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[Taz2]

I visited the GP this week to renew my HRT prescription and found that my BP has gone up so now there is no HRT until it has been sorted. My doc was lovely about it. I had talked to her about other things that weren't quite right so she could gauge that I was feeling a bit fed up about everything. She said "I'm really sorry - you're not going to like this but I can't give you any more HRT until we see what's going on with your BP". I know she had no choice but it's still made me feel a bit panicky at the thought of all of the flushes coming back.

I'm going to use the surgery monitor for three days from the end of April and she's booked blood tests as I'm suffering from painful aching thighs (front and back) shoulders and arms - difficult to get clothes on and off, do bra up etc. She's looking for evidence of PMR although one of the symptoms is weight loss and I've put it on since Christmas. I lost 8lbs in December for no apparent reason and felt horrible but then it's gone back on and a bit more. I think it's because I'm not moving around much apart from at work due to the aches and pains and a depression. All in all not a good week.

I bought a new BP machine. It's the same one as they use at the surgery called Omron. I'd been using a wrist one which showed lovely readings of 120/78 so the docs reading of 150/92 was a bit of a shock. The  new one is much more accurate of course and showed 131/77 this afternoon. I've taken three readings over ten minutes and the average comes out at 139/80 which was enough to put the little amber light on. Sigh.

So it's sticking to the guidelines for alcohol (seven small glasses of wine a week maximum), less tea, no salt and do more exercise and don't ever rely on a wrist monitor - she says they should be banned as people do rely on the readings which are usually inaccurate.  OH goes swimming before work and thinks that would be good for me but I really don't fancy that at 6.30 in the morning. Must do more walking. Grumble grumble grumble 

Taz x 

[Taz2]

Lol - I know what you mean about the cracking noise! The one I've got was on special offer on Amazon and only cost £30. My surgery calibrate them for you too every couple of years. I prefer not to have medication if I can help it but need to get motivated. I did replace my glass of wine in the pub the other night with bottled water. The whole pub fell silent    I only have one a night but sometimes at weekends I have two which puts it over the limit. Both my  mum and dad had low blood pressure and I just assumed I would stay the same. Up until 60 it was always around the 110/70 mark even when on HRT and then it started to rise after my hysterectomy. I know there's no connection but it does seem a little strange. I suppose it could be down to the fact that I still haven't quite got back to the amount of walking I used to do as it is still uncomfy at times and I've put on weight a bit post hysterectomy. I could always walk to the pub..... 

PMR is http://patient.info/health/polymyalgia-rheumatica-leaflet.  A couple of friends have had it over the past year or so. Treatment is steroids for at least a year so it's not something I really want but it would give me a reason for feeling like my mum did when she hit 80! I really do feel a bit too young to already be asking for help to get my jumper off. 

Taz x

[Cazikins]

 

Oh Taz, sorry you are having to come off HRT - let's hope it will only be for a short time till your BP comes down.

It maybe just a blip & once you have the BP monitor on for three days it will give a better "average" reading, it could well settle & you will be able to go back on HRT.

I bet your local is well worried about their takings going down. 

I really, really hope things turn out for the best & you get your HRT - I remember how difficult it was to get back on it a few years ago.

Let us know how you get on.

Love Cazi xx

[Joyce]

Sorry this has happened Taz. I was told if my BP started misbehaving I'd have to come HRT again, probably for good.    My BP used to be low, even after hysterectomy. Literally went up overnight after ovaries came out 10 years later.  It was checked weekly for a few weeks & I was put on Ramipril, which I'm still on.

A couple of years or so ago I had to check my BP 3 times a day for 3 weeks, averaged at 130/80 which they were more than happy with. Had to be doing different activities so they'd get an accurate idea of my BP. Activities of your choosing.  Try not to over check though, as the more you worry about it going up, the more it probably will.

Exercise does help though. It's helped with my BP & cholesterol.

