High blood pressure in the morning

Hi all, to highlight my question above. Before going to bed last night, my bp was 117/77 so it was normal and I did not take a bp pill ( I was thinking of taking my blood pressure medicines in the evening than in the morning since my morning BP is usually high, but I am afraid that my BP might be too low). I will try moving half of the bp pills in the evening tonight, and I will tell you results in the morning. This morning upon waking up, my BP was 145/80 with a pulse of 110. I was so scared. How can 1 night with good sleep ( 8 hours) produce that kind of blood pressure reading?

I take mine around 5 pm at night and I find that this is a good alternative that addressed concerns similar to yours.

I have read on Healio that the best time to take blood pressure meds is in fact the night before. It counters the early morning Cortisol spike that aids in waking the body up. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone.

The biggest issue I had with taking it at bedtime was my blood pressure medicine had a dietetic., but I agree, before bed has been recommended as most heart attaches happen in the early morning

Yes, that is certainly correct, most heart attacks do happen in the morning. Why? One of the reasons is that upon awakening we are in some sense dehydrated and our blood "thicker" & is more prone to clot easier. Also morning awakenings can be very anxiety provoking for lots of people which in turn produces stress hormones and, of course, stresses the heart, raises B/P. I always took my 3 blood pressure medications in the morning until I noticed in the evening around 7 or so, I felt stressed and my b/p was up. So I am now taking one before bedtime, the other 2 remaining in the morning. I still need blood pressure control during the day so if I could - would take all of them in the evening. And during the night we could be having difficulty sleeping which will increase B/P or in our sleep have very disturbing dreams which stresses us out. If you are having great calming sleep and this is still happening I would bet dehydration is at work plus an anxiety reaction which gradually decrease as the morning progresses. And for me, just the "thought" my blood pressure is high, stresses me out and I get into a loop which is hard to get out of. I have fear of a stroke, etc. since I am a cardiovascular patient with bad genetics in my family. My Dad developed heart disease at 39. Many factors can be involved. Exam your mental health. I am a big believer in the mind-body connection. It really can not be denied.
Lots of luck to you!

Thank you for this reply. I had a stroke 7 years ago and had angiogram last year. Doctor said my heart is good for another 10 years and I need not fear it..yet my mind someone disbelieves it. I also worry a lot, but I need to take my control back and not give in to fear..good luck to both of us

I hear you loud and clear about "fear" coping with cardiovascular disease. After my stent placement 10 years ago every little ache and pain I got I wondered "is this my heart?". I spoke to a psychiatrist, with heart disease also, about this "fear" and he told me feeling a fear is very common among people who have heart disease or had a cardiovascular event - such as you did with your stroke 7 years ago. I too have had cardiac testing many times since my stent placement and I always got "good news" and "everything looks fine" from my cardiologists.
But I somehow don't really believe them either!! Of course, over time I have gotten better about this fear but it remains quite strong at times...just this morning driving with my husband in the car, I felt chest pain. And thought immediately "am I having a heart attack?". It went away in under 2 minutes and was probably related to my severe acid reflux disease. But this "fear" reared its ugly head.
I try to de-stress as much as possible with meditation, relaxation CD tapes and guided imagery. Also any form of exercise, i.e. walking, using light weights, yoga (I do chair yoga, it's great), calming music, prayer, mantras or inspirational reading is helpful. I would suggest you actually draw up a Health & Wellness Plan for yourself - listing everything that helps you to relax, de-stress and put you in a positive, calming mood to help dispel your "fears". And I know about about worrying also...I was born a worrier! So I get you and you are far from alone.
A heart/stroke group is another idea - if you can find one. Not easy post-COVID. But begin with your local hospital and cardiologist.
Yes, good luck to you and believe me - you are not strange in feeling "fear" after what you went through/are going through. There are plenty of folks like us!

Waking is a 'stress response' of sorts, and as stated earlier by peugh314, the body generates cortisol in response....but also higher blood glucose. It's called the 'dawn effect'. Even so, one's resting heart rate should be recorded upon waking, and ideally before stretching, scratching, turning over, etc. Similarly, I take my BP right away about once each week using my Galaxy watch. My BP is variable, but upon waking it is always near 117/75.
It might be useful to get some kind of a sleep quality recorder and to see if you have frequent and prolonged desats (desaturation of O2), maybe from obstructive or central apnea, maybe from positional apnea due to chin-tucking or sleeping on your back. This might slowly jerk your BP up into the warning zone over time.