Sunday, March 24, 2024
HomeMust ReadWhy Is My Blood Pressure Higher In The Morning

Why Is My Blood Pressure Higher In The Morning

Treating Morning High Blood Pressure

Why is my BLOOD PRESSURE Higher in the Morning? seCrets of the hUMan bODy

High blood pressure is treatable, if caught early, Dr. Virani says. There are so many medications, and we know that lifestyle changes work, he explains.

You have a lot of options, especially when we pick it up in the very early stages with no end-organ damage, Dr. Virani continues. End-organ damage includes heart attack, stroke, vision problems, and/or kidney disease that can occur when blood pressure damages blood vessels in your body.

Taking control of any risk factors can help get your blood pressure in the normal range all day long, including the morning, he says. This includes regular exercise.

In one study, walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes in the morning lowered average blood pressure among older, overweight or obese men and women. These findings appear in Hypertension.

Eating a low-salt diet such as the DASH dietshort for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertensionor the Mediterranean diet may also make a big difference in your blood pressure. The Mediterranean diet is rich in healthy fats, whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables.

Lastly, quitting smoking and drinking alcohol only in moderationno more than two drinks a day for men and no more than one drink a day for womencan also make a difference.

Why Does Blood Pressure Rise In The Morning

Exactly why blood pressure may peak in the morning isnt fully understood, but one theory is that work-related stress may stimulate your sympathetic nervous system to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, increasing heart rate and blood pressure.

Blood pressure tends to be higher on weekday mornings, which is why researchers think job stress may play a role. Stress can cause high blood pressure in the short and long term.

Another theory suggests that not taking the right blood pressure-lowering drugs at the right times may also lead to morning blood pressure surges.

The best way to know if your blood pressure is higher in the morning is to test it at home throughout the day with a home blood pressure monitor as well as when you go for your doctors visits, says Salim Virani, MD, professor, sections of cardiology and cardiovascular research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.

Use the average of two or three readings taken within an hour of waking up to establish your morning blood pressure, the consensus paper suggests.

ozgurcankaya/Getty Images

Tips For Achieving A Healthy Blood Pressure

High blood pressure can increase your risk of serious conditions like heart attacks and strokes. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to lower your blood pressure, including:

  • Follow a heart-healthy diet that is high in vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.
  • Avoid added sugars, saturated fats, and high-sodium foods.
  • Get plenty of exercise.

Recommended Reading: How Much Does Nicotine Raise Blood Pressure

Choosing Times That Work For You

The best times of day to take your blood pressure depend on you and your daily routine. Its important to pick times that you can stick to every day.

Taking your blood pressure at the same time each day is key to understanding your blood pressure. It can help make sure that the readings you take arent affected by the events of your day.

You can select times when you know youll be home and are unlikely to be interrupted. For example, you could check your blood pressure before you leave for work, when you get home from work, and before bed.

Is There A Problem With My Daily Blood Pressure Pattern

 blood pressure 150/100 anxiety 252168

Its normal for your blood pressure to rise and fall throughout the day depending on your activities. You might expect to see a dip at night and pressure gradually rising through the afternoon and evening according to your circadian rhythm.

Severe or unusual fluctuations suggest your daily blood pressure pattern is abnormal. This is dangerous if you have been diagnosed with hypertension and increases your risk of developing the condition if you dont already have it.

Too much fluctuation

A study found that daily blood pressure fluctuation is higher in people with diagnosed high blood pressure and that too much fluctuation damages the artery walls. If your blood pressure fluctuates significantly or at unexpected times, you might have high blood pressure.

Labile hypertension is the medical term for blood pressure that rises suddenly and significantly, causing serious complications.

Its not always easy to diagnose, as your blood pressure might be normal when you take a measurement.

If your doctor believes you might have labile hypertension, they might ask you to monitor your blood pressure at home and take multiple readings at different times of the day.

Blood pressure not falling at night

In people with healthy blood pressure, blood pressure dips by 1020% at night. This is because the system slows down and the heart doesnt beat as hard.

Blood pressure dropping too low at night

Read Also: How To Lower Your Blood Pressure Instantly

What If You Have An Unusual Schedule

Some people dont follow a “typical” daily schedule where theyre awake when its light and asleep when its dark, perhaps because they work night shifts or their work rota changes. But how does this affect blood pressure?

A study showed that in people who reversed their routine , their daily rhythm adapted. Their blood pressure started to drop during the day and rise at night when they were awake.

However, sleep quality was found to be lower for night shift workers which can cause blood pressure complications.

Another study suggested that poor-quality sleep negatively impacts the normal blood pressure dip, while a bad nights sleep can cause a blood pressure spike when you wake up. These effects are risk factors for high blood pressure.

