Why does blood pressure rise in the evening and what to do in this case?

High blood pressure at night is an unfavorable sign. This form of the disease is accompanied by resistance to drug therapy and a high risk of myocardial infarction. The main causes of nocturnal hypertension are impaired renal function, including diabetes mellitus, apnea (stopping breathing) during sleep, sympathoadrenal crises (panic attacks).

Treatment is selected individually, depending on the etiological factor, preference is given to long-acting drugs.

What are risk factors: let's start with them

Readers are divided into two categories - some are healthy, and reading articles about high blood pressure interests them from the point of view of prevention. Others are already officially diagnosed with hypertension, and on the Internet they want to find information that will clarify their ideas about treating the disease and preventing consequences. But absolutely every reader, figuratively speaking, is under attack.

Hypertension is considered the largest non-infectious epidemic. Experts counted five of these. Along with diabetes, allergies, cholesterolemia, and rheumatism, arterial hypertension has become firmly established.

It is interesting that all these diseases, common and in most cases incapable of complete remission, are often caused by the same factors.

Risk factors include:

Smoking;
Abuse of alcoholic beverages;
Poor nutrition;
Physical inactivity – it leads to detraining of the biochemical and physiological systems that are responsible for the body’s energy supply;
Psycho-emotional stress.

Every year, many countries become the focus of international research on risk factors. There are many such factors, about 20. On average, a person from the post-Soviet space (and we are taking the most developed countries of this group) has at least three risk factors.

According to the roughest estimates, about 30% of adults smoke, more than half of all study participants, and this is a very large sample, drank alcohol within the last 30 days (at the time of the survey). The norm for salt, i.e. Almost no one follows 5 g of salt per day.

More than 60% of adults live with excess weight, which also causes hypertension. The control group's blood pressure is measured, and an increase in this indicator is often recorded in 40% or more of the study participants. But the most remarkable thing is that half of people with high blood pressure do not treat hypertension.

Pressure, stress, VSD and why you can’t make a diagnosis “on the Internet”

That’s why doctors say that sooner or later almost everyone ends up seeing a cardiologist. Doctors themselves assure: of course, some factors are influenced by the economy. Can everyone afford the Mediterranean type of diet, which is optimal from the point of view of preventing hypertension? But a lot depends on a person’s education and ambitions. If an educated person with a high level of aspiration begins to worry about blood pressure, he is treated. But many go with the flow and are infantile about their health.

And often problems with blood pressure are discovered late. The person himself began to notice them a long time ago: noting, for example, that his blood pressure rises every evening. But for a long time he remains inactive, and only comes to the doctor with an obvious problem. And it will probably not be mild hypertension, but moderate (if not severe).

Or another situation: modern man is much less physically busy. And physical overload, in a sense, replaced psycho-emotional overload. Doctors note that programmers, managers, and people whose profession involves constant control and high responsibility are especially susceptible to these stress factors.

And depending on the type of nervous system, a wide list of complaints may arise from adaptation, the main ones are related specifically to the cardiovascular system - the pulse quickens, a slight arrhythmia appears, the pressure rises in the evening, pain in the chest.

A person finds on the Internet for these symptoms a link to a heart attack, to various vascular accidents. This quite naturally causes panic. Then he runs to a cardiologist, and very often in such a patient they find what we used to call VSD. This, if we define the pathology correctly, is somatoform dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.

The study does not reveal damage to the coronary vessels or changes in the myocardium. Treatment here will not be medicinal: you need to reduce psycho-emotional stress (which means make an appointment with a psychologist), play sports, and change your lifestyle a little.

Therefore, if, for example, you have high blood pressure in the morning after sleep or your blood pressure rises at night, do not panic: this is not always hypertension and other heart ailments. For a diagnosis, go to a doctor, or more correctly, go to a clinic for help.

Why does blood pressure rise during sleep?

If, instead of decreasing, blood pressure rises during sleep, then this is regarded as hypertension, even if it is normal during the day. Risk factors for high rates are insomnia, night shifts.

What does resting hypertension mean?

Resting hypertension is an increase in blood pressure between 11 pm and 3 am. Detection of the disease is possible only by monitoring indicators - hourly measurements.

For this, special equipment is used, since the very fact of waking up the patient for measurements causes an increase in values and an inaccurate result. During the treatment process, it is still recommended to take at least one measurement per night at least 2 times a week, as well as determining a person’s blood pressure immediately after sleep to assess medication doses.

Why does hypertension increase blood pressure during sleep?

