My mother is 85, and with medication, her BP is still sometimes 160/82, or as low as 140/78 in the same week. I know she first was diagnosed when she was in her 60s, stopped taking her medication for a while. The last couple years, the doctor was having trouble treating it (top number was 180 for a while), and said, well, the bottom number shows it's as low as it can go. She had a couple of TIAs a couple years ago, and had some heart fluttering while in the hospital. I just don't understand how you can live so long with high BP, when I know other people who have died around age 50 ... I myself have been taking meds for at least 10 years because I know my biological mother and brother died around the age I am right now. Well, I could get into more and more details about my mother's medical history, but just wondering. She has made a lot of good recovery from problems she was having in August and October. She is a medical mystery!
At the time Mommie Dearest had driven me to the edge of a nervous breakdown, always on edge, fearful, stomach churning, jumping out of my skin when the phone rang ... many of you know how that goes.
Mommie Dearest passed September 12 and I decided to give myself the winter months to recover myself. I'm feeling much better by now and will go for a recheck shortly.
I agree stress is a big factor and I can definitely get that white coat syndrome thing going. I don't know why I get so nervous. A year ago I started taking my own BP everyday, twice a day and log my numbers. I take it when I go in for my check-ups. It was a lot better when I went in last time and my doc said keep at it but you must take more time to relax despite what your parents need. You better start looking out for yourself more given the history. I think it was better, in part, b/c I was in the habit of taking it myself (using the cuff just like they do) and I was able to relax more. Maybe some Pavlov's dog action going on, but it worked.
A person can live for many years with high blood pressure. It is after all considered the "Silent Killer" due to the fact that while you have it and if it's untreated you can suffer a milieu of adverse events years later from untreated high BP.
There are many factors to taking a blood pressure reading accurately. I really like the BP machines sold at most drug stores for simple daily use and monitoring. Make sure you use the cuff that is appropriate for your weight- many people use an incorrect cuff thus the fit, and the reading, may be inaccurate. When the cuff is placed before inflation you should be able to comfortably fit two fingers between the cuff and skin.
It's all good cause you are monitoring yourself regularly but please consider getting another blood pressure machine to use at home and/or compare readings between the wrist cuff and store bought or home care basic blood pressure measuring devices.