High blood pressure

[concon02]

I was wondering if anyone here that works in law enforcement has had problems with high blood pressure and how you overcame it to be able to get a job. I have high blood pressure, the reason is not yet determined. I'm 19 years old 155lbs and 5'10. I'm healthy, and eat healthy. I'm not very active cardio wise, but that's besides the point. I'm on medications for my BP. Anyways. I want to join the military and then go on to a career as a police officer. I'm just REALLY worried that the BP thing could hold me back. In order to get into the military and law enforcement you have to be under a certain limit for the BP readings. Without medications I'm over that limit by 5-10 points. I need advice and encouragement. I've scheduled a doctors appointment to speak to my doc again about this and get better advice.

Any advice or websites/resources that you could suggest would be awesome. Thanks.

[SlowDownThere]

Conner, it's quite unusual for someone as young as you to have high blood pressure without being obese, and at 150 lbs, you certainly are not.

Small lifestyle changes can make quite a difference. A little regular exercize (cardio) might just do it.

Are you on any other meds? Because some medications can raise bp. I have excellant BP normally. It's always been around 120/70 or 122/72. (Not bad for a guy in his 40's) I'm currently taking a medication that is known to raise BP. It raised mine by 30 points. I'm not too concerned, because I anticipate taking this for only another couple of months. Then I expect it to go back down.

[FutureLE]

[QUOTE=I'm not very active cardio wise, but that's besides the point.. QUOTE]


NO ITS NOT BESIDE THE POINT. Regular exercise has a direct effect on BP. I would start walking/jogging a few times per week and add some weight lifting into the mix.

Also, check your diet, you might not eat as good as you think.

BTW-- What did you doctor do before he put you on BP medicine? 19 is pretty young to be on meds already

[concon02]

Alright, I'll go into a little more detail.

My dad's side of the family has polycystic kidney disease that was transferred to my dad and his two sisters via their mom (my grandma) who is now dead. Anyways, high blood pressure goes hand in hand with the disease. I haven't been diagnosed (nor will I until later in life because of wanting to get a job and not having it affect my chances in LE or anything I decide to do). It's a good possibility that I have the disease, but it's also possible I just have high blood pressure (maybe it runs in my genes as well??). I don't know if you guys know anything about PKD, but it's not a disease that is even noticeable until later in life (40s-50s), even then there is really no hindrances in every day life, but it is inevitable that the kidneys will fail eventually and you will need a transplant or to go on dialysis. So until later in my life as long as my blood pressure is under control I have nothing to worry about.

I refuse to let this disease stop me from progressing in life, and for me to hear that I don't have a shot at military and LE would be devastating. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow for a check up and I'll be discussing this with my doc.

Also, I do eat healthy. I can't say everything I put in my mouth is healthy all the time, but I started a weight lifting routine and since then I've been eating pretty clean. I am most likely gonna start doing some cardio (maybe jump rope or something).

P.S. I am on no other medications.

[FutureLE]

This would have been helpful in the beginning...

Anyway, I suggest you just talk to you doctor further. Maybe see a specialist.. Btw-I dont think taking BP medicine will DQ you, but you never know.

Alright, I'll go into a little more detail.

My dad's side of the family has polycystic kidney disease that was transferred to my dad and his two sisters via their mom (my grandma) who is now dead. Anyways, high blood pressure goes hand in hand with the disease. I haven't been diagnosed (nor will I until later in life because of wanting to get a job and not having it affect my chances in LE or anything I decide to do). It's a good possibility that I have the disease, but it's also possible I just have high blood pressure (maybe it runs in my genes as well??). I don't know if you guys know anything about PKD, but it's not a disease that is even noticeable until later in life (40s-50s), even then there is really no hindrances in every day life, but it is inevitable that the kidneys will fail eventually and you will need a transplant or to go on dialysis. So until later in my life as long as my blood pressure is under control I have nothing to worry about.

I refuse to let this disease stop me from progressing in life, and for me to hear that I don't have a shot at military and LE would be devastating. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow for a check up and I'll be discussing this with my doc.

Also, I do eat healthy. I can't say everything I put in my mouth is healthy all the time, but I started a weight lifting routine and since then I've been eating pretty clean. I am most likely gonna start doing some cardio (maybe jump rope or something).

P.S. I am on no other medications.