Hypertension is characterized by increased blood pressure during sleep. This is due to dysregulation of vascular tone by the autonomic nervous system. Normally, the activity of the parasympathetic department should predominate, then the arteries will expand and the pressure will decrease. In hypertensive patients, the sympathetic department is more active. This can be a reaction to:

frequent stress;
physical and emotional stress;
stopping breathing during sleep (night apnea syndrome);
smoking;
drinking coffee, energy drinks, alcohol, especially in the evenings;
insufficient physical activity.

Does blood pressure rise if you don't sleep?

If you don't sleep at night, your blood pressure always rises instead of falling. This is due to brain activity, the formation and release of stress hormones into the blood. They cause constriction of blood vessels and an increase in blood circulation rates.

Insomnia in hypertension is one of the reasons for the worsening of its course, the occurrence of crises, and a risk factor for such severe consequences as myocardial infarction and stroke. The combination of sleep disorders with other provoking conditions is especially dangerous:

smoking;
elderly age;
menopause;
widespread atherosclerosis (angina pectoris, cerebrovascular accidents).

Insomnia with hypertension can trigger a stroke

Is blood pressure related to sleepless nights and night shifts?

It has been proven that sleepless nights and night shifts negatively affect blood pressure (BP), as they cause:

deterioration of the nervous system;
vascular damage;
depletion of the body's adaptive reserves;
circulatory disorders in the heart;
increased release of adrenaline and cortisol, released during a stress response.

During sleep, the hormone melatonin is produced. It also helps reduce blood pressure, as it reduces the activity of the sympathetic part of the nervous system and inhibits the formation of substances with a vasoconstrictor effect. With a lack of sleep, such changes do not occur or they are insufficient.

Blood pressure and circadian rhythm

The most interesting thing is that we may not feel changes in pressure. For example, a person is sitting in front of the TV, feels well, is in a good mood, but if he measures his blood pressure at that moment, he will be very surprised by the values on the tonometer. But in reality, blood pressure cannot be in one digital indicator all the time, it is simply impossible. The body is a flexible biological system with high adaptive abilities. As a rule, she reacts quickly to both external and internal stimuli.

Blood pressure readings during the day depend on many factors: the time of measurement, the state of the person at that moment, his posture, the type of activity he was engaged in the day before the measurement, etc.

Features of changes in blood pressure values:

Blood pressure increases in the morning when a person lies down;
During the day, blood pressure usually drops and is at its usual level;
In the evening, blood pressure values increase;
At night, when the body is relaxed, blood pressure usually decreases.

That is why it is recommended to take measurements at the same time of day. You should not compare morning measurements with daytime ones; this comparison will definitely not be correct. Or, for example, at home blood pressure is always normal, but as soon as the patient crosses the threshold of the doctor’s office, the blood pressure monitor shows that the readings are exceeded.

This is called “white coat syndrome” and is associated with the very factor of anxiety before seeing a doctor.

Why can blood pressure fluctuate throughout the day?

Many people wonder why blood pressure is high in the morning and low in the evening (or vice versa)? There are many reasons for this. It is very important to evaluate what range this pressure change covers. If it’s 5-15 units, it’s okay, but if it’s more, there’s reason to think about it.

Changes in blood pressure can be explained by:

Passion for coffee, tea;
Alcohol abuse (even a glass of wine can cause high blood pressure);
VSD;
Stress and anxiety;
Endocrine disruptions;
Climate change or weather changes;
Pathological processes in the structures of the cervical spine.

These are not all possible causes of pressure surges, but they are the most common. And each of them makes sense to consider in more detail.

Causes of increased blood pressure at night

Normally, blood pressure decreases at night, as the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system predominates. According to the figurative expression, “night is the kingdom of the vagus” (vagus nerve). When the processes of regulation of vascular tone are disrupted by the brain or hormones, biologically active compounds, a paradoxical reaction of the arteries occurs in the form of a spasm.

Apnea and nocturnal hypertension

Stopping breathing during sleep is accompanied by a brief drop in oxygen levels in the blood. In this case, the duration of the apnea period is about a minute, and the decrease in saturation (saturation) reaches 65% (with the norm being about 95%). Hypoxia is perceived by the body as severe stress, which provokes the release of adrenal hormones, increased cardiac output and constriction of arterial vessels.

With hypertension associated with apnea, patients report fatigue and irritability in the morning, daytime sleepiness, and heart rhythm disturbances.

