How long can you live with high blood pressure?

Her bp doesnt sound bad to me. The 180 is but 140-160 on top is okay. I've heard that people wont necessarily die from it, they could have a stroke which leads them into a horrible long bedbound life, which is awful so keep giving that medication. If she goes on an antidepressant or xanax type medications it might lower it also because those reduce stress and stress is what raises it up and down also. Love her while you have her, thats all you can do, I am housebound myself with my Mom and know what its like. Good luck.

High blood pressure also affects your kidneys.

That's true about the kidneys. My aunt had high blood pressure, that the Dr. couldn't control. It was the same as your Mom's, Cycloops. Very high, and the Dr. would put her on some new med, then it went too low and she was dizzy and very fatigued. He put her on diuretics. She went into kidney failure. Slowly....but it happened. Then he took her off of everything. Her blood pressure went sky high. He put a cautionary limit on it: 250/100!!! Completely incompetent man. My aunt suffered a stroke. It put her into a comatose-like existence. Very sad. I hope this post will help someone else facing this type of dilemna. Point being, don't be overly trusting in what the Dr. advises. By the time the family was aware of what was happening, and got another Dr., it was too late. We all have to have knowlege and ask questions, and get second opinions, because there are completely incompetent Docs out there who just don't care enough about an old patient!!! :(((

Oh you'll live, but eventually suffer. You are prone to strokes and/or heart attacks so take your medicine! Who wants to live blind, paralyzed, or on oxygen in a bed, when 1 simple little pill prevents that? My grandfather died at 62 of HBP as there were no meds back then like there is now. I have been on them 30 years, they save you in more ways than one. Maybe this question is a hoax, not sure.

No-one has mentioned stress causing high blood pressure. I don't use salt, eat out or eat junk and cook from scratch. I went to the doc at the beginning of September to see about getting my carpal tunnel hands fixed. My BP was 160 and I was to go back for a recheck.

At the time Mommie Dearest had driven me to the edge of a nervous breakdown, always on edge, fearful, stomach churning, jumping out of my skin when the phone rang ... many of you know how that goes.

Mommie Dearest passed September 12 and I decided to give myself the winter months to recover myself. I'm feeling much better by now and will go for a recheck shortly.

Corporate greed is the main cause of high B/P. i will just leave it at that.

Sendme, everyone has spikes in BP after exertion, pain, and emotions. I don't even think 140/90 is all that high, usually they don't get concerned until it hits 150 or so, especially if you are older?? Do you have a machine to monitor your BP at home? It is the overall daily average that matters, even on meds there are times during the day when BP spikes.

Fluctuating blood pressure is not that abnormal. Take it early in the morning and it will be lower than in the afternoon.Also as bp goes uncontrolled it more easily fluctuates from the wear on the veins. Also a large dose of salt from salty foods, nitrates or processed foods can make it go up. Standing vs sitting, white coat syndrom, stress, poor diet can affect one reading to the next. High BP is the largest killer risk factor for death in the world. It's called a silent killer because most people don't know it's high. It's a risk factor. Not the direct cause of death. So regardless of how long a person lives with high bp, they could live longer without it. To lower bp, cut out salt and increase green veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds, exercise and lose weight.

My mom was 86 and had terrible blood pressure for as long as I can remember. She was on 4 BP meds. My 85 year old dad also has it, as well as my brother (61) and my sister died of congenital heart disease at 6 years old so heart issues run rampant in my family. I have been cutting back more on salt, cooking myself and exercising which I've always done. It's the diet piece I have to improve.

I agree stress is a big factor and I can definitely get that white coat syndrome thing going. I don't know why I get so nervous. A year ago I started taking my own BP everyday, twice a day and log my numbers. I take it when I go in for my check-ups. It was a lot better when I went in last time and my doc said keep at it but you must take more time to relax despite what your parents need. You better start looking out for yourself more given the history. I think it was better, in part, b/c I was in the habit of taking it myself (using the cuff just like they do) and I was able to relax more. Maybe some Pavlov's dog action going on, but it worked.

Hi, are you on meds for your elevated BP?