[concon02]

Well, I've read at the military.com forums that during a 3-day period or whatever they rate your blood pressure and you have to be below a certain limit (135/80 maybe??) without the aid of medications. However, once enlisted, you're free to have a prescription to keep your BP down. I'm assuming LE is the same way.

Thanks for the responses though. If anyone has anything else to add that'd be great.

I'll be talking to my doc tomorrow. What do you mean by a specialist by the way?

[lcpdwannabe]

I'm 32 and on bp med..it's really lowerd my BP but then I have cut out any caffine drinks..i drink a ton of water and have cut back on the beer intake and I have cut out my use of salt on food..I didn't realize food actually had taste lol....I laos rum quit a bit as well..I still eat pizza and junk food but you can't give up everything!!

[Jumper]

140 for systolic
90 for diastolic

These are where hypertension begins. If your BP readings are below 140/90 then you should be good to go. I'm guessing if you're on meds then you've already been diagnosed with hypertension.

High BP will keep you out of the military unless they've relaxed the standards since I was in. The medical eval I took for my department also looked at BP. If it was high, they did a second reading. I'm not sure what they do if that is high but it will put you on med hold. Not necessarily DQ you but you almost certainly will have to get further evaluated by another doc.

[SlowDownThere]

I refuse to let this disease stop me from progressing in life, and for me to hear that I don't have a shot at military and LE would be devastating. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow for a check up and I'll be discussing this with my doc.

That's a great attitude Conner. As long as your doctor agrees that you can wait to be diagnosed, it sounds like a good plan. Good luck.

[sco0437]

Conner:


I too was put on BP medicine around age 21.. At the time I was 6 ft, and 165 pounds, non-smoker, and I was running about 50 miles a week.. I ran cross country in high school and college. Most cases of high blood pressure is asymptomatic, which means there is no known cause. I have been on medicine since with really no side effects.

My medicine has not kept me out of L.E. The key is keeping it under control. I am also a pilot and hold an FAA 1st Class Medical. I'm happy I discovered this problem at a young age, I'm 28 now. Many people dont discover they have a problem until they have had it for 10-20 years.

Regarding the military, if you are taking medicine for blood pressure, you will not be able to join the military in any aspect. I have checked for myself as I wanted to be a pilot. But pursue law enforcement because high bp alone will not dq you.

Good luck and feel free to email any questions.

Steve

[JustDontDie]

Thanks a lot Steve. Your post was very encouraging.

I recently bought a blood pressure cuff and have been using it frequently. I've found that if I really relax I can reduce my blood pressure all the way down to 135 and below systolic without being on my medication. That's pretty remarkable. When I first sit down on the machine and am not concentrating on relaxing I get readings of up to 160 but usually in the 140s. At the doctor it was in the low 160s and I was on medication. I'm pretty stressed and anxious by nature and I think that has a large play on my blood pressure. It's not really a stress that keeps me from functioning. It's just kind of an underlying uneasiness I have all the time. I dunno, I guess I'm kinda diagnosing myself. haha

I really do want to get into the military as well as going on to be a police officer. It sounds like I might be ok with the police thing, as long as I can keep it under control. I think it's possible I can have my own doctor do my physical (by paying money out of my pocket) when joining the military. Do you (or anybody) know if that's true? I'm thinking if that is true, I can have a better chance at getting myself relaxed, and letting my doctor know that that's really important for me.

Who knows...

[SlowDownThere]

So, Conner and JustDon't Die are the same person.

Why do people do that anyways? I mean, it doesn't bother me, but I don't know why anyone would do it. Though I think it occurs a lot.

[JustDontDie]

Yeah, sorry about that.

I got a temporary ban, I think for replying in "ask a cop." I didn't know it was a temporary ban at the time, and I didn't even know why I had been banned. Anyways I made this other name. I didn't mean to post with this one though. Apparently this name is saved into my dad's laptop (what I'm using now). I'll change it.

[medic_9]

Conner:
Most cases of high blood pressure is asymptomatic, which means there is no known cause.

Steve

Asymptomatic means there are no symptoms (ie. headaches, nosebleeds, dizziness, etc). Not that is no known cause.

Blood pressure of no known cause is called primary or essential hypertension.

--> Don't forget to watch your Sodium (salt) intake as well. Too much can have an effect on your blood pressure.

[artica]

You will find on the internet a diet called the Dash Diet its well known to lower blood pressure. Good luck!!