Blood pressure

[Guest]

Me again, don’t post for ages then two!
The other question I have is regarding blood pressure. I am taking part in the gTac research on MND in Edinburgh and when the nurse took my blood pressure it was 190/93. She asked me to see the GP ASAP. Well that would have ment a long wait so I was seen by a nurse and my BP was roughly the same. They decided that I should do three readings for 4 days and the lowest reading was 168/85 but most around 180/90. No one came back to me so my wife phoned the pr@ctice to be told my GP didn’t want to treat it but would keep an eye on things. Two years ago when I first moved to this practice my BP was high but he said it was probably the move.
I’m not sure if he thinks a stroke could be a good way to make a sharp exit or if there is a contraindication for BP medication with Riluzole, Baclofen and Amitriptyline, MND?
Any thoughts?
Thanks again!

[Doug Carpenter]

Hi Nigel

Those readings sound a little bit high, especially the systolic (This is not a clinical assessment by the way) but perfectly treatable if there are no other complicating factors.

From memory, hypertension is defined as readings greater than 140/90. Something around 120/80 would be good.

There are lots of well tried medications your GP could prescribe to nudge it down a bit. I've been taking the ACE inhibitor Ramipril for many years - before I was diagnosed with MND. It still works fine. You need to check your kidney function regularly via a blood test. I'm also on Riluzole.

Doug

[Guest]

Thank you for replying. I am going to phone the MND nurse and ask her advice rather than trying to battle the GP.... they also lost his urine sample re checking for type 2 diabetes but didn’t tell us, I had to phone after not getting the promised reply. A bit concerning. So hank you!