What position should you take with high blood pressure - how to lie correctly during attacks of hypertension

man takes a pill at night

Why does blood pressure rise at night? It is known that during the day a person is capable of experiencing stress on the body from various sources.

Vertical position of the body, physical, mental and nervous stress, malnutrition, industrial and household factors - all this will contribute to increased pressure and its sharp jumps.

When blood pressure rises during sleep, all the symptoms associated with hypertension may be absent. Why does this happen, since sleep disturbance (difficulty going to bed, waking up or inability to sleep) is something that a person can often complain about?

Signs of nocturnal hypertension

the man doesn't sleep at night

With initially elevated blood pressure in older people, such signs appear immediately after waking up.

They indicate that there was an attack of hypertension at night:

  • chronic fatigue, apathy and irritability;
  • decreased concentration;
  • muscle pain, headache, dizziness;
  • swelling, noise in the head;
  • decreased visual acuity;
  • numbness of body parts and chills.

Nocturnal hypertension (its latent type of course) develops damage to target organs, and some clinical conditions become pronounced:

  • heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmia);
  • chest pain (angina pectoris);
  • possible increase in temperature;
  • circulatory disorders in the brain (transient ischemic disease);
  • brain damage (encephalopathy).

An increase in blood pressure in the evening implies a possible deterioration of the condition, so monitoring blood pressure, which increases in the evening, is a necessary condition before going to bed.

Medicine for hypertension with minimal side effects

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Reasons for increased blood pressure during sleep

An increase in blood pressure at night occurs due to one of the forms of hypertension - primary (essential) and secondary (symptomatic).

Essential develops as an independent disease, and its origin is not fully understood.

It is generally accepted that it occurs when there are disturbances in nerve conduction in the vasomotor center of the medulla oblongata and spinal cord in a state of constant tonic activity. Let's figure out why this happens.

When the activity of the pressor department is too high, the pressure rises; with irritation of the depressor department, the activity of the first is inhibited, and the pressure during sleep decreases at night (this is why it is important not to miss the time to visit a medical institution).

In addition to the vasomotor center in the medulla oblongata and spinal cord, the vessels are influenced by the diencephalon and the higher parts of the two hemispheres of the brain. There is also a hereditary predisposition.

Chronic overexertion narrows small arterioles, causing sclerosis and increased pressure.

The ability of arteries to stretch in response to external stimuli decreases: increased body temperature, increased levels of stress hormones, metabolic activity. The pressure rises, and the vessels refuse to stretch normally.

Secondary hypertension is the cause of increased blood pressure in older people at night. It arises from the presence of serious diseases that trigger this process.

Damage to internal organs responsible for regulating pressure in blood vessels leads to a persistent increase in pressure. Sleep at night becomes shallow or not possible at all.

Secondary arterial hypertension has varieties (depending on the affected organ). Here they are:

  1. Nephrogenic (caused by chronic diseases of the kidneys and their vessels).
  2. Vasorenal (decreased glomerular filtration, arterial hemodynamics).
  3. Endocrine (damage to the adrenal cortex and medulla; dysfunction of the thyroid and parathyroid glands, pituitary gland).
  4. Hemodynamic (damage to large vessels as a result of atherosclerotic deposits, coarctation of the aorta and inflammation of the arterioles).
  5. Neurogenic (increased intracranial pressure as a result of injuries, malignant neoplasms, stroke, inflammation of the lining of the brain - meningitis, encephalitis).
  6. Medicinal (formed as a result of taking glucocorticosteroids, combined oral contraceptives, psychoactive toxic substances - ephedrine, cocaine).

The narrowing of the lumen of arteries and arterioles is promoted by:

  • excess weight;
  • lack of physical activity;
  • increased content of salty foods in the diet;
  • smoking and alcohol addiction, caffeine addiction;
  • age factor and stress.

It is now clear why an elderly person’s blood pressure may increase at night.

Why at night: risks and threats

man and woman in bed

Nervous overload in the daytime, worries - these are the factors that affect the general condition of the body and aggravate the situation. This interferes with normal rest.

The body responds even more by releasing stress hormones and increasing metabolism.

Why can blood pressure rise not only during sleep at night, but also during the day? The reason for this may be, for example, the consumption of salt in increased quantities, which contributes to the accumulation of fluid in the cells.