Features of the disease are:

increased blood pressure mainly at night and in the morning;
moderate increase in daily indicators;
the diastolic (lower) indicator increases to a greater extent;
lack of effect from traditional antihypertensive therapy.

Nephropathy and increased blood pressure during sleep

One of the signs of renal origin of hypertension is a nocturnal rise in pressure. This is due to an increase in the content of renin produced by the kidneys and the launch of a chain of biochemical reactions. As a result, the flow of hormones and active compounds into the blood increases. They cause generalized arterial spasm (angiotensin 2) and sodium and water retention (aldosterone) in the body.

Hypertension at night can also occur with diabetic nephropathy. It is detected even earlier than protein in the urine. Therefore, daily monitoring of blood pressure can prevent the progression of this complication of diabetes leading to severe kidney failure.

Watch the video about high blood pressure and its causes:

Sharp jumps in older people

An increase in blood pressure is not a natural result of aging, but with age the following changes appear that contribute to hypertension:

decreased elasticity of the walls of the aorta and arteries;
deposition of collagen and elastin fibers in the vascular membranes;
calcification of the arterial bed;
loss of the ability to respond to internal and external stimuli by changes in the lumen of blood vessels;
decreased blood circulation in the kidneys, glomerular sclerosis;
low sensitivity of baroreceptors that respond to blood pressure;
decreased blood flow to the brain.

The result of involutional processes is a weak response to vasodilatory influences, persistent arterial spasm, and activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone mechanisms.

A characteristic sign of nocturnal hypertension in older people is a tendency to sudden changes in blood pressure levels. There is a predominant increase in the systolic indicator.

Predisposing factors

Some lifestyle features can lead to nocturnal hypertension:

emotional stress, stressful situations, especially in the evening;
playing sports late;
smoking;
night activity - loud music, watching movies or reading after midnight, using electronic gadgets;
eating salty, sweet or fatty foods before bed, drinks with caffeine or alcohol, drinking plenty of water;
change in climatic conditions, time zones;
night shifts at work, frequent business trips.

Excess weight, uncomfortable head position, especially with problems with the cervical spine, and hot flashes during menopausal disorders can affect the increase in blood pressure at night.

Caffeine: neutral for normotensive people, dangerous for people with high blood pressure

If you drink strong espresso, then the drink definitely affects blood vessels. Natural coffee beans contain caffeine. It provokes an increase in the production of a hormone responsible for our mood and vigor. Caffeine improves brain activity and reduces drowsiness.

Patients with hypertension need, if not completely abandon the invigorating drink, then significantly reduce its consumption.

How does coffee affect blood pressure?

Even one cup of espresso (strong) affects blood pressure levels. They increase, although not significantly, but sometimes this is enough to make a person feel worse. Sometimes nighttime hypertension can be explained by the fact that in the afternoon the person drank a lot of coffee.
Normotensive people (that is, people with blood pressure within the normal range) hardly notice any significant changes in their well-being. There is no obvious effect of the drink on the body. Here, rather, the effect of the ritual is noted when a person waits for the coveted cup of coffee, and when it is drunk, he feels joy, high spirits, and a surge of strength. As, indeed, with any other pleasant ritual.
Hypotonic people often feel better after a cup of coffee. Coffee raises blood pressure slightly, and can even bring it back to normal. And when it is not possible to drink coffee, they replace it with chocolate or Coca-Cola. In terms of mood and activity, it helps, but the benefits of these products are low.
Read also: Coarctation of the aorta in newborns: aortic stenosis in children, hypoplasia, narrowing

There is an established opinion that coffee with cognac is good for lowering blood pressure. The logic of supporters of this idea is as follows: cognac dilates blood vessels, which is why blood pressure drops. But that's not true.

Such a mixture is a test for the body. And if you get carried away with this combination, you are not far from arrhythmia.

What measures to take?

If a nighttime increase in blood pressure occurs in a hypertensive patient, what should you do? A person should shift their medication intake to the afternoon. Another option: take some of the drugs in the morning, and some in the evening.

Those who are experiencing high blood pressure for the first time do not have to immediately start drug treatment. First you need to use the following recommendations, which will not be superfluous in case of chronic hypertension:

If possible, reduce the working hours.
Moderate physical activity in the afternoon is the best way to relax after work, improve blood circulation, and strengthen the heart and blood vessels.
Avoid excessive activity of any kind before bedtime.

