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Hypertension in 20 year old

Transcendence

Transcendence

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
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I'm 20, and for the last two years or so my BP has been higher than normal. I check it every once in a while out of curiosity and it has been at least in the high pre-hypertension range since freshman year. I mentioned this to my primary care doctor about a year ago and he didn't seem to think it was a concern. Yesterday, I went to a different doctor for something unrelated and when the nurse checked my blood pressure it was 148/99. This is pretty much consistent with the readings I've been getting.The doctor said it's probably essential hypertension which means it has no clear cause. He wants me to get my BP checked every few days and go from there.

  • I am not overweight (BMI ~21)
  • I can confidently say my diet is better than 90% of people my age
  • Neither of my parents ever had BP or cardiovascular problems
  • I don't use stimulants and I almost never drink alcohol. I'm pretty much drug free at this point.

I thought essential hypertension was genetic, but none of my close family have this. I have no idea why my BP has been so high and I'm starting to get anxious about it. I get generally get pissed when I can't understand things I guess.

Anyone else deal with this at a young age? What did you do? I find the notion of being on BP meds at 20 to be ridiculous. Please don't tell me to cut down on the sodium and exercise more. I don't eat shit and I do exercise.
 
I'm a full time student in a very challenging major so I'm under some stress, but nothing overwhelming. I'm generally pretty easy going, I'm doing well in school, I have a good family, decent living situation, etc. Certainly no stress that should cause my BP to be 30 points above normal. I do have some anxiety problems and allergy problems and I have a feeling they are exacerbating the situation, but still...
 
It is totally possible to just be genetically unlucky and have high blood pressure. Unfortunately a lot of people in that boat have really really bad BP.

I know two people like this but without meds their blood pressure is way worse than yours and yes they get really weird looks when they go to the pharmacy to pick up three different drugs they need and they're so young.

On the flip side you may want to consider that while you are unusual I think it is people like you that are most deserving or those drugs. After all your high blood pressure is not self-inflicted like most people in the world that abuse their bodies most of their life and then act surprised when they're at the doctor in their 40's or 50's and there is consequences.

So even though it might seem ridiculous to be on BP medication at least it's not 1960 or something and you can actually take a drug to fix it.
 
There is heaps and heaps of different medications for blood pressure these days. I don't even know much about it but there is at least five different classes of drugs with lots of different variations within those classes.

I guess what I'm getting around to saying is there is always a chance with any drug that you won't tolerate it and suffer some kind of side effect. If you do however talk to your dr and he has heaps of other options to try to see if they suit you better. That might mean you take one or more pills every day for the rest of your life but its better than dieing early of a heart attack or stroke. Even even worse being disabled because of it.
 
Some people just have a metabolic situation w/ blood pressure that requires intervention or monitoring.

Its good to have a physician give you a once over at some point to make sure it isn't caused by some other situation like hyperthyroidism or something.

I do think sometimes hypertension is related to having a time perception problem where a person feels they are always short on time and near every event is a crisis as it is using up valuable time. There is a book called something like The Relaxation Response that is about using a simple manta meditation to attain health benefits like lowered blood pressure. If you have a disposition to feel time constrained all the time I'd recommend a meditation practice or similar.

A test of the time perception problem: Do you find you can usually calm down when you get stuck in line or are you usually adrenalized and tense for having had to wait in line?
 
Its totally possible to have essential hypertension even if your parents don't.

The good thing is that you're aware of it now and you can work on 1. Lowering your blood pressure to minimize damage/wear and 2. Make compensatory changes in your diet and lifestyle NOW to minimize the natural decline in cardiovascular efficiency as you age. Basically, because of your genetic and metabolic makeup, you need to totally minimize environmental risk factors (stress, sodium intake, lack of sufficient exercise, etc)

Edit - And stay drug-free man (unless your doctor thinks BP meds are in order, beta blockers and the like might be beneficial for you.)
 
