affects your bp.
And if this is sudden or unexpected for you to have high bp it can go back down so check your bp often to make sure you aren’t over medicated.
Look up CHF and diabetes to motivate yourself to avoid it.
Good luck and let us know what works for you.
And not to be such a drag but if you don’t correct things that cause it and only take pills to keep it down you are not correcting the underlying problem that caused the BP in the first place.

220/80? something is not right. i've never seen such a high top # and a normal low #. i take cayenne which helps but 220 is like waiting for a stroke or heart attack to happen any minute.

HolidayEnd, you brought up an interesting point that I had forgotten about... pain.... and how it can raise one's blood pressure.

My sig other was having temp back pain and sure enough his BB rose. Also if he walked up a flight of stairs and took his BB, it also would be showing high.

There are patient that when at the doctor's office their blood pressure will go up... it's called the "white coat syndrome".

The 220? Are you horrifically stressed? Or do you have chronic pain? Are you only getting it checked at the doc’s?

All of these things can cause the top number to be high. 80 is the normal number for the bottom.

Is your doctor aware of this? He should be.

Same question basically: what kind of doctor prescribed these? A PCP? If so, as FF recommends, see a specialist, such as a cardiologist.

Also, what kind of diet do you eat? Do you consume spices, sauces, condiments? I cut out mustard, ketchup, Worchestershire sauce and anything like and my BP lowered w/o medical intervention.

Gerdam, are you seeing a Cardiologist? There are many different medicines for blood pressure, and Cardiologist run a variety of tests.

I had side effects from the pills I am currently taking so the doctor tried different dosages until she we found a dosage that was a good balance. It use to make me soooo tired.