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Urgent High Blood Pressure question


ktgrok
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DH has been feeling off lately. He just took his blood pressure at one of those automated machines at the campus where he teaches a night class and it was 172/118. 

He is going to retake it after the class. 

At what point do I send him to the ER? The internet is telling me that 180/120 is crisis zone - go get checked immediately. 

He has a history of pre-hypertension, and is out of shape and has gained weight, possibly has sleep apnea, and his father died of a heart attack (precipitated by cocaine use and shoveling snow) in his 30's. 

He has recently had vertigo - but the Epley maneuver seemed to fix 90 percent of it. 

He is always stressed, and never exercises, and was up very late last night writing a paper for his Masters. 

Edited by Ktgrok
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Go to urgent care. Those machines on campus can’t measure mine correctly. No movement, talking or thick clothing while taking a reading. Can’t cross the legs either. The smallest cuff at the doctor’s office doesn’t get it accurate either but much more consistent. I would buy a blood pressure monitor to use at home and measure at around the same time daily. That’s what my brother’s wife did and her blood pressure was 156 for the systolic number. 

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So, he is currently teaching a class. And not leaving it. But will check again after leaving class later tonight. 

Anyone know how long Sudafed can effect blood pressure? He took some this morning, but it was the 4 hour kind so should have worn off early afternoon, and he took his blood pressure after 6pm. 

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Just now, happysmileylady said:

If it were me and my DH, I would be inclined to pick my DH up from class and take him right to the ER.  

He is 45 minutes away, and I'm home with all the kids, and he'd still probably not go. 

I am reading some doctors (via radio show transcripts) saying that if there are no actual symptoms to relax and try taking it again, and see regular doctor because the ER isn't going to do much. 

But everything else says to go to ER with 180/120 or higher. He's JUST below that. Ugh. 

 

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5 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

He is 45 minutes away, and I'm home with all the kids, and he'd still probably not go. 

I am reading some doctors (via radio show transcripts) saying that if there are no actual symptoms to relax and try taking it again, and see regular doctor because the ER isn't going to do much. 

But everything else says to go to ER with 180/120 or higher. He's JUST below that. Ugh. 

 

 

It sounds as if he did/does have some symptoms--feeling off and, presumably because he was concerned at some level, taking his blood pressure.

I have a husband who often won't listen to me about things like this...but I would be begging him to get checked out so I could feel ok.  

His apnea is untreated? Did he try treatment? 

Edited by sbgrace
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2 minutes ago, sbgrace said:

 

It sounds as if he did/does have some symptoms--feeling off and, presumably because he was concerned at some level, taking his blood pressure.

I have a husband who often won't listen to me about things like this...but I would be begging him to get checked out so I could feel ok.  

His apnea is untreated? Did he try treatment? 

We don't KNOW he has apnea, as he hasn't had a sleep test. 

He does snore, more than he used to, and does a weird breathing thing that when I mimicked it for my son's ENT the doctor said it wasn't apnea, so who knows. he needs a freaking sleep study. (he does this thing where he can breathe IN just fine, but then when he goes to breathe OUT he struggles...it won't come out his nose so it has to come out of his mouth, except he sleeps with his mouth closed so it puffs out...hard to explain. But between that and the snoring, who knows what else is going on and he doesn't wake feeling rested - although that's been better since I got him a light blocking sleep mask and a weighted blanket for Christmas)

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He says he felt fine, just saw the machine and thought well, he hadn't taken it in a while, why not. 

I've told him that if he has ANY weird symptoms, shortness of breath, etc he is to leave class and go to the ER or call 911. 

And if it is still that high after class I will figure out a way to get him to the ER. 

His family history is concerning, and lately he looks like a man who might have a heart attack. 

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and he's not responding to my messages...probably because he's in the middle of a lecture...but still freaking me out. 

And I realized I wouldn't have any clue where on campus he is even if I drove there. I don't know what building he teaches in even. 

Edited by Ktgrok
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1 minute ago, kand said:

Would he be willing to go to urgent care instead of ER? Or can he call whoever is on call for the Doctor Who prescribes his blood pressure medication? My blood pressure medication is a beta blocker, and I can take an extra at my discretion if my bp is running too high. I have had mine go that high before as well on occasion. 
 

As an aside, the sleep blowing out through the mouth thing you described sounds like something my dh does sometimes as well. Makes it very hard for me to sleep!

I think all the urgent care places will be closed by the time he finishes teaching, but i will go look to see. 

He isn't on blood pressure medication - last it was checked he was prehypertensive but didn't need medication. 