[Taz2]

Thanks ladies. I'm going to check it later. Reading the instructions it's a bit of a minefield to find the right time though. Not within thirty minutes of eating or drinking tea, alcohol or coffee, not within thirty minutes of a shower or bath, not within thirty minutes of exercising...

I'm glad you got yours under control CG. I see that mine is in the pre-hypertension range which does mean if I'm good and start exercising more etc. then it's still recoverable but if I leave it then it will progress to proper high blood pressure. Pre-hypertension doesn't put you more at risk of stroke but does increase risk of heart attack apparently. It's interesting that yours went up after your ovaries were removed. I remember the consultant saying that although I was keeping my ovaries most will fail after a hysterectomy within five years so that even if post meno you will lose the teeny amount of oestrogen you're still receiving. I think this is why the 50 patch is no longer as effective as it used to be. It was my request back in October to go up to 75 which led to the blood pressure taking. It was raised back then but, naughty me, I didn't go back to see doc as requested and have been using up my old stash of 50 patches. She was concerned when I told her but also pleased that I hadn't filled the 75 prescription.

I had the heart monitor thingy a few years ago and that was to be used during all sorts of activities!    Not sure how you can take your blood pressure while "doing" activities or do you do the "activity" and then take it straight away? 

Taz x

[Ju Ju]

Mmm! Depends what activity you are doing.......! 

Sorry you are struggling with all this, but it's good your doctor is on your case. I shall have to buy a new BP monitor for DH as his original one broke and he has been using a wrist one that was given to him. He does not fit into normal profile for someone with higher BP, slim, doesn't drink a lot, eats healthily and exercises. Sometimes it just is. He did fend off taking statins for a few years, but couldn't keep up the level of activity up as he got older. But he doesn't have to cope with meno symptoms.

You grumble away on here as much as you need. Let's hope you can restart HRT, once it's sorted.

[Taz2]

Hi Ju Ju - I used my wrist one straight after the arm one just now. The arm one showed 127/84 and the wrist one (after a five minute sitting still with feet flat on floor and back supported - lol) was 110/70. The one I've got was recommended by doc and is the Omron M3 Intellisense. It stores info for two users - up to 60 readings each I think - and gives you an average of the three readings. I think it was about £30 on Amazon last week. You need to get it calibrated every two years by your docs surgery or I think Boots do it. I had been relying on the wrist one and convincing myself that it was raised at the docs due to white coat syndrome but it was just that the wrist one gave an inaccurate measurement.

Mine this morning read 138/86 Amber lights for both :-(  two minutes later it was 134/84 (no lights yay) and the final was was 127/84. The lower number is higher today than yesterday but heart rate was slower. It's interesting how we don't even think of what our body's doing while we are getting on with living! Better average than yesterday though! My doc did say that there is no thoughts that the average is not so important - it's the swings in blood pressure which do the damage. Seems to be some research going on at the minute on that.

My friend is the same as your husband Ju Ju - she doesn't drink much at all, is a mountaineer in her spare time, weighs under 7 stone but her blood pressure is really high.

Taz x

Taz x

[Joyce]

I had the heart monitor thingy a few years ago and that was to be used during all sorts of activities!    Not sure how you can take your blood pressure while "doing" activities or do you do the "activity" and then take it straight away? 

Taz x

  I had to state exactly what I'd been doing prior to reading, so no way was I 

[Taz2]

 

[Ju Ju]

Not just my naughty mind!

Thanks Taz. I've made a note of the BP thingy. Make a nice birthday prezzie for the old man. Well he's older than me by.......10 months! His readings at the surgery have been fine. We assume in his case it is genetic, but impossible to check.
 
There are more factors than high BP that cause strokes if my Mum is anything to go by. She used to have ideal BP readings, but collapsed at a funeral, the 4th in 2 weeks. It was later found to be a stroke. Her GP couldn't believe it. She was 66 at the time. But she doesn't handle any kind of stress at all well, which is an understatement. Looking after your self includes learning calming techniques and not fretting about the small stuff. But she's a tough old bird, still here at 88, though frail.

