Blood pressure readings?

[Hiker in Hawaii]

I'm confused on all the blood pressure readings....A reading of 135/85 is "high normal",,,Is medication warranted at that level, or is medication only prescribed for constant readings over > 140/90?....Would constant readings of 135/85 (or that general area) for a non-smoker, active & underweight, under 40 yrs. old ever warrant treatment?...

Also, is the cardio CRP test still widely used, & can that simple test be as valuable as more invasive tests?

Thanks

[Barbarella]

The 8 cans of coke a day could also raise your BP.  Remember Coke got caffeine in it.  A doctor told me there is no relationship between pulse and BP, and I found that out on myself..  I had  elevated BP before but my pulse was 57.  I had a pulse of 90 and my BP was 115/75. No relation between the two.

[.john57]

Your blood pressure fluctuates constantly over the coarse of a day, sometimes by a lot. I would not even be concerned with a reading of 135/85. As stated above get a monitor learn to take it yourself, it's simple. If you take it first thing in the morning, then later in the day you will see just how much it will vary.

[Hiker in Hawaii]

Oh yeah, I get stressed over some things, when I get upset/worried, I get the stomach aches/pains, never have a problem w/headaches...I also wonder if there is a relationship between pulse & blood pressure ie; does higher pluse=higher blood pressure, etc...

I guess my biggest weakness is soda, I drink about 8 cans of Coke Classic each day, of which the health benefit of that is big ZERO....But I figure I'm active, eat well despite the soda consumption, but that extra caffeine probably doesn't help BP..

[Barbarella]

It all depends on your doctor.  Some doctors want to put you on BP meds when your BP is constantly over 130, some of them even want to put people on BP meds when their pressure is constantly between 125 to 130 syst. (top number).  Then there are doctors who will tell you that a top # of 150 is fine, I had one doctor tell me that, but that was before the new guidelines came out as in over 120/80 you are "pre-hypertensive".

Since you are in shape, active and non-smoker if I were you I'd get myself a good home monitor and check my BP once a day for the next two weeks, and see what is going on.  High BP can also be inherited.  Do you worry about anything?  Stressed out about anything?  You've no idea how that can effect your BP if you are prone to react hypertensive.  Everybody is different, some people react with headaches, stomach aches and so on, but their BP stays in the basement no matter how upset they get.  For me its "suspense" and stress and my BP shoots up even on BP meds.