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1 minute ago, Arctic Mama said:

The likelihood of him keeling over is fairly low, if it makes you feel better.  But it DOES need to be addressed and checked out because more time with high pressure is more strain on his heart and arteries, if it’s really running consistently high or spiking irregularly. Just pray for him in the meantime and try to stay calm, but don’t let him put you off, either 🙂  Big hugs!

It does help, thank you. I just keep thinking of his father - but DH is teaching a class, not shoveling snow, and doesn't do drugs. 

 

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Found an urgent care (owned by the hospital system) that is less than 5 minutes from where he is, and is open until midnight! Going to push him to go there and get checked out ASAP, if only to get a true blood pressure reading. And because they are affiliated with the hospital if need be they can transfer him. 

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8 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Here if he went to the ER with only symptom being the high reading, he would have a very long wait.  Especially right now with flu season. Go to urgent care instead if he will.  If he won’t/doesn’t go tonight, would he go in the morning? 

Maybe. 

He is SUPPOSED to go on a 3 mile hike with DD and her cub scout den tomorrow morning. 

Suddenly that doesn't seem like good idea - to send a man with sky high blood pressure out into the woods. 

But neither does having him stay home with the other kids so I can take her. DS 20 is supposed to volunteer at the bird of prey center in the morning, but he is on alert to either stay home with DH and the kids or take DD hiking or something, and I also emailed the den leader to ask if DD can make up the hike later just with the family or if it has to be with the den. 

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Almost all Sudafed products contain Pseudoephedrine ( the name sudafed is wordplay of pseudo ephed...)  It's a sympathomimetic that will absolutely drive up blood pressure.  The box likely has a warning in the small print stating that people with high blood pressure should not take this product - at least in Canada they do..

Edited by wathe
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My guess is that if you go to the ED, they will tell you this and just wait for the sudafed to wear off.  Because by the time you get there and they get you sorted out, the sudafed will soon have worn off and the BP will be lower.   And whatever med they might treat with could out-last the sudofed, then BP goes too low.....

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1 minute ago, wathe said:

Almost all Sudafed products contain Pseudoephedrine ( the name sudafed is wordplay of pseudo ephed...)  It's a sympathomimetic that will absolutely drive up blood pressure.  The box likely has a warning in the small print stating that people with high blood pressure should not take this product - at least in Canada they do..

It does, but I googled and studies show it only raises it by about 1 mm, so not much. Not enough to explain this. He also had Panda Express for lunch yesterday and Wendy's today.

And I was packing lunches but haven't lately. Which realistically I know that he is just as capable of making himself a lunch as I am, so not going to beat myself up, but ready to start googling mediterranean diet stuff. 

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4 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

Yes it’s not a great choice.  Now usually that action should wear off within 4-6 hours, but in general if he’s hypertensive another medicine is a better choice.

Yeah, we didn't know he was hypertensive. He's had prehypertension numbers, but also sometimes normal numbers. 

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Ok, he's at the urgent care! He's waiting to be seen, as they have a dude there having a heart attack - fire department is there now to take that guy by ambulance. So I guess if DH had tried to go to the fire department to get it checked they wouldn't have been there, lol. 

He retook it twice more at the school, and even after relaxing it was 167/121. At that point even the machine told him to head to the ER. 

I would prefer he go to the actual ER, but urgent care was the compromise he was willing to make. A friend who works with the hospitals told me where to go and not to go if he goes to the actual hospital. She is holding space for him, waiting for updates. Her best friend died of a stroke in her 30s a few years ago, so she is very aware of the dangers. 

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He's still waiting. But they said they will do a free blood pressure check. If it is high they suggested he go to the actual ER, not stay there. Which he now agrees with, thankfully. So still waiting for them to check it, but he's pleased they will do it for free so he doesn't get charged there AND an ER if need be. 

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So, they did send him to the ER. Blood pressure came down the last time they took it, but not enough. He had a choice of hospitals and goof ball was going to go to the one that he hates. He forgot that it was the one his mom died at, he has terrible memories of that place - but I guess he blocked that out. Instead he's going to the one that has the heart care center, that my friend who works at the various hospitals recommended. It's where I had my bariatric surgery, which he was happy with the care I got, and where I got checked out after a car accident while pregnant, and again it went well so he has decent memories associated with that one. 

I figure a guy with blood pressure that high doesn't need to go somewhere that on a good day spikes his blood pressure and makes him angry. 

