No one wants to hear the news that they have high blood pressure, especially when they’re in their 20s. People in their 20s are often working hard to finish a degree, not to mention working to put a roof over their head. Getting the news that they now have high blood pressure only adds more stress to their life. At least that’s how I felt when I was given the news earlier this month. I wondered if I could live the normal life of a girl in her 20s. I also wondered how this would impact my life further down the road. More importantly, I wondered if being diagnosed with high blood pressure in your 20s was a death sentence.
The week of Thanksgiving, my doctor was concerned that my blood pressure was a little high. At that time it was 140/90. I thought it was probably stress associated with the upcoming holiday and didn’t think much of it. Still, my doctor was concerned and asked me to come in a couple times to have it checked before my next appointment. Like most people in their 20s, I was very busy over the next three months. Not only did I have finals, but Christmas was coming. Right after Christmas, the next semester of college began. Needless to say, I didn’t go back until a couple weeks before my next doctor’s appointment. Still, I was in my 20s, surely my high blood pressure was gone.
Let me now say that people in their 20s, even healthy people, are not immune from being diagnosed with high blood pressure. I was losing weight, so I felt confident that the numbers would go down. After all, I was in my 20s. I also didn’t eat a lot of sodium. In fact, after looking at the numbers, it was becoming clear that I usually ate below the recommended daily allowance. Surely, when they checked my blood pressure the next time, things would be better.
I went for my next doctor’s appointment and my blood pressure was 147/92. I was then asked to meet with another doctor who could better diagnose the problem. She also asked that I come back before the appointment to get another reading. She was so worried about my blood pressure being so high and that I was only in my 20s.
I went back to get the blood pressure reading the day before my appointment. The number was now 150/90. I made my peace with the fact that I had high blood pressure, even before the doctor diagnosed me. The next morning, I went in for my appointment and my blood pressure was 150/100. The doctor said that young people, like those in their 20s, could usually get the high blood pressure under control with just a simple water pill.
In a way, I felt like a failure. Here I was in my mid-20s, with high blood pressure. But, the doctors felt differently. In fact, she said I could lose all the weight, exercise until I was blue in the face, and eat a bland diet and probably still have high blood pressure (even being in my 20s).
My mom and dad both had high blood pressure when they were in their 20s. Both parents were thin, exercised a lot, and even ate low-sodium diets. Still, their high blood pressure wouldn’t budge. My doctor said that if one parent had high blood pressure, I might be able to control my high blood pressure without medicine. But, with both parents having high blood pressure it was almost impossible.
My parents are now in their 40s. This gives me strength, knowing that if I follow the doctor’s advice and take my medicine, that having high blood pressure in my 20s is not a death sentence. Sure, high blood pressure can cause strokes, heart attacks, and general discomfort, but even when you’re diagnosed in your 20s, you can survive this silent killer. The point of this article is to show that even healthy people in their 20s are not free from being diagnosed with high blood pressure. Be sure to visit your doctor regularly for checkups. This will ensure that if you do have high blood pressure in your 20s, it will caught early enough.
