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Q: I am a 25 year old woman who had my blood pressure checked recently and it was elevated. This surprised me because I always had a normal blood pressure all of my life. I am not taking any medicines except for the pill, which I started taking several years ago. What do you suggest I do to control my blood pressure?
A: Of course, standard measures to control blood pressure are to follow a low salt diet and to take appropriate blood pressure lowering medications. However, in reading your question, you indicate that you are taking the pill. This is a very important point because it has been shown that an elevated blood pressure may be measured in about 5% of the women taking the pill. Even though a small increase in the blood pressure may frequently be seen in most women taking the pill, the blood pressure usually remains within normal values. Nevertheless, in a small percent of the cases, an appreciable elevation of the blood pressure may occur. This is most common in women who have taken the pill for more than 5 years, in women over 35 years of age, and in obese women. However, in most of these cases the blood pressure will again return to normal when the pill is discontinued, but it can take several weeks.
Thus, since you are taking the pill, this might possibly be the cause of your high blood pressure. Hence, it would, be important for you to stop taking the pill and to use an alternate way of birth control. If the pill is indeed the cause of your high blood pressure, your blood pressure should then return back to normal within a few weeks. If your blood pressure does then return to normal, you would avoid in this manner having to follow a low salt diet and having to take blood pressure lowering agents.
Updated: 01/16/99
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