I have a bag packed for him with a change of clothes, pajama pants and a t-shirt, deodorant, toothbrush, etc but he doesn't want me to come at this point. He said he doesn't want me to "make it a thing" yet. But DS 20 is more than willing to watch the kids if I go up, or he could go and take DH his bag. DH doesn't want me to leave the 2 yr old (she has nightmares and wakes at night looking for me) if I don't have to. We'll see. 

I have leggings and a big t-shirt on so can just throw on a bra and leave if need be. I'm just glad he's taking this seriously. (he still was thinking he'd go on the hike tomorrow!)

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9 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

In truth, he may not need any of that. Now that he is in an appropriate place to get an accurate assessment of cardiac issues, it's still possible that they might assess him, and determine that he's fine and just needs to follow up with his regular doc.  Or they might assess, and refer him to a cardiologist, but send him home.  Thing is, once the BP is back down to a reasonable level, be that medicated or just after time, his situation becomes less urgent, and they could very well just send him home.  BUT....because cardiac issues can get really bad really fast, being in a place that can handle emergency cardiac issues to be monitored while waiting, that can make sure that the fastest treatment available is there if something goes sideways.  

Yes, I'm hoping he will 1. have a real human check his blood pressure - not a machine, but that may something that has gone by the wayside with rotary phones, it seems. 2. that they can get it down with medication and then have him follow up with a regular doctor. But even then, he may be there a long time. So it's ready in case. 

I did at least get him to loosen his belt or take it off, so that he isn't in constricting clothing - both for comfort and for blood flow. 

8 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

He should have a bag just in case though, just because the monitoring may take 6-12 hours at least.  A phone charger and headphones wouldn’t hurt.  Mine always seemed to die toward the end of monitoring 😉

He's in IT, so he doesn't go anywhere without chargers, battery backups, his earbuds, at least one laptop and charger, etc. So he's good that way at least. 

But - he didn't get a chance to get dinner between his regular job and teaching, so he's probably starving. Which is not good comfort wise, but at least if they draw lab work he will basically be fasted for it, and God forbid he needs a procedure done he's good for anesthesia I guess. 

Which reminds me to stick a few protein bars in the bag I packed. 

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So it was 183/119 when he got there. Most recent was 150/109. He's like, "see, it's better" and I said, "well, it sure wasn't going to get much worse!"

They have him in a hospital gown - he sent me a selfie. He's in pretty good spirits considering he skipped dinner and hates doctors. He even bragged that he was reasonably nice to the doctors and nurses. He seems to get that this is important. I guess the doctor at the urgent care gave him a pretty stern lecture about how dangerous his pressure was and how serious this is. 

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So he found a protein bar in his bag, and ate that, so that probably is part of the decent mood. 

He says he got his third VERY SERIOUS lecture by a doctor about how once he goes home he will need to follow up with a primary care doctor, etc etc. He told the doctor don't worry, I know that if I don't go the blood pressure won't have to kill me, my wife will 🙂

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Hoping all will be well.   

I hope that your dd can put off her hike to when husband situation is more clear or that 20 yo can go with her.  

It may be a huge blessing that your husband happened to take his bp, rather than running into cardio difficulties or heart attack while on a scout hike.  

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1 hour ago, Arctic Mama said:

I was b*tchy and had them get out the manual cuff from whatever storage closet it was banished to and verify their machine’s readings several times, when different cuffs were giving us different answers.  It’s absolutely fair to ask and the nurses won’t refuse, even if they aren’t big fans.

I am like this too and aldo have to have it on my lower arm, not upper arm.  

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17 minutes ago, Pen said:

Hoping all will be well.   

I hope that your dd can put off her hike to when husband situation is more clear or that 20 yo can go with her.  

It may be a huge blessing that your husband happened to take his bp, rather than running into cardio difficulties or heart attack while on a scout hike.  

Oh, I know!

Or, he'd been talking about wanting to try cross fit! I can't imagine if he'd gone and done such an intense workout with pressure that high!

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Pressure is "down" to 160/104 while just laying around for so long. They did a head CT and now are doing an EKG, and took bloodwork for organ function. 

I told him they are giving him the full treatment, and he said he has yet to get a pedicure. Smart aleck. 

Edited by Ktgrok
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1 minute ago, Ktgrok said:

Pressure is "down" to 160/104 while just laying around for so long. They did a head CT and now are doing an EKG, and took bloodwork for organ function. 

I told him they are giving him the full treatment, and he said he has yet to get a pedicure. Smart aleck. 

 

Sounds like progress.

glad he’s feeling well enough to wisecrack!

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