AboutDr. Shabbir Baldiwala Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to maintenance of optimum blood pressure control, drugs to be used in different clinical settings, precautions and side effects to watch out for while using these drugs. Hypertension is the single largest killer disease affecting all organ systems.
Experience 5 years of training and 5 years of Clinical Practice.
Question I am a 35yr old white female weighs about 119pds. and 5"1' and would say that I am overall pretty healty.
I have been on Toprol XL for about 6yrs, I have Mitral Valve Prolaspe. My BP usually runs anywhere from 120/80 to 140/85 depending on the situation. It seems everytime I go to the doctor it's high. My Doctor now wants me to start takig Altace to control my so-called high blood pressure. I am a bit nervous about taking this and the Toprol. I really hate taking any medications at all. My doc told me for my age and size my BP should run about 90/70 ?! It has never been that,,,here I was thinking 120/80 was pretty normal? Like I said when he checks me (because I am so nervous) it spikes to 145/85. What are your thoughts on this? And what is a normal BP reading for someone my age...and do you think I should start taking this medication ALTACE? Thank you...
Answer I personally think that you should continue with just Toprol. A pressure of 120/80 is very much normal and there isnt any need to reduce it to less than that. There is no fixed normal reading for any age or sex. There are always individual variations. The criteria say that anything over 140/90 is hypertension.