The volume of blood in the vascular bed increases, the heart is stressed, and the pressure becomes high at night.

Disruption of the biorhythm of sleep and wakefulness leads to atony of the vascular walls, the circadian rhythm is also abnormal (this is the name of the cycle of chemical, physical and mental processes that occurs over a daily period of time in a certain rhythm).

When the circadian rhythm is disrupted, the ratio of hormones, microelements, blood sugar, and the process of formation and consumption of melatonin changes.

This is a complex of reasons that answers the question of why blood pressure rises at night during sleep.

Assistance in the treatment and care of drug addicted patients

When blood pressure rises at night during sleep, treatment must be comprehensive. It is necessary to purposefully influence the regime, nutrition, bad habits and existing diseases. You need to start by eliminating the risk factors that were listed above. Then, full healthy sleep, work and rest patterns, and daily routine are normalized. If possible, you should remove salty foods, smoked foods, coffee and alcohol from your diet.

Drug therapy is prescribed by the attending physician, based on blood pressure figures during the night, in the morning, concomitant damage to target organs (kidneys, heart, retina, brain, blood vessels), age and gender. Sometimes for young people it is enough to normalize their lifestyle, balance their diet, and their blood pressure returns to normal. In old age, more serious and long-term treatment of nocturnal hypertension is required.

If for some reason your blood pressure begins to rise at night, then you should start treatment by visiting a therapist!

People suffering from nocturnal hypertension should seek help from a doctor

Good results in the treatment of hypertension are achieved by relaxation methods (yoga, aromatherapy, auto-training, psychotherapeutic hypnosis, etc.), herbs, and spa treatment. A well-chosen regimen helps normalize blood pressure, restore well-being, performance, and reduce the risk of possible complications.

Treatment of drug addiction is a very complex and lengthy process, the success of which primarily depends on the sincere desire of the addict himself to recover from his pathological addiction to drugs. Of course, it is possible to give the patient detox therapy.

Why in the lying position?

pressure measurement

There are diseases that few people have heard of. Therefore, people often do not even suspect that they have serious health problems. This is the main argument why blood pressure rises at night when lying down.

One of these diseases is OSA (obstructive sleep apnea syndrome). This is the cessation of pulmonary ventilation for 10 seconds or more. An attack can last 20-30 seconds, and in particularly advanced cases, reach 2-3 minutes and in total reach 60% of sleep time.

Obstructive sleep syndrome at night becomes a regular process when it is preceded by pulmonary apnea during the day with 10-15 repetitions within an hour. The syndrome is accompanied by daytime sleepiness and impaired intellect and memory processes.

Obstructive sleep apnea requires snoring, which accompanies frequent or complete cessation of the respiratory function of the lungs. As a result of gross fragmentation of sleep, the level of carbon dioxide in the blood increases, which explains daytime sleepiness.

The second form of manifestation of obstructive apnea can be called hypopnea. In its phase, complete cessation of breathing does not occur, but it lasts longer and is just as dangerous.

The disease is serious and can interrupt sleep by activating the hypothalamic-pituitary system. There is a change in the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system to the sympathetic one, and it becomes difficult to sleep.

This leads to depressive states, then to heart attacks and strokes, which are preceded by high blood pressure due to hypertension.

Why, if the pressure rises at night precisely in a supine position, is it necessary to urgently consult a doctor? A person with this diagnosis may fall asleep and not wake up.

In this regard, dangerous conditions of apnea and hypopnea require immediate medical attention.

World Health Organization classification for assessing blood pressure levels

*If systolic and diastolic blood pressure are found in different categories, the highest category is selected. ** Optimal in relation to the risk of developing cardiovascular complications and mortality

The terms “mild”, “borderline”, “severe”, “moderate” given in the classification characterize only the level of blood pressure, and not the severity of the patient’s disease. In everyday clinical practice, the World Health Organization classification of arterial hypertension is adopted, based on damage to the so-called target organs. These are the most common complications occurring in the brain, eyes, heart, kidneys and blood vessels.

General psychopathology deals with the description of the main symptoms and syndromes of mental illness. Due to the fact that the symptoms of mental illness are diverse, several classifications have been adopted, taking into account the main areas of mental activity: mental, emotional, volitional and narration.

