How can normal blood pressure suddenly rise and stay on the high side

You didn’t mention anything about exercise. With a regular exercise routine like even walking, riding a stationary bike while watching TV, staying active — but not stressed over the course of the day your blood pressure should be normal. Yes, your blood pressure will fluctuate easier as you age, but if you want to stay healthy and fit without being on medicines (with side effects and consequences) then take a 20 minute walk every day. Being retired now, exercise or even deep breathing shouldbe a priority. I am 68 years old and there are a variety of things that raise my blood pressure. I agree with your doctor that you should have a home BP kit. I bought a $20 one from Amazon years ago. When the BP is high, I always think the machine is malfunctioning, but it’s not. I need to look at the salt in my diet, The exercise I may be lacking, the pain I may be experiencing (pain really raises my blood pressure) or the Dailystress. When I look at these things and I make the necessary changes, my BP always returns to 114/70. I am 68. In my opinion, leaving your blood pressure higher than your doctor recommends is a doorway for other problems. They always told me that 132/78 is just fine however, by the time I would be 132 I have insomnia, and I know I have to tweak something to bring it back down to 120.

@bajjerfan
I think most everybody’s blood pressure goes up a little when they have a doctor appointment. I know mine does, and my husband does.. If it’s on the high side in the doctors office, they always wait a few minutes and take it a second time and it’s always lower.
And on the other hand, my blood pressure is always on the low side so I have to be careful.

@ruth36 It's a well-known phenomenon called 'white coat syndrome'. Doctors know that a patient's in-office BP will read high. That is why the accepted practice, rarely followed, is to take three measurements spread over several minutes. This allows time for the patient to relax a bit, have an opportunity to be heard and to hear the doctor respond, and to become more comfortable and secure in the offices of an authority figure.

Man I'm 48 and you're blood pressure is a lot better than mine is! O have stage 4 marginal zone b cell non Hodgkin's Lymphoma as well but today I tested my blood pressure and it was scary high! It was literally 184/103 I had to take a clonodine to bring it down and right now it's still high at 168/96 but I'm happy it's going down . Hopefully they can figure out what's going on causing my BP to get so high . I take BP meds 3 times a day and Dr recently put me on beta blockers but it's still high. Really scary I don't wanna end up having a stroke or heart attack I already have enough health issues. Best wishes to you ! Take care 🙏

@ruth36 I always get horrible anxiety about going to any Dr appt.

@dottie47
I thought I would share something I learned a year ago when I was getting ready for surgery (female issue not lungs) and had been dealing with the aftereffects of a. Iris that left me with a cough. I keep the tea Throat Coat in our pantry for these occasions and as I was about to make a cup, I read the box panel and noticed a warning I had not seen before: “ do not use this product if you have high blood pressure”. Licorice root is one of the ingredients. Anyway, I stopped drinking the tea and my BP returned to normal for me a few days later. Are you eating or drinking anything different?

@gloaming

@dottie47, I am 76 and am also am fighting cancer (breast); the drugs I first tried to shrink a tumor, Aromatase Inhibitors, within 4 months caused my lowish hypertension to become Labile Hypertension. So from now on I take 3 BP drugs a day, and even in spite of those it suddenly takes a big leap up to 180 or 190/100 around once a week. If that happens I have to take a small dose of Hydralazine to bring it down within 30-40 minutes. Same drug they would use in the ER, except in pill form. This is not fun. It used to hit 175/ spikes every night, but does not now taking more Beta Blocker Carvedilol before bed. I got another health issue by treating my cancer! At my age my Gerontologist PCP says if I can keep it down around 130/80 or so that's good.

@jardinera25 You may have what is called labile hypertension, describes blood pressure that fluctuates unpredictably, spiking suddenly from normal to very high levels and then dropping back down. Like bp in general, there is no known cause & just needs to be managed .. as you are doing. I have it as well.

Yes, I know management is what I've been told I have to do now. I do know the cause, the aromatase inhibitors I was on for 4 months. I'd like to discuss management strategies.
Thanks,
Patty Jardinera