Master the art of relaxation and not bring work-related problems home.
To prevent your blood pressure from rising above normal, you must avoid stressful situations before going to bed.
Do not drink alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, strong tea in the evening.
Dinner should be light and should be eaten no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
Walking before bed, taking a warm bath, and a relaxing massage will be helpful.
Don't go to bed late.
There is no need to watch programs that have a bad effect on the nervous system before going to bed.
Get into the habit of regularly measuring your blood pressure at night.

If preventive measures do not help, you need to take pills that lower blood pressure. They must be prescribed by a doctor.

It should be noted that there are no special medications to reduce night pressure. The treatment will involve the usual conventional antihypertensive drugs: diuretics, ACE inhibitors, calcium inhibitors, adrenergic blockers.

In order for the body to fully carry out its functions, it is necessary to create conditions for this. Night sleep should not be disturbed by high blood pressure. Every person can prevent this. Hypertension is no joke: if you continue to ignore the dangerous condition, at some point you may simply not wake up.

Alcohol and blood pressure

Alcohol can affect blood pressure in different ways, but most often it increases blood pressure to high levels, which usually happens to people over 40. In this case, we are often talking about high doses of alcohol.

How does alcohol affect blood pressure?

Eethanol prevents blood and nutrients from entering the heart;
It disrupts liver function, which also affects the mechanisms of pressure regulation;
Consumption of high doses of alcohol reduces the level of magnesium in the blood, which also leads to an increase in blood pressure.

If a person drinks alcohol in hangover-free doses (i.e. more than 1.3 ml/kg of ethanol or 3.3 ml/kg of vodka), then four to five hours after drinking the blood pressure seriously increases. Approximately 20% of normal levels.

At first, ethanol has a relaxing effect, but this effect wears off quickly and is replaced by a tonic effect. First, the blood vessels spasm, then the nervous system becomes excited, the adrenaline effect intensifies, and the blood thickens.

Important! The more a person drinks, the higher the blood pressure can rise, and this is dangerous for a hypertensive crisis.

The downside is that frequent alcohol consumption, even in small doses, almost always results in progressive hypertension. And the risk of alcohol dependence is high, and it itself forces you to drink often and a lot. If a person drinks rarely, then alcohol, to which the body is not adapted, is perceived at the biological level as an aggressor. A sudden increase in blood pressure is possible. And this is also fraught with serious complications.

Physiological factors for increased blood pressure in the evening

Natural causes not related to disease can be represented by the following list:

Consumption of caffeine and drinks and medications containing it. The substance has a pronounced tonic effect and provokes a significant increase in blood pressure due to increased tone of large main vessels.

The result is stenosis (narrowing) of the blood supply structures, the development of significant arterial resistance and an increase in tonometer readings.

Dangerous drinks include tea, coffee, and energy drinks (they also contain a lot of sugar, so they can cause diabetes if consumed over a long period of time).

Smoking. Blood pressure especially often rises in the evening in patients with a decent history of using tobacco products. Both classic cigarettes and cigars and cigarettes are dangerous.

It is not only and not so much nicotine that is to blame for the increase in blood pressure, but rather harmful tars and chemical compounds.

The tonometer indicator can vary within wide limits. The more tobacco a patient used per day, the more significant the increase in blood pressure at night.

The reason is a spasm of blood vessels, a decrease in overall hemodynamics (blood flow through the vessels).

Excessive consumption of salty foods at lunch or dinner. The increased load on the stomach and digestive tract as a whole affects the cardiovascular system.

Lets you know the need for more intensive blood supply to anatomical structures.

In general, an increase in blood pressure by more than 10 units from normal, even after a large meal, is not normal. This is an indication of a pathological process.

Moreover, you should pay attention to your own health with the parallel development of tachycardia (increased heart rate).

Meteor dependence. According to statistics, approximately 25% of people in the population suffer from this condition. When atmospheric pressure changes, the tonometer reading increases.

Changes are especially common when there is rainy weather and low atmospheric pressure.

Alcohol consumption in the morning. Contrary to all the myths about the benefits of alcohol (we are talking about small doses), this is nothing more than a lie on the part of sellers and a misconception of the buyers themselves.

At the first moment, blood pressure actually decreases, the vessels become wider.

In the next period of time, the reverse process occurs with an increase in blood pressure and stenosis (narrowing) of the main blood supply structures. This is extremely dangerous and can lead to a stroke or heart attack.

Transitional age 12-19 years. Blood pressure can vary widely throughout the day: from 120 to 180 mmHg and even higher.

Puberty is associated with induced secondary hypotension or hypertension of endocrine and neurogenic (mixed) origin.

In this case, you do not need to do anything, except for situations with a persistent increase in tonometer readings.