Depression is a persistent mood disorder accompanied by anhedonia, the patient loses the ability to experience joy about events occurring in his life. The disease is accompanied by some motor retardation and impaired thinking. On average, a depressive episode.

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Diagnostics

Holter ecg

Before contacting a doctor, you should monitor whether your blood pressure has increased at night or not.

If short-term respiratory arrests occur and blood pressure is elevated, it is worth paying attention to this, since these are harbingers of deadly diseases - heart attacks, stroke, arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, arrhythmias and thromboembolism.

As a standard of clinical research, the doctor will prescribe:

  • blood and urine tests;
  • electrocardiogram using the Holter method (at different levels of physical activity);
  • Ultrasound of the kidneys, brain;
  • pulse oximetry (determination of the % ratio of oxyhemoglobin to hemoglobin).

Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the next step is to identify the reasons why nocturnal hypertension occurs.

What to do

doctor measuring girl's blood pressure

When pressure increases mainly at night (like obstructive apnea), standard therapy for arterial hypertension is ineffective.

Once it has become known why blood pressure rises at night, the question arises of what to do.

If your blood pressure starts to rise at night during sleep, you need to be wary and begin to take immediate action. The treatment approach should be comprehensive and include:

  • drug treatment of hypertensive essential hypertension and nocturnal symptomatic hypertension along with concomitant diseases;
  • dietary prescription;
  • regular exercise;
  • fight stress and bad habits.

If you don't take these decisive steps, your blood pressure will continue to rise (regardless of the time of day).

Drug treatment

pills

What should be the treatment when the reasons why blood pressure rises at night are known?

As for medications, doctors recommend taking a suitable combination of drugs and being treated with Valz. It has a good effect on nocturnal hypertension and will help older people get rid of a constantly disturbing condition.

According to the instructions, the drug can be prescribed for diseases:

  • increased blood pressure;
  • chronic heart failure;
  • myocardial infarction;
  • uncomplicated form of renal failure.

"Valz" eliminates the causes of nocturnal hypertension, many of which are treatable, and also helps lower blood pressure (although it is impossible to cure the disease with pills alone).

The drug is prescribed with alpha-, beta-blockers, diuretics, statins, drugs for the treatment of myocardial infarction, thrombolytics.

Before starting a course of treatment, restoration of electrolyte balance in the body is indicated.

Contraindications:

  • severe renal failure;
  • liver dysfunction and bile duct obstruction;
  • individual sensitivity to the drug and lactose;
  • It is also not used with ACE inhibitors (to prevent the effect of blood intoxication).

A decrease in blood pressure is observed in the first 2 weeks of taking the drug (with a peak after a month of taking it).

The recommended dose for starting treatment is 80 mg once a day, increasing to 160 mg to achieve a therapeutic effect.

In case of chronic heart failure, the dose with which treatment should be started is reduced to 40 mg (with a subsequent dosage increase by 2 times).

Dosage reduction is possible with concomitant use of antihypertensive drugs (for example, diuretics).

Blood pressure monitoring

boy on ecg

When it becomes known why nocturnal hypertension occurs, it is worth figuring out how to determine the increase in blood pressure at night. People can often underestimate their condition, because it changes during the day: at night the pressure can be high, during the day - low.

Older people tend not to notice serious problems or attribute everything to age.

In the procedure of daily blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), changes in the bloodstream are visible: pulse, at what hours the blood pressure was at what level, its dependence on external factors (medication, physical activity, time, etc.).

The patient is put on the device for a day. The readings are taken automatically every hour and recorded on the device. Monitoring is carried out without taking any medications that increase or decrease blood pressure.

Psychological relief

girl on the sofa reading a book

Psychological state is the basis for normalizing blood pressure. When people begin to understand why a person’s blood pressure rises at night, this is the beginning of the path to recovery and providing themselves with a psychological comfort zone.

Against the background of psychological stability, high-quality prolonged therapy can be carried out.

ethnoscience

herbs and vegetables

Nocturnal hypertension at the initial stage of development responds well to treatment with traditional methods. The effect occurs from the use of sedatives and diuretics, and the use of potassium-containing products in the diet.

