Anyone else experience huge swings in blood pressure?

Hello I have the same. My dr. Is not sure why this is as well. Anything can trigger Blood pressure especially stress. I have also had appointment s with a cardiologist over the phone to discuss testing results no answers either just meds. I love I'm ontario Canada , the health care here ........lets face it we are piling more people in on a system that needed more professionals already, now we have an over run situation. It takes forever here for an appointment .I sympathy with you. It's frustrating.

I am in BC as well and feel your pain. I too was told I had ischemic strokes (no obvious damage) My cholesterol is in optimal range, BP was usually optimal but would drop to 80/50 but wake up with 175/105. One time 200/100 went to er thinking stroke and no reason was found....a family dr in the US convinced me the hypertensive bp need control so I am on losartan 25mg daily and it really stabilized the bp. My orthostatic hypotension is minimal and no high bp spikes. Strokes....no answer but did find severe spine degeneration and some cord compression. Hope some of this may help. Meanwhile we wait up here or go to US

Hi Sally
Yes, it is a mystery. The only thing I can figure is that I have had a heart murmur since I was a child and as I am older now, it may have led to either a sticky valve or an enlarged heart. Everything moves very slowly...and it will be a few weeks to months before I know what's going on. They gave me a prescription when I left the hospital, but I prefer not to take medication until they figure out what's going on. Now, I am glad I didn't take it because the last couple of days my blood pressure has been good and medication would have artificially lowered it even more to a point that isn't good. It is frustrating because in BC in particular, they refuse to hire back skilled nurses because they would not take a nonsense CV19 shot that very soon after admission proved it didn't work effectively. Our health care system is apparently dead last now when Canada used to be at the top.

Hi spibill - how were you able to find someone in the U.S.? Did they find what the issue was? How long have you been on losartan? I'm very leery at this stage to take medication. If they have no idea what's going on - then what are they medicating? Best guess? I'm sure it will end up with either medication or an operation, but until they can figure out the cause, I don't want an artificial cure. Don't get me wrong, I realize some prescription drugs are a God-send, but doctors today issue pills too quickly and I want to research before I blindly trust them.

Hi. I am dual citizen and buy health insurance there as I had no progress in Canada for the past 8 years. However, you can just tell the US provider you want a cash price and it is very affordable and fast. $295 for cta of brain, $300-$500 mri's and usually 2 week wait. Losartan is an old school bp med and I am very leery of drugs as well but realized the bp med to control hypertensive bp
swings is better than strokes. I was shocked and happy the med also stabilised the low bp swings and I take an 81mg asperin daily.

Oh as for how to find someone, I went to a walk in clinic, they made a specialisr referral ( I pre researched the ones that fit my travel and medical needs) saw them, they ordered testing. It is not solved yet but more and faster information has helped me manage the Canadian system better now. US found spinal cord compression and kinked vertebral arteries. Symptoms have now progressed so Canada is looking for spinal lesions (I think) The doctors practice in silos unfortnately. I need a leader.

I wish you all the best in your research and I agree, we are in bad shape in Canada. I contacted an American company that was recommended to me since they have a cardiologist on staff, but they said only American's can use their services. I thought perhaps Mexico, but while they are exploring, I'd have to stay there I suspect.

Hi, the more comments I read the more I think.What has happened here. Wait lists for testing is months, wait list for neurologists , months , cardiologists, months. Any type of specialist can take up to a year.. We wait and suffer, yet drug addiction in Ontario is at an all time h i gh. Our government hands out prescription from designated clinics by the min. Free drugs, illegal ones. What's wrong here.. I thought as I got older I would be taken care of,,paid taxes forever. Into a broken system. Yet alone the stress from it all can't be good for anyone here...

Boy, do I ever hear you on that. BC is one of the absolute worst provinces, but I understand Ontario is pretty bad as well. We are incredibly short of health care staff - we don't even have a clinic where I live and a huge number of people don't have a doctor, leading to more crowding in the emergency departments at our hosptials because people have no where else to go. Many times, a person knows what their situation is, isn't an emergency; but we have no other recourse.
I haven't seen my doctor since 2019 and yet, I'm waiting 6 weeks before I can get a phone call!!! When I was in emergency, they sent me home with a prescription and they don't even know what the issue is yet! Needless to say, I'm not taking the medication. I looked up the side effects and decided I wasn't going to take drugs.
BC gives out drugs freely, as you say, and our homeless problem is absolutely insane. Very dire situation for those of us who paid into a medical system our entire working lives and yet, we have no medical care.