Its important to note that not all studies support this argument one study concluded shift work does not cause high blood pressure. This might suggest that some people adapt more easily than others, and sticking to a reversed schedule and avoiding rotating shifts could make it easier for your body to adjust.

At Home With A Monitor

Home monitoring can be a great way to keep track of your blood pressure on a daily basis.

With home monitoring, you can check your blood pressure throughout the day and at times that are convenient for you. It can help you see how your blood pressure changes throughout the day and help you get a sense of your average blood pressure range.

However, youll need to purchase a blood pressure monitor to do this. Youll also need to learn how to use it and how to record accurate readings.

Its not complicated to learn the basics of many home monitors, but it can still be easy to make a mistake.

Recommended Reading: Does Aspirin Raise Blood Pressure

Is Blood Pressure Higher In The Morning

If you are measuring your blood pressure at home, you may be taking it several times a day.

Blood pressure has normal patterns that tend to be higher and lower at certain times of the day.

Understanding these patterns can help you identify if your BP is normal or falls outside of range.

Blood pressure is usually not highest in the morning.

In this article, Ill explain more about blood pressure patterns.

Ill talk about why your blood pressure might sometimes be higher in the morning, and whether its dangerous.

Ill also discuss some risk factors for morning hypertension, as well as its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

Ill also outline some prevention strategies, and tell you when to talk to your doctor.

Tips For Taking Your Blood Pressure At Home

What’s Causing My Low Blood Pressure? | This Morning

Its not uncommon for patients to have normal blood pressure readings at home but high blood pressure readings at their doctor appointments. This can be very frustrating for hypertensive patients, especially those who are diligent about keeping their high blood pressure under control.

Patients often are nervous about what their blood pressure will be when its measured at their doctors office, and that anxiety causes their blood pressure to go up. Its known as white coat hypertension, and its particularly common among elderly patients.

For that reason, I encourage my patients who take hypertension medication to monitor their blood pressure numbers at home.

Read Also: Why Is My Blood Pressure High In The Morning

Causes Of Nighttime Spikes

Kario told Healthline that blood pressure rises naturally to excrete excess sodium from the kidneys, particularly among people with high sensitivity to salt intake.

Usually, high daytime blood pressure is enough to excrete the sodium, he said. However, in the subjects with increased circulating blood volume , blood pressure needs to increase not only during daytime but also nighttime to excrete the sodium from the body. This is the compensated mechanism, but its harmful to the heart.

Dr. Raymond Townsend, a medical expert with the American Heart Association and director of the Hypertension Program at University of Pennsylvania, told Healthline that ideally all blood pressure measurements would be taken at night, not during the day.

When youre asleep at night, its the purest time for blood pressure, he said. Its a window into how that persons system is working.

Townsend, who has administered thousands of nighttime blood pressure tests, said theres potential for using consumer devices for at-home blood pressure monitoring.

A device called the WatchBP Home from Microlife, for example, can provide up to three nocturnal blood pressure results per night.

Why Is My Blood Pressure Higher In The Morning

An elevated morning blood pressure may not mean much at first, but when we monitor blood pressure regularly, you may start to notice a pattern. Blood pressure is typically at its lowest in the morning when you first wake up, and highest towards the afternoon or evening. But when your blood pressure in the morning is higher than during the rest of the day, this could put you at a higher risk, and may be a sign of another problem. If you often see higher blood pressure readings in the mornings, hereâs the potential cause and what to do about it.

Blood pressure has a daily pattern. Usually, blood pressure starts to rise a few hours before a person wakes up. It continues to rise during the day, peaking in midday. Blood pressure typically drops in the late afternoon and evening. A rise in blood pressure overnight to early morning has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

Also Check: What Causes High Blood Pressure In Men

What Is Morning Hypertension

Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. Morning hypertension is characterized by abnormally high blood pressure in the first few hours after waking up. While it’s common for people to experience higher blood pressure in the morning hours, those with morning hypertension have abnormally high blood pressure. These higher readings usually decrease within a few hours of waking up.

There are two types of morning hypertension:¹

  • High blood pressure occurs suddenly in the morning and continues to rise for a period after getting up but then decreases

Hypertension can increase your risk of experiencing serious medical emergencies such as heart attack and stroke. Morning hypertension may also put you at an even more increased risk. Researchers are looking into the link between morning hypertension and the fact that more serious cardiac emergencies such as heart attacks occur in the first 46 hours after waking up.²

Why You Should Check Your Blood Pressure In The Morning

Is 98/70 a good blood pressure?

ORLANDO, Fla. People who have high blood pressure are often advised to monitor their blood pressure at home, and now, a new study suggests that blood pressure measured in the morning may be a better predictor of stroke risk than blood pressure measured in the evening.

