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My blood pressure - Printable Version

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My blood pressure - kilbarchan1 - 12-12-2014

hello folks new member here
Just a bit of history i am male 57 non smoker ( never smoked) and not overweight
I have snored for the past 20 yrs and seems to be getting worse

I noticed the other day to my dismay my blood pressure had skyrocketed
I mean its normally around 130 over 80 or 85 and its now 180 over 100

I had a sleep apnea test around 10 yrs ago coming back that even though i was awakened over 100 times in the night they didnt diagnose SA but said it was " borderline?

My question is can apnea cause the blood pressure spike
My wife said my snoring is at an alltime high and I have been very tired the past few months . For instance last night I must have woke up about 10 x and I am wondering if its the apnea jarring me awake?
My thought is to get another sleep study then go from there as I dont have any other health issues

Any thoughts ???

Thanks John


RE: My blood pressure - GeoffD - 12-12-2014

Sleep apnea causes your body to give you a shot of adrenaline to partially wake you every time you stop breathing. Your blood oxygen level is lowered if you have sleep apnea. Both can spike your blood pressure. Those issues also can cause atrial fibrillation.

That's how I went down the whole sleep study/CPAP machine path 5 months ago. By dumb luck, my GP picked up an irregular heartbeat during a routine office visit. I didn't have particularly high blood pressure... usually something like 128/86. I'm now on a very low dosage calcium blocker to slow my heartbeat to lessen the stroke risk if I go into afib. My BP is now 120/80. The CPAP machine does it's stuff. I don't snore. I have less than one event per hour instead of 40-something. I'm getting REM sleep.

10 years have gone by. The muscles that keep the soft tissue from blocking your airway when you sleep might not be doing their job as you've aged. Get another sleep study.


RE: My blood pressure - Crimson Nape - 12-12-2014

Welcome to the board!
To answer your question about your BP rising from SA; Big Time! From what PCP told me, there is concern when the diastolic goes above 90. You need to schedule a visit with your PCP. From what you have stated you appear to be a prime candidate for a sleep study. BTW, My snoring got so bad that we had to straighten the pictures on the walls every morning.

Good luck and keep us posted as to your outcome.


RE: My blood pressure - kilbarchan1 - 12-12-2014

(12-12-2014, 08:57 AM)sgearhart Wrote: Welcome to the board!
To answer your question about your BP rising from SA; Big Time! From what PCP told me, there is concern when the diastolic goes above 90. You need to schedule a visit with your PCP. From what you have stated you appear to be a prime candidate for a sleep study. BTW, My snoring got so bad that we had to straighten the pictures on the walls every morning.

Good luck and keep us posted as to your outcome.
Thanks so thete is a chance my blood pressure spike could be my possible apnea? Just dont want to go on meds if the apnea is the cause. I will ask Doc foe another study. May even try an oral device to see if that helps while I wait for the study



RE: My blood pressure - Peter_C - 12-12-2014

And time for a new study to be done as well. Many, many changes in the whole sleep apnea world in the last 10 years or so. First, see your primary Doc to get your BP under control with meds, second get tested again for Apnea - if you get put on a CPAP, over time it may well reduce (fix) the cause of your high BP - for me it was a racing at-rest heart rate (122), and took about 10-12 yrs of heart meds and CPAP but now I'm back to a resting rate of 70-75 and off the meds.


RE: My blood pressure - kilbarchan1 - 12-12-2014

Well my resting heart rate is 55. Has always been low as I played pro soccer (still play recreationally)

I will see what doctor says but need to get my bp down while im waiting to get study done

Cant believe it would have such a pronounced effect on blood pressure. Were talking 50 points higher in the systolic and about 15 points higher on the diastolic. Frightening and my gut tells ne the apnea is causing this spike. Has anyone seen these leaps in blood pressure while getting diagnosed??


RE: My blood pressure - Peter_C - 12-12-2014

Just so you can see the idea? I am a fat ex truck-driver. I have had the same PCP for 20+ years, so he knows me well. As a truck driver, I needed to get a medical done each year. Every year my resting heart rate was '80'. Then suddenly on one check (no other issues, or changes that I was aware of) my resting heart rate was '122'. Doc waited ten minutes, still '122'. Sent me home with instructions to rest and come back in the AM. I did, and again it was '122'. Doc then gave me a shot of valium and waited to I was almost passed out, still '122'.

At this point my medical card went bye-bye, and serious testing was started. Included seeing a number of specialists. Took some five weeks of this before seeing a sleep doc (was 1999 or so) - severe obstructive sleep apnea, and a relationship with a heart doctor to boot. Meds to lock-down my heart rate, and a CPAP with a 'maybe' chance that my heart *might* recover, but certainly would not get worse.

100% compliance (both meds and CPAP), and am now (just last year) off the meds, but on CPAP for life.

I can show some other examples of health issues going from never to oh-my-God bad overnight. It really (sadly) can happen. And, not just to us obese, couch potato types.


RE: My blood pressure - justMongo - 12-12-2014

The link between HBP and sleep apnea has been known for some time.
The medical community has come to realize this in the last couple of decades.

Spiking of blood pressure is a pattern seen in an apnea event. It can raise BP during the day -- usually making existing HBP more difficult to treat.

The deleterious effects of HBP are seen long term. An athlete may see a systolic BP over 200 mm-Hg during exercise; but it quickly returns to normal. Continuous, long term, HBP causes changes to the heart muscle -- thickening and stiffening. Plus, it impacts valves resulting in valve regurgitation. A-fib is usually caused by these structural changes in the heart. A-fib can be controlled by beta or some calcium channel blockers. For safety from creating and throwing a clot, a blood thinner is often used. Might be as simple as low-dose aspirin; or, might be warfrin or one of the newer oral pills.

John: You probably need a full MOT. Sleep test, blood tests, cardiac workup (such as echocardiogram, stress test, and a 24 hour Holter monitor.)
There are some rare conditions that spike BP. Pheochromocytoma -- a tumor of the adrenals can secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine -- spiking BP is one.


RE: My blood pressure - AshSF - 12-12-2014

One more thing you may want your PCP to check is your kidney function.


RE: My blood pressure - justMongo - 12-12-2014

(12-12-2014, 12:06 PM)AshSF Wrote: One more thing you may want your PCP to check is your kidney function.

Good point. A blood panel with creatinine and BUN gives the doc an idea as to kidney function.

Renal vascular hypertension can be caused by narrowing of the renal arteries by plaque. This is investigated by CT with contrast.
(the "fix" is to insert stents into the renal arteries.)