Meds for blood pressure

Ok,, my blood pressure is back up today,,, It been 147/98 or so all day.
I relaxed and everything,,,,
My question is,, if I have to get on meds,, would i be better with my anxiety to get on beta blockers or regular blood pressure meds,,
Is there anybody out there that knows what would be best,
I know we are all different,, and I know my doc will tell me what he thinks, but I just want to get all your opinion,,,
Dose anybody know how long you can go with high blood pressure before it starts to really cause damage,, I have been dealing with this for like two or three months..
Ok,, sorry to sound so pathetic..

Hi Lou

I must stress again that I am not a doctor but this is my understanding...

Many different parts of your body contain nerve cells called adreno-receptors and these are sensitive to the amount of adrenalin in your blood. There are two types of adreno-receptor: alpha and beta.

If a particular body part contains more beta-receptors than alpha receptors then it will receive more blood when your body is under stress. Your heart, lungs and skeletal muscles fall into this category.

Conversely, if there are more alpha-receptors, that part of the body wil receive less blood when adrenalin is present. This applies to most of your other internal organs.

Because your skeletal muscles are large and further away from your heart than your internal organs, your blood-pressure has to rise to provide the blood to these outlying areas.

Beta-blockers do exactly what it says on the tin and block the beta-receptors. This means that, although the initial anxiety doesn't change, your body's reaction to that anxiety is suppressed somewhat. This means your heart-rate is less likely to rise and your breathing is less likely to become laboured, etc.

Anxiety is very often perpetuated by these physical reactions - ie. your heart starts to beat faster so you get more and more worried. Beta-blockers prevent these physical reactions and the secondary anxiety that comes with them.

Hope this helps

Chris x

Hi Lou

I missed the last bit of your post when I read it.

My dad is 65 and he has had high blood-pressure for years and he's not knockin' on heaven's door (to quote Bob Dylan). In fact I think he's fitter than I am.

Chris x

Hi
I take beta blockers for high blood pressure, they have kept my bp under control but have had no effect on my panic attacks or anxiety, in fact i feel that since being on them i have been worse. This is probably in my head as i get so anxious about my blood pressure. It is a cycle i cant break!

sophie

Sorry to disagree Sophie but it is a cycle ONLY you can break.

Chris x