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blood pressure and ADHD

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PleaseHelpMe!

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blood pressure and ADHD Posted: 04-04-08 22:57pm


Ok, I've been bothered by several health issues in my life thus-far. One of them that continues to bother me and hasn't been fixed is my blood pressure. I'm 22 years old and I'm about 190 pounds. My blood pressure ranges from 120-85 to 160-95. Of course, I'm a high-strung person and thoughts are always racing through my head. I know for a fact I have ADHD. I was diagnosed young and I took ritalin from the age of 8-13. I, like many others, felt like a zombie, but it helped your calm down. I feel like no matter what I do, it's impossible for me to calm down. I can feel my heart beating very hard when I try to sleep and it makes it hard to sleep sometimes. Also, my face gets hot all the time, then I take my blood pressure and it's usually around 155-90 or so at that point. Is it most likely all related to ADHD and I should try to fix it? I didn't have problems with blood pressure until about the age of 20 or so. I'm now 22. I would think if it was ADHD related, I would have always had blood pressures issues since my ADHD has always been bad. I do eat out quite a bit and I should probably cut back on the salt. I also drink A LOT of pop. I average about 55 ounces a day. Do you think maybe just now is catching up to me? One more issue is how I get tingling randomly during the day in random spots on my body (sometimes even in my chest near my heart). My limbs will go randomly numb, even if I'm not laying on them sometimes. One other thing I noticed is that no one is posting subjects asking about their blood pressure problems in relation to ADHD. That also clues me in that other people that have ADHD aren't having blood pressure issues. PLEASE HELP ME! My health problems have also included serious memory loss. I need replies to this thread really bad. Even if you can't help, just say you have no idea so I get a general idea. Thanks.

antigone

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Posted: 04-06-08 01:41am


I don't think your high blood pressure is related to ADHD. Have you been to a doctor about your blood pressure yet? If not you need to go. The doctor will help you get that blood pressure under control. You are at risk for cardiac problems and stroke. You are young. Take care of yourself now so when you get older you are able to do the things you want to do. I hope you will see a doctor and get treated for your high blood pressure.

heyphilbert

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Posted: 04-06-08 10:49am


Stop drinking cola, that stuff is absolutely terrible for you. That tingly feeling you get in your mouth when you drink it isn't just bubbles of carbonation, it's phosphoric acid. Drink water and fruit juices instead.

PleaseHelpMe!

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Posted: 04-07-08 09:30am


Isn't it true though that people with ADHD should have slightly elevated blood pressure because of hyper-activity that causes them to be moving their legs all the time and stuff like that? Surely people that are fidgeting all the time will have a higher heart rate. The doctor only wants to give me blood pressure medicine. They don't actually want to try and fix the problem. I try to convince them to do something else, but they just tell me it's diet. My doctors are very useless.

antigone

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Posted: 04-08-08 00:07am


I am sorry you don't have any confidence in your doctors. I stand by what I said before and that is high blood pressure and ADHD have no physiological connection to one another. Your heart rate and blood pressure can be directly connected but not always. People who are ADHD and fidget and move all the time are not driving up their heart rate to any discernible level. I have taken many blood pressures and pulses of people with the history of ADHD and typically their vital signs are within normal limits. Blood pressure is effected by two factors- volume and pressure. Think of a garden hose. If you put a garden hose on a fire hydrant and turned the water on and measured the pressure within the lumen of the hose you would find the pressure up due to the amount of force on the hose from the volume of water going through it. If you took a garden hose and twisted it up but didn't occlude the lumen of the hose completely and then put the water on you would find in order to get a strong stream you would have to really crank up the amount of water going into the hose. The pressure within the hose would be up. Now think of your heart. It is a series of "hoses" connected to a pump. If the "hoses" or vessels are narrowed due to plaque (cholesterol and lipids) then the heart will try to pump harder to force the blood through the smaller opening and lumen of the vessels. This PRESSURE will drive up your blood pressure. If you have too much volume in your body (usually not the case; usually you lose volume due to bleeding somewhere which results in low blood pressure) your blood pressure will go up due to more VOLUME. (This is one way to treat low blood pressure - give some fluids and get the volume up) Now, I ask myself "why is a 20 yr. old female presenting with such high blood pressure?" To find the answer tests must be done - blood work first. If that reveals nothing then you go on and start trying to "see" what is wrong through imaging tests. I would suggest you go see a cardiologist. Try to get some answers for this. It may be due to diet and weight. If that is the case you must find a way to take off the weight. More health problems will result if you don't. You are so young. You should not have blood pressures that high. I am accustomed to seeing those types of pressure on older people who have done some living and had years of build up in their vessels to drive up their blood pressure. Do yourself a huge favor. Look at this as a warning. Go see a cardiologist. Look at your diet and clean it up. If you quit drinking pop and eliminate sugar and white flour I GUARANTEE you that you will lose weight. Start slow and get rid of pop. The next week eliminate cookies, pastries, cakes. The week after that eliminate white noodles - use whole wheat or whole grain by Barilla. Even my picky little boys eat them! You can do a lot by just slowly eliminating bad stuff and replacing it with good food. Fruit will help with sugar cravings. Let me know if this helps. I don't mean to preach but you are too young to start on a path of poor health so early. That is for old folks. Save it till you're old and take charge of your health and live. Let me know if you have any more questions. You can PM me if you like. All the best.

ladylee70

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Posted: 04-22-08 00:06am


Antigone - wonderful post!! I am a 33 year old woman and am suffering from too low of blood pressure and low heart rate usually while exercising. We are trying to figure out why. I will see a cardiologist in the next few days. My blood pressure used to be consistently 100/83. My heart rate used to be high - around 90. I do not think there is a correlation between ADHD and blood pressure. I don't know about the heart rate. i wouldn't think so. Why all the pop? Are you trying to self medicate?? See a doctor ASAP. Oh, and I have ADHD.

antigone

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Posted: 04-23-08 00:19am


Ladylee, Heart rate may be effected due to medications for ADHD. Other than that I don't know of the correlation but there was something in the news concerning heart disease and ADHD. They are recommending that all children and adults with the disorder have a 12 lead EKG done by a cardiologist. I need to see if I can find some reports on this. I'll let you know if I find something. Your blood pressure is good. Your blood pressure will drop as you become more physically fit. Heart rate will lower too. Do you get dizzy when you exercise? I hope you cardiologist will do a persantine stress test on you. Tell him you want the 12 lead EKG as well. Let me know what he says.

ladylee70

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Posted: 04-30-08 22:07pm


They are doing a stress EKG next monday! I will ask about the 12 lead as well! Thanks. When I exercise, my heart rate drops compared to when I rest. There are a number of factors. Stimulants usually cause HRs to be higher not lower. I have usually had a higher heart rate independent of stimulant medication - around 90. It was only recently that my heart is doing some crazy things and my heart rate is really low now. I am really not in shape. I weigh 110 pounds but have no muscle. I drop weight extremely easy. I should have had a good EKG before stimulant meds as heart conditions such as valve problems run in the family. I will let you know

blood pressure and ADHD