In the study, researchers looked at data from people in Japan and found that, when measured in the morning, higher blood pressure was related to an increased risk of stroke. When measured in the evening, however, higher blood pressure was not as closely related to people’s stroke risk.

Blood pressure has a tendency to surge in the morning, and this surge is greater in Asian populations than in people in Western countries, said Dr. Satoshi Hoshide, an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Jichi Medical University in Japan and the lead author of the study.

Because of this, the morning blood pressure measurement is important, especially in Asian populations, Hoshide told Live Science today , here at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting.

The study included more than 4,300 Japanese people who had at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. For two weeks, the people in the study took their blood pressure at home, measuring it once in the morning and once in the evening. The participants were then tracked for a four-year follow-up period. During the follow-up, there were 75 strokes among the group.

Also Check: How Do You Feel When Your Blood Pressure Is High

Blood Pressure And Time Of Day

Blood pressure numbers tend to have a natural rhythm, rising and falling throughout the day, and some people with hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, may be prone to morning peaks.

So-called morning hypertension may be particularly dangerous because strokes and heart attacks, which can be consequences of raised blood pressure, are also more likely to occur during the morning hours, according to a 2018 consensus statement on morning blood pressure in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.

A major risk factor for heart attack and stroke, high blood pressure occurs when the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels is too high for too long.

Systolic blood pressure is the upper number in a blood pressure measurement. It refers to the amount of pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when your heart is besting. The lower number, diastolic pressure, refers to how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when your heart is at rest. A blood pressure of less than 120/80 mm Hg is considered normal.

High blood pressure is greater than 130/80 mm Hg, according to the American Heart Association . Morning hypertension is a blood pressure reading of 135/85 mm Hg or higher that occurs between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. regardless of your readings throughout the rest of the day.

Heres what you need to know about morning hypertension and how to keep healthy blood pressure all day long.

How K Health Can Help

Skip the long wait at the doctors officeyou can chat with a K Health primary care provider in minutes to discuss your blood pressure concerns.

to check your symptoms, explore conditions and treatments, and if needed text with a doctor in minutes. K Healths AI-powered app is HIPAA compliant and based on 20 years of clinical data.

Read Also: What To Eat When Blood Pressure Is Low

Is It Possible To Stabilize Blood Pressure And Reduce Fluctuations

Blood pressure fluctuations can make it challenging to take an accurate, meaningful reading, and severe fluctuations can increase your risk of health problems. You might be wondering if there’s anything you can do to reduce this variability and stabilize your blood pressure.

Your first priority should be to continue taking your medication as directed. Your blood pressure should stabilize with effective treatment, so talk to your doctor if youre concerned about your readings.

If medication is ineffective, you might have resistant hypertension or an underlying health condition.

Your doctor can make specific suggestions depending on your individual symptoms and how your blood pressure fluctuates. This might include taking your blood pressure medication at bedtime to reduce nighttime blood pressure, taking them in the morning if your blood pressure is dropping too low, or exercising at a different time of day.

If you have resistant hypertension, there are surgical treatments available as a last-resort option.

Why You Should Take Your Own Blood Pressure At Home Or On The Go

Is High Blood Pressure on the Rise? | This Morning

Because of regular fluctuations in blood pressure, white-coat syndrome, and masked hypertension, doctors may recommend self-monitoring for people with HBP. There are many benefits to taking your own BP:

  • Knowing your actual, average blood pressure outside of regular fluctuations
  • Gaining more control over your blood pressure
  • Tracking your progress
  • Saving time and possibly money from frequent doctor visits and complications

Recommended Reading: What Causes A Low Pulse With High Blood Pressure

Early To Rise Your Blood Pressure May Be Too

This article is brought to you by Omron.

Blood pressure varies throughout the day depending on foods eaten, physical activity, and emotional stress. Unfortunately, for some people, their blood pressure may be too high in the morning. This is called morning high blood pressure or morninghypertension. Researchers have found that morning hypertension increases the risk of heart and blood vessel problems such as stroke. Even in patients with well-controlled blood pressure, 50% still have high morning blood pressure.

What Is Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is created when blood is pumped by the heart into our blood vessels. A normal home blood pressure reading should be less than 135/85 mm Hg. Systolic blood pressure is the pressure created when the heart is contracted. Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure created when the heart is relaxed. Blood pressure can be increased when our heart beats faster and harder or if our blood vessels tighten, making a narrower opening for the blood to flow through.

What Causes Morning Blood Pressure?

What Can Happen If I Have MorningHypertension?

Patients with hypertension who specifically have morning hypertension have a higher risk of stroke, compared with other hypertensive patients without morning hypertension .

Who Is at Risk for Morning Hypertension?

  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol levels

Related Content:

RELATED ARTICLES

Popular Articles