Have you been feeling extra drained lately? If yes, it may be time to have your blood pressure checked, as fatigue can signal kidney or heart problems caused due to hypertension. Our lifestyle choices impact our health, and having a stressful lifestyle could be the reason behind high blood pressure or hypertension. Our diet, weight, and behaviours can all play a role in whether we have healthy blood pressure or a dangerously high one. If high blood pressure is ignored, it could cause severe strokes, heart attacks, and renal disease. Here’s everything you need to know about whether high blood pressure makes you tired, as well as advice on how to manage fatigue and maintain healthy blood pressure.
What is high blood pressure?
A blood pressure reading comprises of the following two numbers
• Systolic pressure: The first or top number indicates how much pressure is in your arteries during heartbeats.(1)
• Diastolic pressure: The bottom number, or second number, indicates the pressure in your arteries between heartbeats
As per NHS findings, a normal or healthy blood pressure value is considered to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg. If your systolic blood pressure is between 130 and 139 mm Hg, or your diastolic blood pressure is between 80 and 89 mm Hg, you’re likely to receive a diagnosis of high blood pressure.
What is high blood pressure?
Hypertension can be caused by medicine, food, lifestyle, age, and heredity. Your doctor can assist you in determining the source of yours. Hypertension can be caused by several circumstances, including:
• Tobacco or alcohol consumption
• Medication such as birth control
• Stress
• A high-salt, fat, or cholesterol diet
• Family history of hypertension
• Kidney and hormone disorders, diabetes, and excessive cholesterol, including other chronic illnesses.
• Old age (Especially if you are above 65)
• Inadequate physical activity
• Race (Non-Hispanic black individuals are more likely than people of other races to have high blood pressure).
Making healthy lifestyle adjustments can sometimes help minimize your risk of developing high blood pressure or lower it if it already exists.
Can high blood pressure make you tired?
High blood pressure demands your heart to work more, and like any muscle, it expands as it works harder. The bigger your heart is, the more blood it needs, yet the less it can keep blood flowing. This is how high blood pressure causes heart failure, making you tired and preventing you from exercising. Additionally, certain blood pressure drugs, such as beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers, specify fatigue as an adverse effect. These negative effects may fade over time.
How can you prevent high blood pressure causing tiredness?
Now that we’ve established that unexplained tiredness with no apparent reason can result from elevated blood pressure. Let’s look at a few techniques to keep your day-to-day routine from being disrupted by fatigue induced by hypertension.
Exercise
Being overweight puts additional strain on the heart and arteries, requiring your body to work more to perform physically. Additionally, obesity also raises your chances of developing sleep apnoea, which means you’ll be more exhausted throughout the day. Excess weight can cause high blood pressure and put you at risk for heart disease. As a result, incorporating exercise and jogging into your daily routine will make you feel healthier and more invigorated throughout the day.
Maintain a healthy diet
Your diet can play a vital role in lowering blood pressure. As previously stated, a high-salt, fat/cholesterol diet can lead to hypertension. As a result, include vegetables, lean meat, skimmed milk, fruit, low-salt and low-fat cheese, and other low-fat foods in your diet. Additionally, DASH and Mediterranean diets are among the best diets for lowering high blood pressure.
Don’t Stress
People don’t even realize how much stress can harm their health. Stress can momentarily raise your blood pressure, and the stress chemicals released force your heart to beat quicker and your blood vessels to constrict. Although stress does not cause high blood pressure directly, it does play a role in its elevation. So, keep a safe distance from stressful situations and consider meditating or doing deep breathing exercises daily to help clear your mind and reduce stress.
Is there any medication that will help reduce my blood pressure?
There are several medications out there used to target high blood pressure. The following are some examples of effective hypertension treatments:
- Ramipril capsules comprise a class of drugs known as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, which relax blood arteries and make it simpler for blood to flow through them.
- Amlodipine capsules belong to the calcium antagonist class of drugs, which function by relaxing blood arteries and allowing blood to flow more efficiently.
- Bisoprolol capsule is a type of beta-blocker drug that is used to treat high blood pressure. Bisoprolol tablets lower your risk of dangerous diseases, including heart attacks and strokes, by reducing your heart rate and lowering your blood pressure.
Conclusion
Fatigue can be linked to hypertension in several ways. Tiredness is an indication of high blood pressure-related heart or kidney disease. Certain lifestyle adjustments may help you lower your blood pressure or prevent hypertension from occurring in the first place. There are also various types of medications that can be used if necessary. Monitoring your blood pressure regularly and reporting any new or worsening symptoms to your doctor is the best approach to keep track of it.
Sources
1 . Does high blood pressure make you tired, sleepy? (Healthline)
2. How to Tackle Tiredness Caused By High Blood Pressure (avogel.co.uk)
3. 5 Easy Home Remedies For Reducing Blood Pressure (e-Surgery)
Further Reading
1. Symptoms of High Blood Pressure (WebMD)
2. Can high blood pressure cause you to feel sleepy or tired? (Health Central)
3. High Blood Pressure (NHS)