In more advanced cases, traditional medicine is indicated in combination with medications. According to medical experts, self-medication with folk remedies is very doubtful and does not cure hypertension.

Moreover, taking diuretic preparations can lead to progression of the disease, hypertensive crises.

The category of useful foods for hypertension includes potatoes, garlic, hawthorn, viburnum, beets, black rowan, cranberries, and carrots.

A positive effect is observed from taking cranberries mixed with honey, diuretics and medications prescribed by a doctor.

The traditional method of treating hypertension will require the use of ingredients:

  • 100 g elecampane;
  • 70 g oats;
  • 50 g honey.

The oats are washed and brought to a boil, then left for 4 hours. The elecampane root is poured with the resulting settled decoction and brought to a boil again. After standing for 2 hours, take a third of a glass 2-3 times a day. The course of treatment is 3 weeks.

A good effect is observed when blood pressure increases during the day (and especially at night) from chamomile, St. John's wort, immortelle leaves, and birch buds.

The herbs are mixed in equal quantities, poured with boiling water and left to infuse for several hours. The course of treatment is similar to the first method.

The decoction is beneficial for elderly people with nocturnal attacks of hypertension and has no contraindications. As first aid, a cotton napkin soaked in table vinegar is wrapped around the legs. The effect is noticeable after 30 minutes.

What to do if measurement indicators in different positions have dramatic differences

In this situation, the position in which pressure is most often measured is also of no small importance. If a person lies down during the measurement, the tonometer will show lower readings compared to a sitting position, that is, the result will be different. To obtain more accurate results, a sitting position is preferable.

It is worth noting that changes in blood pressure levels when changing posture are defined in medicine as orthostatic hypertension, and most often it is observed in patients:

  • Elderly.
  • With diabetes.
  • Taking vasodilator medications.

To obtain accurate measurement results in this category of patients, measurements with a tonometer are carried out at least three times with an interval of 1 minute, then the average value is calculated, which will mean the final indicator.

If the result shows very high blood pressure over a certain period of time, you should seek medical help. The specialist will prescribe appropriate examinations to determine the reasons that led to the deterioration of the patient’s health. You cannot delay your visit to the doctor’s office; such irresponsibility can lead to serious complications.

Disease prevention

food

It is known why blood pressure begins to rise when lying down, and how to treat it. But how to prevent it?

To do this, it is enough to adhere to general preventive measures:

  • avoid stressful situations;
  • exclude fried foods that contain refractory fats;
  • control the salt content in the diet;
  • quit smoking and alcohol;
  • take a walk in the fresh air;
  • give up caffeine-containing products, coffee and black teas;
  • increase consumption of fish and dairy products, vegetables, fruits;
  • every meal should be light;
  • Do not have dinner immediately before bed.

Treatment

High blood pressure at night should be treated by a qualified physician. Therapy with folk remedies without consultation with a specialist can lead to unpredictable consequences. The patient must ensure complete rest. Treatment at home should be agreed with a doctor.

You need to regularly use a tonometer and monitor all changes to prevent high blood pressure. To provide first aid in a hospital setting, Nitroglycerin, Enalaprin, sodium nitroprusside, Metoprolol, Emmolol, and diuretics are used.

When choosing drugs for the treatment and prevention of high blood pressure, the doctor takes into account the patient’s condition, symptoms, examination results, and contraindications. In case of a hypertensive crisis, the patient is indicated for urgent hospitalization. Along with medications, your doctor may recommend supplementing your daily diet with foods that contain potassium. For minor symptoms of high blood pressure, the patient is recommended to consume fresh vegetable juices, herbal teas, berries, fruits, and foods of natural origin. These are the best preventive measures at home.


Changing your diet for high blood pressure

The most effective means of traditional medicine are crushed cranberries with honey, diuretic herbal mixtures (lingonberry leaves). If you have high blood pressure, it is recommended to include baked potatoes, garlic, chokeberries, carrots, ginger, and viburnum in your daily diet.

conclusions

It is possible to get rid of hypertension completely only in the initial stages, without resorting to medications.

If for some reason there are sudden surges in pressure at night with changes in the morning (since these are advanced cases), complex drug therapy in combination with traditional recipes will be required.

Be sure to coordinate your actions with your doctor. This will determine how to combine and dose medications and which specialist to contact.

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