Pregnancy. Gestation is accompanied by sharp jumps in blood pressure within significant ranges. In the evening, the pressure rises as a result of being in an upright position for a long time, but after rest everything returns to normal. If this is not the case, you need to consult a cardiologist to select possible therapy.
Menopause, menstrual cycle. A change in a woman’s hormonal levels affects her. Normalization of pressure is likely after the “storm” subsides. Not counting menopause. It is corrected through replacement therapy.
Physical and psycho-emotional tension. Causes a sharp jump in blood pressure in the dark due to the prolonged release of cortisol, norepinephrine and adrenaline (hormones of the adrenal cortex).
Too much use of oral contraceptives of progestogen and estrogen origin.

For physiological reasons, high blood pressure in the evening is the result of fatigue, the influence of climatic, weather factors, and hormonal factors. Treatment is usually not required.

Why are holiday feasts so dangerous?

Cardiologists have such a concept - a banquet heart attack. And the share of such heart attacks is about 8%, which is not so small. The reasons are simple: a person overate, fatty foods, which are almost always present at feasts, led to an increase in cholesterol. All this provoked an increase in thromboxanes, causing arterial spasm.

And in such a situation, increasing the concentration of alcohol to 1.5 ppm can seriously affect the condition of the left ventricle of the heart. This is accompanied by tachycardia, increased DBP, activation of the sympathetic-adrenal system with an increase in the level of catecholamines.

To put it simply, a long-term spasm begins: a lot of oxygen is needed, but the vessels are narrow. Often a person does not even have time to feel anginal pain. Alas, after such a feast he can go to bed and not wake up .

Addiction to alcohol, which many drinkers simply do not admit, is also the reason why blood pressure rises at night. As a rule, other aspects of the lifestyle of a person who is accustomed to drinking frequently are not the most optimal. A tired body that does not have proper nutrition allows vital systems to fail. And hypertension progresses rapidly.

Treatment methods

If blood pressure rises in the evening, then a person should understand that this is already a pathological condition and needs to see a doctor. To find out exactly what kind of increase is taking place, there must be a tonometer with which you can measure the indicator at night to inform the doctor.

You need to record the tonometer data in a special diary in order to understand the dynamics of the increase. Measurements are taken throughout the day. Towards evening, the pressure may increase slightly, then the measurement is carried out before going to bed. A tonometer is used at night only if the person wakes up due to discomfort and symptoms of hypertension

All this is very important during diagnosis; these records will help to understand why blood pressure rises in the evening

What to do if there is an increase during sleep? If high blood pressure is observed at night, you should definitely contact a therapist and cardiologist, who will prescribe the necessary examinations and treatment. Searching for medications on your own is strictly prohibited.

If blood pressure rises at night, then you need to take medications prescribed by your doctor in the evenings, namely, closer to bedtime. In this case, the following are assigned:

diuretics;
beta and alpha adrenergic blockers;
ACE inhibitors;
calcium channel blockers.

If the indicators do not increase much, and this happens infrequently, then doctors recommend resorting to other methods of treatment - non-drug ones. These include:

Massage treatments. They are indicated for various diseases. For example, massage is necessary to relieve stress, relax muscles, and for osteochondrosis.
Physiotherapy. It helps to improve the well-being of a person with hypertension; there is even a special set of exercises for this. It is necessary for people leading a sedentary lifestyle as a prevention of diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Phytotherapy. To influence a slight increase in blood pressure at night, you can take traditional medicine. Your doctor will help you decide which decoctions and infusions to take.
Acupuncture.

When a person experiences nocturnal hypertension, it is important to determine the causes immediately in order to select the correct therapy. It can be medicinal or non-medicinal

It is dangerous to let this condition go, as it is fraught with complications: hypertensive crisis, stroke and heart attack.

ESP and pressure fluctuations

VSD (vegetative-vascular dystonia) is a polyetiological syndrome expressed in dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The outdated term is used less and less in the medical community. If a person is given a similar diagnosis, it is only tacitly: the medical record will indicate somatoform autonomic dysfunction of the NS.

The disorders that this disorder provokes are, as a rule, secondary. They appear due to somatic or mental illnesses. For example, organic damage to the central nervous system and hormonal imbalances (often in adolescence) can lead to such a diagnosis. Very often, autonomic disorders are part of hypertension, cardiac ischemia, and endocrine diseases.

If we are talking about mental illness, then more often it is a panic disorder, less often - a depressive disorder.

