I am so relieved to know that I am not alone with this. I too suffer with high blood pressure during or close to my cycle. I talked to my doctor about it but she said she has never heard of this happening before. I am frustrated about this because every month I am faced with this very scary issue. I am looking for an answer to why this keeps happening to me, that's why I googled 'why do my blood pressure increase during menstration'. I need answers...

Hi my name is ashley i see iam not the only one with this issue. I first thought maybe it was yhe birth control i was on levora .15 so i stopped taking it. But i realized that it had went down once i was off my period from abruptly stopping my birth control and now iam on and my pressure is last checked 152/100. My head is hurting so thats how i knew. But the doctor tried to put me in this medication. I am hessitant to take it because i dont want to be on medication. But im seeing i have no choice at this point. High blood pressure is a silent killer.

I have the same problem. My blood pressure sudden rises, not above 160-110, but it is enough to make me feel panic. My body gets hot, my sight is troubled (I can see clearly, but darker), and I get very insecure, especially if I am driving. I went to a cardiologist and he did nothing about it, but treated me like a "normal" pacient with high blood pressure. I read something about it and I know that progestorone levels can affect blood pressure. If you have any other information, please tell, we can help one another.

I have this problem too! And when I told them that this happens around the time of my period, they said I needed to see their counselor. When I talked to their counselor, she was trying hard as she could to push SSRI pills on me! I am not a crazy person or depressed in ANY way. These people were really creepy! She kept saying "Why did Dr. Baker send you to me?" and I said "I have high blood pressure." Then she went through a book that had symptoms of panic attacks and tried to convince me that my high blood pressure was panic attacks! If anybody does a google search for "SSRI cash cow" they will see that these kinds of doctors have an agenda - they want to prescribe SSRI drugs for anybody and everybody because they get big $$$. Of course ANY person is going to feel stuff like "fear of losing control" when their blood pressure is up! Mine was 180/90 and my head was pounding (even my spine was pounding). Anyway, doctors don't want to deal with anything if it isn't going to make them lots of extra $$$ by prescribing stuff people don't even need. I am disgusted.

Hello again! I was diagnosed with Panic Attacks too and I am taking an antidepressive drug and I agree with this, because I think I have low serotonin level induced by low female hormones. Panic Attack, I believe, does not occur by itself but it is due to something wrong with the chemestry of your body. Like you all, I have been to many doctors and after a while I decided that I had to research by myself, because the doctors couldn't give me a reasonable answer for it. Nowadays I've been thru a lot of exams to know if I have to take bioidentical hormones along with the antidepressive drug. I forgot to ask you all how old are you, because I am 45 and I did a lot of research on this and I believe it has connection with low female hormones (premenopause).

I don't believe what they say about serotonin at all. Celexa did nothing to help me at all. I think this happens alot because I have talked to other women who said when they got into the range of menopause age, their bodies went crazy too and their blood pressure was bouncing around like crazy. I don't like it at all, but that seems to be what happens. I don't like the way doctors talk down to me and look at me like they think I am crazy or mental. I am very close to stopping going to doctors at all and looking for herbs or doing deep breathing. I had a period one time during my perimenopause that lasted about 20 days. I didn't know that much about hormones and stuff at the time, so I thought I had cancer or something. It turned out to be low progesterone. I had to go to an emergency room doctor to find that out. My perimenopause has so far lasted more than 10 years! I have a period and then I will miss a few, and then I might have 2 or 3, and then I will miss some more. It is a very topsy-turvy time. Now I have the new added problem of elevated blood pressure with each period. It's a new problem for me (has been ongoing for last 3 periods) but it is very awful. So far I have seen at least 6 doctors and none of them know anything. SIGH! I just bought some natural progesterone cream so I hope this is going to help with something. Pray for me. I pray for you guys too.

ok so during my period time or right before i am done my bp goes high, usually around 160/98 and one time it even got to be a little over 170/100 which really scared me . I say this because i amd 34 years old and when i was 29 i had a stroke. then my bp was 200/over something. . and yes i was on my period during that too!!I know it is scary. see during the rest of the month my bp is normal but once i get on my period, i am usually at the ER for my bp. I am on a daily dose of coreg 40mg adn lisinopril 10mg. if anyone out there can tell me y this is or if any m.d. thanks.