DH has just come in and I have mentioned getting a new BP reader, monitor or thingy! Of course, he responds with a story of a man setting off the heart monitor alarm in hospital, while ..... under the sheets. Men!

[Mary G]

Taz2, I would say this is a bit of a chicken and egg situation.  Perhaps your blood pressure is raised because your oestrogen level is too low hence the 50mcg patch no longer being effective.

My mother only developed high blood pressure post menopause when her oestrogen levels dropped.  I have noticed that my thyroid function (whole set), cholesterol and blood pressure readings are all better with a higher dose of oestrogen - I don't actually have a problem with any of these things but they all function better with more oestrogen. 

You might find this interesting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3106691/You-HRT-menopausal-women-high-blood-pressure-doctors-told.html

[CLKD]

Does your GP want you off HRT ? and is using your BP as an excuse?  Maybe you have white coat syndrome? 

What's PMR - Polymyalgia Rheumatica?  My Mum didn't lose weight: it began in her hands, elbows, shoulders - she was so bad she was unable to dress, Dad had to help for months.  She was given steroids immediately as it really has classic symptoms ……..

Frozen shoulder etc. are 'common' in ladies of a certain age  .  Fortunately I haven't encountered that problem.  A drop of oestrogen = laxity of muscles ……… maybe a course of physio. once the GP has done any tests, to encourage quadriceps exercises etc.?

Let us know how you get on!

[Kathleen]

Hello Taz2.

Sorry about your BP problems. I think some ladies here use HRT with BP meds so could that work for you, even though it means more drugs. I think I read somewhere that Vegans/Vegetarians usually have excellent BP so  cutting out animal products might be worth thinking about.

Wishing you well and hopefully a solution will be found soon.

K.

[MIS71MUM]

Hi Taz

Sorry you are having to come
off HRT. I don't think your readings sound too high.

My GP tested mine last month and it was 150/100 and then gave me a prescription for HRT.

However mine does always tend to run high.

Just shows the difference in care from different GP's. 

[Taz2]

Thanks again ladies.

I must admit that I get confused over the oestrogen level and high blood pressure. It's strange that if we have high blood pressure then docs and menopause clinics are worried about prescribing HRT in older women. I realise that after sixty the risks of heart attack and stroke are raised if you are on HRT and we have to look at the overall picture of quality of life. Thanks for the article Mary G but once again we get the "under 60" findings "The latest research, published this year, found that in women under 60 – or who started HRT within ten years of the menopause – there was a 30 per cent drop in deaths from any cause and a 48 per cent lower risk of coronary heart disease"  We really do need more research on the effect of HRT in older women I think.

CLKD My doc doesn't want me off  HRT as such because without it my pelvic floor is going to go from bad to worse due to weak tissues made worse by lack of oestrogen but I think she wants to address the blood pressure problem first but if it's being caused by low oestrogen then I'm not sure how keeping me off it will help!

Mis71Mum - I hope you've been given blood pressure lowering medication as well? The reading of 100 is high but as you say yours does tend to run high. My readings are in the pre-hypertension range so I don't need any  medication but do need to keep an eye on it and try to reduce it. I think the reason you were allowed it is probably to do with age? Not sure how old you are but it's only since reaching 60 that more attention seems to be being paid to the prescribing of it for me. I did have to come off it for a year due to age - I'm 62 now.

One thing I've thought about is diet Kathleen. I have just realised that it could be caused by low fruit and veg intake. Since the bowel decided to settle oddly into the gap left by the womb I've had worsening IBS diarrhoea and urgency and have had to cut out most fruit and veg if I'm to manage to get to work on time each morning  .  The one thing I always had was celery - couldn't get enough of the stuff - but this doesn't agree anymore. I've just read that four sticks of celery a day can lower blood pressure due to something or other. Maybe it's my diet change that's done it plus I've been lazy and not had a thirty minute walk after work every day.

Thanks so much for the support ladies - you've cheered me up!

Taz x