There are many symptoms, the main ones include:

Dizziness, fatigue, loss of strength, apathy, high weather sensitivity;
Increased heartbeat, arrhythmia and a feeling of heaviness in the chest;
Nausea, bloating and hiccups;
Shortness of breath, feeling of lack of air, difficulty breathing, forced breathing;
Frequent urination (sometimes difficult);
Infrequent and mild joint pain.

Therapy is always comprehensive, it is based on individual clinical manifestations. It is very important to normalize your lifestyle, as well as moderate but regular physical activity. The ability to withstand stress becomes important. As part of drug therapy, vitamins, antioxidants, antihypoxants, nootropics, and vegetative stabilizers can be actively used. They try to prescribe antidepressants in exceptional cases.

Since VSD is a syndromic pathology, its manifestations can either be adjacent to a specific disease (for example, hypertension), or resemble it. Why does blood pressure rise in the evening? Sometimes it is diagnosed hypertension that needs to be seriously corrected.

But a very strong increase sometimes refers to what we call VSD, and here the correction will be less medicinal. But a reaction from the patient is definitely needed.

Endocrine pathologies and increased blood pressure

From a school biology course, everyone probably knows that the endocrine glands produce certain signaling compounds - these are hormones. They are actively involved in stabilizing the constancy of the internal environment of the body. One of the options of hormones (both direct and indirect) is considered to be maintaining normal blood pressure.

These are, first of all, adrenal hormones - cortisol, aldosterone, as well as catecholamines. But thyroid hormones of the thyroid gland, as well as growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland, also play a significant role in regulating blood pressure.

Sometimes the cause of an increase in blood pressure may be stagnation of water and sodium in the tissues. You can also “blame” the sympathetic nervous system, which is activated hormonally, for fluctuations in the tonometer reading. If this section is in high tone, then the heartbeat quickens, the strength of heart contractions increases, and the diameter of the blood vessels narrows. Therefore, if blood pressure increases due to endocrine disruption, then the adrenal glands, thyroid gland and pituitary gland are examined.

Oral contraceptives and blood pressure

An increase in blood pressure in the evening is sometimes dictated by a purely female reason - taking oral contraceptives (birth control pills).

If you take OK for a long time, your blood pressure may actually increase slightly. For example, women taking Utrozhestan often complain. This is a progesterone medication that promotes conception and embryogenesis. But this is not a contraceptive, but a hormonal drug to maintain pregnancy and its very possibility. As a rule, after completing this treatment course, the pressure normalizes.

Oral contraceptives often increase blood pressure in women who are genetically susceptible to cardiovascular disease. And sometimes there is a sharp increase in blood pressure. If there are any hidden pathologies in the body, birth control pills can “wake them up”. And then bleeding, migraines, spasms and increased blood pressure may occur (very often in the evening).

Nutrition

It is very important for hypertensive patients to follow some dietary rules. There is a special diet for them - table No. 10. You need to eat no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime. Food should be light and low in calories. A full stomach and intestines are enlarged before going to bed, and because of this they put pressure on the diaphragm. And this increases blood pressure.

Higher calorie foods should be consumed in the morning and at lunchtime. This way they will have time to digest throughout the day. Also, hypertensive patients are not recommended to drink tea before bed. Why should you give it up in the evening? A large amount of fluid activates increased kidney function and an increase in fluid volume in the body. Accordingly, because of this, the pressure rises at night.

Nutrition for hypertension involves reducing the amount of salt consumed. Excess of it provokes quite unpleasant symptoms - increased blood pressure at night, swelling, impaired kidney function and fluid retention in the body.

Stress factor and blood pressure

Without a doubt, increased blood pressure and stress are closely related. Mental resilience is very important here, which makes it possible to skillfully respond to stress, not allowing it to become a catalyst for somatic pathologies.

When stressed, no matter what causes it, hormonal activity increases, the pulse quickens, blood vessels constrict, and blood pressure rises. But when the stress factor itself goes away, the condition of the organs and systems normalizes.

Stress, as we know, entails a physiological reaction. But still, it is unlikely that nature created the human body in such a way that it could face serious stress every day. No, of course, and this constant confrontation of contemporaries with anxieties, worries, and time pressure leads to an imbalance of reactions.

If a person experiences stress often, if his diet cannot be called correct, if he has bad habits, then there are enough risk factors for the development of hypertension.

Doctors pay attention to nervous excitability - a high level of this indicator is very common today, especially among young and able-bodied people. At a certain point, they begin to notice problems with coordination of movement, difficulties in spatial orientation, and asymmetry of the facial muscles.