Enki said:
I do think sometimes hypertension is related to having a time perception problem where a person feels they are always short on time and near every event is a crisis as it is using up valuable time. There is a book called something like The Relaxation Response that is about using a simple manta meditation to attain health benefits like lowered blood pressure. If you have a disposition to feel time constrained all the time I'd recommend a meditation practice or similar.

A test of the time perception problem: Do you find you can usually calm down when you get stuck in line or are you usually adrenalized and tense for having had to wait in line?
Click to expand...

That's interesting, that describes me pretty well. I wouldn't consider myself impatient, but I always feel like time just disappears. For example, I got home at 4:30 today- now it's 9:30 and I couldn't tell you what the hell I did besides take a short shower and eat a light dinner. I guess the internet doesn't help. Aerobic exercise on the other hand makes time drag down to a painful crawl and a minute feels like ten.

I almost wish I could go back to being a kid when spending the afternoon at my grandmothers lasted a week. Almost.
 
Yea dude Im 25 and I was diagnosed with hypertension at age 21, however my condition is from not taking care of myself. Drinking doing alot of drugs and eating nothing but spicy food all the time. Its also genetic for me. I started taking care of myself and it still doesnt go down much without medication. I take 100mg of metoporol a day and 40mg of lisinopril a day as well. they keep it down to normal for me. I know how it feels when people are kinda weirded out when you tell them or you go to the pharmacy, I find it funny. but do what your doc says and you should be ok.
 
whats your systolic and diastolic reading?

arginine is a vasodiolator and can reduce BP. Decreasing sodium can reduce BP.

are you on any anabolic androgenic steroids?
 
Matsuo Munefusa. said:
Decreasing sodium can reduce BP.
Click to expand...
Very true. I'd meant to mention that. Minimizing sodium involves skipping a lot of processed foods and being attentive to your diet, which can have all kinds of extra side benefits. Some edition of the merck manual that I read at some point estimated that 30% of cases of essential hypertension can be treated with diet & exercise alone.I suspect a lot of folks are doing meds because they find low sodium diets hard to adhere to. Really though, when low sodium works it is superior to meds imo.
 
go ahead and post your diet and exercise routine for us. Be as meticulous as you can citing all supplements used, their timing, and any/all foods consumed. Also include H20 intake.
 
I bike a few miles to the gym everyday and then weight train for ~45 minutes. It's difficult for me to post my diet because it changes everyday. I cannot eat the same food for more than a couple days, I'd go crazy. Still, I don't eat chips/salty junk food/fast food.

I like to prepare my own meals rather than eat frozen processed stuff and I keep an eye on salt. A typical day might be eggs, toast, and cereal in the morning, a small sandwich for lunch, chicken with vegetables in the crock pot with a side of rice for dinner. I like fish and especially sushi, but I use low sodium soy sauce and only use a few drops.

I drink a lot of tea and water. I've never really monitored my water consumption...I just drink when I'm thirsty I guess.

As for supplements, I take salmon oil everyday with dinner and a multivitamin.

Adhering to a strict diet is really difficult in college because my schedule and work load changes literally everyday.
 
could be an issue with your carb selection and water retention which can lead to increased BP. Are you retaining water? Have you tried dropping wheat from your diet. The proteins in wheat (gluten) are indigestible to some and can lead to water retention and a myriad of health issues. When I removed wheat from my diet (practically at least) I dropped a few pounds of water weight and I felt generally much healthier.

I have a genetic background toward gluten intolerance though so ymmv.
 
you are probably overtained if you are pushing hard in the weight room everyday. You should be lifting 3x a week aiming to progress on weight or reps on each exercise you have chosen. If you are not progressing then there is a problem with your diet/recovery plan. You get stronger OUTSIDE of the gym.
 
you are still taxing your CNS which can cause a spike in cortisol and BP issues.

my money is on a diet issue though. Carb intolerance or an allergy you're unaware of.
 
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