Blood Pressure Question?

[CitroJim]

Every week I weigh myself and check my blood pressure, having had a history of both being very high...

I've noticed that over the months the trend has been downward and today, measured during moderate activity (housework) I recorded a score of 102/63 at a pulse of 55 bpm

This seems a bit lowish but I'm feeling great No obvious symptoms of hypotension (i.e. ight-headed/dizzy/faint)...

Weight is 60.5Kg and this gives me a BMI of 18.6 which is borderline... NHS Choices says it's OK though...

Question is, is this blood pressure reading OK and just a result of my fitness and healthy lifestyle (strict home-cooked diet with no additives, very low fat and semi vegetarian) along with a good couple of hours of physical training/workout a day or should I go and have a natter with the doctor?

A bit of additional information is that even when really going for it exercise-wise my heart rate is always on the low side. I really, really have to try hard to hit 85% MPL...

[Hell Razor5543]

That is just an average (that the NHS uses). For example, my cousin Ailsa (who lives on the Isle of Wight) has a lower than normal temperature (about 3C lower than most other people). This can cause her problems if the doctor is not aware of this; it certainly caused problems at school. It took a doctors note to the school before they would accept that 37C for her was running a temperature (and when they checked her on a 'healthy' day her temperature was around 34C).

However, I would still have a natter to the doctor. I would rather check something to be told there wasn't a problem, than to leave it until it is too late.

[Peter.N.]

Sounds good to me Jim. As with cars, if you working OK I wouldn't worry about it I was diagnosed with diabetes about 10 years ago, at that time my blood pressure was 140/90. I was put on medication for the diabetes and I was also on blood pressure pills. As a result of cutting down on sugar and other things I lost a couple of stone, my blood pressure is now 130/80 and I am fitter than I have been for a long time which is not bad for a 76 year old, and with no blood pressure medication. My diabetes is improving and my medication has been halved. I'm due for another check up in a couple of weeks so will be interested to see how its going.

Peter

[addo]

Well done, Peter!

[CitroJim]

Peter, that really is excellent

[addo]

Now we know how the bugger gets 80MPG in his cars - he's lighter than a feather filled with Helium.

[CitroJim]

Now we know how the bugger gets 80MPG in his cars - he's lighter than a feather filled with Helium.

To me a C1 is a BIG car Adam

[Hell Razor5543]

Now we know how the bugger gets 80MPG in his cars - he's lighter than a feather filled with Helium.

With an auxiliary drive system in the C1. Bike pedals and a chain drive (that is how he gets some of his exercise!).

[CitroJim]

That's a good idea James!

[JohnD]

my heart rate is always on the low side.

Mine likewise. It's a thing I've never worried about - until I went to the docs with a swollen ankle. The young locum thought it might be a DVT so sent me to A&E. I had an ultra-sound and it was quickly diagnosed as not being, and I expected to be discharged. However I wasn't. Instead I was given several ECG's throughout the evening and kept in overnight. By 10am the following morning I'd been visited by a consultant and his team. He told me my pulse rate was much too low. I told him I'd never felt better. He told me I needed a pacemaker. I was shocked - but finally I let him talk me round. It was fitted the same afternoon. That was three years ago. Now whether I'm resting or exerting, it's always around 75.

[CitroJim]

John, that's amazing and a not a little shocking too...

Robyn, my student nurse daughter is coming round this evening with her blood pressure gauge to compare against mine...

She'll no doubt have researched it too...

[Peter.N.]

Now we know how the bugger gets 80MPG in his cars - he's lighter than a feather filled with Helium.

I still weigh 13 stone and I used to be 6'0" tall

JohnD

Unusual to have a very slow pulse and feel OK but probably just as well you got it sorted. My pulse rate is below 60 when I wake up but speeds up a bit during the day.

Peter

[CitroJim]

Mine spends an awful lot of time around 50... Such as now...

No problem to get it up to 120-130 or so when heavily working out on the cross-trainer or the bike mounted in the turbo trainer and I can also feel my heart going at a fair pace when swimming too..

Good this is I can hold 120 whilst bike riding on the turbo trainer against a fair old resistance for as long as required without problem. Likewise I can swim 1500m without stopping and in well under an hour. Took me 50 minutes to cover that distance this morning...

[Peter.N.]

You're a lot fitter than me then Jim, I'm worn out after fitting a new oil pump to the Rayburn. Mind you I have spent some time practically standing on my head.

Peter

[CitroJim]

Sounds a bit like a job akin to a Xantia clutch clip Peter if it involved standing on your head!!!

I want a Rayburn so badly but my little 70s semi could never accommodate one sadly... I reckon if I had one my baking would be an order of magnitude better and the house would be warmer for sure! Rayburns cook the most fantastic bread and cakes

I have childhood memories of an aunt and uncle with a Rayburn in an otherwise bitterly cold cottage but the room the Rayburn was in (their living room!) was always gorgeously warm and welcoming...

As was the kitchen where they still cooked on a proper kitchen range... Both Rayburn and range burned wood from their own woodland. Truly free energy! In fact the Rayburn used to burn anything vaguely combustible... They had no use of a dustbin at all... All went in the Rayburn...