Has anyone else here experienced sudden recent dramatic increases in blood pressure?

[triron]

I have been very emotional lately because of all the shit happening in our nation.
I loathe Trump with every fiber of my being.
I haven't changed my diet, my exercise habits, or anything else I can think of.
I work out every day (sometimes twice), am lean, eat lots of vegetables, fruit, chicken, fish, nuts and haven't
medications or supplements (except to take more magnesium to lower bp).
By dramatic I mean from 100-115 to 150+ systolic and 60-70 to 80-90 diastolic.

[Mme. Defarge]

1. Yes, last summer.

I’m thinking that the cause was “kids in cages”.

It was a shock since it was always in the low-normal range. I was in denial for weeks, then finally caved and went on medication.

[Phoenix61]

2. Sustained? Mine is usually low but when I'm

at the doc for an ear infection it’s quite a bit higher. So 100/60 to 120/80.

[Turin_C3PO]

3. I've gone from

an already high 150/85 pre-Trump to now regularly spiking up to 200/110. And meds aren’t helping. I know it’s stress related due to the Orange Menace.

[Midnight Writer]

4. Beware. Those sudden BP increases could be prelude to a stroke.

There are medications to help this, and then, of course, there is the old "diet and exercise". But you may have a genetic disposition towards unhealthy stress reactions, and they may worsen with age. The high end numbers you cite are dangerous levels.

Please don't ignore symptoms. Talk to your doctor.

[triron]

6. Mayo Clinic says 180/120. They are authoritative. Mine aren't nearly that high.

Besides this just happened suddenly in last few weeks. If I go to the doctor I will just get more stressed.

[progree]

8. 180 is emergency levels. But that doesn't mean 150 is OK, your risk of heart attack

and stroke are greatly elevated when compared to say 120 or 130. Hypertension Stage 1 begins at 130, and Stage 2 begins at 140.

You can use the below tool for accessing heart attack risk at different blood pressure levels and other variables

http://tools.acc.org/ASCVD-Risk-Estimator-Plus/#!/calculate/estimate/

[lark]

5. Yes, this was happening for a few weeks in April.

I didn't even know it, was having a bunch of severe medical issues and didn't know I was having blood pressure spikes until it happened to me 3 times at therapy. I went to the dr., got an additional blood pressure rx, and a blood pressure monitor. I only took the Clonidine once and haven't needed it since and it's been 6 months.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

7. Trauma history does fuckup you're blood pressure

I've been to a cardiac unit to figure out why my blood pressure drops suddenly. I have high blood pressure normally ,but not severely high.
I take meds for it. But it's weird it goes low and high. I have passed out from low pressure a few times. The cardiac unit could not find a cause for the sudden drops. They gave me a shitload of tests. All they could say it was idiopathic.