Reasons for the development of high nervous excitability:

Chronic lack of sleep;
Increased conflict - a person is poorly aware that some of the conflicts are provoked by himself, that they, in a certain sense, are his energy supply;
Severe and frequent stress - sometimes it goes away as soon as a person realizes that it is time to change work, place of residence, family status, etc.;
Suspiciousness, nervousness, increased anxiety.

As soon as you realize that these transfers apply to you, hurry to seek help from specialists. Don't wait for the condition to worsen. At first, the pressure simply rises in the evening, and then hypertension manifests itself clearly and clearly. And the time for gentle therapy is lost.

First signs

Chronic hypertensive patients feel pressure. But patients who do not suffer from hypertension often do not understand the causes of discomfort and tend to think about overexertion and a difficult day at work. However, an evening increase in blood pressure has a number of characteristic signs that should make them wary:

morning depression, feeling of lack of sleep, “stale” head, slight tachycardia;
periodic numbness of the fingertips during work;
migraine in the middle of the workday;
nausea, tinnitus, low-grade fever, feeling of lack of air;
throbbing temples or frontal pain in the late afternoon;
problems falling asleep, shallow sleep with nightmares;
feeling cold or stuffy during sleep, sweating;

A combination of any three symptoms is a reason to consult a doctor.

Weather dependence and pressure

All people living on this planet are weather sensitive. And this characteristic has nothing to do with pathology: as a part of nature, a person responds to its physical changes. But weather sensitivity and weather dependence are different concepts, although they are often confused.

A weather-dependent person not only feels a change in the weather, he endures it painfully. And this situation is already outside the norm; it needs correction. As a rule, this is rare in healthy people; very often hypotensive/hypertensive patients are meteodependent.

When atmospheric pressure fluctuates, they complain about:

Headache, weakness, chest discomfort;
A sharp decrease in performance;
Lethargy and apathy;
Changes in blood pressure;
Bloating;
Pain in joints, muscles;
Increased irritability, causeless anxiety.

Weather-dependent people also react negatively to lower temperatures; at this time, chronic diseases - cystitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis - can worsen. If a person has an autoimmune disease, and it can enter an acute stage: rheumatoid arthritis worsens, the manifestations of bronchial asthma intensify.

At this time, some people have low blood pressure in the morning and high blood pressure in the evening. This often happens to hypertensive patients, but those who have never previously experienced pressure fluctuations can also experience alarming symptoms.

If you know that weather dependence in your case may have a hereditary factor, you should not wait for severe exacerbations and take measures. Some people are simply embarrassed to see a doctor about this problem – but it’s a pity, we can work on it.

Treatment of nocturnal hypertension

The initial stage of the disease is corrected with the help of diuretics, as well as antispasmodics and mild sedatives. Measures such as giving up bad habits, drinking caffeine-containing drinks, and nocturnal lifestyle play an important role. It is forbidden to eat salty and fatty foods at night, and drink plenty of liquids in the evening.

Medical appointments

Diuretic medications (diuretics) are usually prescribed as follows: Furosemide, Hydrochlorothiazide, Clopamide. They facilitate the functioning of the kidneys, which affects the tone of blood vessels and the heart muscle. Excess fluid is excreted, but along with it calcium ions and minerals, which, if taken incorrectly, cause metabolic failure and the functioning of the body. The dosage should only be selected by a doctor, based on the patient’s condition and his history of diseases. Self-medication with these drugs can be fatal.
To maintain proper metabolism while taking diuretics, potassium, calcium and magnesium supplements, as well as B vitamins, are additionally prescribed.
For sedatives in the first stage of nocturnal hypertension, mild herbal tinctures are prescribed, for example, valerian, motherwort or peony. They are consumed in the evening - 20 drops of the drug are diluted with two tablespoons of water at room temperature.
The second and third stages of the disease are treated only with medication. Drugs from the group of beta blockers, calcium antagonists and direct rhinin inhibitors are prescribed. Renin blockers include such popular medications as Capoten and Methiopril. If the dosages are followed, side effects from these tablets are quite rare.
Calcium antagonists cause vasodilatation, as a result of which the level of blood pressure on the walls drops. However, these drugs are not always well tolerated and have a number of side effects, such as swelling of the face, arms and legs, headaches, weakness, nausea.

The dosage is determined only by the doctor; if any negative sensations appear after taking the listed medications, you should notify the doctor.

Attention! Improper use of tablets from the listed groups can cause a drop in blood pressure, which in some cases can lead to a stroke.