I was recently sent to the ER for high blood pressure and I too was having my period. Like some of you I get debilitating migrains just before and during my period. I have been on the pill for over ten years and have had normal bolld pressure readings when I'm NOT on my period. This is the first time that I have realized that my migrains are linked wtih high blood pressure. For me, I strongly believe that high blood pressure comes with the migrains which I only get during my period. Try to keep a headache diary or blood pressure diary to help communicate your situation with your doctor.

I just noticed I am having this same problem. I am 38. I went to get checked for an ear infection and when they took my blood pressure, they said it was 140/94 and that it was too high. This was a couple days before my cycle started. I have been monitoring it at home with my electronic bp monitor and it has reached 150/94. I do not know why this is happening. It is usually not low but definitely not higher than 130/80. You would think that the loss of blood would cause the bp to drop. I am very perplexed by this. Maybe it's b/c of the pain and everything that I am feeling more tense? I'm glad to see I'm not alone in this, but I also would like us to get some answers. I don't have insurance yet so I can't get this checked further until then.

Thanks for all your comments about high BP during your period.I just discovered this. I have always suffered terriably with my periods. I get "Deathly ill" with migraines,weakness,disoriented & overall feeling of sickness. Anyways, I just happen to go to the doctor the other day to get a perscription refill & when he checked my BP it was 170/100. I've never had high BP. I'm always low because i'm a runner. The doctor was so surprise by my BP but I told him that I was about to start my period & maybe that was the cause. He said NO! As soon as I finished my period my BP went down & all my period symptoms were gone too. I just went back to the doctor so he could check my BP again & it was low. So, he wants to check it again in a couple of weeks. Now I'm wondering if all these years of suffering with very bad periods & the symptoms is all due to high BP during this time. This is all new to me & very scarry!!! I'm currently training for a marathon & I'm worried about my BP getting high again without me knowing it!

Hi Everyone and thanks for posting!! It's nice to know that I'm "normal". I have been having bp issues for the past 3 to 4 years, I'm 43. I have been telling both my regular fp doc and my gyn for the past 2 years that i notice a BIG increase in my bp (170's/105) 5 to 7 days before my period and it will last for about 2 days into my period. I have been put on lisinopril, but can't take it everyday. I'm actually taking 1/2 a pill and when i don't have my period it's toooo low on just the 1/2 pill (96/60). I don't know what to do anymore. Please keep posting and let us know if anyone comes up with a resolution.

Hi I think I'm having this same issue. But included is warm and wet feeling around my head maybe this is a sign that my blood pressure is high. I think I will go check it right now. I'm 2 days into my monthly. And you are right doctors don't listen to us-it's much easier to give a drug than actually take the time to research the symptoms. If we want answers we will have to find them ourselves, by keeping written records of our symptoms and when they accur.

Wow!!!! I am 30, and I have been having bp issues during PMS for years. It took me a long time to figure out that my "spells" were related to my periods. I worked at a hospital for many years, and occasionally I would feel very sick. The nurses would take my BP, and sometimes it was so high they would send me to the ER. (The highest was 220/140!) When I got married and started on birth control pills, my episodes stopped. I got pregnant the first month we stopped the pill and had a lot of bp issues during my pregnancy. I also became extremely bloated (which also happens during my periods) and was put on bedrest. I was told I had preeclampsia at first, but then my syptoms just stop with the BP and bloating. They never develop into anything else. I've have two kids now and had the same problem with my second pregnancy. The periods I have when not on birth control pills are always the trouble for me. I briefly talked to my doctor about this, and he said that it could be related to the water weight I gain during my periods. Increased body fluids increase BP. I plan on talking more about this with him, and I will post what I find out. I'm SO glad that I found you ladies! Nobody has ever understood what I was talking about. I've often doubted my own symptoms.

I am 39 and have been experiencing this for about 6 mos and I was also told that I have anxiety attacks.However I will not allow them to give me medicines because I know that is not the case. Dr's do not have time to try and figure this out. If it is something that is not common then you are crazy. How ever 180/100 is the highest my presuure has reached. This is the first day. The next day it is regular 127/77 and this is with medication. Someone really needs to check this out before someone has a stroke behind something like this.

So glad I found this website, I thought I was crazy! I've always had trouble with PMS, sweating, feeling anxious, disoriented and sometimes dizzy, at this time my blood pressure always goes up the other day it was 128/100 at the doctors, while my pulse was only 60. A day after my period everything is back to normal and if I take my blood pressure it is sometimes as low as 98/57, I run and/or exercise every day I'm fairly small at 5'2" 100 lbs. I've been so worried about this blood pressure thing but was once told that variations are normal and unless it is elevated for years all the time, not too worry. Is this true?