Drug-free therapy

Traditional medicine recipes help only with the first stage of the disease (numbers up to 159/99). Treating more serious forms of the disease (second and third degrees of hypertension) with herbal preparations is pointless wasting time.

At the onset of the disease, the following methods can be recommended:

Consume flaxseeds at night. In the evening you should eat 1 teaspoon of raw materials.
Garlic infusion. 3 cloves are poured into a glass of boiling water, left for 24 hours, and consumed in the evening after meals, 1 tablespoon.
Beetroot juice (2 tbsp.) with honey and lemon juice (1 tbsp. each). The ingredients are poured into cranberry juice (½ glass) and drunk immediately. It is recommended to be treated in this way daily.

All folk remedies are used in courses, for example, 2 weeks of treatment, then one week break.

Tips for weather dependent

What else causes blood pressure to rise in the evening is, as we found out above, a tendency to weather dependence. But there is no need to panic, much less give up - there are easy-to-follow recommendations that can help.

To prevent climate fluctuations from being a challenge for you, listen to these tips:

You should ventilate the room more often. Are you afraid of the cold? In vain. Light coolness is healthier for our body than relaxing warmth. In addition, in the stuffiness that many create artificially, there is extremely little oxygen. In such an environment, a person is a priori apathetic, lethargic, weak, and drowsy.
Regular contrast showers will be of great help. This, by the way, is an excellent vascular workout. Get used to it in small sessions, careful in terms of temperature changes. If you are afraid of such a procedure, you can limit yourself to using a tonic shower gel - it uses ingredients whose smell invigorates and awakens.
A useful and simple procedure would be a morning massage of the ears, on which, as you have probably heard, there are many active zones. We can say that such a massage also awakens the organs. Rub your ears, stretch them, concentrate on the pleasant sensations - this should not be done to the point of pain. Two or three minutes - and your internal organs “woke up”.

4. You should not eat heavily on days when you are especially sensitive to weather conditions. On the contrary, eat in moderation, modestly, but not sparingly. Breakfast could be oatmeal with berries, one sandwich with butter and cheese. For lunch, make yourself an omelette with vegetables. For dinner - vegetable salad with a small amount of pickled cheese, whole grain bread. Drink water throughout the day. If you have tea, then only herbal tea; try not to drink coffee.

Of course, coordinate such a menu with the presence/absence of contraindications.

There is no need to force yourself to move if you are completely powerless. Movements in such a situation should only be natural, not through “I can’t.” You can turn on your favorite music, and often it is this music that gives rise to pleasant associations, has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, and helps relieve fatigue and apathy. You may even, after some time, want to dance to the beat.
Sometimes just a couple of movements help - rub your palms together, as if you are trying to warm up. And then, when your palms become hot, apply them to your eyelids. And so three times. Lethargy usually goes away quickly.

Otherwise, everything is simple, to prevent the negative manifestations of weather dependence, walk more in the fresh air. It is also a good prevention of depressive disorders. Find a place, a time, a reason to spend at least half an hour outside. It is advisable that you are surrounded not by an urban landscape, but by nature. A park, a square, a walk through a suburban forest, the shore of a reservoir - you can find such places everywhere if you wish.

Night pressure has different causes, but if you have already seen the connection between blood pressure fluctuations and changes in nature, do not give in. Try to resist your addiction, this is a controlled process.

Prevention measures

Measures to prevent the development of nocturnal hypertension can also be regarded as rules that must be followed to eliminate an existing disease.

The main recommendations that people suffering from attacks of high blood pressure need to follow are:

Moderate physical activity, walks, and walking in the fresh air will help improve your overall health.
It is important to avoid increased mental and physical activity at night. At least a couple of hours before bedtime, you should devote yourself to quiet activities.
Giving up bad habits is the most important point. Smoking, drinking alcohol, overeating are the main factors contributing to the deterioration of the vascular system.
It is recommended to avoid stress and nervous experiences.
If there are errors in nutrition, the first thing to do is to make adjustments to your usual diet. Avoid pickles, fatty foods, marinades, and smoked foods. You need to eat only natural and nutrient-rich foods. You should eat several times a day, but in small portions.

It is imperative to combat attacks of nocturnal hypertension, regardless of their intensity and frequency of occurrence.

In the vast majority of clinical cases, hypertension, including the nocturnal form of the disease, is considered an incurable pathology. Accordingly, to improve general well-being and prevent complications, the patient needs to take medications and follow the rules of behavior and nutrition throughout his life.